All over the world, governments and private institutions have committed to tackling the digital divide. This phenomenon, which causes rural communities to have poorer internet, has only been exacerbated in recent years as services move online. There are solutions, however, with some rolling out in North Carolina throughout 2025.
What is the Digital Divide?
By their nature, urban centers have a lot more infrastructure than other parts of the country. This makes sense, given that they have the largest populations and are hubs for larger businesses. As a result, urban areas tend to have stronger, more stable internet connections – this is the digital divide.
While that’s to be expected, there is a basic acceptable standard for internet quality. That bar is getting higher and higher, as technology advances. Today, we use the internet to do more than we did in the past. We use it for work, research, buying products, and sourcing entertainment. Each field requires an online platform and, in entertainment specifically, there are sectors like iGaming that recreate real-world experiences in the digital space. For example, it’s possible to go online and find a European Roulette table that has been digitally recreated with colorful visual assets and random number generators. It works just like it would in a land-based casino, but with online distribution. Streaming is another example that uses similar distribution methods to bring an online experience to users.
As more services rely on the internet, they’ll also deal with heavier data loads and use more advanced graphics and effects. This means the average connection will need to get better over time and if that doesn’t happen, certain regions risk being left behind when it comes to critical services. That’s why there has been a combined effort to bridge the digital divide by government and the private sector.
The Three Main Solutions for the Digital Divide
As of 2025, three main solutions are being used to tackle the digital divide. Here’s a breakdown of each one.
Infrastructure Expansion
This is the most obvious – expand infrastructure into the affected rural areas, so they get better internet access. This is the lion’s share of projects going on right now, with some scheduled to happen here in 2025. As we have recently covered, the N.C. Department of Information Technology (NCDIT) will oversee a rollout that will upgrade almost 70,000 locations. Elsewhere in the world, there are programs like Project Gigabit trying to do the same for the UK.
Digital Literacy
The digital divide isn’t just about infrastructure – it’s also about knowledge. Infrastructure is meaningless if residents don’t know how to use it, so there are a lot of non-profit organizations funding digital literacy programs. Since the most digitally illiterate people are older and unplugged from the internet, reaching them can be a chore. As tech fields develop, previously digitally literate people can also become illiterate with time if they don’t keep up with current events.
Satellite Internet
The last and most speculative solution is satellite internet – something SpaceX’s Starlink is already pursuing. Satellite internet can beam signal down to even the most rural, isolated locations. Assuming a corporate giant like SpaceX or Amazon already have devices in the sky, then forming a satellite connection can be much cheaper than laying ground infrastructure. There are NATO plans to use this tech as a backup for internet connections in the future.
In time, we can expect these solutions to lessen the digital divide in North Carolina, the US, and the whole world. If the future is digital, then solutions like these will always be needed to keep everybody up to speed.
