GAO SAYS DIGITAL DIVIDE IS RESULT OF ECONOMICS, NOT DEMOGRAPHICS
“Digital divide” between Internet users and nonusers isn’t result of ethnicity or other demographic factors, General Accounting Office (GAO) said in report released Thurs., but those with higher incomes are significantly more likely to have broadband Internet connections. House Telecom Subcommittee ranking Democrat Markey (Mass.), who had asked for GAO study, said results showed “cost chasm” that “may persist among Internet users unless local broadband competition is reinvigorated… We must renew our policy commitment to competition.”
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There was little difference between broadband and narrowband Internet users based on such factors as marital status, household size, race, education or employment, GAO said, based on its survey of Internet users. However, it said 40% of broadband subscribers had household income of at least $75,000, vs. only 20% of narrowband users. Survey did find that Internet users were more likely to be better educated and wealthier than nonusers.
Internet use isn’t related statistically to differences in community size, GAO said, although broadband is more available in large metropolitan areas than in rural areas. Survey showed significant increase in broadband usage, to 12% of all Internet users now from 2% in 1998.
There is continuing evidence of digital divide, GAO said, but it questioned whether that was significant: “It is often the case that individuals with greater education and income are the first to adopt new technologies… The challenge for policymakers over the long run will be to determine whether any continuing disparities in the availability and use of the Internet… threaten to deepen the socioeconomic divisions within our society.”