Comcast Internet for Low Income Families

[DKAS]

I've had horrible experience with Comcast in the past with their fees. However, they just introduced a new program for lower income families that doesn't involved any contracts or enormous fees. The main requirement seems to be that a child in home is enrolled in a free lunch program at school. My guess is this is Comcast's way to make sure household is truly low income. Hope this helps someone out here.

Here's the basics I got from their website:

• Fast home Internet for just $9.95 a month + tax
• No price increases, no activation fees, or equipment rental fees
• A computer available at initial enrollment for just
• $149.99 + tax
• Access to free Internet training - online, in print
• and in classroom

Internet Essentials Home

[Frugal]

Seems too good to be true...but who knows? We pay a lot more than that for internet, but then, we would not qualify for this deal.

[DKAS]

Originally Posted by Frugal

Seems too good to be true...but who knows? We pay a lot more than that for internet, but then, we would not qualify for this deal.

That was my initial response but this actually seems legit. Working with the welfare industry, i know it is already being presented to low income families. Not sure if it's true but another colleague mentioned that these sorta programs were part of the deal when Comcast merged with NBC.

[mans442]

I think this is a good thing. Indeed, the internet offers access to much information, advice, jobs, prices, etc that most of us have become so reliant. I hope this program provides some tools and avenues for lower income folks to help pull them out.

[disneysteve]

Folks, let's leave the racism and classism out of the discussion.

I think offering low income folks an affordable way to access the internet is a great idea. So much of daily life today revolves around the internet that having a whole segment of the population excluded due to the expense is a problem well worth addressing. From finding jobs to coupons to keeping in touch with family and friends to free entertainment or health or legal advice, the internet has become integrated into every aspect of our lives. We all take it for granted but a lot of people simply don't have the access that we all enjoy.

[jeffrey]

Racist remarks have been removed by me. Racism will absolutely not be tolerated in the forums. If you no longer want to be a member, posting any racist remarks will be a quick ticket ot achieve that.

[CoryWM]

I find this irritating to those who "can afford" internet. In Washington state near Seattle, there is only 2 internet providers. Frontier and Comcast. They have a monopoly here, Comcast knows Frontier's lines are very old and unreliable.

Currently I pay $57.96 a month after taxes and fees for internet. This includes me providing my own modem to offset the $7 rental charge. There is only 1 service offered lower than I currently have and it's $5 cheaper but drastically slower.

I've read that is costs roughly $11 a month to maintain a line for Comcast. Unfortunately my choices are to drop internet all together or pay a higher price. Frontier their only competitor offers plans that are very similar price wise.

Sure if I wanted cable tv and phone etc, my internet would drop down to $20 a month, but my overall bill would be $100+.

I remember when I first started using the internet in the 90s, dial up connections were $14.99, then up to $20. With DSL being $29.99. Now 10 years later I am paying double for the same service. Research shows me that the cost to maintain the lines has not gone up at the same rate at all..

So while it is great they're willing to help low income families, they're not willing to help anyone above that in my area. I long for the day when a real competitor comes to Washington state and I can pay competitive prices.

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

I'm far from Seattle, so I don't recognize the ISPs at the following link, but you might want to see if any of them have the kind of service you need at a price that is better. There are links on that same page to providers for other towns.

Seattle Internet Service Providers | Compare ISP Plans

[bjl584]

Originally Posted by disneysteve

Folks, let's leave the racism and classism out of the discussion.

I think offering low income folks an affordable way to access the internet is a great idea. So much of daily life today revolves around the internet that having a whole segment of the population excluded due to the expense is a problem well worth addressing. From finding jobs to coupons to keeping in touch with family and friends to free entertainment or health or legal advice, the internet has become integrated into every aspect of our lives. We all take it for granted but a lot of people simply don't have the access that we all enjoy.

I agree so long as recepients of such a program use the internet for the purposes that you stated. (Job searching, coupons, general news to stay informed.) Where I disagree is when people start to use their discounted internet for things like pornography, mindless video games, or even something illegal like phising scams or identity theft. I realize that anyone with internet access could do these things, but for someone that is receiving discounted internet service to do it definitely rubs me the wrong way.

[DKAS]

Originally Posted by bjl584

I agree so long as recepients of such a program use the internet for the purposes that you stated. (Job searching, coupons, general news to stay informed.) Where I disagree is when people start to use their discounted internet for things like pornography, mindless video games, or even something illegal like phising scams or identity theft. I realize that anyone with internet access could do these things, but for someone that is receiving discounted internet service to do it definitely rubs me the wrong way.

I agree it would be horrible if people eligible for the program used it for things other than becoming more productive. However, I think it should still help families with children (usually single parent homes) where the parents may not be able to afford the enormous regular rates these companies charge for internet.

