The digital divide: Patterns, policy and scenarios for connecting the 'final few' in rural communities across Great Britain

- There is a clear urban-rural digital divide in Great Britain.
- Digital connectivity and Internet services are poorest in deep rural areas.
- Where broadband is made available, urban and rural broadband uptake is similar.
- Poor digital connectivity threatens the social and economic health of rural areas.
- Alternative technologies/delivery models will help future-proof rural digital infrastructure.

The Internet can bestow significant benefits upon those who use it. The prima facie case for an urban-rural digital divide is widely acknowledged, but detailed accounts of the spatial patterns of digital communications infrastructure are rarely reported. In this paper we present original analysis of data published by the UK telecommunications regulator, Ofcom, and identify and reflect on the entrenched nature of the urban-rural digital divide in Great Britain. Drawing upon illustrative case vignettes we demonstrate the implications of digital exclusion for personal and business lives in rural, and in particular remote rural, areas. The ability of the current UK policy context to effectively address the urban-rural digital divide is reviewed and scenarios for improving digital connectivity amongst the 'final few', including community-led broadband, satellite broadband and mobile broadband, are considered. A call is made for digital future proofing in telecommunications policy, without which the already faster urban areas will get 'faster, fastest' leaving rural areas behind and an increasingly entrenched urban-rural divide.