Universal Service in a Broader Perspective: The European Digital Divide

Abstract

Ensuring universal service is a top objective in many countries in order that all the citizens can have access basic communications services. Although the ICT equipment in households and its usage by individuals are essential prerequisites for benefiting from ICTs, the situation in the European Union is far from uniform. This article provides a description of the European information society development scenario using the values reached by the member states in a set of indicators selected for measuring said progress in households. Two tools are used for providing a broader perspective of the digital divide: a composite index and the cluster analysis. Below, a study is provided on what variables are relevant for interpreting the situation that is presented.

Keywords

• Information society
• digital divide
• universal service
• European Union
• ICT