Microsoft - Microsoft Airband: An annual update on connecting rural America - Printable Version +- Sick Gaming (https://www.sickgaming.net) +-- Forum: Computers (https://www.sickgaming.net/forum-86.html) +--- Forum: Windows (https://www.sickgaming.net/forum-89.html) +--- Thread: Microsoft - Microsoft Airband: An annual update on connecting rural America (/thread-93884.html) |
Microsoft - Microsoft Airband: An annual update on connecting rural America - xSicKxBot - 03-06-2020 Microsoft Airband: An annual update on connecting rural America <div style="margin: 5px 5% 10px 5%;"><img src="https://www.sickgaming.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/microsoft-airband-an-annual-update-on-connecting-rural-america.png" width="1086" height="720" title="" alt="" /></div><div><p><span data-contrast="none">Last year</span><span data-contrast="none">, a t</span><span data-contrast="none">eam of Amish</span><span data-contrast="none">-owned</span><span data-contrast="none"> horses dragg</span><span data-contrast="none">ed</span><span data-contrast="none"> </span><span data-contrast="none">a load </span><span data-contrast="none">up a ridge</span><span data-contrast="none"> </span><span data-contrast="none">near Essex, New York. </span><span data-contrast="none">It was a</span><span data-contrast="none"> </span><span data-contrast="none">normal</span><span data-contrast="none"> scene</span><span data-contrast="none"> </span><span data-contrast="none">for</span><span data-contrast="none"> rural America</span><span data-contrast="none"> – </span><span data-contrast="none">straight out of a Norman Rockwell painting</span><span data-contrast="none"> – </span><span data-contrast="none">except that they were bearing telecommunications equipment to connect the local community to </span><span data-contrast="none">the internet. </span><span data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335559739":0,"335559740":240}" data-wac-het="1"> </span></p> <p><span data-contrast="none">Essex</span><span data-contrast="none"> </span><span data-contrast="none">is barely </span><span data-contrast="none">12</span><span data-contrast="none"> </span><span data-contrast="none">miles across the lake from Burlington, Vermont, but broadband is scarce</span><span data-contrast="none">.</span><span data-contrast="none"> </span><span data-contrast="none">In our increasingly digital and interconnected world, broadband is as important as electricity or water. </span><span data-contrast="auto">Rural communities without broadband face higher unemployment rates and see fewer educational and economic opportunities.</span><span data-contrast="none"> </span><span data-contrast="none">For the </span><span data-contrast="none">woman overseeing </span><span data-contrast="none">the horses, </span><span data-contrast="none">Beth </span><span data-contrast="none">Schiller, CEO of </span><span data-contrast="none">CvWireless</span><span data-contrast="none"> LLC</span><span data-contrast="none">,</span><span data-contrast="none"> </span><span data-contrast="none">this is a solvable problem.</span><span data-contrast="none"> Together with Microsoft’s Airband Initiative, she’s bringing connectivity to her community</span><span data-contrast="none">.</span><span data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335559739":0,"335559740":240}" data-wac-het="1"> </span></p> <p><span data-contrast="auto">In the summer of 2017, we launched the </span><a href="https://news.microsoft.com/rural-broadband/"><span data-contrast="none">Microsoft Airband Initiative</span></a><span data-contrast="auto">, which brings broadband connectivity to</span><span data-contrast="auto"> people </span><span data-contrast="auto">living in underserved rural areas. To eliminate the rural broadband gap, we bring together private</span><span data-contrast="auto">–</span><span data-contrast="auto">sector capital investment in new technologies and rural broadband deployments with public</span><span data-contrast="auto">–</span><span data-contrast="auto">sector financial and regulatory support. We set an ambitious goal: to provide access to broadband to three million </span><span data-contrast="auto">people </span><span data-contrast="auto">in unserved rural areas </span><span data-contrast="auto">of the United States</span><span data-contrast="auto"> </span><span data-contrast="auto">by July 4, 2022</span><span data-contrast="auto">. </span><span data-contrast="auto">At </span><span data-contrast="auto">two and a half years since</span><span data-contrast="auto"> launch</span><span data-contrast="auto">, we are</span><span data-contrast="auto"> at the</span><span data-contrast="auto"> halfway </span><span data-contrast="auto">point of </span><span data-contrast="auto">the time we gave ourselves to meet this goal</span><span data-contrast="auto"> and</span><span data-contrast="auto"> </span><span data-contrast="auto">we</span><span data-contrast="auto"> feel good </span><span data-contrast="auto">about the steady progress </span><span data-contrast="auto">we’ve made and how much we have learned.