Apple is one of the companies that have put their money where their mouth is in terms of supporting the U.S. President Barack Obama’s $750 million initiative to get kids online. According to an Associated Press report this morning, Apple has pledged $100 million in iPads, computers and “other tools”.
Other Silicon Valley giants and telecommunications companies are contributing free software, Internet service through their wireless networks, cash and in-kind contributions…
Associated Press writes that AT&T and Sprint are contributing free Internet service, with Verizon pitching in up to $100 million in cash and in-kind contributions.
“And Microsoft is making Windows available at discounted prices and offering 12 million free copies of Microsoft Office software,” the report adds.
The Obama administration is planning an additional $2 billion in the Federal Communications Commission funding to connect another twenty million students to broadband Internet.
The FCC money will come from service fees over two years.
Obama: “@Apple will donate $100 million worth of iPads, MacBooks, and other products to schools across the country.” #ConnectED
— White House Live (@WHLive) February 4, 2014
All told, commitments from U.S. technology firms total about $750 million as the administration aims to fulfill its self-imposed goal of having 99 percent of students connected to high-speed networks within five years.
Last summer, only one out of each five American students had high-speed Internet access versus 100 percent of students in places like South Korea.