Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Rural communities have not been left out of
the ever changing digital economy though there
has been an issue of equal access across the
rural-urban milieu. Rural households are almost
as likely as urban households to use the Internet.
Broadband Internet access in rural areas, however,
has been less prevalent than in much more densely
populated areas of the country.
Broadband users do use the Internet more
intensively than dial-up users. Broadband users
now outnumber dial-up users and the continued
evolution of data dense technologies will bring
to an end the use of dial-up technologies. The
high adoption rate of broadband technologies by
urban Internet users indicates people value what
the Internet has to offer. Rural Internet users do
have less in-home broadband access and the cir-
cumstantial evidence suggests that the difference
may lie in the higher cost or less availability of
broadband Internet access in rural areas.
Government policies to encourage deployment
of broadband services in rural areas have increased
availability, and in some cases encouraged, com-
petitive pricing. Unfortunately, there is little, if
any, data available that links Internet access choice
with the cost of service. As a result, it is difficult
to distinguish between financial and other motives
when examining broadband adoption. In migration
studies people leaving one location to go to another
has often been cited as “voting with one's feet.”
Here users have been “voting with one's hands”
by using the Internet more intensively, on more
activities, using newer (and presumably better)
technologies, and bringing the Internet into the
home, into the schools, and into their work.
More activities are moving and adapting to
the Internet. Some of these activities have great
potential value for the rural economy. Education
programs -- primary secondary, higher education,
and continuing education have increasingly been
shifting to, or at least the offerings have been
becoming richer on, the Internet. Telework has
become a more reasonable option for workers and
businesses and has shown some growth in activity.
Some medical services lend themselves readily
to the Internet environment and show potential
in either reducing costs for rural communities
or offering in-situ services not otherwise readily
available. Rural businesses, such as retail busi-
nesses, have been adopting more e-commerce and
Internet practices, offering some improvements in
business economic vitality. Individuals are using
the Internet to get involved with their communities.
Access to the Internet through broadband tech-
nologies may no longer be perceived as a luxury.
With the increasing data intensiveness of house-
hold on-line activities, broadband technologies
may have become a necessity to fully utilize and
gain benefit from the Internet further buttressing
the argument for government policy intervention.
REFERENCES
Choudrie, J., & Dwivedi, Y. (2005). The demo-
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Choudrie, J., & Dwivedi, Y. (2006). Investigat-
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Dwivedi, Y., & Irani, Z. (2009). Understanding
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doi:10.1145/1435417.1435445
Flamm, K., & Chaudhuri, A. (2007). An analysis
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The diffusion
of the Internet and the geography of the digital
divide in the United States
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National Bureau of Economic Research, USA.
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