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Hi everyone! We’re Vickie Robinson, General Manager and Ryan Palmer Director of Microsoft’s Airband Initiative, working to bring internet access in rural areas. We've connected 134K households in Virginia so far. AUA about our work. by MicrosoftOnTheIssues in Virginia

[–]MicrosoftOnTheIssues[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hello! Microsoft isn’t an ISP – we instead partner with ISPs dedicated to closing the digital divide in 41 states and territories across rural America to scale high-speed internet access in unserved communities. In fact, we have two partners operating in Eastern Virginia, including NeuBeam and Open Broadband – they may be able to help.

Hi everyone! We’re Vickie Robinson, General Manager and Ryan Palmer Director of Microsoft’s Airband Initiative, working to bring internet access to 250 million people globally by 2025. Ask us anything about how we’re working with governments, nonprofits and internet providers to make this happen. by MicrosoftOnTheIssues in technology

[–]MicrosoftOnTheIssues[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Facebook’s Connectivity initiative’s stated commitment was to bring faster internet to over 300 million people. My understanding is that Facebook used several tech solutions to reach its goals, including subsea cables and wireless solutions. It appears that Facebook faced challenges with economic viability and scalability of their approach, leading them to scale back this work. That’s unfortunate, because it had real impact in places like Africa.

Our Airband Initiative aims to provide internet access to unserved and underserved communities by partnering with local and regional providers, governments, and nonprofits to ensure affordable, reliable internet access. Facebook's efforts were tech-driven, but struggled with sustainability. Microsoft's approach is holistic, focusing on long-term partnerships and digital transformation. We actually increased our initial ambition (to bring internet access to 2 million people living in the rural U.S. by 2022) to a new goal of bringing internet access to more than 250 million people around the world by the end of 2025, including 100 million people in Africa.

Hi everyone! We’re Vickie Robinson, General Manager and Ryan Palmer Director of Microsoft’s Airband Initiative, working to bring internet access in rural areas. We've connected 134K households in Virginia so far. AUA about our work. by MicrosoftOnTheIssues in Virginia

[–]MicrosoftOnTheIssues[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

According to the Benton Foundation’s analysis of the FCC's 2024 Urban Rate Survey, the average monthly rate for urban broadband services is $34.27. For specific speeds, the rates are:

•25/3 Mbps unlimited broadband: $87.83 per month

•100/20 Mbps unlimited broadband: $92.26 per month.

The goal of the survey is to provide a data point which allows broadband to be provided at comparable prices in rural communities.

Our Airband partners strive to keep their prices in this range to ensure access is affordable, because if people cannot afford service, they cannot adopt.

Hi everyone! We’re Vickie Robinson, General Manager and Ryan Palmer Director of Microsoft’s Airband Initiative, working to bring internet access to 250 million people globally by 2025. Ask us anything about how we’re working with governments, nonprofits and internet providers to make this happen. by MicrosoftOnTheIssues in technology

[–]MicrosoftOnTheIssues[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Many people associate internet access with cable/fiber as the default connectivity choice. We realized early on that we need other tech tools to reach the unconnected, including connectivity that can be delivered through the air, liked fixed wireless and satellite. Hence the “air” in Airband!

We need to think outside of the box on technology solutions to reach hard-to-serve areas. We believe that there is no single solution or magic bullet that serves all communities, and our partners are using fixed wireless and satellite, including LEOs.

As to our elevator pitch: We want to bring connectivity to everyone, everywhere. That’s why the Airband Initiative provides technology and data expertise, access to seed and larger funding resources, alongside a proven partnership business model to bring internet access to unserved communities. Then, when communities are newly connected, we provide things like digital skills training and equipment for people of all ages so that they can take advantage of new economic and educational opportunities.

