Humanities' new era of the development of information and media technologies, undoubtedly brought with it opportunities to access greater levels of knowledge. Unfortunately, this era also saw the development of the digital divide, whereby people are divided according to access to interactive computer based technologies. That is, some people possess the ability to access these technologies, whilst others are excluded. One major deciding factor in determining which side of the digital divide a person belongs is their geographical area. Primarily, in regards to new media and information technologies, people living in rural areas are more disadvantaged than those who live in urban areas.
There are many factors which determine internet access for rural areas. Predominantly, higher costs play a large role in determining rural internet use, as the cost of internet access remains higher for those who rural areas, compared to those who live in metropolitan areas. Additionally, it is generally found that rural areas have fewer young, tertiary educated people and high income earners than urban areas, which are major factors in determining internet usage (Curtin, 2002, online).
Research by the Australian Economics, Commerce and Industrial Relations Group shows people living in rural areas are lagging behind national averages in computer and Internet access even though there has been an increase in the number of people in rural and regional Australian who have access to computers, and the percentage of rural people with access to the Internet has doubled since 1998. (2002, p1) Additionally, reports show that those living in rural areas at the lowest income levels are among the least connected of all. Furthermore, people in rural areas not only have the lowest internet access, but the lowest telephone usage rates and lowest computer ownership rates. (NTIA, 1997, online) Thus, the tyranny of distance creates the digital divide.
Fortunately for rural Australians, recent action is being taken to reduce the digital divide, in particular the “sandstone curtain�, an area on the western side of the dividing range which historically has been the barrier that stops people accessing broadband internet due to the mountains. With the introduction of a new broadband satellite service from Australian telco Optus, there are hopes for regional Australian to be connected as much as their city counterparts. Coupled with Optus’ efforts is the support of the Australian government, who has introduced a new Federal Government Higher Bandwidth Incentive Scheme (HiBIS), which will dramatically reduce costs for consumers as they will receive a significant subsidy from the government for installing the services. According to Satellite News, the installation of a satellite dish would normally cost $2,434. However, with the HiBIS subsidy, it will now cost only $70.90 (2004, p1).
Regrettably, not all countries are as fortunate as Australia in terms of action being taken to bridge the digital divide in rural areas. Thus, even though the development of Information technologies has been deemed the medium which will lead to the “death of distance� (Curtin, 2002, online), the reality is that the digital divide continues to exist largely in many countries throughout the world.
Links to Wiki sites
Links to other online sources
Centrelink Rural Internet Services Strategy
Curtin, Jennifer (2002) A Digital Divide in Rural and Regional Australia, Economics, Commerce and Industrial Relations Group, [1] Date accessed: 11/08/04
NTIA (1999) “Rural Areas Magnify the “Digital Divide�: Falling through the net: Defining the Digital Divide, [2] Date accessed: 17/09/04 Satellite News (2004) Bringing down the Sandstone Curtain, Potomac, Aug 30, Vol. 27, Iss. 34; p.1
Brooke Power 22:57, 28 Oct 2004 (EST)
