TY - JOUR
T1 - Fibre to the countryside
T2 - A comparison of public and community initiatives tackling the rural digital divide in the UK
AU - Gerli, Paolo
AU - Whalley, Jason
PY - 2021/11/1
Y1 - 2021/11/1
N2 - Although digitisation offers numerous opportunities for rural areas, they still lag behind cities in terms of access and adoption of Internet-based services. This divide is the result of multiple market failures in both the demand and supply of broadband access, which have been addressed through public, private and community-led initiatives. Based on interviews and ethnographic analysis, this paper explores how community networks and public-private partnerships have contributed to promoting the delivery and adoption of superfast broadband across the rural UK. The case study analysis compares the outcomes of each model, highlighting their strengths and weaknesses. Although expanding the coverage of superfast broadband across the county, the public-private partnership did not solve the access divide afflicting the hardest-to-reach areas. Some of the latter were served by the community network, which relied on volunteers and demand aggregation to reduce the cost of fibre rollout. The scalability of this approach, however, has yet to be demonstrated. On the demand side, both initiatives achieved a high take-up proving that the rural ‘adoption’ divide has decreased over the years. Nevertheless, more needs to be done to ensure that rural communities and businesses are able to leverage the benefits deriving from superfast broadband.
AB - Although digitisation offers numerous opportunities for rural areas, they still lag behind cities in terms of access and adoption of Internet-based services. This divide is the result of multiple market failures in both the demand and supply of broadband access, which have been addressed through public, private and community-led initiatives. Based on interviews and ethnographic analysis, this paper explores how community networks and public-private partnerships have contributed to promoting the delivery and adoption of superfast broadband across the rural UK. The case study analysis compares the outcomes of each model, highlighting their strengths and weaknesses. Although expanding the coverage of superfast broadband across the county, the public-private partnership did not solve the access divide afflicting the hardest-to-reach areas. Some of the latter were served by the community network, which relied on volunteers and demand aggregation to reduce the cost of fibre rollout. The scalability of this approach, however, has yet to be demonstrated. On the demand side, both initiatives achieved a high take-up proving that the rural ‘adoption’ divide has decreased over the years. Nevertheless, more needs to be done to ensure that rural communities and businesses are able to leverage the benefits deriving from superfast broadband.
KW - Broadband policy
KW - Community networks
KW - Digital divides
KW - Public private partnerships
KW - Rural broadband
KW - UK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85111046473&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.telpol.2021.102222
DO - 10.1016/j.telpol.2021.102222
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85111046473
VL - 45
JO - Telecommunications Policy
JF - Telecommunications Policy
SN - 0308-5961
IS - 10
M1 - 102222
ER -