</span><span data-contrast="auto"> </span><span data-contrast="auto">But </span><span data-contrast="auto">one thing we have learned is that </span><span data-contrast="auto">the problem is even bigger than we imagined.</span><span data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335559739":0,"335559740":240}" data-wac-het="1"> </span></p> <p><b><span data-contrast="auto">The broadband gap is </span></b><b><span data-contrast="auto">wide but </span></b><b><span data-contrast="auto">solvable</span></b><span data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335559739":0,"335559740":240}" data-wac-het="1"> </span></p> <p><span data-contrast="none">Beth’s horse-borne approach to connectivity may be unique, but the problem is not: </span><span data-contrast="none">A</span><span data-contrast="none">ccording </span><span data-contrast="none">to the Federal Communications Commission</span><span data-contrast="none">’s</span><span data-contrast="none"> (FCC)</span><span data-contrast="none"> </span><span data-contrast="none">2019 broadband report</span><span data-contrast="none">, more than 21 million </span><span data-contrast="none">people in </span><span data-contrast="none">America, nearly 17 </span><span data-contrast="none">million</span><span data-contrast="none"> of </span><span data-contrast="none">whom</span><span data-contrast="none"> </span><span data-contrast="none">live in rural communities, don’t have access to broadband. </span><span data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335559739":0,"335559740":240}" data-wac-het="1"> </span></p> <p><a href="https://broadbandnow.com/research/fcc-underestimates-unserved-by-50-percent"><span data-contrast="none">A recent study by BroadbandNow</span></a><span data-contrast="auto"> found that the number of unserved</span><span data-contrast="auto"> people </span><span data-contrast="auto">is nearly double the current reported amount and more than 42 million Americans do not have access to broadband</span><span data-contrast="auto"> </span><span data-contrast="auto">–</span><span data-contrast="auto">especially in rural areas.</span><span data-contrast="auto"> </span><span data-contrast="auto">O</span><span data-contrast="auto">ur</span><span data-contrast="auto"> </span><span data-contrast="auto">own </span><span data-contrast="auto">data shows that some </span><span data-contrast="auto">157.3 million people in the U.S. do not use the internet at broadband speeds</span><span data-contrast="auto">. </span><span data-contrast="auto">And while we are making progress and the reported number is down by six million people from last year,</span><span data-contrast="auto"> </span><span data-contrast="auto">t</span><span data-contrast="auto">hat’s </span><span data-contrast="auto">still </span><span data-contrast="auto">more than the populations of our eight biggest states</span><span data-contrast="auto"> – </span><span data-contrast="auto">California, Texas, Florida, New York, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Ohio</span><span data-contrast="auto"> and Georgia</span><span data-contrast="auto"> – </span><span data-contrast="auto">combined.</span><span data-contrast="auto"> </span><span data-contrast="auto">More must be done.</span><span data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335559739":0,"335559740":240}" data-wac-het="1"> </span></p> <p><span data-contrast="auto">As </span><a href="https://blogs.microsoft.com/on-the-issues/2019/04/08/its-time-for-a-new-approach-for-mapping-broadband-data-to-better-serve-americans/"><span data-contrast="none">we’ve said from the start of the </span><span data-contrast="none">initiative</span></a><span data-contrast="auto">, </span><span data-contrast="auto">without accurate data</span><span data-contrast="auto"> we </span><span data-contrast="auto">cannot fully </span><span data-contrast="auto">understand </span><span data-contrast="auto">the broadband gap</span><span data-contrast="auto">. You</span><span data-contrast="auto"> cannot solve a problem </span><span data-contrast="auto">you</span><span data-contrast="auto"> </span><span data-contrast="auto">don’t understand.