The bad news is that the digital access divide is here to stay: domestically installed bandwidths among 172 countries for 1986–2014
Abstract
In contrary to the common argument that the digital access divide is quickly closing and that the focus should shift to skills and usage, this article shows that access to digital communication is a moving target unlikely to ever be solved. While the number of subscriptions reaches population saturation levels, the bandwidth divide continuous to be dynamic. The article measures the nationally installed bandwidth potential of 172 countries from 1986 to 2014. The overarching finding is that the divide in terms of bandwidth does not show any clear monotonic pattern. It fluctuates up and down over the decades as the result of an intricate interplay between incessant technological progress and diffusion of technology. The bandwidth divide between high- and low income countries has first increased and only decreased below historic levels very recently during 2012-2014. In general it shows that the bandwidth divide is linked to the income divide, which is notoriously persistent. The bandwidth distribution among all countries is undergoing a new process of global concentration, during which North America and Europe is being replaced by Asia as the new global leader. In 2014 only 3 countries host 50% of the globally installed bandwidth potential (10 countries almost 75%). The U.S. lost its global leadership in 2011, being replaced by China, which contributes more than twice as much national bandwidth potential in 2014 (29% versus 13%). Despite this bad news about the continuous persistence of the digital access divide among countries, exploratory analysis from a global perspective brings the good news that many more individual people seem to enjoy more equal access to global bandwidth. All of this showcases the urgency to systematically develop indicators to track the digital divide in terms of bandwidth.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
The digital divide involves not merely presence or absence of Internet access but also bandwidth, data, IT literacy and skills, and power.
“The digital divide needs to be studied at a granular level, not merely in terms of the presence or absence of Internet access (76) but also in terms of how much bandwidth, data, IT literacy and skills, and power (e.g., over who in the household has use of the computer or smartphone) people have (77, 78).”
From Planning and Evaluating Remote Consultation Services: A New Conceptual Framework Incorporating Complexity and Practical Ethics (2021) · cites this paper as [77]
Cites
A Mathematical Theory of Communication
Shannon, C. E. (1948) · Bell System Technical Journal · doi:10.1002/j.1538-7305.1948.tb01338.x · Cited by 88,486 · see citing works
A Mathematical Theory of Communication
Shannon, C. E. (1948) · Bell System Technical Journal · doi:10.1002/j.1538-7305.1948.tb00917.x · Cited by 49,574 · see citing works
The Internet of Things: A survey
Atzori, L., Iera, A., & Morabito, G. (2010) · Computer Networks · doi:10.1016/j.comnet.2010.05.010 · Cited by 15,613 · see citing works
Awais, A. (2015) · Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS) · doi:10.17632/zcvgc6m58h.1 · Cited by 6,790 · see citing works
Empirical Model Building and Response Surfaces
Freeny, A. E., Box, G. E. P., & Draper, N. R. (1988) · Technometrics · doi:10.2307/1270169 · Cited by 5,238 · see citing works
(2011) · Cited by 5,203 · see citing works
The Deepening Divide: Inequality in the Information Society
van Dijk, J. (2005) · doi:10.4135/9781452229812 · Cited by 2,243 · see citing works
Measurement of Inequality of Incomes
Gini, C. (1921) · The Economic Journal · doi:10.2307/2223319 · Cited by 1,739 · see citing works
The digital divide shifts to differences in usage
van Deursen, A. J., & van Dijk, J. A. (2014) · New Media & Society · doi:10.1177/1461444813487959 · Cited by 1,733 · see citing works
Technology and social inclusion: rethinking the digital divide
(2003) · Choice Reviews Online · doi:10.5860/choice.41-1633 · Cited by 1,726 · see citing works
The World’s Technological Capacity to Store, Communicate, and Compute Information
Hilbert, M., & López, P. (2011) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.1200970 · Cited by 1,643 · see citing works
Self-citationWorld Development Indicators 2015
Bank, W. (2015) · World Bank, Washington, DC eBooks · doi:10.1596/978-1-4648-0440-3 · Cited by 728 · see citing works
Big data for development: a review of promises and challenges
Hilbert, M. (2016) · Development Policy Review · doi:10.1111/dpr.12142 · Cited by 679 · see citing works
Self-citationThe economic impact of broadband on growth: A simultaneous approach
Koutroumpis, P. (2009) · Telecommunications Policy · doi:10.1016/j.telpol.2009.07.004 · Cited by 661 · see citing works
Virtual inequality: beyond the digital divide
(2004) · Choice Reviews Online · doi:10.5860/choice.41-4342 · Cited by 550 · see citing works
Social Consequences of Internet Use: Access, Involvement, and Interaction
Katz, J. E., & Rice, R. E. (2002) · Cited by 510 · see citing works
The Digital Divide : Facing a Crisis or Creating a Myth?
