Comcast has announced that it will begin offering a new service, Internet Essentials, in time for the 2011-12 school year. This initiative will directly address the major barriers that many in our communities face for in-home broadband adoption: affordability and lack of digital literacy.
In today's world, it is important for everyone to be digitally literate. Broadband adoption is vital for our communities because it helps improve our children’s education, our local economy, and the ability for members of our communities to find jobs and benefit from opportunities available online.
Comcast Internet Essentials will provide eligible families with:
-Affordable home Internet service ($9.95 per month)
-A low-cost computer ($149.99 plus taxes)
-Access to free Internet training online, in print and in classroom(at established community training sites)
Internet Essentials will be available everywhere that Comcast offers its high-speed Internet service. Students in more than 4,000 school districts in 39 states and the District of Columbia will be able to participate.
Comcast will accept new Internet Essentials participants for at least three years, through the end of the 2013-14 school year. Any household that qualifies during this three-year period will remain eligible for Internet Essentials, provided the household still qualifies for the program, until that child graduates from high school.
For more details visit their website at http://www.internetessentials.com/.
Vladimir Beaufils