Judith Dempsey

The Digital Divide in U.S. Mobile Technology and Speeds

This paper explores two research questions. First, is there a digital divide in how certain groups access mobile broadband as measured by the mobile connection technology? Second, is there a digital divide in the quality of their mobile broadband as measured by download and upload speeds? Overall, we conclude that the mobile digital divide does exist across certain dimensions. Rural areas are somewhat more dependent on non-Wi-Fi mobile technology and experience slower speeds on their mobile connections.