This paper aims to reassert the role of space in the study of the New Information and Communication Technologies (NICTs). We examine the internet backbone topology in Brazil using mathematical tools from graph theory. By calculating centrality indexes (closeness and betweeness) and other quantitative techniques as well, the physical networks that comprise the internet are compared to the existing urban network. We show that, in its general features, the spatial dimension of the internet does not subvert the previous economic geography, despite the anti-geographic bias raised by part of the literature on technology impacts.
Topology; backbones; internet; urban network; Brazil
