PHILADELPHIA — Responding to criticism that its discounted Internet Essentials service was only available to poor families with children, Comcast Corp. said on Tuesday that it would expand the $9.95-a-month program to low-income senior citizens.
Philadelphia-based Comcast will begin the project for senior citizens in Palm Beach, Fla., and expand it to other markets throughout the United States through the fall, David Cohen, executive vice president at Comcast, said.
Senior citizens who earn $35,000 a year or less are likely to qualify for the program, Cohen said.
Details were still being worked out, he added.
Internet Essentials is Comast’s government-approved effort to close the “digital divide” — the term used to describe the lack of high-speed Internet service among impoverished populations.
Comcast agreed to offer Internet Essentials as it was seeking regulatory approvals to acquire NBCUniversal, the news and entertainment giant. The NBCUniversal deal closed in early 2011.
Comcast also announced on Tuesday that it had made it easier for poor families with school-age children to qualify for Internet Essentials and would include a free Wi-Fi router with the service.
Internet Essentials entails speeds of 10 megabits per second for downloads and 1 megabit per second for uploads.
Families whose students attend a school in which half of the student body qualify for federally subsidized lunches now automatically qualify for Internet Esssentials, Comcast said.
Comcast says that about 20,000 schools in its national cable-franchise areas fall into this category.
However, other restrictions could prevent a family from qualifying for Internet Essentials.
If a family already purchases an Internet service from Comcast they won’t qualify for the discounted Internet Essentials price. Comcast also does not generally offer the service to families with past-due cable bills.
“We have tried everything in our power to make this as easy as possible,” Cohen said of Internet Essentials as it relates to enrollment.
Comcast says that 500,000 families have enrolled in Internet Essentials since it was first offered in late 2011 and it is the most successful program of its type in the cable industry.
Comcast has not disclosed how many of the 500,000 families have dropped out of the program over its existence or its current enrollment.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
