This is a sponsored post by Comcast. But the content and ideas expressed here are my own.

The Internet is an essential tool in education and shouldn’t be a luxury. It is essential for kids to be connected so that they can have access to information to do their schoolwork. It is also important for everyone to be able to find jobs, which happen to be found on-line. Knocking on doors doesn’t do it. Low-income families should be able to get affordable Internet to be part of the connected world we now live in and not left behind due to the expense this entails. Comcast with it’s Internet Essentials is doing just that! Helping low-income families by providing them with affordable Internet service.

Internet Essentials provides low-cost internet service for $9.95 a month and the option to purchase a computer for less than $150 dollars.

New enhancements to Internet Essentials Program.

David L. Cohen, Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Diversity Officer of Comcast Corporation, in hand with six-time Olympic medalist Jackie Joyner-Kersee, serving as Internet Essentials’ national spokesperson and Adamari López, known host of Telemundo’s Un Nuevo Día, announced 3 key enhancements to the program on August 12^th in San Mateo, CA.

• Comcast is expanding its program for low-income senior citizens from five cities and metropolitan areas to 12 – including Fresno and Santa Clara Counties. (San Francisco is already a part of the Internet Essentials low-income senior citizen pilot program.)
• Comcast is going to increase the program’s Internet service speeds from 10/1 Mbps to up to 15/2 Mbps.
• In order to help to help family members connect to the Internet on the go and save money on their wireless bills, Internet Essentials customers will now have 40 hours of free out of home WiFi access per month to the company’s network of 18 million Xfinity WiFi hotspots.

Comcast goes further

Comcast announced a six-figure digital literacy investment with five key partners in Santa Clara County — African American Community Service Agency, Asian Americans for Community Involvement, ConXion, the Silicon Valley Organization Foundation, and Somos Mayfair. These investments will be used to help connect seniors and residents of HUD-assisted housing, including public housing and Section 8 vouchers, to the Internet Essentials program.

The company further announced that it will donate more than 100 computers to these organizations so they can give them to individuals who need them, adding six-month Internet Essentials Opportunity Cards which will provide complimentary Internet service to their homes.

Comcast is putting it’s heart in the right place and hopefully this will enhance low-income’s families’ lives and futures!