{"id":2619,"date":"2017-07-14T08:55:44","date_gmt":"2017-07-14T15:55:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/industry\/blog\/uncategorized\/microsofts-new-broadband-strategy-includes-a-nod-to-telehealth\/"},"modified":"2025-04-14T15:43:40","modified_gmt":"2025-04-14T22:43:40","slug":"microsofts-new-broadband-strategy-includes-a-nod-to-telehealth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/industry\/blog\/healthcare\/2017\/07\/14\/microsofts-new-broadband-strategy-includes-a-nod-to-telehealth\/","title":{"rendered":"Microsoft\u2019s new broadband strategy includes a nod to telehealth"},"content":{"rendered":"

Microsoft has announced plans to help improve rural America\u2019s broadband capabilities, an ambitious project that could kick-start telemedicine projects to underserved communities.<\/p>\n

Unveiled Tuesday, \u201cA Rural Broadband Strategy: Connecting Rural America to New Opportunities\u201d aims to make use of so-called \u201cTV white spaces spectrum\u201d – unused UHV television band spectrum in the 600 MHz frequency range that enables wireless signals to travel over hills and through buildings and trees.<\/p>\n

The five-year project looks to connect more than 23 million Americans in rural parts of the country that currently don\u2019t have Internet access, and empower businesses and health systems to improve their capabilities in underserved communities.<\/p>\n

In a 52-page white paper, the tech giant lays out its strategy and goals, including explaining how increased access to broadband will fuel telemedicine and telehealth projects to help the nation\u2019s beleaguered health ecosystem improve access and care in rural America<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cBroadband access is \u2026 an important part of managing healthcare delivery and wellness programs,\u201d the report states. \u201cIndeed, the availability of telemedicine has been an important development in rural areas which often have fewer doctors per capita than urban areas.\u201d<\/p>\n

Through telemedicine, the Microsoft paper explains, healthcare providers in Utah have increased their range of coverage and their ability to remotely diagnose medical issues, thus helping overcrowded hospitals. And the Saint Vincent Health System in Erie, Penn., has seen readmissions drop 44 percent with telemonitoring.<\/p>\n

\u201cInvesting more resources to improve the connectivity of broadband to hospitals and healthcare providers based in rural communities would likely yield better services in health protection and restore greater efficiency to wellness programs for those in need,\u201d the paper continues. \u201cGreater broadband connection for larger rural healthcare providers would lessen the demand for more bandwidth, which in turn would lower costs, resulting in more resources to be reinvested in patient care.. Currently, these rural healthcare providers pay up to three times as much for broadband as their urban counterparts, and many times these providers forgo broadband altogether.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAccess to broadband can also help the quality of medical and rehabilitation treatment to groups such as veterans, many of whom live in rural communities,\u201d the report concludes. \u201cBroadband can bring patients closer to their care providers and expand the number of services available to them.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a blog on the Microsoft website<\/a>, Brad Smith, the company\u2019s president and chief legal officer, said Microsoft will embark on a multi-faceted program to extend broadband capabilities into rural America \u2013 while also seeking pledges from the government to help move the project forward.<\/p>\n

Smith anticipates that white space spectrum can be used to improve connectivity for some 80 percent of rural America, while the rest would be accessed through a combination of improved satellite coverage (for areas with a population density of less than two people per square mile) and fixed wireless and limited fiber (for communities with a density greater than 200 people per square mile).<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the big benefits of this new approach is a dramatic reduction in the cost of bringing broadband rates to rural communities,\u201d Smith said \u201cBy relying on this mixture of technologies, the total capital and initial operating cost to eliminate the rural broadband gap falls into a range of $8 billion to $12 billion. This is roughly 80 percent less than the cost of using fiber cables alone, and it\u2019s over 50 percent cheaper than the cost of current fixed wireless technology like 4G.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe key now is to stimulate private sector investment and combine this with targeted and efficient public-sector support,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

This would be done, he said, through three channels:<\/p>\n