Comcast Launches New Internet Essentials Programs as Nation Gears Up for the Academic Year
With distance learning plans rolling out across the country due to the coronavirus, Comcast today announced a new program for cities, schools, and nonprofits to connect large numbers of low-income K-12 students to the Internet at home.
The “Internet Essentials Partnership Program” is designed to help accelerate Internet adoption at a critical time. 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 also announced today it is giving all Internet Essentials customers its innovative xFi platform, which enables parents to control and manage their children’s WiFi connected devices.
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.
Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the “Internet Essentials Partnership Program” has already collaborated with more than 70 schools across the country. The program relies on public-private partnerships and enables entire communities to work together to coordinate funding to help connect K-12 students.
The program also includes two months of free Internet service for new Internet Essentials customers. Recent partnerships with schools in Chicago, Atlanta, Sacramento, Pittsburgh, Portland, and Arlington, VA mean more than 200,000 qualified students now have a greater opportunity to get connected. Visit comcastcorporation.com/IEPP for more information.
“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.”
The initiative builds on Comcast’s recent announcement that it will continue to offer, through the end of 2020, all new Internet Essentials customers two months of free Internet service and it will continue to waive the requirement that customers not have a past due balance so more families can apply.
With so many families at home, parents and caregivers need controls to manage their home WiFi connection and their children’s devices. So, Comcast is providing all Internet Essentials customers free access to xFi, which is a simple, digital dashboard that enables customers to set up and manage their home WiFi.
With it, they can see what devices are connected, set safe-browsing modes so children can only access age-appropriate content, get notifications about activity on their home WiFi, and have the ability to pause devices for dinner or bedtime.
As research shows, barriers to broadband adoption are more complex than having access to an Internet connection, even when it’s heavily discounted or free. It’s also clear that no single entity can solve the digital divide alone. As a result, the success of Internet Essentials is due to partnerships with more than 10,000 government and elected officials, school districts, libraries, nonprofits, community-based organizations, and others. Collectively, they help to address the full range of barriers to broadband adoption.
Comcast also announced plans today that it will convene a series of virtual national and regional summits this fall. Each one will focus on several issues including: education, broadband adoption, digital and media literacy and training, and Internet safety. In addition, this fall Comcast will publish its annual Internet Essentials progress report and relaunch its Internet Essentials Partner Portal, located at www.internetessentials.com/partner, to include case studies, research, and links to creative broadband adoption solutions. Resources there will be made free for anyone to access, including other Internet Service Providers and nonprofits.