Comcast Hooks Up 91,000 Low-Income Homes to Broadband

MSO to kick off another multi-city promotional tour for 'Internet Essentials' program

By Todd Spangler, Multichannel News -- Broadcasting & Cable, 8/15/2012 12:05:59 PM

Comcast said it has enrolled 91,000 low-income families -- representing 364,000 people -- for its $9.95-per-month Internet Essentials service, more than doubling the size of the program since the start of 2012.

The MSO is required to offer low-cost broadband to poor Americans under the conditions the Federal Communications Commission attached to the approval of its NBCUniversal takeover. However, Comcast has said planning for the Internet Essentials program began two years prior to the NBCU deal.

About 2.3 million households in Comcast's service areas are eligible for Internet Essentials. The program is available to families who qualify for free school lunches under the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture's National School Lunch Program, and the company extended the program earlier this year to those eligible for reduced-price lunches as well.

Click here to read the full story at Multichannel.com.