Abstract
The paper is devoted to a complex spatiotemporal analysis of the development of the Internet in the Russian Federation. The following quantitative and infrastructural aspects of regional disparities in the spread of the Internet are discussed: the regional distribution of the Internet audience, growth poles, disparities in the penetration level, etc. Changes in the geography of the Internet that took place over the first decade of the 21st century are revealed. Features of Russia’s geographical position and the related significant role of wireless technologies and the mobile Internet in particular are described. The network and organizational structure of the Russian Internet and its development prospects are covered. Qualitative aspects of regional disparities in the spread of the Internet in Russia are analyzed separately (the activity and effectiveness of the population’s use of the Internet). The dynamics and regional disparities in the development of the Internet and e-commerce market in Russia are examined. Conclusions are made about the significant decentralization in the regional distribution of Internet users in Russia in the first decade of the 21st century. The rapid proliferation of mobile communication technologies and mobile Internet penetration, in which Russia is among the world leaders, plays a significant role in smoothing geographical contrasts. However, a sufficiently rapid reduction in quantitative imbalances inside the country is accompanied by retention of significant qualitative gaps in the creation of Internet information resources and the Internet market, where metropolitan areas still have a monopoly.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Alisov, N.V. and Val’kova, T.M., Geography of Internet — global computer telecommunication system, Vestn. Mosk. Univ., Ser. 5: Geogr., 1997, no. 6, pp. 3–12.
comScore analytical company. http://www.comscore.com/rus
Openstat analytical company. https://www.openstat.ru
Baburin, V.L., Innovative paradigm in economic and social geography, Reg. Issled., 2003, no. 2, pp. 9–16.
Internet v Rossii: sostoyanie, perspektivy i tendentsii razvitiya. Otraslevoi doklad (Internet in Russia: Status, Prospects, and Trends of Development: a Report), Moscow: Fed. Agent. Pechat. Mass. Kommun., 2014.
Itogi federal’nogo statisticheskogo nablyudeniya po voprosam ispol’zovaniya naseleniem informatsionnykh tekhnologii i informatsionno-telekommunikatsionnykh setei (The Results of Federal Statistical Analysis of Use of Information Technologies and Information-Telecommunication Networks by Population), Moscow: Fed. Sluzhba Gos. Stat., 2013. http://www.gks.ru/free_doc/new_site/business/it/fed_nabl/tab1.htm
Castells, M. and Kiseleva, E., Russia in information era, Mir Ross., 2001, vol. 10, no. 1, pp. 35–66.
Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications of the Russian Federation. http://www.minsvyaz.ru
Nagirnaya, A.V., Global trends of diffusion of information and communication technologies, Izv. Ross. Akad. Nauk, Ser. Geogr., 2013, no. 5, pp. 30–40.
Nagirnaya, A.V., Features of telecommunications development in Russia, Probl. Reg. Ekol., 2013, no. 2, pp. 157–162.
Nagirnaya, A.V. and Myal’dzin, T.N., Internet and e-commerce: geography and global development, Vestn. Orlovsk. Gos. Univ., 2013, no. 4 (33), pp. 138–142.
Pokazateli razvitiya informatsionnogo obshchestva v Rossiiskoi Federatsii (The Indicators of Development of Information Society in Russian Federation), Moscow: Fed. Sluzhba Gos. Stat., 2014. http://www.gks.ru/free_doc/new_site/business/it/monitor_rf.xls
Development of Internet in Russian regions, Spring of 2014, Yandex Information Bulletin. http://download.yandex.ru/company/ya_internet_regions_2014.pdf
Rostelecom company. http://www.rt.ru
Rosich, Yu.Yu., Geography of development of Internet in Russia, Cand. Sci. (Geogr.) Dissertation, Moscow, 2005.
Internet Global statistics. http://www.InternetWorld-Stats.com
Sintserov, L.M., The first global information network, Izv. Ross. Akad. Nauk, Ser. Geogr., 2004, no. 3, pp. 71–75.
Sintserov, L.M., Transport and communication paradigm of the global development, Mirovaya Ekon. Mezhd. Otnosheniya, 2011, no. 5, pp. 122–128.
Sintserov, L.M., Problems of global integration, Izv. Ross. Akad. Nauk, Ser. Geogr., 2005, no. 4, pp. 5–12.
Smirnov, M.A., Modern factors of global diffusion of innovations (a case study of Internet), Cand. Sci. (Geogr.) Dissertation, Moscow, 2003.
Statistics on Russian domains. http://www.statdom.ru
Treivish, A.I., Gorod, raion, strana i mir. Razvitie Rossii glazami stranoveda (City, Region, Country, and the World. Development of Russia: View of a Geographer), Moscow: Novyi Khronograf, 2009.
Fund “Public Opinion.” http://runet.fom.ru
Hagerstrand, T., Innovation Diffusion as a Spatial Process, Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press, 1967.
Report of the Special Reporter on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, Frank La Rue, UN General Assembly Human Rights Council of 17th Session, 16 May, 2011.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Original Russian Text © A.V. Nagirnaya, 2015, published in Izvestiya RAN. Seriya Geograficheskaya, 2015, No. 2, pp. 41–51.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Nagirnaya, A.V. Development of the internet in Russian regions. Reg. Res. Russ. 5, 128–136 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1134/S2079970515020082
Received:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S2079970515020082