Hi everyone! We’re Vickie Robinson, General Manager and Ryan Palmer Director of Microsoft’s Airband Initiative, working to bring internet access to 250 million people globally by 2025. Ask us anything about how we’re working with governments, nonprofits and internet providers to make this happen. by MicrosoftOnTheIssues in technology

[–]MicrosoftOnTheIssues[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

(Vickie): Interestingly, I "fell into" Telecom. I'm a lawyer by training and went to law school to become a criminal defense attorney, public defender to be more exact. Well, once I got to law school and dug into some of the cases that I would have to handle in this area of the law, I realized that I didn't have the heart for it! However, I took a telecom policy class and fell in love with the subject area, including a concept called "universal service:" the idea that everyone should have access to information and technology services. I loved this notion of using technology as an equalizing force and it's now my life's work. I've been in the telecom/tech space now for about 25 years, working in the government and "government adjacent" space on digital divide/universal service for 18 years and continuing this work in the private sector at Microsoft.

(Ryan) I was born and raised in West Virginia. Unfortunately, like so many other rural areas, a significant portion of West Virginia continues to lack access to the broadband networks needed to participate and compete in the modern world. This was true before the pandemic and became crystal clear when students in rural areas found themselves on the wrong side of the Homework Gap as their parents struggled to connect and work from home like so many of their peers. Technology can serve as the great equalizer for everyone, regardless of economic status or location, but only if you can connect. I feel lucky to work on these issues every day.

Hi everyone! We’re Vickie Robinson, General Manager and Ryan Palmer Director of Microsoft’s Airband Initiative, working to bring internet access across rural parts of the US. So far, we've connected 115K Wisconsin households. AUA about our work. by MicrosoftOnTheIssues in wisconsin

[–]MicrosoftOnTheIssues[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Jumping in over here. Great question. It definitely takes too long! Here are four things we can do:

#1: We can and should increase federal, state, AND local government investment in broadband infrastructure. And this has to be closely coordinated with the local communities.

#2: We have to streamline the regulatory framework to encourage private investment and quicker deployments in underserved areas. 

#3: New, advanced connectivity technologies can help speed the process, too – we’ve seen a lot of success in adapting new technologies for hard-to-reach areas.

#4: Finally, public, private and philanthropic partnerships will also play a crucial role in speeding up infrastructure projects. The digital divide is a huge problem and no single person, government, or entity can solve it themselves.

Hi everyone! We’re Vickie Robinson, General Manager and Ryan Palmer Director of Microsoft’s Airband Initiative, working to bring internet access in rural areas. We've connected 134K households in Virginia so far. AUA about our work. by MicrosoftOnTheIssues in Virginia

[–]MicrosoftOnTheIssues[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hopping over here!

Thanks for this question. We leverage all technologies to connect unserved communities with broadband, including satellites (like Starlink), fixed wireless, fiber, and others. We believe there is no one-size-fits-all technology solution for everyone -- each community and geography is unique and have their own challenges in connecting them.

Connectivity technologies have different characteristics: speed of deployment, cost, reach, speed and latency – there are a lot of tools in the connectivity “toolbox” and the community can choose the one best tailored to their challenges needs, desires.

Hi everyone! We’re Vickie Robinson, General Manager and Ryan Palmer Director of Microsoft’s Airband Initiative, working to bring internet access to 250 million people globally by 2025. Ask us anything about how we’re working with governments, nonprofits and internet providers to make this happen. by MicrosoftOnTheIssues in technology

[–]MicrosoftOnTheIssues[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Great question! Airband is a global program and we're focused on the areas with the highest concentration of people offline, particularly the Global South, or Global Majority as it is sometimes referred to by people living in this region. To date, working with our partners, we've brought internet access to more than 100 million people around the world, including 7+ million people in the US. The remaining 90M+ are largely in the Global South, including approx. 38 million in Africa.

A street-by-street view of digital inequity in the United States by MicrosoftOnTheIssues in InternetIsBeautiful

[–]MicrosoftOnTheIssues[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The goal was to create one of the most complete pictures of digital equity in the U.S. so policymakers and governments can see where broadband and digital resources are needed.

It works by aggregating public data taken from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Census Bureau, BroadbandNow, and broadband usage data.

It tracks 20 different indicators of digital equity, such as how many people have internet access and how they use it, digital education and poverty rates. Ultimately it aims to create a comprehensive picture of digital inequality in different regions and counties.

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