What's the Latest with Comcast New England?

*This post was created in collaboration with Comcast New England and Xfinity. All opinions are my own and as always, thank you for supporting Prim and Propah and my partners.

Last week, as I could hear my husband struggling to get our kids to bed, I poured myself a glass of wine and hopped on a virtual call with the team from Comcast New England. In the past, I have attended in person events with this team, but obviously due to COVID-19, we had to do the thang over the internets… which I suppose is fitting because Xfinity provides stellar, strong internet services? OK ok, I am getting off track quickly here. We sat down for a call with the team and some other local bloggers to learn about what they’re doing in the face of COVID and Racial Inequality, and let me just say that I was impressed to learn about Comcast’s efforts moving forward.

There were some of my favorite familiar faces on the call, so I pulled out all the stops and brushed my hair because I knew I’d be seeing them! It sort of feels like being with some good friends, even though we are definitely at a blogger event. We started off getting intros out of the way but quickly turned to talking about Comcast’s work, given the current landscape of our world.

I’ll start by sharing Comcast’s Press Release, announcing a $100 million multi year plan to advance social justice and equality. They’re literally putting their money where their mouth is. There will be $75 million in cash and $25 million in media that will be distributed over the next three years, in addition to the existing commitments their company currently makes to thousands of organizations supporting underrepresented communities through the Comcast NBCUniversal Foundation and social impact programs. I haven’t researched all of these programs but making this statement and this commitment is a great first step in showing that they are taking this issue seriously. I am asking this of all of the companies that I work closely with to ensure that we are all operating with integrity and the greater good in mind.

We heard from Jackie Gadsden, VP of Diversity & Inclusion and Customer Experience for Comcast’s Greater Boston Region. She was super knowledgeable but also a straight talker. She knows that this more than a moment, it’s a movement. Other Comcast team members were talking about the difference that Jackie has made within the company to not only educate their peers but to actually help them learn too. They were singing her praises in a true and sincere way. You love to see it.

In addition to learning about what Comcast is doing in the current climate, we also got some cool product updates, most specifically the Peacock TV Xfinity partnership. Peacock (available since April 15th as a preview for Xfinity X1 and Flex customers) will launch nationally across multiple platforms on July 15th. However, advantage Xfinity customers as X1 and Flex customers will continue to get Peacock Premium ($4.99/m value) included at no additional cost! The programming is killer and I personally can’t wait for the Saved by the Bell and Punky Brewster reboots, I know, I’m dating myself haha but as I have gotten older, who cares, I enjoy what I enjoy… which is currently watching The Office for the 5th or 6th time through, I can’t remember. Learn more about all the offerings and content on Peacock here and let me know in the comments what you’re watching right now!

Comcast is continually impressing me with their commitment to providing the best service possible, not by reacting to the needs of the market but looking to the future in anticipation of what their market might need. Between the Internet Essentials program I covered last, to the new commitments made to advance equality, Comcast is not shying away from tough convos and doing the work. Just last week, Comcast announced that they once again extended the 60 day free Internet Essentials offer to any new, eligible customer who qualifies! I’ll be watching Comcast’s moves and helping them amplify voices now and in the future. That’s what teammates do!

Comcast Expands Internet Essentials!

*This post was created in collaboration with Comcast. All opinions are 100% my own.

I hopped on a conference call this week with Comcast NBCUniversal's Senior Vice President and Chief Diversity Officer, David L. Cohen. He wanted to let us know that Comcast is taking it's amazing Internet Essentials program and expanding eligibility for it. I hadn't heardabout this program before but am incredibly imporessed with Comcast's committment to finding ways to ensure that those affected by the digital divide in our country, are able to have reliable access to internet services.

So take for instance, households in Palo Alto of Bethesda, these are low poverty areas, and only about 6% of the population do not have access to broadband at home compared to those linging in Trenton NJ or Flint MI, where there are high pverty rates, nearly 60% of the population do not have consistent access to the internet. That gap of more than 50 points defines the digital divide in this country. The more broadband technology advances, the more the gap widens.  Think of all the things you're doing with the internet, reading this blog post, doing school work, filling out work applications, reading educational articles, searching for healthy recipes, etc and so on. These are things that I personally take for granted because I have a laptop and great internet service that I am able to afford.

To date, Comcast has connected more than 8 million low income Americans in their homes, most connected for the first time in their lives. With the support of schools, teachers, libraries, non profits, government officials and more, the Comcast Internet Essentials program is reaching more and more people each day.

The program's eligibility requirements are expanidng to include many new enhancements that offer more and more Americans the opportunities to get internet and at a good speed. On the call, someone asked about a very specific area of the country and David was extremely keyed into the area and committed to following up on areas that may need to be reached with the program. I was, like I said, incredibly impressed and am going to put info below on how you or someone you know can apply to the Internet Essentials program. Eligible participants receive free digital literacy training, Internet service for $9.95/month and the opportunity to buy a laptop for less than $150. To me, this could make all the difference for families and individuals throughout the country!

You can find everything you need to know on the Internet Essentials website or by calling 1-855-8-INTERNET which is their dedicated hotline. Seriously something to consider because they are really making the internet and technology accessible to those that need it the most.