A Rural-Urban Digital Divide?: Regional Aspects of Internet Use in Tanzania

Abstract

The digital divide is the gap between those with regular, effective access to digital technologies, in particular the Internet, and those without. The global digital divide is a term often used to describe the gap between more and less economically developed nations, while at the national level, there is often an urban-rural divide. In developing countries, most Internet users gain access through public access points like Internet cafés. In this article, we take a closer look at the digital divide within Tanzania. Based on a survey among Internet café users in rural, semi-urban and central regions of the country, we find that the divide is mainly a question of finding venues with technology to access the Internet. The Internet users and usage at the different sites are surprisingly uniform, with, however, a few significant differences.