Microsoft has announced plans to help build the availability to high-speed Internet across rural areas of the United States. The company notes that 5 million people currently live without access to the Internet. Microsoft has plans to connect those people with Internet access over the next two years. Bloomberg Technology reported: "It certainly caused us to reflect on the fact that we had been pursuing these projects to a greater degree in rural Africa than rural America. We'd been involved in Asia and other continents more so than in our own country." - Microsoft President and Chief Legal Officer