Comcast offers low-cost Internet to some students

As students head back to school, Comcast and local PTAs are encouraging low-income families to take advantage of the cable company's $10 monthly broadband Internet service.

Through the company's Internet Essentials program, eligible families can gain high-speed Web access for $9.95 a month, a price that includes free installation and Internet training. A small laptop computer is also available for purchase for $149.99.

Families with students who qualify for federal reduced-cost or free lunch programs are eligible.

The National Parent-Teacher Association has thrown its support behind such low-cost Internet programs offered by cable companies across the country. The National Cable and Telecommunications Association estimates that cable providers offering broadband service to 86 percent of U.S. households are participating in low-cost Internet programs. More than 10 million students across the country are eligible for free and reduced-price lunch programs, according to NPTA numbers.

Locally, the Hamilton County Council of PTAs is spreading the word across the area's public schools.

Scottie Goodman Summerlin, the local council's vice president of communications, said PTAs are working with school principals to get the word out about the benefits of the program.

"They know which kids need that service and they can let them know about it without singling them out," she said.

While it makes financial sense for families involved, Summerlin said bridging the so-called "digital divide" will help create higher-performing students and a better workforce. That, in turn, will help ensure economic stability throughout the region, she said.

"It's really not just about the kids. It's about the community, industry and the health of the whole area," Summerlin said. "It's really an important issue."

Nationally, about 92 percent of people have access to broadband, though only about two-thirds of those people actually have the service, said Jim Weigert, vice president and general manager of Comcast Chattanooga.

Comcast, the nation's largest cable company, launched Internet Essentials in 2011. The company promised federal regulators that it would extend broadband service to more people as part of its deal to purchase NBC Universal last year.

Comcast's surveying shows many people don't subscribe to broadband because they don't see how it's relevant to their lives, they can't afford monthly rates or the price of a computer or they just don't understand or are hesitant to use the Internet.

About 87 percent of families of four that make more than $30,000 a year have broadband Internet, Weigert said, but for families below the $30,000 mark, only about 50 percent subscribe to broadband. The Internet Essentials program is aimed at bridging that gap, he said.

"If you have a family who is already at a disadvantage from an income standpoint and they don't have Internet access, it's putting them at even more of a disadvantage," Weigert said. "It's kind of fueling itself."