Internet service could be coming to a school bus near you.
As rural areas push to improve connectivity speeds, especially compared with what is available in cities, the county that’s home to Virginia Tech hopes to turn its school buses into Wi-Fi hotspots during off hours. The plan in Montgomery County would park buses strategically around the area, instead of at the schools themselves, and would emit an internet signal that students could tap into.
School official Brenda Drake told WDBJ-TV that “every new bus purchased by the school division starting next year will be a Wi-Fi on Wheels bus, but right now we’re retrofitting old buses.”
This is significant for areas that may not receive high-speed connections via their cable or telephone providers; school work and other activities rely on the internet more than ever.