Compaine, B. M. (2001) · Medical Entomology and Zoology · Cited by 384 · see citing works
World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators Database
Union, I. T. (2019) · Harvard Dataverse · doi:10.7910/dvn/ip5ubv · Cited by 377 · see citing works
The contemporary US digital divide: from initial access to technology maintenance
Gonzales, A. L. (2015) · Information Communication & Society · doi:10.1080/1369118x.2015.1050438 · Cited by 355 · see citing works
Hilbert, M. (2011) · Telecommunications Policy · doi:10.1016/j.telpol.2011.06.012 · Cited by 291 · see citing works
Self-citationModeling the second-level digital divide: A five-country study of social differences in Internet use
Büchi, M., Just, N., & Latzer, M. (2015) · New Media & Society · doi:10.1177/1461444815604154 · Cited by 280 · see citing works
The Digital Divide: Facing a Crisis or Creating a Myth
Raber, D. (2002) · Library & Information Science Research · doi:10.1016/s0740-8188(02)00114-7 · Cited by 268 · see citing works
The Broadband Digital Divide and the Economic Benefits of Mobile Broadband for Rural Areas
Prieger, J. E. (2012) · Telecommunications Policy · doi:10.1016/j.telpol.2012.11.003 · Cited by 264 · see citing works
Assessing the regional digital divide across the European Union-27
Vicente, M. R., & Menéndez, A. J. L. (2011) · Telecommunications Policy · doi:10.1016/j.telpol.2010.12.013 · Cited by 258 · see citing works
Falling through the Net: A Survey of the "Have-Nots" in Rural and Urban America
Administration, N. T. A. I. (2001) · The MIT Press eBooks · doi:10.7551/mitpress/2419.003.0005 · Cited by 245 · see citing works
Social Consequences of Internet Use: Access, Involvement and Interaction
Katz, J. E. (2003) · Info · doi:10.1108/14636690310495274 · Cited by 198 · see citing works
Net neutrality: A progress report
Krämer, J., Wiewiorra, L., & Weinhardt, C. (2012) · Telecommunications Policy · doi:10.1016/j.telpol.2012.08.005 · Cited by 165 · see citing works
Broadband speed equity: A new digital divide?
Riddlesden, D., & Singleton, A. D. (2014) · Applied Geography · doi:10.1016/j.apgeog.2014.04.008 · Cited by 160 · see citing works
Virtual Inequality: Beyond the Digital Divide
(2004) · The Electronic Library · doi:10.1108/02640470410520186 · Cited by 155 · see citing works
Broadband access in the EU: An assessment of future economic benefits
Gruber, H., Hätönen, J., & Koutroumpis, P. (2014) · Telecommunications Policy · doi:10.1016/j.telpol.2014.06.007 · Cited by 148 · see citing works
Pick, J. B., Sarkar, A., & Johnson, J. M. (2014) · Socio-Economic Planning Sciences · doi:10.1016/j.seps.2014.09.001 · Cited by 124 · see citing works
Hilbert, M., & López, P. (2012) · Cited by 117 · see citing works
Self-citationUnderstanding Broadband Speed MeasurementsPreprint
Bauer, S., Clark, D. D., & Lehr, W. H. (2010) · SSRN Electronic Journal · Cited by 109 · see citing works
Lee, H., Park, N., & Hwang, Y. (2015) · Telematics and Informatics · doi:10.1016/j.tele.2014.02.001 · Cited by 102 · cited 3× · see citing works
“This second stage of the digital access divide becomes extremely relevant in times where fast bandwidth solutions have become to take center stage in the discussion about social growth and progress (Dutton et al., 2004; Koutroumpis, 2009; Prieger, 2013; Gruber et al., 2014; Lee et al., 2015).”
