What you need to know about broadband access and unemployment in one chart

Digital connectivity has an impact on economic well-being. Recent analysis by Microsoft shows that the counties in the United States with the lowest broadband use also have the highest unemployment.  And in rural America, more than 19 million people still do not have access to broadband. Microsoft President Brad Smith has called for a national strategy to close the rural connectivity gap, saying this is a problem the country can solve.  The Microsoft Airband Initiative was launched in July 2017 with the goal of working with partners to make broadband available to 3 million Americans in rural communities by July 2022, using TV white spaces technology. This mixed model combines wireless technologies, including 4G and TV white spaces, traditional fiber-based connectivity, and satellite coverage that can dramatically reduce the cost and time of extending broadband access to rural communities across America. 

For more on this topic, visit https://news.microsoft.com/rural-broadband and follow @MSFTIssues on Twitter.