{"title":"Exacerbating the divide? Investigating rural inequalities in high speed broadband availability","authors":"Seraphim Dempsey , Aislinn Hoy","doi":"10.1016/j.telpol.2024.102819","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Although the urban–rural digital divide is a globally common phenomenon, less is known about the social determinants of the digital divide within rural and urban areas. Understanding this relationship is important for assessing the equity implications of telecommunication policy given the ongoing and significant public investment into high speed broadband infrastructure. This paper contributes to this discussion by connecting high speed broadband maps in Ireland to measures of social deprivation constructed from detailed population-wide Irish census data collected in 2022. Linking to newly available maps of urban boundaries, the results show that the availability of commercially provided high speed broadband (i.e. coverage) is highly divided; urban areas have near complete coverage, whereas rural areas have little to no coverage. Exploring determinants of coverage in rural areas, we observe that coverage increases with affluence. This suggests that rural areas, which are relatively socially deprived, are being further disadvantaged through inequalities in the availability of high speed broadband.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":22290,"journal":{"name":"Telecommunications Policy","volume":"48 9","pages":"Article 102819"},"PeriodicalIF":5.9000,"publicationDate":"2024-07-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0308596124001162/pdfft?md5=bdd2bd66227294f1429c8dd69a6ab81a&pid=1-s2.0-S0308596124001162-main.pdf","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Telecommunications Policy","FirstCategoryId":"91","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0308596124001162","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"COMMUNICATION","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Although the urban–rural digital divide is a globally common phenomenon, less is known about the social determinants of the digital divide within rural and urban areas. Understanding this relationship is important for assessing the equity implications of telecommunication policy given the ongoing and significant public investment into high speed broadband infrastructure. This paper contributes to this discussion by connecting high speed broadband maps in Ireland to measures of social deprivation constructed from detailed population-wide Irish census data collected in 2022. Linking to newly available maps of urban boundaries, the results show that the availability of commercially provided high speed broadband (i.e. coverage) is highly divided; urban areas have near complete coverage, whereas rural areas have little to no coverage. Exploring determinants of coverage in rural areas, we observe that coverage increases with affluence. This suggests that rural areas, which are relatively socially deprived, are being further disadvantaged through inequalities in the availability of high speed broadband.
期刊介绍:
Telecommunications Policy is concerned with the impact of digitalization in the economy and society. The journal is multidisciplinary, encompassing conceptual, theoretical and empirical studies, quantitative as well as qualitative. The scope includes policy, regulation, and governance; big data, artificial intelligence and data science; new and traditional sectors encompassing new media and the platform economy; management, entrepreneurship, innovation and use. Contributions may explore these topics at national, regional and international levels, including issues confronting both developed and developing countries. The papers accepted by the journal meet high standards of analytical rigor and policy relevance.