Monday, August 17, 2020

An Update on Comcast's Internet Essentials Program

*This post was created in collaboration with Comcast New England. Any opinions are my own.

I’ve written about Comcast before. I’m sure you’ve even read a post or two. I have loved working with them and continue to be interested in all the things that they are doing entertainment-wise and also within the company. I’m continually impressed with them and the initiatives that they feel are important. Last week, Comcast made announcements about their Internet Essentials program that will most certainly make a huge difference with low-income students and families, especially headed into this new school year where so much is unknown about how our kids are going to be learning.



As a parent to at least one school aged child, I do not know what we would do without reliable access to the internet. Literally every piece of remote learning is done via an app or through shared drives. Thinking about families struggling to have access to the internet makes me so worried for them. But thanks to programs like Comcast’s Internet Essentials Partnership Program (IEPP), cities, schools and nonprofits can work together to ensure that large numbers of school aged children, grades K-12, are able to access internet service and also be connected to devices like laptops and tablets. When the pandemic hit, Comcast jumped to and they have already signed up more than 70 schools across the country, serving more than 200,000 students. Distance learning may be a reality for a lot of Americans as we head into Fall. Access to essentials should not be an added worry for these families.

“We’ve seen firsthand that low-cost Internet access is an important part of improving digital equity and creating positive opportunities for low-income students and families,” said Dana Strong, President of Xfinity Consumer Services. “Through this new partnership program, we are accelerating the efforts of cities, schools, philanthropies, nonprofits, and private citizens to collaborate and open the doors of Internet access for more families in need.”

 


 

In nearly ten years, Internet Essentials has become the nation’s largest and most successful low-income Internet adoption program and has connected millions of people to the Internet. It offers households low-cost, broadband Internet service for $9.95/month, the option to purchase a heavily subsidized computer, and multiple options for digital literacy training. Comcast continues to offer new Internet Essentials customers two months of free internet access if they sign up before the end of 2020. So here’s where they are making this accessible to so many more people. They are providing a necessary service at an extremely affordable price. The Comcast team is bringing these resources to the communities that need them the most. And I’m here for it.


You can see the cities where Comcast has already secured partnerships here. If you are finding that you think you may need to apply for the Internet Essentials program, you can access that information here. The team over there really does want to expand and provide internet access to as many people as possible and I find that admirable, especially in such an uncertain time when people need to have access to their communities, families, friends and remote education.

 


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