Microsoft Working To End Broadband Gap In Rural America

Microsoft is working to close the broadband gap in rural America. However, a DTN report states that the company needs the help of rural dwellers to accomplish this task.

Shelly McKinley, Microsoft's General Manager of Technology and Corporate Responsibility, recently spoke at the Nebraska Rural Futures Institute. She says high-speed Internet is now a necessity of life, while the push to expand access in rural areas is compared to the move to bring electricity to rural areas in the 20th century.

Microsoft has created a plan to improve rural connectivity, the Rural Airband Initiative. One of the methods Microsoft wants to use to bring the Internet into rural areas is to use the TV white space spectrum. McKinley says white spaces are the grainy channels on your TV that are not used by TV channels.

The Federal Communications Commission oversees the White Space Spectrum, and Microsoft wants the FCC to ensure the continued use of these channels and provide more spectrum for similar purposes. A major advantage of using void spectrum is that the signal has the ability to remove natural barriers such as air bubbles. B. trees to overcome.

Microsoft is calling on rural residents to turn to their elected officials and ask them to push the FCC for more space to fill the broadband gap.