BURLINGTON — Comcast signed up more than 1 million people for its lowest-cost Internet plan last year, but that’s not enough to close the digital divide, according Mark Reilly, Comcast’s senior vice president.
Studies show that about 10 percent of people who do not use the Internet cite affordability as the reason, Reilly said. The Comcast Internet Essentials program aims to close a digital divide that limits educational opportunities for low-income children because their families cannot afford Internet access, he said.
Reilly, joined by Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt., came to the Boys and Girls Club in Burlington on Wednesday to announce the relaunch of the Internet Essentials program that offers broadband access to families whose children are eligible for the National School Lunch Program.
The plan costs about $10 per month until the child graduates from high school, at which point the policy ends. A similar plan would cost about $30 a month, Reilly said.
Welch said affordable Internet allows young “dreamers” to have access to the tools they need to reach their full potential.
“You know what, you can dream like Martin Luther King dreamed,” he said, referring to one of King’s quotes posted on the wall behind him. “To be the best you can possibly be, it takes some effort, it takes some discipline, but it takes access to some of the tools you need.”
Reilly spoke directly to students during the news conference, asking “Comcast Internet evangelists” to spread the word about the importance of affordable broadband access to their friends and family.
He said it is necessary to let people know how important the Internet is in the 21st century.
“But what we have found, and what studies have shown, you have to communicate to those who don’t have access the relevancy of having Internet access,” Reilly said.
Comcast is expanding enrollment eligibility by offering the plan to families whose children attend a school in which at least 70 percent of the students qualify for the National School Lunch Program, plus those who are homeschooled or in parochial, private or cyber schools.
Comcast will offer 18,000 subsidized computers as part of the program. Comcast selected the names of three students from a hat to award them a free Gateway Netbook laptop after the news conference Wednesday.
