Broadband access and digital divide

Abstract

It is recognized that there is a disparity between broadband availability in urban and rural areas. The pre-existing telecommunications infrastructure is generally poor and unevenly distributed in favor of urban centers. In most rural areas, low population density and high deployment costs discourage private investments, creating a negative feedback of limited capacity, high prices, and low service demand. Building telecommunications networks in rural areas is costly. Further, in many cases, there is not a good commercial business case for rural deployments. Whereas established and competitive service providers already offer solutions for urban and suburban areas, there is little or no commitment to connect areas that include smaller towns and rural villages. The deployment of access network broadband services on low-competition areas is characterized by low subscriber densities, longer loop lengths, lower duct availability, and consequently higher infrastructure cost compared to high-competition areas.