Deploying for Deliverance: A Digital Divide Content Analysis in Municipal Wireless Networks Documentation

Considering the proliferation of information technology (IT), growing IT divides are still proven to exist today. Although some argue the broadband technology could be the platform for universal ubiquity, the benefits are still debatable for municipalities providing access. The authors discuss how public officials have decided to lead, support and usher in an era of rapid IT development by way of wireless broadband networks to address digital divide concerns, and how these claims may or may not meet expectations. The purpose of this paper is two-fold: (1) to propose a fruitful investigative overview of U.S. cities making claims that a municipal wireless network will bridge the so-called ‘digital divide;’ (2) to examine the digital divide language 21 American cities use by employing a content analysis. Finally, implications for research on MWN are drawn.