Tethered Connectivity? The Spatial Distribution of Wireless Infrastructure

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Abstract
At current growth rates, the number of wireless subscribers will surpass that of fixed telephones in the middle of the first decade of the 21st century. This fundamental shift in telecommunications has led many to believe that wireless technologies will break the ‘tyranny of geography’, help close the digital divide between core and periphery locations, and allow firms to be more footloose. This paper will examine the spatial distribution of wireless infrastructure in the United States to determine if the core–periphery relationship of cities is altered by wireless technologies. To do so the analysis will compare wireless infrastructure with Internet infrastructure and telephone switch infrastructure with a focus on data infrastructure in all three categories. The infrastructure datasets will be then compared with population distributions to determine their impacts on a spatial digital divide. The results of the study will provide a snapshot of the geography of wireless technologies, a comparison with other terrestrial communications, and insight into the policy of infrastructure delivery.