Title
Lit up and left dark: Failures of imagination in urban broadband networks.
Abstract
The design and deployment of urban broadband infrastructures inscribe particular imaginations of Internet access onto city streets. The different manifestations and locations of these networks, their uses, and access points often expose material excesses of urban broadband networks, as well as failures of Internet service providers, urban planners, and public officials to imagine the diverse ways that people incorporate Internet connection into their everyday lives. We approach the study of urban broadband networks through the juxtaposition of invisible networks that are buried under the streets and have always been "turned off" (dark fiber) versus hypervisible that are "turned on" and prominently displayed on city streets (LinkNYC). In our analysis of these two case studies, we critique themes of visibility and invisibility as indexes of power and access. Our findings are meant to provide a critical analysis of urban technology policy as well as theories of infrastructure, visibility, and access.
Year
DOI
Venue
2018
10.1177/1461444818779593
NEW MEDIA & SOCIETY
Keywords
Field
DocType
Broadband networks,dark fiber,digital divides,imagination,infrastructure,Internet access,LinkNYC,urban communication,visibility
Social science,Visibility,Software deployment,Telecommunications,Sociology,Technology policy,Broadband,Internet service provider,Broadband networks,Internet access,Invisibility
Journal
Volume
Issue
ISSN
20.0
12
1461-4448
Citations 
PageRank 
References 
0
0.34
4
Authors
2
Name
Order
Citations
PageRank
Germaine R. Halegoua100.68
Jessa Lingel2225.12