The geography of the digital divide: broadband deployment in the Community of Madrid

Abstract

Realising the potential of the information society requires an adequate broadband infrastructure, a sine qua non condition for usage. The different deployment rhythms of broadband networks threaten to increase the distance separating developed and developing countries. However, inside developed countries, separating lines are also being traced on regional or local scales. The magnitude and characteristics of this second form of geographic digital divide are not thoroughly known. This article provides this analysis for a specific case, namely the Community of Madrid. We conclude that outside the metropolitan areas, adapting existing infrastructures, instead of deploying new networks, is the actual base for expanding broadband accessibility. However, it seems certain that the deployment is quite far from being universal, at least in the medium term. Population size seems to be the most relevant criterion for identifying “threatened” areas.