Comcast Extends Broadband Program for Poor Families

Telecommunications giant Comcast said Tuesday that it would extend indefinitely a program that offers low-cost broadband service and Internet-ready computers to low-income families, The New York Times writes.

The firm’s Internet Essentials initiative, launched in 2011 as a condition for regulatory approval of its takeover of NBC Universal, had been set to run for three years. Comcast is now seeking support in Washington for its planned merger with Time Warner Cable.

Internet Essentials offers broadband service for $9.95 a month and $150 computers to any family with a child attending a school where more than 70 percent of students are eligible for the federal school lunch program. Comcast said 300,000 families have signed up for the service, and 23,000 have purchased the discount computers. The firm also announced it would disburse $1-million in neighborhood grants to boost digital literacy.