Comcast Internet program  to help bridge ‘digital divide’

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Updated: November 30, 2011 12:24AM

ELGIN — Nearly 18,000 students in Elgin School District U46 now can access the Internet for less than $10 a month, thanks to new Comcast’s Internet Essentials program.

Internet Essentials aims to “close the digital divide” for low-income families with students in schools in Comcast’s greater Chicago region, the Internet/cable/phone service provider announced earlier this month.

That includes all families whose children receive free lunches in the National School Lunch program in U46, as well as those in communities in surrounding school districts.

“The Internet is a great equalizer and a life-changing technology,” said LeAnn Talbot, senior vice president of Comcast’s greater Chicago region.

“Internet Essentials helps level the playing field for low-income families by connecting students online with their teachers and their school’s educational resources and by enabling parents to receive digital literacy training so they can apply for jobs online or use the Internet to learn more about health care and government services, and a host of other activities,” Talbot said.

It’s the first program to address three of the primary barriers standing between families and broadband Internet, according to Comcast. Those barriers include a lack of understanding of how the Internet is relevant and useful, the cost of a home computer, and the cost of Internet service.

Internet Essentials will do that by offering participants residential Internet service for $9.95 a month, with no price increases, activation fees or equipment rental fees, according to the company. It also will give those families a voucher to purchase a low-cost computer for $149.99, not including taxes.

The program also will give families access to free digital literacy training in print, online or in person, according to Comcast.

Families can sign up for Internet Essentials through the end of the 2013-14 school year, according to the company. They then will remain eligible for the program until their children graduate high school, as long as they household still meets those qualifications, according to the company.

To qualify, families must live where Comcast offers Internet service, which includes all of U46 and many surrounding communities, and have at least one child who receives a free school lunch under the National School Lunch Program. A family of three, for example, would have to make less than $25,000 to qualify for free lunches, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

U46 spokesman Tony Sanders said the state’s second-largest school district is trying to “get the word out” to its families about the program. It passed out fliers about it along with applications for the free lunch program, he said.

Participating families also must not have not subscribed for Comcast Internet service within the last 90 days or have an overdue Comcast bill or unreturned equipment.

More information in about Internet Essentials is available at www.internetessentials.com for English or at 1-855-846-8376. More information in Spanish is at www.internetbasico.com or at 1-855-765-6995.