Comcast

Comcast announced a multiyear program to launch more than 1,000 Wi-Fi-connected “Lift Zones” in community centers nationwide. Working with its network of thousands of nonprofit partners and city leaders, Comcast will provide Wi-Fi in facilities they have identified to help students get online, participate in distance learning, and do their schoolwork. The initiative will provide not only free Internet connectivity, but also access to hundreds of hours of educational and digital skills content to help families and site coordinators navigate online learning.

With distance learning plans rolling out across the country due to the coronavirus, Comcast announced a new program for cities, schools, and nonprofits to connect large numbers of low-income K-12 students to the Internet at home. Internet Essentials will add the free xFi platform for parents to connect, protect, and monitor children’s devices and online activities.
Comcast will continue to offer 60 days of free Internet service for new Internet Essentials customers.

Video subscriber losses doubled and broadband customer increases reached record levels at Comcast in the second quarter, the first full quarter affected by COVID-19. Comcast lost 477,000 video customers in the period, more than double the 224,000 it lost in the prior year. At the same time, broadband had its best second quarter in 13 years, with subscribers rising by 323,000 in the period, compared to an increase of 209,000 in the same period in 2019.

Comcast is developing a comprehensive, multiyear plan to allocate $100 million to fight injustice and inequality against any race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation or ability. There will be $75 million in cash and $25 million in media that will be distributed over the next three years.

Comcast said it beat earnings estimates for the first quarter of 2020, but missed on revenue, as the pandemic impacted the theme parks business and the theatrical division faced a tough comparison to year-ago hits. Highlights include: Total High-Speed Internet Customer Net Additions Were 477,000 (Not Including 32,000 Free Internet Essentials Customers), the Best Quarterly Result in 12 Years. High-speed internet revenue increased 9.3%, driven by an increase in the number of residential high-speed internet customers as well as an increase in average rates.

As our country continues to manage the COVID-19 emergency, we recognize that our company plays an important role in helping our customers stay connected – to their families, their workplaces, their schools, and the latest information about the virus – through the Internet. We also know that for millions of low-income Americans who don’t have Internet service at home, this uncertain time is going to be even more difficult to manage. As schools and businesses close and families are encouraged, or even mandated, to stay home, Internet connectivity becomes even more important.

In August, Comcast announced the most sweeping eligibility change in Internet Essentials' eight-year history.  Comcast is now offering Internet connections to all low-income Americans, wherever Comcast offers service.  Since the program launched in 2011, more than eight million low-income Americans have connected to the Internet at home, roughly 90 percent of whom were not connected prior to joining Internet Essentials. Comcast has invested more than $650 million in digital skills training, benefiting nearly 9.5 million people. Internet Essentials has provided 100,000 heavily discounted and