Wireless Diffusion and Mobile Computing : Implications for the Digital Divide

Gaps in the rates of digital inclusion continue to plague certain socio-economic segments of the American economy. For these groups, the migration path towards mobile computing and digital inclusion may transpire from 2G voice centric mobile telephone to the data centric smartphone or wireless PDA. This study investigates what socio-economic factors are determinative to the diffusion of mobile telecommunications; how these findings can be extended to mobile computing; and how these findings can inform managerial and policy making decisions concerning the digital divide. Using survey data from 1994 and 1998 and a probit model of mobile phone adoption, we estimate the rate of diffusion and bounds for the long run market shares for specific socio-economic market segments in the United States. In contrast to traditional Internet access, neither education nor age are positive predictors of mobile phone adoption. In addition, Afro-Americans have adopted mobile phones at rates significantly higher than the population. These findings have considerable implications for the diffusion of mobile computing devices and the gaps in digital inclusion that may be overcome through the migration of Internet access to alternative devices. 1 THE DIGITAL DIVIDE Although lower socio-economic groups are experiencing increasing Internet access, the digital divide continues to command considerable attention from policy makers due to the threat of even greater polarization. US government representatives have set a clear public priority to make Internet connections as common as telephone connections (CNN.com 2000, 2001). Empirical research investigating the digital divide has focused upon a variety of defining social characteristics including