</span><span data-contrast="auto"> </span><span data-contrast="auto">M</span><span data-contrast="auto">ore accurate data will help </span><span data-contrast="auto">deploy broadband in the places its needed</span><span data-contrast="auto">. </span><span data-contrast="auto">Because </span><span data-contrast="auto">the government makes </span><span data-contrast="auto">many funding decisions based on federal data, communities</span><span data-contrast="auto"> that lack broadband</span><span data-contrast="auto"> – </span><span data-contrast="auto">but</span><span data-contrast="auto">,</span><span data-contrast="auto"> </span><span data-contrast="auto">according to FCC data</span><span data-contrast="auto">,</span><span data-contrast="auto"> </span><i><span data-contrast="auto">have</span></i><span data-contrast="auto"> access to broadband</span><span data-contrast="auto"> – </span><span data-contrast="auto">have less access to resources needed to </span><span data-contrast="auto">actually </span><span data-contrast="auto">secure</span><span data-contrast="auto"> broadband</span><span data-contrast="auto"> connectivity</span><span data-contrast="auto">. This is</span><span data-contrast="auto"> </span><span data-contrast="auto">certainly </span><span data-contrast="auto">a Catch-22</span><span data-contrast="auto">, but it</span><span data-contrast="auto"> can be solved. </span><span data-contrast="auto">We’re </span><span data-contrast="auto">encouraged</span><span data-contrast="auto"> </span><span data-contrast="auto">that the FCC has adopted new policies that </span><i><span data-contrast="auto">should</span></i><span data-contrast="auto"> result in broadband providers reporting more accurate data and that Congress has worked on legislation to improve the FCC’s broadband </span><span data-contrast="auto">data</span><span data-contrast="auto">. </span><span data-contrast="auto">It’s imperative that </span><span data-contrast="auto">these polic</span><span data-contrast="auto">y changes</span><span data-contrast="auto"> </span><span data-contrast="auto">are </span><span data-contrast="auto">quickly and fully implemented</span><span data-contrast="auto"> so that people without broadband will get access to it</span><span data-contrast="auto">. </span><span data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335559739":0,"335559740":240}" data-wac-het="1"> </span></p> <p><a href="https://www.sickgaming.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/microsoft-airband-an-annual-update-on-connecting-rural-america.png"><img class="alignnone wp-image-63634 size-full" src="https://www.sickgaming.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/microsoft-airband-an-annual-update-on-connecting-rural-america.png" alt="Data Chart" width="1086" height="720"></a></p> <p><strong>Steady progress to close the broadband gap </strong></p> <p>But the country can’t wait on perfect data. We’re moving full steam ahead in the areas where we know we can help and making steady progress against our 3-million-person goal. We’re now in 25 states and one territory, and staging pilot programs in two additional states. We’ve already reached a total of 633,000 previously unserved people, up from 24,000 people in 2018, and as our partners’ network deployments accelerate over the coming months, we will be reaching many more.</p> <p>We haven’t made this progress alone. We have made it through building partnerships throughout the United States, learning more about local solutions that will close the broadband gap. Partners such as <a href="https://www.wisperisp.com/">Wisper Internet</a> will work to bring broadband access to almost 1 million people in rural unserved areas in Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Missouri and Oklahoma. In Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio, our partner Watch Communications will bring high-speed internet access to more than 860,000 people living in unserved rural areas. Our partnerships also bring connectivity to historically underserved communities, including those residing on tribal lands. Sacred Wind Communications will help approximately 47,000 people on and off Navajo lands in New Mexico reap the benefits that come with access to the internet. Moreover, we have forged strategic partnerships with American Tower Corporation, Tilson, and Zayo Group over the last year that will further bring down the end-to-end network deployment costs for rural ISPs. We have also established a broad-based <a href="https://aka.ms/airbandisp">Airband ISP Program</a> that provides ISPs in 47 states plus Washington D.C. and Puerto Rico with access to critical assets, helping them connect rural communities.</p> <p>There’s good news about the cost of connectivity. The price of TV white spaces devices (TVWS) – a new connectivity technology that’s particularly useful in rural areas where laying cable simply isn’t an option – continues to drop. In the last year, the cost of customer equipment has plummeted by 50%, all while achievable speeds have increased tenfold.