Digital divides exist when there is unequal access to information and communication technologies. They can occur at different geographic scales from global to local. At the global scale, access to broadband and mobile internet is much higher in Europe at around 90% compared to an average of 40% across African states. National divides also exist between urban and rural areas, with rural areas often lacking adequate internet infrastructure. During the COVID-19 pandemic, digital exclusion increased for some groups who struggled to engage in online activities such as work, education, and socializing due to lacking adequate digital devices or skills. Efforts are being made to address digital divides but they are difficult to completely overcome as new technologies emerge and initial adoption is higher in wealthy urban areas.

1. www.hoddereducation.co.uk/geographyreview
Simon Oakes
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Digital divides

2. Key terms
Digital divide When there is unequal access to ICT (information and
communications technology). Digital divides are found in different
contexts at varying geographic scales.
Digital
exclusion
When particular individuals or groups are unable to use digital
technology and make use of online services due to low incomes or
other factors which prevent them from using the internet.
Teleworking When people use the internet and video-conferencing apps (such as
Zoom or Teams) to work or study from a home place instead of an
office or college.
Do you know what these terms mean?
Click to reveal the definitions
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3. Digital divides at varying
geographic scales
• At the global scale, nearly 90% of people in Europe were broadband or mobile
internet users in 2020, but the average across Africa’s 54 states was about
40%.
• A rural–urban digital divide exists in all countries. In higher-income countries,
this shows as a divide in internet quality whereas rural areas in lower-income
countries may lack internet services altogether.
• National core–periphery digital divides develop when new technologies are
‘rolled out’ first in core regions, such as southeast England, leaving the rest of
the country to catch up.
Can you think of any other geographic scales or
social contexts where a digital divide might
develop?
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4. Economic causes of
digital divides
• Poorer people (in local or global contexts) cannot purchase the equipment and
contracts needed for regular online access.
• Lower-income regions are bypassed by telecoms providers (the companies
that build broadband or mobile networks) if there is little profit to be made there.
• Internet uptake may stay low even where services are made available and
affordable if people lack necessary hardware and software skills (‘digital
literacy’). 900 million people in African states have potential access to mobile
internet coverage but only a fraction of those people can use it.
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5. Economic causes of
digital divides
Practice questions
(a) Analyses the data
shown in Figure 1.
(b) Suggest reasons for
the low uptake of
internet use in the
regions shown.
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6. Non-economic factors affecting
digital participation
Factor How it influences digital divides
Governance Many governments provide financial support for broadband or mobile
services in places where there is little profit for private companies
(typically due to low population numbers or density). UK rural
communities in ‘not-spots’ (areas with inadequate mobile phone
coverage) can apply for a £2 million grant for improved connectivity.
Physical
geography
The Highlands of Scotland and Powys (mid-Wales) have the highest
proportion of homes unable to receive fast broadband of 10 Mb/s.
Demographic
characteristics
Older people may have little prior experience of ICT or face participation
difficulties arising from reduced sight or movement.
Digital divides can increase or reduce due to different factors.
Can you think of any additional factors?
Can you assess which factor is most important, and why?
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7. Covid-19 lockdowns and the
growth of teleworking
Pre-existing technological trends accelerated further under lockdown due
to the removal of social barriers that previously slowed their growth.
• Prior to Covid-19, many companies discouraged teleworking in the belief
that employees would be less productive.
• But company results soon showed this belief to be wrong. Employees
who worked from home remained productive.
• Business experts now believe that teleworking is here to stay for many
companies, even when the pandemic ends.
• More schools and colleges may offer online learning courses in the
future because the experience of lockdown has shown that this model of
education can work.
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8. Digital exclusion during
Covid-19 lockdowns
What was your own experience of lockdown
like? How easy did you find it to study?
Were there any barriers to your learning?
• During the Covid-19 pandemic,
everyday activities — work, studying,
shopping and socialising — happened
online.
• But some younger and older people
alike were unable to participate equally
due to digital exclusion
• Many children, especially in poorer
homes, were unable to study online
effectively.
• In 2020, 10% of UK families did not own
a home computer or tablet.
Photo credit:
Simon Oakes
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9. Tackling digital divides
Because teleworking has grown in importance, greater effort is now being
made to tackle digital divides.
• The UK Department for Education (DfE) is providing more free
laptops to local authorities, schools and colleges for some of the 1.8
million UK children who lacked adequate home access to a device in
2020.
• At the global scale, pan-African broadband services are being
improved by transnational corporations (TNCs) such as Vodafone to
meet rising demand. By 2025, the number of Africans who are
connected to the internet via mobiles is predicted to more than double
from 200 million to nearly 500 million.
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10. Why are digital divides so
hard to tackle?
• Large technology
transnational corporations
keep creating ever-faster and
more powerful digital phones,
computers and broadband
technologies.
• The cause of this constant
innovation is a feedback loop
driven by markets.
• Each ‘round’ of new innovations
is expensive at first and often
available mainly in urban areas.
• Poorer people and rural areas
are always at risk of being left
behind each time there is a
‘leap forwards’ in new
technology.
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11. A digital divide timeline
Practice question Using Figure 2 and your own
knowledge, evaluate the success of government
strategies to tackle regional inequality in the UK.
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12. Will digital divides ever
completely disappear?
• The simple answer is ‘no’.
• The UK’s urban–rural digital divide always ‘resurfaces’ eventually because
technology does not stand still.
• Each new generation of televisions and mobiles comes with new services
which use even more internet bandwidth.
• This encourages companies to offer even better mobile and broadband
services, usually starting with high-density urban areas where most
customers live.
• Thus, fast urban areas keep getting faster while rural areas are always at
risk of being left behind
• The same is true at the national scale: the poorest countries perpetually
play technological ‘catch-up’ with the richest ones.
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13. Plenary questions
1 Is internet access a human right?
2 Should governments make broadband and mobile services
freely available for all, like roads and motorways?
3 Will societies revert to ‘business as usual’ when the
pandemic is over, or is teleworking and online education
here to stay?
4 Think about all of your different A-level geography topics.
How might the places, societies and environments you
have studied be affected by growth of digital divides? What
are the implications for hazards and disaster
management, for example?
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14. This resource is part of GEOGRAPHY REVIEW, a magazine written for A-level
students by subject experts. To subscribe to the full magazine go
to: http://www.hoddereducation.co.uk/geographyreview
Hodder & Stoughton © 2021
Simon Oakes is the author of A-level Geography
Topic Master: Global Systems published by Hodder
Education.
Some of the illustrations in this presentation are
taken from this book.
The photograph of the Earth (slide 1) was created
by NASA; photograph slide 8 © Simon Oakes