Repair-It

For years, Microsoft Corp. focused its efforts to expand high-speed internet access on developing markets around the world. Now, the company is waking up to the problem in its own backyard, after the 2016 presidential election shed light on how far rural parts of America had fallen behind cities in reliable, fast connectivity -- and the challenges that gap poses for residents.

Right now, 23.4 million Americans in rural areas can't get the fast internet access increasingly needed for tasks like homework, job applications, online medical treatment and remote repairs for farming equipment. Over the years, Microsoft developed and tested its broadband software, along with new chips, devices and antennae, in places including Kenya and Colombia. While it has had some U.S. projects, Microsoft largely overlooked its home country in efforts to bridge the digital divide. That message was underscored in last year's presidential election, when rural voters expressed dissatisfaction and anger over being left out of economic and technological growth, Microsoft President and Chief Legal Officer Brad Smith said.

"It's fair to say the election raised our level of consciousness, as it did for a great many people in the country," Smith said in an interview. "It certainly caused us to reflect on the fact that we had been pursuing these projects to a greater degree in rural Africa than rural America. We'd been involved in Asia and other continents more so than in our own country."

Politicians have been talking about fixing the shortfall in rural access for years. Recently, much of the spending on connectivity has added capacity to areas already connected rather than hooking up new ones, Smith said. Some of the $7.2 billion spent on rural broadband in President Barack Obama’s 2009 stimulus bill was wasted, said Representative Collin Peterson of Minnesota, the top Democrat on the House Agriculture Committee. Aid went to more prosperous areas that may be more profitable for providers but did little to expand access, he said recently.

Smith, who is from Appleton, Wisconsin, and other Microsoft officials have been visiting small-town America since November. They've met with students who drive to library parking lots to piggyback off the Wi-Fi to turn in homework and veterans who are hours from VA clinics but could use telemedicine if only they had a decent internet connection. Microsoft's initial projects will be in Arizona, Georgia, Kansas, Maine, Michigan, New York, North Dakota, South Dakota, Texas, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin.

Microsoft has been trying out the system in Charlotte and Halifax counties, two rural regions in southern Virginia. The company covers the costs of capital investments to start the service through local telecommunications companies, many of which are small, sometimes family-owned, and can't afford or risk the up-front investment. Once up and running, the carrier will give Microsoft a share of the revenue. The software maker will plow those funds into connecting a new region. Microsoft itself has no plan to enter the telecom market or to make money directly from this service, Smith said. The company's philanthropy arm, working with the National 4-H Council, will provide digital-skills training to local residents. Smith declined to say how much Microsoft will spend on the overall plan.