Internet Essentials to Reach More Than 40
Percent of All HUD-Assisted Households Nationwide
Today, Comcast and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban
Development’s (HUD) ConnectHome initiative took an historic step to
close the digital divide in America. Now, public housing and
HUD-assisted residents living in Comcast’s service area are
eligible to apply for Internet Essentials, the company’s acclaimed,
high-speed internet adoption program for low-income families.
Including homes covered by Comcast’s pilot public housing expansion
announced in March, an estimated total of up to 2 million
HUD-assisted homes, including Public Housing, Housing Choice
Voucher, and Multifamily programs, will now have access to low-cost
internet service.
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Today, Comcast and the U.S. Department of
Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) ConnectHome initiative took
an historic step to close the digital divide in America. (Photo:
Business Wire)
“ConnectHome is opening doors of opportunity for our next
generation of Americans,” said HUD Secretary, Julián Castro.
“Today’s announcement has the potential to transform the lives of
hundreds of thousands of kids across the nation by giving them the
tools to reach their full potential. We’re grateful to Comcast for
joining the ConnectHome initiative, which has extended its reach to
more than 1.5 million children in one short year.”
“This announcement reaffirms Comcast’s determination to make a
meaningful impact to close the digital divide for low-income
families in this country,” said David L. Cohen, Senior Executive
Vice President and Chief Diversity Officer of Comcast. “This is the
single largest expansion of the Internet Essentials program in its
history, and we’re thrilled to be working with HUD to help connect
even more families, including seniors, veterans, and adults without
children, to the transformative power of having internet service at
home.”
The top ten states and cities with the largest numbers of
HUD-assisted households in Comcast’s service area include*:
Top 10 States
Top 10 Cities California 191,000
Chicago, IL 91,000 Illinois 175,000
Philadelphia, PA 35,000 Massachusetts
167,000 Miami, FL 31,000
Pennsylvania 164,000 Baltimore, MD
31,000 Florida 136,000
Houston, TX 31,000 Michigan 110,000
Washington, DC 30,000 New Jersey
105,000 Detroit, MI 25,000
Maryland 88,000 Atlanta, GA
24,000 Georgia 84,000 San
Francisco, CA 22,000 Tennessee 80,000
Pittsburgh, PA 20,000
*These numbers are for all HUD-assisted homes of which
approximately 35 percent have school-aged children and are,
therefore, already eligible to apply for Internet Essentials. These
numbers also include households covered by Comcast’s public housing
pilot announced in March.
Between 2009 and 2014, broadband service providers spent over
$422 billion on capital investments, and three in four American
households now use broadband at home. Despite this significant
progress, one in four American households still don’t access the
internet at home, particularly lower-income families with children.
According to the 2013 American Community Survey, less than 43
percent of individuals without a high school diploma or equivalent
lack home internet access, but under this opportunity adults and
young learners can get connected from the comfort of their own
homes and take advantage of resources to get a GED credential,
apply for and complete college, and acquire the necessary digital
literacy skills to thrive in a highly competitive, global
workforce.
ConnectHome strives to ensure students can access the same level
of high-speed Internet at home that they have in their classrooms.
Today’s announcement furthers this vision, benefiting students of
all ages.
This is the ninth time in five years Comcast has expanded
eligibility for Internet Essentials. The policy change marks the
first time, nationally, households without children eligible to
participate in the National School Lunch Program are officially
able to apply for Internet Essentials. In 2011, the program was
first offered to families with children eligible to receive a free
school lunch from the National School Lunch Program. It was
expanded, in 2012, to children eligible for the reduced price
school lunch program. In 2013, Comcast expanded eligibility to
include families with children in parochial, private, charter, and
cyber schools, as well as students who are home schooled. Last
year, Comcast extended the program two more times, on a pilot
basis, to low-income seniors and low-income community college
students. Earlier this year, another pilot program extended
Internet Essentials to those living in public housing in Miami,
Nashville, Philadelphia, and Seattle. Finally, Comcast has expanded
the number of schools where every student in the school will be
deemed eligible for the program so long as a certain percentage of
the kids in that school are NSLP eligible – from 70 percent, to 50
percent, and now to 40 percent. As a result, Comcast estimates
auto-enrollment now applies to about half of the 48,000 schools
across its service area.
Internet Essentials Key Investments
From August 2011 through December 2015, Internet Essentials has
connected more than 600,000 low-income families, benefitting more
than 2.4 million Americans, to the internet at home. Also since
2011, Comcast has invested more than $280 million in cash and
in-kind support to help fund digital literacy training and
education initiatives, reaching nearly 4.4 million people through
national and local nonprofit community partners.
- Provided more than 47,000 subsidized
computers at less than $150 each.
- Distributed for free nearly 51 million
Internet Essentials program materials.
- Broadcast more than 8.3 million public
service announcements, valued at more than $100 million.
- Welcomed 5 million visitors to the
Internet Essentials websites in English and Spanish and its Online
Learning Center.
- Fielded more than 3.9 million phone
calls to our Internet Essentials call center.
- Made Internet Essentials available in
nearly 48,000 schools in more than 5,000 school districts, in 39
states and the District of Columbia.
- Partnered with 9,000 community-based
organizations, government agencies, and federal, state, and local
elected officials to spread the word.
About ConnectHome
Building on the Obama Administration’s goal to expand high speed
broadband to all Americans, in July 2015, President Obama and HUD
Secretary Julián Castro announced ConnectHome, an initiative to
extend affordable broadband access to families living in
HUD-assisted housing. Through ConnectHome, internet service
providers, non-profits and the private sector are offering
broadband access, technical training, digital literacy programs,
and devices for residents in assisted housing units in 28 pilot
communities across the nation. ConnectHome creates a platform to
help ensure that students have access to high-speed internet for
studying and doing their homework at home, as well as in
school.
About Internet Essentials
Internet Essentials from Comcast is the nation’s largest and
most comprehensive high-speed internet adoption program. It
provides low-cost high-speed internet service for $9.95 a month
plus tax; the option to purchase an internet-ready computer for
under $150; and multiple options to access free digital literacy
training in print, online and in-person. For more information, or
to apply for the program, visit www.InternetEssentials.com or call
1-855-846-8376. Spanish speakers should call 1-855-765-6995.
About Comcast Corporation
Comcast Corporation (Nasdaq: CMCSA) is a global media and
technology company with two primary businesses, Comcast Cable and
NBCUniversal. Comcast Cable is one of the nation's largest video,
high-speed internet and phone providers to residential customers
under the XFINITY brand and also provides these services to
businesses. NBCUniversal operates news, entertainment and sports
cable networks, the NBC and Telemundo broadcast networks,
television production operations, television station groups,
Universal Pictures and Universal Parks and Resorts. Visit
www.comcastcorporation.com for more information.
View source
version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160715005062/en/
Comcast CorporationCharlie Douglas,
215-264-8020charlie_douglas@comcast.comorMeredith Wertz,
215-970-8504meredith_wertz@comcast.comorU.S. Department of Housing
and Urban DevelopmentHeather L. Fluit,
202-527-2060heather.l.fluit@hud.gov
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