The Euromonitor blog has a new report on the global digital divide with the accompanying graphic. (click to see full size version). The measure represented in this graphic is the proportion of households in each country that possess broadband internet-enabled computers. Nearly all South Korean households do, compared with only about two-thirds of those in the United States. The report also notes the following main points.- Access to and use of broadband internet has significant social, economic and political implications.
- While developed economies continue to have a higher rate of broadband internet penetration than developing ones, growth rates are significantly higher in developing regions.
Notably, the report does not deal with the current explosive growth of mobile broadband services via so-called "smart phones." However, addition of this important factor would only seem to underscore the main points noted above.