Comcast's "Internet Essentials" and Similar Programs Make a Difference

 For the past decade, Free State Foundation scholars have chronicled new developments regarding Comcast's "Internet Essentials" program and the progress the program has achieved in furthering more ubiquitous broadband adoption, especially for low-income persons.

As recited in a September 2021 Free State Foundation blog post, Comcast’s $700 million investment in Internet Essentials already had connected 10 million Americans to high-speed broadband and, during that time, Internet Essentials was responsible for 40% of new Internet subscriptions by low-income families with school-aged children. For details on recent expansions of the Internet Essentials program, see these FSF blogs published in 2020, 2019, 2018, and 2017.

Comcast's Internet Essentials program is an undertaking that involves very substantial private investment, and as a recent NCTA post shows, by making broadband much more accessible to low income persons, it creates educational, entrepreneurial, and social opportunities that otherwise might not available.

 

Of course, other cable operators like Charter have programs similar to Comcast's to provide subsidies to support accessibility by low-income persons. NCTA reports that over 14 million people have been connected through the cable industry's low-cost broadband adoption programs. And similar efforts by non-cable ISPs like AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, and many others have connected many more.

 

All these private sector efforts should be applauded. They all contribute to closing the digital divide.

Comcast’s Latest Internet Essentials Expansion Includes Pell Grant Recipients

Yesterday, Comcast expanded its “Internet Essentials” program to cover Pell Grant recipients. Comcast will also donate $15 million worth of Internet service and devices, including 25,000 laptops.

These actions are the latest developments in Comcast’s long-standing pledge to connect more Americans. Internet Essentials is Comcast’s decade-old program for boosting high-speed Internet adoption among low-income persons, veterans, and seniors. Eligible subscribers get affordable home broadband up to 50/5 mbps for $9.95 per month. The program has had great success in narrowing the digital divide.

Free State Foundation scholars have previously shared news regarding Internet Essentials 10-Year Progress Report. This report highlighted the success of Internet Essentials and need for continuing its mission. Over the past 10 years, Comcast’s $700 million investment in Internet Essentials connected 10 million Americans to high-speed broadband. During that time, Internet Essentials was responsible for 40% of new Internet subscriptions by low-income families with school-aged children. And also in that report, Comcast committed another $1 billion to connect 50 million Americans over the next decade.

Expanding Internet Essentials to the roughly 7 million annual Pell Grant recipients will contribute to meeting this goal. The COVID-19 pandemic made many Americans deeply familiar with how critical connectivity is to achieving a quality education. And changes to learning methods such as hybrid classrooms will make affordability and adoption efforts more important than ever for education.

Free State Foundation scholars support private initiatives by our nation’s broadband providers to boost adoption and close the digital divide. Internet Essentials is such a successful initiative. Senior Fellow Seth Cooper highlighted the 10-Year Progress Report back in March. Senior Fellow Andrew Long covered expansions to the program in February. And Free State Foundation President Randolph J. May featured earlier Internet Essentials expansions in 2020, 2019, 2018, and 2017.

The latest announcement from Comcast is timely and welcome.

Comcast Will Invest $1 Billion to Connect Low-Income Americans with its Internet Essentials Program

For a decade now, Comcast's Internet Essentials program has been bringing affordable broadband connections to low-income Americans. On the occasion of the program's tenth anniversary, Comcast has released a progress report that looks back on the program's accomplishments in closing digital divides. The report coincides with Comcast's announcement that it will dedicate $1 billion to the Internet Essentials program's future efforts bring broadband to 50 million more Americans with limited financial resources.

According to its 10-Year Progress Report, the Internet Essentials program has invested $700 million and helped connect 100 million Americans to the Internet. Some 40% of the growth in broadband adoption in Comcast's service footprint among low-income households with school-age children can be attributed to the Internet essentials program. Comcast also has provided subsidized laptops to 130,000 people with low-income. The program offers the option to purchase a low-cost computer for under $150. 

Since the program started, broadband Internet speeds have increased from 1.5 Mbps in 2011 to 50 Mbps in 2021 – with the discount service price holding constant at $9.95 per month.

Free State Foundation President Randolph May has written about the Internet Essentials program in prior blog posts, including in 2020, 2019, 2018, and 2017.

Comcast's announcement that it will commit $1 billion to connecting low-income students, seniors, community centers, and non-profit organizations, including with WiFi technology, is terrific news. Many more low-income Americans surely will benefit from broadband Internet as a result of this significant private sector investment. Comcast deserves recognition for taking initiative and dedicating resources to bring more low-income Americans online. Here's to the next decade of the Internet Essentials program.

