Comcast Announces 10 Year Investment in Digital Equity

On the 10th anniversary of its Internet Essentials program, Comcast Washington today announced that it has connected 560,000 low-income individuals statewide to broadband internet over the last decade, including 336,000 people in the Puget Sound area. The company also unveiled new plans to support low-income residents with more digital tools and resources over the next decade, as a part of a $1 billion nationwide initiative to impact 50 million people.

This commitment consists of local investments in Washington state that include distributing more than $750,000 in funding and technology donations to local nonprofit organizations serving disadvantaged Washingtonians. Comcast will also continue ongoing support of its Lift Zone initiative to establish WiFi-connected safe spaces in 80 community centers statewide for students and adults by the end of 2021. The company has unveiled 30 Lift Zones in King, Snohomish, Pierce, Island and Spokane counties since fall 2020. These locations offer Internet connectivity to students and families that lack broadband access in the home.

In addition to the total number of connections Internet Essentials has provided, other key metrics about the program and its impact statewide include:

• Increased Internet Essentials speeds six times, from 1.5 Mbps in 2011 to 50 Mbps today, without ever increasing the price of the program, which has remained $9.95/month.
• Participated in the Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) K-12 Internet Access Program to help students and families connect to school online during the 2020-2021 school year.
• Developed an Internet Essentials Partnership Program that offers subsidized broadband service through hundreds of schools to help connect thousands of students to the Internet during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Offered 60 days of free Internet service to any new Internet Essentials customer who needed to get online during the coronavirus outbreak.
• Opened more than 70,000 public WiFi hotspots for people to connect to during the current pandemic.
• Built an online learning center that includes more than 200 digital literacy training videos, guides, and reports that are free to anyone to use, including non-customers.
• Developed a national employee network of 3,000 Internet Essentials Ambassadors who volunteer their time to help spread the word about the program in their communities.

The Comcast commitments are projected to impact as many as 50 million Americans over the next 10 years. In 2021 alone, Comcast estimates students throughout the nation will be able to complete more than 25 million hours of remote learning lessons to further address the “homework gap” at the hundreds of Lift Zone locations that have already opened or will open soon. Comcast Lift Zones are an extension of the company’s Internet Essentials program, the largest and most comprehensive low-cost Internet adoption program for low-income Americans.

This news comes on the heels of a series of initiatives announced during the COVID-19 pandemic that reinforced the company’s commitment to addressing the digital divide and the homework gap by upping speeds to 50 Mbps downstream without changing the program’s $9.95/month price. The company also continues to offer 60 days of free Internet service to new Internet Essentials customers who sign up before June 30, 2021.

About Internet Essentials

Internet Essentials is Comcast’s signature digital equity initiative and the nation’s largest and most comprehensive broadband adoption program. In 10 years, it has helped connect 10 million low-income Americans to broadband Internet at home, most for the very first time. Internet Essentials has a comprehensive design that addresses each of the three major barriers to broadband adoption. This includes: multiple options to access free digital literacy training in print, online, and in person; the option to purchase a heavily subsidized, low-cost Internet-ready computer; and low-cost, high-speed Internet service for $9.95 a month, plus tax. The program is structured as a partnership between Comcast and tens of thousands of school districts, libraries, elected officials, and nonprofit community partners. Comcast has never raised the price of the program. For more information about Internet Essentials and Comcast’s commitment to education and digital equity, please visit https://corporate.comcast.com/education. To apply, visit www.internetessentials.com or call

1-855-846-8376 for English or 1-855-765-6995 for Spanish.