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I recently moved from San Francisco to a very rural location where my best option is satellite internet. The connection is okay for most web browsing, but it’s occasionally iffy when it comes to video streaming.

Also, we use up our allotted gigabytes pretty quickly. There’s no cell service to speak of, so I can’t use my phone as a hotspot. We’ve found some workarounds (using Dish satellite for some TV, and a click-wheel iPod for music) but those only get us so far. I know some of you are in the same boat, so I’m wondering what you’d recommend I do to improve my internet connection, and what tips and tricks will help maximize our gigabytes. Thanks!

Signed,

A City Slicker

The measure is part of the Microsoft Airband Initiative, which aims to narrow the digital divide by expanding rural broadband access to more than 3 million people by mid-2022. The Federal Communications Commission estimates upwards of 21 million Americans don’t have broadband access, Microsoft, meanwhile, believes around 29 million people in the aforementioned states alone don’t use high-speed internet — across the country, that figure rises to about 162 million.

Nextlink will use a variety of methods to bring broadband to those 9 million people, including wireless tech that taps into unused TV frequencies. It’ll expand existing efforts in Texas and Oklahoma and commence rollouts in the other four states, with work planned over the next five years.

She plans to earmark $85 billion in federal funding to expand broadband networks in rural areas. Currently, the Federal Communications Commission offers $4.6 billion/year to fund rural broadband infrastructure, while the Rural Utilities Service doles out $800 million/year in grants and loans.

Under Warren’s plan, the $5 billion funding for expanded broadband on Native American lands alone would surpass what the FCC currently offers in total each year. US Census Bureau data suggests about half of Native Americans on reservations or other tribal lands don’t have broadband access.

Should Warren win the election, she plans to set up an Office of Broadband Access in the Department of Economic Development that would oversee the $85 billion in funding. Instead of private ISPs, the funding would go to “electricity and telephone cooperatives, nonprofit organizations, tribes, cities, counties and other state subdivisions” that build out broadband in rural areas. Those that receive the funding would have to subsidize services for low-income households.

She also aims to use federal law to ensure local governments have the right to build their own broadband networks instead of having to rely on private companies. Municipalities including Sandy, Oregon and Chattanooga, Tennessee have taken that approach, and Warren hopes to allow them more flexibility to serve other local communities. Some states ban or limit the reach of municipal broadband services.

The plan also calls for more accurate broadband maps. To do so, Warren would appoint FCC commissioners who’d require ISPs to give better reporting on broadband access data. She’d also look to bring in commissioners who would restore net neutrality. The FCC repealed the Obama-era protections in 2017.

Warren isn’t the only candidate concerned with the digital divide. Joe Biden, for instance, plans to provide $20 billion to bolster rural broadband infrastructure. Amy Klobuchar and Bernie Sanders also hope to expand rural broadband access, but the other candidates haven’t revealed plans nearly as detailed as Warren’s.

Tens of millions of Americans don’t have access to broadband speeds, and the FCC has announced a series of measures to help connect them to faster internet speeds. With its latest measure, the agency is repurposing funds create the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund. It seeks to connect up to four million rural homes and businesses to high-speed internet networks. The fund will provide $20.4 billion in subsidies over 10 years to companies through an auction process to build out broadband infrastructure in rural areas.

The agency made the announcements as part of its 5G Fast plan, which seeks to speed up the rollout of 5G technology. It has, for instance, given cities 90 days to process applications for 5G infrastructure and restricted how much they can charge for deployment.

Meanwhile, carriers are starting to activate their 5G mobile networks. Verizon (Engadget’s parent company) and AT&T turned on or expanded their networks within the last couple of weeks. Sprint and T-Mobile are expected to start activating theirs within the next few months.