We talk frequently about the revolutionary network performance that will come with the spread of 5G, but did you know that about half of the world’s population still lacks broadband internet access?
Microsoft is looking to tackle this digital divide with its Airband International initiative, aiming to bring internet connectivity to 40 million people in disadvantaged areas around the world.
The initiative’s first focus is on communities in Latin America and Sub-Saharan Africa.
The Microsoft Airband Initiative Grant Fund supports innovative businesses that help billions of people get access to energy and the internet. pic.twitter.com/zcDrdPb5VF
— Microsoft (@Microsoft) January 5, 2018
Airband is an expansion of their Rural Airband initiative, which was launched in 2017 with a $10 million budget, and is currently working to improve internet access in communities across the U.S. by 2022.
In 2018, Microsoft established partnerships in 16 states that will see 1 million rural residents gain broadband connectivity, “a fundamental prerequisite for full participation in modern life and a basic requirement for access to the economic and educational opportunities that make success and prosperity possible for individuals and communities,” explains the company’s report.
For context, about 25 million Americans are without high-speed broadband internet — 19 million of which are in rural areas.
To achieve the goals of its rural initiative, Microsoft has primarily been repurposing TV White Spaces (TVWS) spectrums, i.e. “unused TV channels within the 600 MHz frequency range, which are able to carry wireless signals and therefore can provide broadband internet access,” explains Daphné Leprince-Ringuet in ZDNet.
But as it turns out, this solution isn’t necessarily one-size-fits-all.
Airband will use this same technology as it expands internationally, but while the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has permitted its use since 2010, governments in other countries might not be as open.
“We know that new technologies like TVWS can be incredibly useful in meeting rural connectivity needs at an affordable price,” said Shelley McKinley, head of technology at Microsoft. “However, many regulatory frameworks in many parts of the world have not kept pace with innovation.”
One way around this added hurdle in the digital divide is a continued search for partnerships with local ISPs, alongside “innovative technologies, regulatory approaches and business models,” the company explains.
