Internet Essentials from Comcast offers everyone the opportunity to be part of the digital world from the comfort of their own homes by providing affordable comprehensive broadband to low-income households.
Conquering the Digital Divide
It is 8 p.m. on a Wednesday when Danielle gets home from work. Five minutes later, she’s in the car again, with her two sons in the backseat. They drive 20 minutes to the nearest fast food restaurant, not for dinner, but so that her children can complete their homework. Once her smartphone registers the restaurant’s WiFi connection, she puts the car in park and hands the phone over. There, in a parking lot in the dark, the boys share a 5-inch screen as they take turns researching questions and submitting answers online. This is their nightly routine.
Meanwhile, across town, there is no car ride available for one 14-year-old girl. Instead, she rides her bicycle two miles to the closest library in order to complete her homework. Later, she pedals home alone in the dark.
And, for even more students without anyone to drive them to a WiFi spot, or without a way to get to a library, the homework never gets done, and learning stops when the bell rings. This is the digital divide.
Internet Essentials from Comcast is shrinking this gap in economic opportunity, academic achievement, health outcomes, and quality of life. Since 2011, Internet Essentials has connected more than eight million low-income people to low-cost, high-speed Internet at home so that students, parents, veterans, and now all qualified low-income households can be ready for anything.
Sacramento’s Great Disconnect
Home of the Kings™, tree-lined streets, and farm-to-fork cuisine, Sacramento is also home to one of the largest digital divides in the country. In one neighborhood, 95% of residents have the internet at home. A few minutes away, in another zip code, only 19% have the internet. That’s 76% fewer households without the ability to do homework, search for and apply to jobs, monitor their health care records and devices, read the news, and pay their bills online. Fast and accessible internet service is crucial to the modern economy. We can’t leave a neighborhood or the next generation in the dark.
What is Internet Essentials?
Internet Essentials is the nation’s largest, most successful, and most comprehensive broadband adoption program for low-income households.
What are the three components of Internet Essentials?
1. Affordable Internet
For less than $10 per month plus tax, you can have high-speed internet in your home.
2. Equipment
For less than $150 plus tax, you can purchase a computer equipped with Microsoft Windows 10 Professional, Microsoft Office Home and Business 2010, and Norton Security Suite.
3. Digital Literacy
Get the most out of your new computer and/or internet connection with free in-person, online, and printed training.
Who is eligible?
All low-income people and households are eligible for the life-changing potential of an Internet connection, wherever Comcast offers service. You may qualify if you are eligible for public assistance programs such as the National School Lunch program, HUD Housing Assistance, Medicaid, SNAP, SSI, and more.
What’s the catch?
There isn’t one. There is no contract, no credit check, and no installation free. Just affordable, high-speed internet.
How can I apply?
Visit InternetEssentials.com or call 1-855-846-8376. Households can apply online in English, Spanish, Arabic, Cantonese, Mandarin, Russian, and Somali, or request more than 240 languages from Comcast’s call center.
BY THE NUMBERS LOCAL IMPACT
Internet Essentials has connected nearly 165,000 people in the Sacramento metropolitan area.
Earl Warren Elementary School: 210 laptops gifted to students.
La Familia Maple Neighborhood Counseling Center: Digital literacy training supported by a $50,000 Comcast grant and 150 laptops gifted to youth and seniors.
WHAT INTERNET ESSENTIALS CUSTOMERS SAY
98% of families with school-age children use Internet Essentials to complete schoolwork
93% of parents have seen their child’s grades improve
62% of households report that Internet Essentials has helped them locate or obtain employment
74% of households say Internet Essentials helps them compete in the current technology environment
Eligible households must live in a Comcast service area, not be a current Comcast Internet customer, and not have outstanding debt to Comcast that is less than one year old.
