The digital divide: some explanations

Access to and use of the Internet and other telecommunications services are rapidly becoming an increasingly common and critical part of commerce, education and social participation. Groups with little opportunity to participate in the services provided by new telecommunication technologies will be increasingly disadvantaged socially and economically. There is concern that differential access to modern communications services will create two separate classes in society: the 'information rich' that readily have access to new information sources such as the Internet and the 'information poor' that have limited or no access to the new services and are thus likely to be disadvantaged. [Introduction]