For rural Americans who live in areas with limited internet access, a new initiative by Microsoft may provide them with new opportunities.

Last week, Microsoft announced that they will begin to implement a new five-year program to give over two million rural Americans broadband access by 2022.

According to a recent post on Microsoft’s corporate blog, “A total of 34 million Americans still lack access to broadband internet. Of these, 23.4 million live in rural parts of our country. People who live in these rural communities increasingly are unable to take advantage of the economic and educational opportunities enjoyed by their urban neighbors.”

The program will focus on three core elements over the next five years. Their first goal is to have at least 12 projects in 12 states (Arizona, Georgia, Kansas, Maine, Michigan, New York, North Dakota, South Dakota, Texas, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin) within the next year.

Microsoft President and Chief Legal Officer stated that the second objective will be to provide digital skills training to individuals of all ages in these rural communities. “Working through Microsoft Philanthropies, our Rural Airband Initiative will help train people on the latest technology so they can use this new connectivity to improve education, health care and agriculture, as well as transform their businesses.”

The last step in the five-year plan includes sharing knowledge on the new technology program with other companies to help serve more rural Americans.

“As a country, we should not settle for an outcome that leaves behind more than 23 million of our rural neighbors. To the contrary, we can and should bring the benefits of broadband coverage to every corner of the nation,” Smith said. Hopefully, this new initiative will allow rural Americans adequate access to the internet and allow them some of the same technological advancements seen in major metropolitan areas.

To read more about the initiative, check out Microsoft’s blog post at, https://blogs.microsoft.com/on-the-issues/2017/07/10/rural-broadband-strategy-connecting-rural-america-new-opportunities.