美国国家公共电台 NPR Microsoft Courts Rural America, And Politicians, With High-Speed Internet

 

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Microsoft is announcing a new effort to connect more people to the Internet - not people far away in the so-called emerging markets, where other American tech giants have built Internet balloons and drones. Instead, Microsoft is focusing right here at home, on rural America. NPR's Aarti Shahani reports.

AARTI SHAHANI, BYLINE¹: The largest companies in the U.S. by market value are the big Internet companies. But these companies have a bad rap when it comes to American workers. Tech is known for sending jobs overseas and now for racing² to automate³, that is, kill jobs still here. That said, something is changing in the zeitgeist of the tech industry.

BRAD SMITH: We perhaps looked less than we should have at what was happening in rural America.

SHAHANI: Brad Smith is president of Microsoft.

SMITH: We went overseas. And that's a good thing. We should be around the world. But we should also be focused on our own backyards...

SHAHANI: ...Or farmlands - 23.4 million Americans in rural America are cut off from broadband Internet. Today, Smith is announcing that his company is committed to getting nearly 10 percent of them online over the next five years and that Microsoft is going to push phone companies and regulators to help get the whole 23.4 million connected. This population is not an important customer base compared with the rest of Microsoft's business. But rural America is important politically, as Smith himself admits.

SMITH: This announcement is connected to the events of the last year. I think last year's election was a wake-up call...

SHAHANI: ...For the many people who felt left behind economically and who said it by voting for President Trump⁴.

SMITH: This is a step to serve them better.

SHAHANI: In some rural areas, parents have to drive their kids to the parking lot of the local library so their kids can file homework. In 2017, not being online hurts your education, your job prospects⁵, civic⁶ engagement. Microsoft plans to use a cheaper technology, something called TV White Spaces, which is on the wireless⁷ spectrum⁸, to transmit broadband data. The company estimates it costs 80 percent less than building expensive, wired infrastructure⁹.

And while the Federal Communications Commission under President Trump is in a high-profile fight with the tech sector¹⁰ over net neutrality and the open Internet, Smith says he's talked with members of the FCC about rural America. And...

SMITH: While one should always hesitate to be optimistic about anything in our nation's capital these days, I do think that there is a cause for optimism around this.

SETH MCKEE: I think it's extremely savvy¹¹. I really do.

SHAHANI: Seth McKee, associate professor of political science at Texas Tech University, has written about the concerns of rural Americans.

MCKEE: Trump on the campaign trail used rhetoric¹² to speak and resonate with those voters and these sort of left-behind economies, as we talk about them. But has there been anything beyond rhetoric since he's gotten into office? Not that I'm aware of.

SHAHANI: McKee says this big company is putting their money where Trump's mouth is, which could curry¹³ political favor, maybe even a positive tweet from the president. And it's a proactive step by Microsoft in setting the agenda in Washington.

MCKEE: I mean, they would be the first mover. If they were the first ones to really go in this area and actually show some willingness to put some skin in the game, that could go a long ways in terms of politicians taking notice and further bankrolling this sort of thing.

SHAHANI: McKee says infrastructure, including digital infrastructure, is on the very short, short list of policy that could get bipartisan support. Aarti Shahani, NPR News.

(SOUNDBITE OF FOUR TET'S "PARKS")

1 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

2 racing   

n.竞赛，赛马；adj.竞赛用的，赛马用的

参考例句：

• I was watching the racing on television last night.昨晚我在电视上看赛马。
• The two racing drivers fenced for a chance to gain the lead.两个赛车手伺机竞相领先。

3 automate   

v.自动化；使自动化

参考例句：

• Many banks have begun to automate.许多银行已开始采用自动化技术。
• To automate the control process of the lathes has become very easy today.使机床的控制过程自动化现已变得很容易了。

4 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

5 prospects   

n.希望，前途(恒为复数)

参考例句：

• There is a mood of pessimism in the company about future job prospects. 公司中有一种对工作前景悲观的情绪。
• They are less sanguine about the company's long-term prospects. 他们对公司的远景不那么乐观。

6 civic   

adj.城市的，都市的，市民的，公民的

参考例句：

• I feel it is my civic duty to vote.我认为投票选举是我作为公民的义务。
• The civic leaders helped to forward the project.市政府领导者协助促进工程的进展。

7 wireless   

adj.无线的；n.无线电

参考例句：

• There are a lot of wireless links in a radio.收音机里有许多无线电线路。
• Wireless messages tell us that the ship was sinking.无线电报告知我们那艘船正在下沉。

8 spectrum   

n.谱，光谱，频谱；范围，幅度，系列

参考例句：

• This is a kind of atomic spectrum.这是一种原子光谱。
• We have known much of the constitution of the solar spectrum.关于太阳光谱的构成，我们已了解不少。

9 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

10 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

11 savvy   

v.知道，了解；n.理解能力，机智，悟性；adj.有见识的，懂实际知识的，通情达理的

参考例句：

• She was a pretty savvy woman.她是个见过世面的漂亮女人。
• Where's your savvy?你的常识到哪里去了？

12 rhetoric   

n.修辞学，浮夸之言语

参考例句：

• Do you know something about rhetoric?你懂点修辞学吗？
• Behind all the rhetoric,his relations with the army are dangerously poised.在冠冕堂皇的言辞背后，他和军队的关系岌岌可危。

13 curry   

n.咖哩粉，咖哩饭菜；v.用咖哩粉调味，用马栉梳，制革

参考例句：

• Rice makes an excellent complement to a curry dish.有咖喱的菜配米饭最棒。
• Add a teaspoonful of curry powder.加一茶匙咖喱粉。