2022 REPORT: Bridging the Digital Divide

How much can telcos, cable operators, fiber providers, wireless operators, utilities, municipalities, and other broadband players leverage the wide array of public funding programs to close the Digital Divide? What kinds of networks are operators and vendors looking to build, adapt, and/or expand? What are the biggest challenges they face in wiring rural and other unserved regions, and how can they meet these challenges?

To address these and related issues, Heavy Reading teamed up with four leading tech suppliers—Corning, DZS, Radisys, and Vantiva (formerly Technicolor)—to launch a comprehensive initiative examining the Digital Divide. Most notably, the initiative included an exclusive survey of broadband providers globally to gauge their strategies, plans, and timelines for closing the Digital Divide in the regions they cover, including the challenges they face and the technologies they aim to use.

In this white paper, Heavy Reading presents the results of that survey, analyzes the findings, and discusses the implications. We also draw some conclusions about what the findings mean for the overall drive to close the Digital Divide around the world.