Comcast launched a cheap Internet broadband plan for low-income families several months ago, and now the cable provider is touting successes so far in a progress report.
The Internet Essentials program offers Internet access at just $10 per month, primarily to families with children already eligible for free lunches under the National School Lunch Program. (Although that criteria is about to be expanded too. See below.)
Thus far, Comcast has already signed up over 41,000 families (an estimated 160,000 people) nationwide to this plan -- sometimes bringing Internet access to homes for the very first time.
Other notable figures include that Comcast has distributed over 5,500 computers at less than $150 each, and offered roughly 300 in-person digital literacy training sessions with more than 1,250 individual attendees.
Comcast's executive vice president of public policy, David L. Cohen, explained in the report that just how necessary this program is for some Americans:
Research consistently shows that the barriers to broadband adoption involve a complex mix of low digital literacy, perceived lack of relevance of online content, and the need for low-cost, good quality computers and Internet service. Internet Essentials is intended to address all of these hurdles to broadband adoption and it's the largest and most comprehensive broadband adoption program in the country.
Going forward, Cohen outlined six new goals, or "enhancements," that the program must now meet. Here's an overview:
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