Comcast Expands Low-Income Internet Program (axios.com) 49
Comcast announced today its largest-ever eligibility expansion for Internet Essentials, the cable giant's program that subsidizes basic broadband service and low-cost computers to help increase adoption for low-income households in the cities Comcast serves. From a report: The program, which began 8 years ago with the merger of Comcast and NBCUniversal, will now be open to seniors and people with disabilities. To date, the program has connected more than 8 million low-income individuals from 2 million households, the company says. The Internet Essentials service, which costs $10 a month, provides download speeds of 15 megabits per second, which is slower than the FCC's benchmark for broadband (25 megabits per second)
Re:What's "low income" ? $100k? (Score:4, Informative)
https://internetessentials.com/apply
After completing your application, you may qualify if:
A) You are eligible for public assistance programs such as the National School Lunch Program, Housing Assistance, Medicaid, SNAP, SSI, and others.
B) You do not have outstanding debt to Comcast that is less than a year old. Families with outstanding debt more than one year old may still be eligible.
C) You live in an area where Comcast Internet service is available but have not subscribed to it within the last 90 days.
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" Families with outstanding debt more than one year old may still be eligible. "
"Excellent." - Comcast CEO, stroking a white cat, gazing upon his laser.
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On the downside, those who qualify for the program have to use Comcast.
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Internet Essentials includes: (Score:2)
Internet Essentials includes:
* 15 Mbps download / 2 Mbps upload speeds for only $9.95/month + tax
* 1,024 GB (1 TB) of data each calendar month
* In-home Wifi included at no cost
* Option to purchase a discounted computer
* Access to free online and in-person training class
* Access to 40 1-hour session of XFINITY Wifi hotspots outside the home every 30 days
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Hey, anything that gets Comcast less money is a good thing.
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If you're already subscribed we aren't going to help you out So nice of them to tell you to fsck off if you are already paying too much.
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If you have another ISP option, you can switch for 90 days to come back to the discount... but those of us in Comcast-only towns are out of luck.
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C) You live in an area where Comcast Internet service is available
In many places, Comcast cable runs right past low-income housing and they won't pull trivial cable to serve the area, because it's not a high-profit target. They'll cite "construction costs" of $60,000 for a $400 spool of cable and half a day of bucket truck time.
This program is yet another reason to not pull that cable, unfortunately. Good for the folks it will serve, but not those who never had the option of "broadband" anyway.
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So the question becomes... (Score:1)
What does Comcast get from :combing the data of additional low-income households: to monetarily justify their goodwill and largesse? Is Comcast known for giving money away? My bill goes up $2-5 a month no matter what.
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What does Comcast get from :combing the data of additional low-income households: to monetarily justify their goodwill and largesse? Is Comcast known for giving money away? My bill goes up $2-5 a month no matter what.
It was a concession made to get approval for the Comcast and NBC Universal merger back in 2011
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-comcast-internet/comcast-expands-low-income-internet-service-as-merger-review-nears-idUSBREA231WS20140304
The program has become one way Comcast, the largest U.S. cable provider, is fulfilling a promise of broader deployment and adoption of broadband it made to federal regulators to gain approval for its NBC Universal merger in 2011.
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It's a promotional gimmick, aimed at the politicians and the customers, not a "concession". The plan will make more money than regular internet. And everybody will say, I *heart* Comcast.
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What does Comcast get from :combing the data of additional low-income households: to monetarily justify their goodwill and largesse? Is Comcast known for giving money away? My bill goes up $2-5 a month no matter what.
I would guess they will more than make it up by applying overage charges when data caps are exceeded.
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1 TB is a pretty decent cap at that speed.
My TV is streaming a lot of HD (2 lazy adults with different schedules) and we barely got half that.
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Considering they seem to be tracking that separate (based on this article), they'd probably kick you off eventually.
The summary implies they measure it in sessions 1 hour increments.
Seems like a not worth it loophole.
SCAM (Score:2, Interesting)
My mother used to get along fine with just one of those antennas you put in a window. Then one day, NBC stopped coming in. So she had to start paying for cable. This was right after Comcast acquired NBC.
So how many other subscribers did comcast get when people stopped getting NBC all of a sudden? My guess is comcast is making a profit on this, even after the discounts.
Re: SCAM (Score:1)
Maybe. I think the sponsored search scam is far worse. Y'all's methods also are unnuanced and very unintelligent.
TWC is 30 megabits (Score:2)
Eligible here because I live in a low income area.
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Now we know how APK posts.
That's low-income seniors only (bummer) (Score:2)
market differentiation (Score:2)
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