In Microsoft want to use a TV to connect to broadband Internet millions of Americans living in rural areas.
Microsoft plans to improve access to broadband Internet in remote areas of the United States, using the signal of terrestrial television, which will give an opportunity to expand the penetration of broadband access. This was reported by press service of the company on Tuesday.
The goal of the campaign is "to overcome in the next five years the digital divide while providing rural residents the broadband Internet," wrote the President of Microsoft brad Smith in his blog.
"Of the 34 million Americans who still do not have access to high speed Internet and 23.4 million live in rural areas of the country," writes Smith.
According to the research at Congress, in rural areas access to broadband Internet with download speeds of 25 megabits per second is about 55% of the US population; at the same time, in cities the proportion of people with access to high speed Internet is 94%.
The improvement of network access is also a political priority for the Task force on rural energy President Donald trump.
"Connecting to the Internet is becoming roads, water supply networks, sewers of the 21st century," said Minister of agriculture Sonny Purdue on June 15 at the first meeting of the group.
Policy still can not say clearly, exactly how they planned to achieve powerful expansion of Internet penetration, however, most experts believe that a successful initiative will require investments at the level of the Federal government and state governments, as well as by private business.
The plan proposed by Microsoft, based on the approval by the Federal telecommunications Commission that, at least three television channels in a spectrum – "the so-called TV frequency gaps" – "available for use by wireless communication systems on a licence exempt basis in all markets of the country."
Frequency spaces reserved for broadcast companies, can transmit a signal wireless broadband Internet and combined with 4G and fiber lines can reduce the cost of the program to the level of 8-12 billion dollars.
Some critics argue that the plan of Microsoft, associated with the use of the radio gaps, in reality can not work.
"We think that the increased availability of broadband Internet in rural areas is a good idea, but not in the form in which offers Microsoft – said in comments to The Washington Post, Executive Vice President of the National Association of broadcasters Dennis Wharton. They do a lot of unwise promises. The idea of using frequency gaps in the air for more than a decade, and during that time there were a lot of evidence that it is bad and uncompetitive."
However, Microsoft plans to begin deploying networks using frequency gaps in the States of Washington, North Dakota, South Dakota, Arizona, Kansas, Texas, Wisconsin, Michigan, Virginia, Georgia, new York and Maine.