</p> <p>At the same time, we’re pleased to see our partners in government make important, steady progress to enable these new technologies. We applaud Chairman Pai and the FCC for their vote last week to propose positive and necessary changes to TVWS regulations. Reducing red tape will enable ISPs to accelerate their progress in rural broadband deployment and help bridge the digital divide in rural America. We are also pleased that the FCC has announced plans to make up to $20 billion available in Rural Digital Opportunity funding to help ISPs bring high-speed broadband access to high-cost unserved rural areas. At the state level, we’re pleased that several state governments have created their own funding programs to support new broadband infrastructure, including Illinois, Indiana, Virginia and South Dakota.</p> <p><strong>What comes after connectivity?</strong></p> <p>As we’ve connected communities across the country, we’ve kept asking ourselves a central, key question: What comes after connectivity?</p> <p>Broadband connections aren’t a panacea for all that ails rural America. Simply plugging in an ethernet cable doesn’t create jobs, increase farmers’ yields or provide a veteran with healthcare. Rural communities need resources beyond infrastructure to rebuild and lift themselves up. That’s why much of our work goes well beyond connectivity.</p> <p>From education, agriculture, veterans to healthcare, we are working with local and national organizations to take the next step. For example, we are <a href="https://blogs.microsoft.com/on-the-issues/2019/05/22/working-together-to-bring-broadband-to-rural-veterans/">partnering</a> with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to support their telehealth initiative. We are working with Airband partners to offer discounted broadband service to veterans as well as provide vital digital skills and employability training. Our work on Airband is enabling other Microsoft efforts – such as our <a href="https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/corporate-responsibility/techspark">TechSpark program</a>, <a href="https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/corporate-responsibility/skills-employability/resources?activetab=pivot_1%3aprimaryr3">digital skills initiatives</a> and even <a href="https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/corporate-responsibility/sustainability">environmental sustainability</a> – to flourish in areas we’d never be able to reach otherwise.</p> <p>Take for example, agriculture. The family farm is the embodiment of rural America. Unfortunately, many American farmers have struggled in recent years, whether because of policy, extreme weather events and climate change, or falling crop prices. Farmers need help, and many have turned to new technologies to compete in the global marketplace. Our FarmBeats platform is one such technology that can give farmers a real-time view of their land using ground-based sensors and “internet of things” technology to track everything from soil temperature to pH levels to moisture data. This can create a modern “Farmers’ Almanac” to chart out the farm’s future, helping farmers predict what they should plant and where, increase yields, better utilize fertilizer and irrigate more efficiently. But a farm that lacks access to high-speed internet will be left in the past, unable to use these new technologies. That’s where Airband comes in: connecting rural communities to transformative technologies.</p> <p>The effort to electrify rural America in the 1930s enabled new technologies to transform those areas, empowering farms, ranches and other rural places and improving quality of life and economic opportunity. Now, nearly 90 years later, broadband can similarly provide the infrastructure to lift up rural America, but we’re losing the race against time. While our investments and those of our partners are taking seed and we are beginning to see advances, technological progress doesn’t wait. If we don’t move faster, rural America will be left further behind. We can’t let that happen.</p> <p class="tag-list">Tags: <a aria-label="See more stories about Airband initiative" href="https://blogs.microsoft.com/on-the-issues/tag/airband-initiative/" rel="tag">Airband initiative</a>, <a aria-label="See more stories about broadband access" href="https://blogs.microsoft.com/on-the-issues/tag/broadband-access/" rel="tag">broadband access</a>, <a aria-label="See more stories about rural broadband" href="https://blogs.microsoft.com/on-the-issues/tag/rural-broadband/" rel="tag">rural broadband</a></p> </div> https://www.sickgaming.net/blog/2020/03/05/microsoft-airband-an-annual-update-on-connecting-rural-america/ |