[irmanator]

I used to be low income. I am now better off but still not rich. About 10 yr ago I got a used computer given to me and signed for my free trial of AOL. I discovered eBay and made a few bucks here and there reselling yard sale finds. Most importantly I discovered the chat rooms associated with ebay. When I whined about my predicament ppl set my thinking strait. I had been a poor person with the poor person mentality that all the poor people around me had. Sad to say I didn't know any better. I did somewhere deep inside have enough sence that these strangers were giving me a kind of tough love. One particular post someone else put up quoted Thomas Sowell and a specific book of his. I was intrigued and bought one off ebay. (where else lol) I really liked it and it started a change in my mentality and my understanding of economics and gov't. I now own 10 -12 of his books and related others. It slowly made me change things in my life for the better.

There is a lot more blah blah to this but long story short, the internet and the many people on it gave me a look at a different way of doing things that I would not have gotten had I only drawn advice from poor whiney people around me. I know it wont go like this for everyone but I definatly think it helped adjust my attitude so I could see a different way of doing things and pull myself up and get ahead in life.

My current fave websites to chat with people I want to learn from are this one, Sparkpeople for weightloss motivation, couponmom.com for help with saving money, craigslist for finding good used things and I goof off on facebook but I also use it to tie all my other websites together as most of them have a facebook page I "like" so I can save time by going to one page to get all updates.

[DKAS]

Originally Posted by irmanator

I used to be low income. I am now better off but still not rich. About 10 yr ago I got a used computer given to me and signed for my free trial of AOL. I discovered eBay and made a few bucks here and there reselling yard sale finds. Most importantly I discovered the chat rooms associated with ebay. When I whined about my predicament ppl set my thinking strait. I had been a poor person with the poor person mentality that all the poor people around me had. Sad to say I didn't know any better. I did somewhere deep inside have enough sence that these strangers were giving me a kind of tough love. One particular post someone else put up quoted Thomas Sowell and a specific book of his. I was intrigued and bought one off ebay. (where else lol) I really liked it and it started a change in my mentality and my understanding of economics and gov't. I now own 10 -12 of his books and related others. It slowly made me change things in my life for the better.

There is a lot more blah blah to this but long story short, the internet and the many people on it gave me a look at a different way of doing things that I would not have gotten had I only drawn advice from poor whiney people around me. I know it wont go like this for everyone but I definatly think it helped adjust my attitude so I could see a different way of doing things and pull myself up and get ahead in life.

My current fave websites to chat with people I want to learn from are this one, Sparkpeople for weightloss motivation, couponmom.com for help with saving money, craigslist for finding good used things and I goof off on facebook but I also use it to tie all my other websites together as most of them have a facebook page I "like" so I can save time by going to one page to get all updates.

I love your response. I had a very similar life experience where family was low income with too many mouths to feed and having that first computer back in late 90's opened up a whole new world for me. It really got me thinking positively towards rising above my circumstances. I'm still far away from being a rich person, I am far better off than I would have been if I just fell into the negative mentality.
That is why I feel these type of programs are great. If they can positively influence even a handful of youth, that is a healthy contribution to the community.

[irmanator]

Thanks that post was kinda hard to write as I don't really like "lookin back" so to speak but in some cases like mine it really helps to have an outside opinion.

[photo]

Originally Posted by bjl584

I agree so long as recepients of such a program use the internet for the purposes that you stated. (Job searching, coupons, general news to stay informed.) Where I disagree is when people start to use their discounted internet for things like pornography, mindless video games, or even something illegal like phising scams or identity theft. I realize that anyone with internet access could do these things, but for someone that is receiving discounted internet service to do it definitely rubs me the wrong way.

That was exactly my thought. The internet can be a great resource, no doubt about it. But, very generally, people who are resourceful enough to extract the most from the internet are probably people who have already exercised their resourcefulness to the point where they won't qualify for the program. I've seen so many people who receive all kinds of freebies or near-freebies from the government or other organizations and yet keep making the same decisions that will never allow them to climb out from where they are. Why should they? If they do, the freebies will discontinue.

I'm all for helping people, but only when we help them to help themselves. Giving computers and internet away with no instruction is like throwing money to spendthrifts.

[asmom]

This is a good idea. Increasingly I find that much of the homework and school projects that my son is expected to complete requires easy access to a computer and the Internet. I can't imagine how he could accomplish some of his tasks without one. The nearest library to us is a drive away.

For me that far outweighs the pain some might feel if they were not using the internet in a manner that they approve, something I personally wouldn't waste a minute worrying about.

[DaveInPgh]

I saw the headline regarding this offer and was too annoyed to read it. I contacted Comcast multiple times to try to negotiate more affordable service. They had the nerve to get upset with me when I returned their equipment and informed them I switched to Verizon. As a family that keeps fighting to stay in the middle class, I would prefer not to subsidize anymore than I already do. I expect this move will push even more people in my area to switch to Verizon.

[DKAS]

I really hate Comcast as well as their shady practices. But again, if the point is that if this program helps a few families in a positive way, it should be shared with many people as possible so the right people can take advantage of it.

[Krazykat]

Wow, I think that's great. This looks like it goes with one of the things President Obama wanted towards access for all Americans to high speed internet access. It may not be free, but its affordable for those people. Technically they could earn that much online through small things.