Sept. 16--Comcast is expanding its low-cost broadband initiative, Internet Essentials, to include qualified community college students in Illinois.
The pilot program, announced Wednesday, will open up the $9.95 per month high-speed Internet service to more than 90,000 low-income community college students across the state, the company said.
Created to satisfy regulators as part of Comcast's 2011 acquisition of NBC Universal, Internet Essentials provides discounted broadband service to families of K-12 students who are eligible for the federally subsidized school lunch program. It also offers the option to buy an Internet-ready computer for under $150.
More than 500,000 households across the U.S. have gone online through Internet Essentials since its inception, according to Comcast, including 30,000 in Chicago.
The program for community college students is also being launched Wednesday in Colorado.
"For millions of Americans, community college is one of the most accessible paths to a post-secondary education and a brighter future," David Cohen, Comcast executive vice president, said in a statement. "By offering an affordable Internet connection and computer, Internet Essentials will enable low-income community college students to access educational resources not just at school but also at home."
Illinois community college students must be federal Pell grant recipients to be eligible for the program. Nearly three-fourths of Pell grant recipients have a family income of $30,000 or less, according to the U.S. Department of Education.
A 2013 Pew Research study found that 54 percent of households with an income of less than $30,000 per year had broadband service. For households with an income of $75,000 or more, home broadband access rises to 88 percent. Minorities and seniors are also less likely to have high-speed Internet, according to the study.
Last month, Comcast announced it was testing an Internet Essentials program for low-income seniors in San Francisco and Palm Beach County, Fla.
The Obama administration has championed efforts to bridge the so-called digital divide, a socioeconomic disparity that makes broadband less accessible for low-income families.
Internet Essentials was launched in August 2011 as a condition of Comcast's acquisition of NBC Universal. Comcast was required to file an annual Internet Essentials compliance report with the Federal Communications Commission for three years in what has become a regulatory blueprint for the industry.
As part of its recently closed $48.5 billion acquisition of DirecTV, AT agreed to offer high-speed Internet to low-income families that are food stamp eligible for $10 a month or less. The program is expected to be in place by the second quarter of 2016, an AT spokesman said.
EveryoneOn, a Washington-based nonprofit, is on an even broader mission, partnering with 15 Internet providers, including Comcast, to make high-speed service available to all low-income households.
The organization, which operates with a $2.2 million annual budget, has helped sign on about 170,000 households for low-cost broadband service since launching in March 2013.
"We are trying to serve the entire population of unconnected Americans," said Zach Leverenz, CEO of EveryoneOn. "And we want to make sure that when costs and race and education are the barriers -- those are the proven reasons why folks are not connected at home -- we want to overcome those."
rchannick@tribpub.com
