Internet Service Providers and Philanthropic Broadband

How big corporations can help transfer everyone into the digital age.

As is the case in this digital age, explained further in my story, technology is very important to get an education and find opportunities. However, many low income households and people in rural areas do not have access to it, and that is the problem Philanthropy 4 Technology aims to fix - the digital divide. However, in order to use this technology to reach all the information and opportunities that are on the internet, you need a connection to the internet in the first place, or broadband. The problem is that many of the same low income households who don’t have technology don’t have broadband connection in the first place. This is not the mission of P4T, but what we can do is highlight those who are helping to fix this problem. In this case, the main supporters of this cause are the ones with the most power to fix it: The Internet Service Providers.

Right now, Internet Essentials is the nation’s largest and most comprehensive high-speed broadband adoption program for low-income households, connecting people to the increasingly digital world and offering them skills for success. Since launching this amazing program in 2011, Comcast has already connected more than 8 million individuals to the internet with not at a severely reduced price but also with very high speeds. However, this is only through mid 2019, and with the pandemic sweeping through our nation, many companies have decided to put even more back into their communities. This has firstly, probably increased the amount of resources Comcast is putting into Internet Essentials,but secondly, according to Forbes, Comcast has started to give free internet to low income households throughout this pandemic. Furthermore, Cox and Spectrum are also providing limited-time internet to families with K-12 students. This may not be as influential as the permanent program Internet Essentials that comcast has been running for almost ten years, but it makes a difference in these trying times nonetheless.

With all this broadband, it has been extremely easy for the recipients to access their school’s online education, as both Google and Zoom have made their video conferencing services both better for schools to use and free for the educators.

Overall, an increasing number of major companies, especially Comcast, have made successful efforts to solve part of the digital divide by providing broadband to both rural and low-income families, and this effort has become even greater during COVID-19.