Governmental and Cultural Factors in Broadband Adoption

Though the potential benefits of broadband Internet adoption are great, the levels of take-up vary greatly around the world. Some governments have adopted aggressive policies to deploy broadband networks and to encourage the use of these applications, while others have not. In the former cases, governments are motivated to promote broadband adoption in order to realize both economic and social benefits. This chapter argues that the high level of broadband adoption rates witnessed in certain Asian economies is attributable in part to the aggressive policies pursued by these governments. Independent of these policies however, social factors can also have an impact on whether broadband-related technology will be adopted. Even if economic and social benefits exist therefore, as in the case of telemedicine in the United States, cultural and social factors may in fact hinder the deployment of such applications and retard the growth rate of broadband access.