Comcast Announces Multiyear Effort to Roll Out 1,000+ WiFi-Connected “Lift Zones” in Local Community Centers Nationwide
September 17 2020 - 10:07AM
Business Wire
Partnership Supports the Efforts of Hundreds of
Nonprofit Partners Seeking to Provide Safe Spaces for Low-Income
Students to Participate in Distance Learning, Remote Working, and
After-School Care
Program Begins with Hundreds of Centers Rolling
Out This Year in Atlanta, Baltimore, Chicago, Denver, Detroit,
Miami, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Seattle, Trenton, Twin Cities,
and Washington, D.C.
As part of its ongoing commitment to help connect low-income
families to the Internet so they can fully participate in
educational opportunities and the digital economy, Comcast today
announced a multiyear program to launch more than 1,000
WiFi-connected “Lift Zones” in community centers nationwide.
Working with its network of thousands of nonprofit partners and
city leaders, Comcast will provide WiFi 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. Lift Zones
complement Comcast’s Internet Essentials program, which, since
2011, has helped connect more than 8 million low-income people to
the Internet at home.
This press release features multimedia. View
the full release here:
https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200917005596/en/
(Photo: Business Wire)
“For nearly a decade, Internet Essentials has helped to change
the lives of millions of people by providing low-income families
with Internet access at home,” said Dave Watson, President and
Chief Executive Officer, Comcast Cable. “These Lift Zones, which
will be installed in community centers in local neighborhoods that
our partners have identified and will run, will be places where
students and families can get online and access the resources they
need, especially while so many schools and workplaces have gone
virtual.”
The COVID-19 crisis has put many low-income students at risk of
being left behind and has accelerated the need for comprehensive
digital equity and Internet adoption programs to support them. Lift
Zones are intended to help those students who, for a variety of
reasons, may be unable to connect to distance learning at home, or
who just want another place in which to study.
“What we’ve learned throughout this pandemic is that although
at-home Internet connectivity is the number one barrier to remote
or hybrid learning, connectivity is only one barrier that prevents
our nation’s kids from logging in and participating,” said Evan
Marwell, CEO and Founder of Education SuperHighway. “No one single
answer alone will solve this problem. These Lift Zones can offer
families much needed support when at-home connectivity is either
not available or the student is unable to participate in their home
environment.”
The first 200 Lift Zones have already been identified. Several
are open and others will open this year in more than a dozen
cities. Examples include:
- Baltimore – Harvey Johnson Community Center at Union Baptist
Church – Serves more than 50 students and community members in West
Baltimore in a safe space for participating in online education, as
well as in intergenerational learning classes, with access to
computers and training through its cyber center.
- Chicago – BUILD is one of Chicago’s leading gang intervention,
violence prevention, and youth development organizations, serving
nearly 3,000 young people each year. Its mission is to engage
at-risk youth in schools and on the streets to help them realize
their potential and contribute to their communities. BUILD focuses
on hard-to-serve youth in some of Chicago’s most challenging
neighborhoods.
- Philadelphia – Olney Recreation Center – A 13.6-acre site with
outdoor spaces and recreation building with an auditorium,
gymnasium, and multipurpose rooms offering free and low-cost
programming that serves approximately 1,650 neighborhood children
annually.
- Trenton – Catholic Youth Organization of Mercer County –
Provides childcare and youth programs to approximately 1,200
children ages 8-14 from Catholic schools and parishes during the
academic year.
- Twin Cities – The Sanneh Foundation Distanced Learning Hub at
Conway Community Center in St. Paul, enables parents and guardians
to continue to work while providing a safe space for their children
during normal school hours. Sanneh hosts 140 students per day and
is offering safe, socially distanced access to educational
technology as well as tutoring support.
The Lift Zones initiative comes on the heels of Comcast’s recent
launch of its new “Internet Essentials Partnership Program,” which
focuses on enabling cities, school districts, and community-based
organizations to connect large numbers of low-income students to
the Internet at home to support distance learning while many
schools remain closed. To date, more than 70 schools have signed up
for the Partner Program, potentially benefitting nearly 200,000
students.
Additionally, in response to the COVID-19 crisis, Comcast
announced in June that it will continue to offer, through the end
of 2020, all new Internet Essentials customers two months of free
Internet service and it will waive the requirement that customers
not have back debt due so more families can apply. Comcast also
continues to extend free access to its 1.5 million public Xfinity
WiFi hotspots to anyone who needs them, including non-customers,
through the end of 2020. These hotspots are located in public
places like small businesses, parks, and transportation hubs and
are in addition to the Lift Zones, which will be new, additional
locations where low-income individuals and students can get online
for free.
Lastly, Comcast’s Internet Essentials program also makes a range
of educational resources available online for anyone to access at:
www.internetessentials.com/learning. The Learning Portal provides
videos and materials about topics like: Internet Basics, Online
Safety and Security, Building New Skills, and Getting Things Done.
The site also links to a number of free educational websites for
students.
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.
View source
version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200917005596/en/
Media Contact: Charlie
Douglas charlie_douglas@comcast.com (215) 264-8020
Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA)
Historical Stock Chart
From Mar 2024 to Apr 2024
Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA)
Historical Stock Chart
From Apr 2023 to Apr 2024