The Adoption and Use of the Internet in South Korea
Rhee, K. Y., & Kim, W.-B. (2006) · Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication · doi:10.1111/j.1083-6101.2004.tb00299.x · Cited by 81 · see citing works
Loo, B. P. Y., & Ngan, Y. L. (2012) · Telecommunications Policy · doi:10.1016/j.telpol.2012.07.015 · Cited by 77 · see citing works
Hilbert, M. (2013) · Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology · doi:10.1002/asi.23020 · Cited by 77 · see citing works
Self-citationBridging Broadband Internet Divides: Reconfiguring access to Enhance Communicative Power
Dutton, W. H., Gillett, S., McKnight, L. W., & Peltu, M. (2004) · Journal of Information Technology · doi:10.1057/palgrave.jit.2000007 · Cited by 70 · see citing works
Mendonça, S., Crespo, N., & Simões, N. (2015) · Telecommunications Policy · doi:10.1016/j.telpol.2014.12.010 · Cited by 60 · see citing works
Assessing the broadband gap: From the penetration divide to the quality divide
Vicente, M. R., & Gil-de-Bernabé, F. (2010) · Technological Forecasting and Social Change · doi:10.1016/j.techfore.2009.12.006 · Cited by 59 · see citing works
Examining the Global Digital Divide: A Cross-Country Analysis
Mardikyan, S., Yıldız, E., Ordu, M., & Şimşek, B. (2015) · Communications of the IBIMA · doi:10.5171/2015.592253 · Cited by 46 · see citing works
The global information society: a statistical view
Europea, C. (2008) · Cited by 37 · see citing works
Hilbert, M. (2014) · Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology · doi:10.1002/asi.23031 · Cited by 37 · see citing works
Self-citationEvaluation of e-Readiness Indices in Latin America and the Caribbean
Minges, M. (2005) · DIGITAL REPOSITORY Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (United Nations) · Cited by 22 · see citing works
Pick, J. B., & Sarkar, A. (2015) · Progress in IS · doi:10.1007/978-3-662-46602-5_4 · Cited by 20 · see citing works
Assessment of the gap and (non-)Internet users evolution based on population biology dynamics
Neokosmidis, I., Avaritsiotis, N., Ventoura, Z., & Varoutas, D. A. (2014) · Telecommunications Policy · doi:10.1016/j.telpol.2014.10.006 · Cited by 19 · see citing works
Scale‐free power‐laws as interaction between progress and diffusion
Hilbert, M. (2013) · Complexity · doi:10.1002/cplx.21485 · Cited by 13 · see citing works
Self-citationAn exploration of the relationship between police presence, crime and firms in developing countries
Islam, A. M. (2016) · Development Policy Review · doi:10.1111/dpr.12169 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
European internet traffic: problems and prospects of growth and competition
Liebenau, J. M., Elaluf-Calderwood, S., & Kärrberg, P. (2013) · London School of Economics and Political Science Research Online (London School of Economics and Political Science) · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Greenhalgh, T., Rosen, R., Shaw, S. E., Byng, R., Faulkner, S., Finlay, T., Grundy, E., Husain, L., Hughes, G., Leone, C., et al. (2021) · Frontiers in Digital Health · doi:10.3389/fdgth.2021.726095 · Cited by 173 · see citing works
Misunderstanding the harms of online misinformation
Budak, C., Nyhan, B., Rothschild, D. M., Thorson, E., & Watts, D. J. (2024) · Nature · doi:10.1038/s41586-024-07417-w · Cited by 156 · see citing works
- Authors
- Hilbert, M.
- Affiliations
- University of California, Davis (US)
- Corresponding author
- Hilbert, Martin
- ORCID
- Hilbert, Martin
- Venue
- Telecommunications Policy
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2016-06
- Volume
- 40
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 567-581
- ISSN
- 0308-5961 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2276382071
- Cited by
- 210
- References
- 49
- Citations by year
- 2026: 33 · 2025: 20 · 2024: 21 · 2023: 22 · 2022: 17 · 2021: 24 · 2020: 24 · 2019: 13 · 2018: 26 · 2017: 7 · 2016: 3
- FWCI
- 17.60
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Telecommunications Policy (publishedVersion)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- eScholarship (California Digital Library) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Media Technology › ICT Impact and Policies
- Social Sciences › General Social Sciences › Information Society and Technology Trends
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Information Systems › Economic Growth and Development
- Keywords
- digital divide, broadband access, income inequality, technology diffusion
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