Comcast Announces Additional Voluntary Steps to Promote Broadband Adoption, Remote Learning, and Digital Equity

Comcast launched its low-cost Internet Essentials program in 2011. Over the last decade, it has connected millions of eligible low-income families at the discounted price of $9.95 per month, provided tens of thousands of free laptops, and invested hundreds of millions to promote digital literacy.

The ongoing public health crisis has focused greater attention on digital divides, remote learning, and digital equity. Today Comcast announced additional voluntary efforts to address these concerns.

Comcast's Internet Essentials program arguably is the leading example of the broadband industry's commitment to make high-speed Internet access more affordable for low-income families, but there certainly are others.

Such programs have been highly successful. So successful, in fact, that Congress made sure to leverage them in the recently passed COVID-19 relief package.

As I described in a recent post to the Free State Foundation's blog, Congress has appropriated $3.2 billion to the FCC for an Emergency Broadband Benefit Program that will provide discounts on broadband service during the COVID-19 pandemic. In doing so, it directed the agency to automatically approve providers offering "an established program as of April 1, 2020, that is widely available and offers internet service offerings to eligible households and maintains verification processes that are sufficient to avoid fraud, waste, and abuse."

The additional actions that Comcast announced today "to help connect as many Americans to the Internet as possible and create new opportunities for underrepresented communities through the education, resources, and skills training they need to succeed in today’s digital economy" include:

• Increasing, automatically and at no cost, Internet Essentials downstream speeds from 25 to 50 Mbps and upstream speeds to 5 Mbps for all new and existing customers on March 1;
• Continuing to provide 60 days of free service to new Internet Essential customers through June 30, 2021;
• Expanding its commitment to connect Lift Zones – safe spaces at Boys & Girls Clubs and other locations where students can access free Wi-Fi – to cover 1,000 locations by the end of 2021; and
• Providing $3.5 million in grants to "help[] more people of color gain the education and critical workforce development skills needed to access career opportunities in media and technology" as part of its $40 million pledge in 2020 to invest in partners focused on education and digital equity. Current recipients include CodePath, Genesys Works, Jobs for the Future, NPower, i.c. stars, Opportunity at Work, Goodwill Industries International, YWCA, and Philadelphia Youth Network.

As I highlighted in a May 2020 Perspectives from FSF Scholars, Comcast and other broadband providers didn't merely sign on to then-Chairman Pai's Keep Americans Connected pledge; many elected to go above and beyond the specific commitments – not terminating service to those unable to pay as a result of the pandemic, waiving late fees, and opening Wi-Fi hotspots to all Americans – set forth therein.

Providing new Internet Essentials customers with 60 days of free service was just one of the steps Comcast took at that time. Others included increasing downstream speeds from 15 to 25 Mbps, providing two months of free service to university students, and suspending data limits.

Further details on Comcast's commitment to education and digital equity are available here.

Cable Industry Expands Distance Learning Support with "K-12 Bridge to Broadband"

As part of the cable industry's commitment to support of distance learning, NCTA – The Internet & Television Association (NCTA), in conjunction with EducationSuperHighway (ESH), yesterday announced the "K-12 Bridge to Broadband" public-private initiative to increase home connectivity opportunities for students during the COVID-19 pandemic. USTelecom and NTCA also are partners in this effort.

According to ESH, a national non-profit, nearly 10 million students, half of whom are of color, lack Internet access. As a result, they risk falling behind as schools, in response to the health risks posed by the novel coronavirus, shift in part or entirely to distance-learning models. The goal of "K-12 Bridge to Broadband," therefore, is to "identify and potentially connect students in low-income families, enabling more students to participate in remote or hybrid learning."

In a press release, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai "thank[ed] NCTA and the EducationSuperHighway for launching this initiative to make it easier for students in low-income families to connect to the Internet."

"K-12 Bridge to Broadband" builds upon, and expands nationwide, recent successful partnerships between cable operators and school districts in cities that include Chicago, Atlanta, Philadelphia, Las Vegas, and Des Moines.

