Comcast Expands Internet Essentials!

*This post was created in collaboration with Comcast. All opinions are 100% my own.

I hopped on a conference call this week with Comcast NBCUniversal's Senior Vice President and Chief Diversity Officer, David L. Cohen. He wanted to let us know that Comcast is taking it's amazing Internet Essentials program and expanding eligibility for it. I hadn't heardabout this program before but am incredibly imporessed with Comcast's committment to finding ways to ensure that those affected by the digital divide in our country, are able to have reliable access to internet services.

So take for instance, households in Palo Alto of Bethesda, these are low poverty areas, and only about 6% of the population do not have access to broadband at home compared to those linging in Trenton NJ or Flint MI, where there are high pverty rates, nearly 60% of the population do not have consistent access to the internet. That gap of more than 50 points defines the digital divide in this country. The more broadband technology advances, the more the gap widens.  Think of all the things you're doing with the internet, reading this blog post, doing school work, filling out work applications, reading educational articles, searching for healthy recipes, etc and so on. These are things that I personally take for granted because I have a laptop and great internet service that I am able to afford.

To date, Comcast has connected more than 8 million low income Americans in their homes, most connected for the first time in their lives. With the support of schools, teachers, libraries, non profits, government officials and more, the Comcast Internet Essentials program is reaching more and more people each day.

The program's eligibility requirements are expanidng to include many new enhancements that offer more and more Americans the opportunities to get internet and at a good speed. On the call, someone asked about a very specific area of the country and David was extremely keyed into the area and committed to following up on areas that may need to be reached with the program. I was, like I said, incredibly impressed and am going to put info below on how you or someone you know can apply to the Internet Essentials program. Eligible participants receive free digital literacy training, Internet service for $9.95/month and the opportunity to buy a laptop for less than $150. To me, this could make all the difference for families and individuals throughout the country!

You can find everything you need to know on the Internet Essentials website or by calling 1-855-8-INTERNET which is their dedicated hotline. Seriously something to consider because they are really making the internet and technology accessible to those that need it the most.