Goodwill & Spokane Mayor Condon to Join Comcast to Help Bridge the Digital Divide
October 04 2019 - 10:00AM
Business Wire
Company Announces Internet Essentials Program
Has Connected More Than Eight Million People Nationwide, Including
Nearly 340,000 in Washington State and Nearly 35,000 Across Spokane
County
Comcast Executive Participates in Series of
Local Events and Unveils New State-of-The-Art Digital Classroom
Spokane Mayor David Condon and Spokane Goodwill will join
Comcast’s Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Diversity
Officer, David L. Cohen, at a number of events today to announce
the largest eligibility expansion of Internet Essentials in
Washington state. The program, which is the nation’s largest, most
comprehensive, and most successful low-income broadband adoption
initiative, will now be available to double the number of eligible
low-income households, including those with people with
disabilities and seniors.
Since 2011, more than 8 million low-income Americans have been
connected to the Internet at home through the Internet Essentials
program, 90 percent of whom were not connected to the Internet at
home until they signed up through the program. This includes nearly
340,000 residents across the state of Washington. Nearly 35,000
low-income individuals also have been connected in Spokane
County.
“This expansion is the culmination of an audacious goal we set
eight years ago, which was to meaningfully and significantly close
the digital divide for low-income Americans,” said David L. Cohen,
Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Diversity Officer of
Comcast NBCUniversal. “The Internet is arguably the most important
technological innovation in history, and it is unacceptable that we
live in a country where millions of families and individuals are
missing out on this life-changing resource. Whether the Internet is
used for students to do their homework, adults to look for and
apply for new jobs, seniors to keep in touch with friends and
family, or veterans to access their well-deserved benefits or
medical assistance, it is absolutely essential to be connected in
our modern, digital age.”
This morning, Comcast hosted an event at Goodwill, with U.S.
Paralympic Gold Medalist and Purple Heart Recipient Rico Roman, to
unveil a new state-of-the-art interactive digital classroom. This
special computer lab will facilitate digital literacy training for
low-income people with disabilities, helping to ameliorate the
major barrier to broadband adoption – a lack of digital skills. The
vast majority of Goodwill’s program participants have some level of
disability, are low-income, and many served in the military. The
new digital classroom is furnished with assistive technology to
help different disabled individuals’ needs. For example, it
features adjustable tables on hydraulics and interactive learning
and digital tools. At the event, Comcast also presented a grant to
the organization and surprised Goodwill program participants with
50 laptops and six months of complimentary Internet Essentials
service.
“We are thankful for the investment Comcast is making to bring
to life Goodwill’s vision for a digital classroom that provides
training in an inclusive and accessible environment to our
community,” said Clark Brekke, President and CEO of Goodwill
Industries of the Inland Northwest. “As technology continues to
advance and become a daily part of so many industries, more people
need the skills to thrive in this employment environment. It is
through partners like Comcast that our communities will be able to
bridge the digital gap.”
In the afternoon, Comcast brought together local business and
civic leaders for an event to talk about how the community can
collaborate to connect more low-income families and individuals
with disabilities to the Internet. Additionally, Cohen recognized
Mayor Condon’s multi-year commitment as an Internet Essentials
Champion, as he closes his final term. In addition, Cohen announced
a donation of 50 laptop computers and complimentary Internet
Essentials service for Family Promise, one of the local nonprofits
the Mayor championed.
“Comcast has been a tremendous partner to the city, and we
applaud its work to make the Internet more affordable and
accessible throughout Spokane,” said Mayor Condon. “Programs like
Internet Essentials can have a tremendous impact on our community,
and are critical for helping connect our most vulnerable citizens
to the Internet and other technology resources, allowing them to
succeed in school, their careers, and in life."
Internet Essentials has an integrated, wrap-around design that
addresses each of the three major barriers to broadband adoption
that research has identified. These include: a lack of digital
literacy skills, lack of awareness of the relevance of the Internet
to everyday life needs, and fear of the Internet; the lack of a
computer; and cost of internet service. The program is structured
as a partnership between Comcast and tens of thousands of school
districts, libraries, elected officials, and nonprofit community
partners. For more information, or to apply for the program in
seven different languages, please visit www.internetessentials.com
or call 1-855-846-8376. Spanish-only speakers can also call
1-855-765-6995.
About Comcast
Corporation
Comcast Corporation (Nasdaq: CMCSA) is a global media and
technology company with three primary businesses: Comcast Cable,
NBCUniversal, and Sky. Comcast Cable is one of the United States’
largest video, high-speed internet, and phone providers to
residential customers under the Xfinity brand, and also provides
these services to businesses. It also provides wireless and
security and automation services to residential customers under the
Xfinity brand. NBCUniversal is global and operates news,
entertainment and sports cable networks, the NBC and Telemundo
broadcast networks, television production operations, television
station groups, Universal Pictures, and Universal Parks and
Resorts. Sky is one of Europe's leading media and entertainment
companies, connecting customers to a broad range of video content
through its pay television services. It also provides
communications services, including residential high-speed internet,
phone, and wireless services. Sky operates the Sky News broadcast
network and sports and entertainment networks, produces original
content, and has exclusive content rights. Visit
www.comcastcorporation.com for more information.
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Andy Colley 425-248-5438 Andy_Colley@comcast.com
Nick McDonald 425-977–5565 Nick_McDonald@Comcast.com
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