Angela Lang/CNET
Comcast will provide over 1,000 free Wi-Fi “lift zones” in community centers throughout the country, the company said on Thursday. The program is designed to help connect low-income families to the internet for educational purposes, as well as remote work and after-school care.
Since 2011, Comcast’s Internet Essentials program has “helped connect more than 8 million low-income people to the Internet at home,” according to the Comcast blog post. This year is different, however, with many students enrolled in online schooling due to the coronavirus — and it’s showing how the digital divide is impacting students with no broadband connection at home.
The service will start rolling out this year in Atlanta, Baltimore, Chicago, Denver, Detroit, Miami, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Seattle, Trenton, Twin Cities and Washington, D.C.