Jeonnam Province Strives to Bridge the Digital Divide Between Urban and Rural Areas

Promotion of High-Speed Internet Network Construction Project in 141 Villages Including Island Areas in the Province

[Muan=Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Yoon Jamin] Jeonnam Province is making every effort to bridge the digital divide between urban and rural areas.

The province announced on the 20th that it will establish a high-speed internet network even in remote island villages.

To this end, in collaboration with the Ministry of Science and ICT and KT Corporation, it will promote the government’s Digital New Deal project to build high-speed internet networks in 141 villages within the province (109 on the mainland and 32 on islands), including internet underserved and island areas.

The rural high-speed internet network construction project involves installing optical cables, optical terminal boxes, and utility poles to ensure internet speeds of 100Mbps or higher, making internet access easy even in island and mountainous villages.

With a project budget of 5 billion KRW this year, the project is scheduled to be completed by September, aiming to provide high-quality information and communication services to rural areas.

Once completed, the project will establish a foundation for non-face-to-face services spreading throughout society due to COVID-19 in rural areas as well.

In particular, it is expected to discover various models for generating revenue, such as launching internet shopping sites for direct online transactions of agricultural and marine products and promoting personal broadcasting through SNS.

Choi Youngju, Jeonnam Province’s Smart Information Officer, said, “We will continue the project to prevent the digital divide between urban and rural areas from deepening into social, educational, and economic disparities,” adding, “We will improve information services to a level that residents can truly feel.”