Comcast is extending the Internet Essentials low-income broadband...

Comcast is extending the Internet Essentials low-income broadband adoption program indefinitely. The program is “much more than we ever thought it would be, and the fact is, the program has become a key part of who we are and what we do,” Comcast said in a progress report (http://bit.ly/1czqBYS). In more than two years, more than 1.2 million Americans have been connected to the Internet at home through Internet Essentials, it said. “We've sold more than 23,000 low-cost computers and, with our community partners, we have provided support for free digital literacy training for more than 1.6 million people.” Comcast agreed to make more than $1 million in grants to nonprofit organizations where school districts have done the most to close the digital divide, it said. Internet Essentials service is widely used by participants to do school work, and full-on participation by libraries, banks, government agencies and other institutions “plays an important role in increasing broadband adoption and utilization,” a study commissioned by Comcast found (bit.ly/1czRyeM). Internet Essentials customers overwhelmingly got service for kids and their schoolwork, “but expectations from other parts of society helped drive the adoption decision,” it said. Ninety-eight percent of respondents said their children needed the service for schoolwork, and 68 percent said they needed it to get health and medical information online, it said. The survey was conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates International, and included 1,969 subscribers to the program, it said. John Horrigan, independent technology policy consultant and former researcher for the FCC National Broadband Plan, drafted the study. Comcast agreed last month to pay about $45 billion for Time Warner Cable.