In Comcast’s hometown, the chasm between internet haves and have-nots looks intractable, new census data shows

New census data confirms what many in the city have long suspected: Big swaths of Philadelphia (PA) are nearly off the grid, with minimal access to fast internet services in their homes. Across the US in 2017, the national broadband penetration rate by household was 83.5 percent in 2017. In Philadelphia, the rate was 71.6 percent, the second-lowest among the 25 largest cities. The city’s internet penetration rate actually fell 2.7 percentage points between 2016 and 2017 for both wired services like Comcast and wireless data plans, the only large city to record a decline in internet access.

To help close the digital divide in its franchise areas, Comcast, whose hometown in Philadelphia, launched its discounted Internet Essentials in 2012, selling $10-a-month high-speed internet service to low-income parents with school-age children, and expanding the program to other groups, among them low-income veterans and senior citizens. In Aug, Comcast reported that 49,000 low-income households in Philadelphia have enrolled in the Internet Essentials program over the life of the program. Angela Siefer, executive director of the nonprofit National Digital Inclusion Alliance, said that nationally “it’s hard to say there’s been progress” in closing the digital divide. "There has been no big push to fix this. So why would we see big changes?” she said.