To get rural kids online, Microsoft wants to put Internet access on school buses

Microsoft is looking to turn school buses into Internet-enabled hotspots in an experiment that’s aimed at helping students in rural Michigan do their homework. The company wants to use empty TV airwaves to beam high-speed Internet signals to buses in Hillman (MI) as they travel to and from school, according to regulatory filings submitted Wednesday to the Federal Communications Commission. “The proposed deployment would help … by providing high-speed wireless Internet access on school buses as they complete their morning and afternoon routes,” the filing reads. “This will allow students without suitable connections at home to complete assignments that require broadband Internet access while they are on their way to and from school.”

Microsoft needs special government permission for the demo because it plans to operate wireless equipment at a power level that could otherwise interfere with other communications. But, it said, the equipment will shut off automatically if the buses stray outside the designated test area. Partnering with a regional Internet provider to place broadband base stations along the bus routes, Microsoft said it plans to install special radio antennas on the buses that can communicate with the base stations over the empty gaps between TV channels. If approved, the project would become the company’s eighth pilot for the “TV white spaces” technology in as many months.