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Health & Fitness

Internet Essentials Enters Year Three

Connects More Than 5,000 Low-Income Twin Cities Families to the Internet

If you have kids in school, you know how much they rely on Internet resources to do homework, check grades and keep up-to-date on school activities and events.  Those without good Internet access at home suffer a significant disadvantage in the classroom.

To help bridge the gap, in 2011 Comcast started a program called Internet Essentials to deliver Internet to low income families with students in school.  In its first two years, Internet Essentials has helped more than 220,000 families nationwide discover the power of the Internet, including more than 5,000 Twin Cities area families.  It’s the nation’s largest and most comprehensive broadband adoption program for low-income families.

Now that kids are back in class we’re extending the program to even more Twin Cities families.  This year we’ve streamlined enrollment in the program by expanding the instant approval process for families with students attending schools where 70 percent or more of the students are eligible to participate in the National School Lunch Program.

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Our enrollment numbers and research show the program is working – making a real difference in people’s lives.  

For example:

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  • Internet Essentials customer satisfaction is 90 percent -- and 98 percent say they would recommend the service to others.
  • 85 percent of Internet Essentials customers report they use the Internet at home every day.
  • The most popular use of the Internet for Internet Essentials customers is doing homework (98 percent) – followed by conducting general research (94 percent).
  • 58 percent of Internet Essentials customers use their Internet service to search and apply for employment.

But while Internet Essentials outreach and enrollment numbers have grown substantially since 2011, we know there is more work to be done.  That is why we have worked to continuously improve the Internet Essentials program every year since its inception.  For example, earlier this year, we expanded the program’s eligible population to parochial, private, cyber-school, and home-schooled students.  We also launched a new online enrollment tool available in English and Spanish through any Internet-enabled computer, tablet, or smartphone.  And, we introduced Internet Essentials Opportunity Cards, a resource that partners can use to connect eligible families to the Internet at home even faster.

We know the importance of being online for students grows almost daily and that the disparity of broadband adoption rates between low- and upper-income neighborhoods is significant.  We see it in the Twin Cities neighborhoods we serve every day -- and Internet Essentials is our way to do something about it.  With the tremendous support of our community partners, we are making progress one family at a time.

Please visit www.InternetEssentials.com or www.InternetBasico.com to learn more.

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