Mostly schooling and rurality: why older adults' internet access tracks fixed broadband across Chilean municipalities, 2013 to 2024

Older people's internet access varies between places. These gaps between places can be read in two ways: as reflecting features of the places, such as their infrastructure, or characteristics of the people who live there, such as their schooling and income. In Chile, the share of people aged 60 and over with internet at home rose from 41% to 92% between 2013 and 2024, mostly through phones. The share is higher in municipalities with more fixed broadband subscriptions per household. We ask how much of the gap in access between municipalities with more and fewer subscriptions reflects the older people who live in them. For 331 municipalities, we link five waves of the national household survey to the regulator's subscription counts, comparing municipalities with each other and over time. Once the older population's schooling, income, age, sex and rural residence are held constant, 62% to 85% of this gap disappears, mostly through schooling and rural residence. Measured infrastructure (antenna density and download speeds) accounts for 8% to 17% of the gap. Much of that 8% to 17% overlaps with rural residence. Over time, access rose little or no faster in municipalities where subscriptions grew faster. Most of the gap therefore reflects the older people who live in each municipality. Rural residence describes the place as well, since rural areas cost more to connect. Chile's national policy puts infrastructure first, and the findings fit pairing networks with skills and support that let older adults use them when they choose to.