Pursuant to the announced framework of core principles, participating cable broadband providers will:

• Create a “sponsored” service offering that school districts can purchase at a discounted rate on behalf of low-income students;
• Work with school districts to identify students lacking access while also protecting participant privacy and the confidentiality of provider records;
• Agree to a baseline set of eligibility standards that covers, at a minimum, households with students participating in the federal Free and Reduced Lunch program;
• Minimize the amount of information families must provide in order to maximize adoption; and
• Agree not to use school-provided information for the targeted marketing of unrelated services.

The "K-12 Bridge to Broadband" builds upon existing cable industry efforts to support distance learning, which include:

• Longstanding broadband adoption programs for low-income families such as Internet Essentials from Comcast, Charter's Spectrum Internet Assist, and Connect2Compete from Cox;
• Voluntary extension of the FCC's Keep Americans Connected Pledge principles through the end of the last school year; and
• Additional steps above and beyond the specifics of that pledge, including providing multiple months of free service to eligible households that include students, increasing speeds, and removing data caps.

Comcast Expands Internet Essentials Program to Support Distance Learning

In the past, I have called attention several times to the importance of Comcast's Internet Essentials program in expanding high-speed Internet access to low-income persons, veterans, seniors, and others. As I said in an August 6, 2019, blog titled, "Comcast Significantly Expands Its Internet Essentials Program," "there is widespread agreement among policymakers and politicians regarding the manifest importance of access to the Internet and use of the Internet as we go about our daily lives." At the time, when Comcast announced an expansion of its existing program to connect more eligible low-income persons than previously, I said: the broadband provider "is once again enhancing the Internet Essentials program, and in a significant way."

 

Today, in a particularly timely action, Comcast has announced a further expansion of its Internet Essentials program – this time focusing on supporting low-income students, schools, community organizations, and others as the new (and unprecedented!) school year begins. Comcast is implementing measures that will help ensure reliable Internet access is available to those who must prepare, at least for the next several months, to make distance learning a success.

 

For example, Internet Essentials will add the free xFi platform for parents to connect, protect, and monitor children’s devices and online activities. And Comcast will continue to offer 60 days of free Internet service for new Internet Essentials customers.

 

Comcast is certainly not alone among our nation's broadband providers in taking constructive measures to help close remaining digital divides. And the efforts in this regard by many private sector service providers during the epidemic have been especially noteworthy.With its announcement today regarding another significant expansion of its Internet Essentials program – this time to support the all-important distance learning effort – it is right and proper to take note of Comcast's ongoing positive contribution.

Comcast Significantly Expands Its Internet Essentials Program

In an era of contention over policy and politics, there is widespread agreement among policymakers and politicians regarding the manifest importance of access to the Internet and use of the Internet as we go about our daily lives. That importance – when it comes to enhancing our educational prospects, our employment opportunities, our relationships among family and friends, and so much more – needs no elaboration.

And, fortunately, there is widespread agreement regarding the importance of making high-speed Internet access available on a ubiquitous basis, so that, to the extent possible, existing "digital divides" are eliminated, or at least reduced. With that in mind, in the past, I have acknowledged the contribution of Comcast's Internet Essentials program to the cause of making broadband Internet access more widely available to low income persons, while, at the same time, funding programs that subsidize the purchase of computers and support digital literacy.

During its eight years of existence, Comcast has continued to expand the Internet Essentials program from its initial focus on families with children eligible for a free lunch under the National School Lunch Program. Please see my blogs, Comcast's "Internet Essentials Program Milestones and Enhancements" (2017) and "Comcast's Internet Essentials Plays An Essential Role" (2018), for a description of the ongoing program enhancements, such as expansion of eligibility to low-income seniors and veterans, just during the past two years. 

Now, with its latest announcement today, Comcast is once again enhancing the Internet Essentials program, and in a significant way. It is expanding program eligibility to include all qualified low-income persons in its service area. Comsast says the expansion will increase the number of eligible low-income households by three million – this on top of the two million households already connected. Before today's announcement, Comcast says the Internet Essentials program already has connected more than eight million low-income persons.

The subsidization of the purchase of computers will continue, along with digital literacy training programs. Without these "adoption-promoting" prongs of the Internet Essentials program, the significant expansion of Comcast's support for the availability of "access" would not be nearly as effective.

By no means is Comcast the only service provider, computer or other device distributor, or other player in the Internet ecosystem that has contributed in a positive way to enhancing Internet access and adoption. Efforts by other firms in the private sector have been important and impactful.

But with its announcement today regarding the significant expansion of its Internet Essentials program, Comcast deserves our acknowledgement of its ongoing positive contribution – and our thanks.