Digital Divide - International Picture

 

There is a widening gap between those with access to technology and those without. The gap between countries on the same continent is also getting wider. One of the ITU's analysts explained that the scale of a country's digital divide reflects the condition of its economy. There are many factors that create digital divide. These can be economic factors, politico-social factors and geographical factors. Countries with low level of English communication can also be a barrier in the development of technology in their countries because this affects their understanding of the use of internet and computers.



What leads on being on the wrong side of the digital divide?

The least digitally-developed countries like Guinea Biseau, Chad, Mali, Burkino Fasso and Niger might be on the wrong side of digital divide for many reasons.

These countries are located in Africa

One reason is they're one of the poorest countries in the world and they have limited economic prospect. Therefore they develop slowly with technology. In Chad, there are only 31, 200 telephones main lines in use and there are only 5 internet hosts available in the whole country as calculated in 2010. These countries have  inadequate system of radiotelephone communication stations. Burkina Faso is a poor, landlocked country that relies heavily on cotton and gold exports for revenue. The country has few natural resources and a weak industrial base.
Another reason is because of geographical factor. These countries are considered as mountainous countries and rainforest regions which give problems of developing their digital technologies.

Source: www.itu.int

             www.cia.gov

    


Impact of Access to Telecoms

Country	Population (2012)	Telephones/ Landlines (2011)	Mobile /Cellular (2011)	Telephone System	Radio Broadcast Stations	Country Code	Internet Hosts (2010)	Internet Users (2009)
Central African Republic	5,057,208	2,300	1.124 million	network consists principally of microwave radio relay and low-capacity, low-powered radiotelephone communication	state-owned radio network is supplemented by a small number of privately-owned broadcast stations as well as a few community radio stations	238 Internet: .cf	20	22,600
Costa Rica	4,636,348	1.491 million	4.358 million	good domestic telephone service in terms of breadth of coverage;	more than 100 privately-owned radio stations and a public radio network (2007)	506 Internet: .cr	146,164	1.485 million
Singapore	5,353,494	2.017 million	7.755 million	excellent service	18 domestic radio stations broadcasting with MediaCorp.	65 Internet: .sg	1.932 million	3.235 million
UK	63,047,162	33.32 million (2009)	80.799 million (2009)	technologically advanced domestic and international system	BBC operates multiple national, regional, and local radio networks with multiple transmission sites.	44 Internet: .uk	8.409 million	51.444 million
South Korea	48,860,500	29.468 million	52.507 million	excellent domestic and international services featuring rapid incorporation of new technologies	publicly-operated radio broadcast networks and many privately-owned radio broadcasting networks, each with multiple affiliates, and independent local stations (2010)	82 Internet: .kr	293,862	39.4 million

source: www.cia.gov