According to a five-year progress report the company released today, Comcast’s Internet Essentials program has helped connect 750,000 families, or 3 million low-income Americans, to low-cost, high-speed internet service at home. David L. Cohen, Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Diversity Officer of Comcast Corporation, made the announcement alongside six-time Olympic Medalist Jackie Joyner-Kersee, who was recently named the national spokesperson for Internet Essentials. The two kicked off a multi-city tour that, over the next six weeks, will stop in Chicago, Houston, San Francisco, Denver, and Philadelphia where the company will announce more than $2 million in grants to community-based organizations to provide digital literacy training and internet access.
The progress report comes on the heels of a recent announcement by Comcast to expand the program’s eligibility to households receiving HUD-housing assistance, including public housing, Housing Choice Voucher, and Multifamily programs.
