[1st-mile-nm] Comcast Increases Access to and Speeds of Internet Essentials’ Low-Income Internet Service

[Richard Lowenberg]

Many ISPs are responding to the current situation of work or study from 
home by removing data caps, increasing bandwidth and other ways to 
improve network services for all in need.   It would be good to hear 
about such efforts in New Mexico.  Here is a posting from Comcast.   RL

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Comcast Increases Access to and Speeds of Internet Essentials’ 
Low-Income Internet Service to Support Americans Through the Coronavirus 
Pandemic

 From: Dana Strong, President, Consumer Services, Comcast Cable

As our country continues to manage the COVID-19 emergency, we recognize 
that our company plays an important role in helping our customers stay 
connected – to their families, their workplaces, their schools, and the 
latest information about the virus – through the Internet.

We also know that for millions of low-income Americans who don’t have 
Internet service at home, this uncertain time is going to be even more 
difficult to manage.  As schools and businesses close and families are 
encouraged, or even mandated, to stay home, Internet connectivity 
becomes even more important.

At Comcast, we’ve been looking for ways to help through our Internet 
Essentials program, which is the nation’s largest and most comprehensive 
broadband adoption program for low-income Americans.  Since 2011, it has 
connected millions of individuals to the Internet.

A hallmark of this program has been our flexibility in adjusting 
Internet Essentials to meet the needs of low-income residents in our 
footprint. So, effective Monday, we are putting in place two substantial 
program enhancements to help these families deal with this crisis.

1.  We will make it even easier for low-income families who live in a 
Comcast service area to sign up by offering new customers 60 days of 
complimentary Internet Essentials service, which is normally available 
to all qualified low-income households for $9.95/month.

2.  Also, we are increasing Internet speeds for the Internet Essentials 
service from 15/2 Mbps to 25/3 Mbps for all new and existing customers, 
which will be the speed of the service going forward.  In this way, we 
will ensure that Internet Essentials customers will be able to use their 
Internet service for all their increased needs as a result of this 
health crisis.

We want to make it as fast and simple as possible to access this 
service:

  *   To receive the increased Internet speeds, existing customers will 
not need to do anything.  The new speeds will be rolled out nationally 
over the next few days.
  *   We’ll send all new customers a free self-install kit that includes 
a cable modem with a Wi-Fi router.  There will be no term contract or 
credit check and no shipping fee.
  *   To sign up, applicants can simply visit 
www.internetessentials.com<http://www.internetessentials.com>.  The 
accessible website also includes the option to video chat with customer 
service agents in American Sign Language.  There are also two dedicated 
phone numbers 1-855-846-8376 for English and 1-855-765-6995 for Spanish.

We’re also reaching out to our thousands of governmental and nonprofit 
partners to help us spread the word.  Our hope is that broader access 
and faster speeds will help all of our Internet Essentials customers 
more easily work from home, access educational resources, obtain 
important government health care alerts, and stay in contact with their 
families during this difficult time.


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Richard Lowenberg, Executive Director
1st-Mile Institute     505-603-5200
Box 8001, Santa Fe, NM 87504,
rl at 1st-mile.org     www.1st-mile.org
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