Tech Giants Commit $750-Million to Wired-Schools Effort
February 5, 2014 | Read Time: 1 minute
Apple, Microsoft, and other major technology companies have pledged goods and services worth $750-million to a White House initiative to close what President Obama termed the “technology gap” in the nation’s classrooms, the Associated Press reports.
Apple will provide $100-million in iPads and other hardware and Microsoft is offering free and discounted software as part of the effort announced by Mr. Obama Tuesday at a Maryland middle school. In addition, Verizon is donating up to $100-million in cash and in-kind contributions, and AT&T and Sprint will offer free Internet service.
The president announced a goal last year of bringing high-speed Internet to 99 percent of students within five years. “In a country where we expect free Wi-Fi with our coffee, we should definitely demand it in our schools,” he said Tuesday.
