ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses major dimensions of Internet-related inequalities in contemporary Russia including relevant regional, urban/rural, income, gender, occupation and age-related predictive variables commonly used in order to operationalize differences in socioeconomic positions of individuals and families and, correspondingly, in their access to the Internet. The analysis is based on multiple data sources — from 2007–2010 Russian Federal State Statistics Service Household Budget Survey data 1 to the Public Opinion Research Foundation (FOM) Internet Use Survey (2002–2011) and other opinion and market research agencies' data on Internet coverage among different population groups. In addition to examining causes of a gap in access to the Internet using computers and mobile phones, current policies aimed at closing the digital divide as well as prospects and possibilities of convergence between different groups of population in patterns of information technologies usage will be briefly analyzed. 2
