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from the that-would-be-a-'bit'-of-an-improvement dept.
Microsoft has announced an effort to get broadband access to rural Americans. 34 million Americans do not have broadband Internet access, defined as a 25 Mbps connection by the FCC, and of these, 23.4 million live in rural areas. Microsoft has pledged to connect 2 million rural Americans to the Internet with broadband within five years, and push other companies and regulators to handle the full 23.4 million:
In some rural areas, parents have to drive their kids to the parking lot of the local library so their kids can file homework. In 2017, not being online hurts your education, your job prospects, your civic engagement.
Microsoft plans to use a cheaper technology — something called TV white spaces, which is on the wireless spectrum — to transmit broadband data. The company estimates it costs 80 percent less than building expensive wired infrastructure, and using a mix of technologies to close the rural broadband gap would cost roughly $10 billion.
Microsoft is asking to[sic] Federal Communications Commission to continue ensuring the spectrum needed for this approach, and to collect and publicly disclose data on rural broadband coverage, to guide policymakers and companies.
Also at The Seattle Times, The New York Times, and TechCrunch.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 12 2017, @05:13AM (7 children)
I just tested my speed on mobile and it's 3.7 Mbps. Entitled whiners who want 25 Mbps can just shut the fuck up.
(Score: 1) by Tyrsal on Wednesday July 12 2017, @05:51AM (6 children)
.. You really have no idea what the internet is like in rural america, do you? "Do they have phones".. lol.
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 12 2017, @06:15AM (5 children)
Enlighten me, shitbrain. Show me where in rural America there's no cell coverage.
You're one the entitled motherfuckers who thinks dialup speeds aren't good enough for "homework" and "jobs" aren't you?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 12 2017, @06:20AM
MUH VIDEO PORN I CANT GET MUH VIDEO PORN ON DIALUP FUCK U FUCK U FUCK FUCK U
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 12 2017, @06:32AM (1 child)
Runaway1956? This is your cue.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 12 2017, @07:18AM
I'm half that fucker's age and even I remember submitting homework over dialup.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Chrontius on Wednesday July 12 2017, @11:45AM (1 child)
Ex college student here.
Switched to DSL when the college's online homework submission pages timed out before they loaded on AOL 56K. There was a major rework, with an assload of AJAX, and dialup stopped working. My family's solution was "so study on campus." Except I didn't have any budget for eating food on campus, or gas budget for going home for meals.
(Score: 2) by kaszz on Wednesday July 12 2017, @05:56PM
On the same intelligence as "Let them eat cake" ? ;-)