For the third time, Comcast has extended its initiatives to keep users connected during the Covid-19 pandemic. Comcast will continue to provide free internet service for the first 60 days for new Internet Essential Customers, as well as keep providing free access to more than 1.5 million Wi-Fi hot spots, through June 30.
Comcast's connectivity support program was designed to help people who are either working from home remotely or learning online due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Comcast has partnered with public schools to provide internet connectivity for low-income students.
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In September, Comcast launched a multi-year program to provide free Wi-Fi at more than 1,000 community centers in the United States. Comcast is working with city leaders and nonprofit organizations to install these Wi-Fi spots, which it refers to as “Lift Zones.” The goal was to help students participate in distance learning and to do their homework. Comcast is also partnering with community centers to provide spaces where families can connect to free Wi-Fi through its Lift Zones.
Lift Zones complement Comcast’s Internet Essentials program, which the company started in 2011. Internet Essentials offers deeply-discounted $9.95 internet connectivity for low-income people. The company offered Internet Essentials for free during its Keep Americans Connected Pledge at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.
In its third quarter earnings in October, Comcast posted the best broadband quarterly results in its history by adding more than 633,000 residential and business subscribers. Over the past nine months, Comcast added more broadband subscribers than it did in all of last year.