Comcast announced additional steps to help ensure people stay connected to the internet as more schools suspend classes and companies encourage employees to work from home due to coronavirus.
Philadelphia-based Comcast employs 1,000 in Delaware
“During this extraordinary time, it is vital that as many Americans as possible stay connected to the internet – for education, work, and personal health reasons,” said Dave Watson, Comcast Cable CEO. “Our employees also live and work in virtually every community we serve, and we all share the same belief that it’s our company’s responsibility to step up and help out.”
Comcast is taking steps to implement the following new policies for the next 60 days, and other initiatives:
- Xfinity WiFi hotspots across the country will be available to anyone who needs them for free – including non-Xfinity Internet subscribers. For a map of Xfinity WiFi hotspots, visit www.xfinity.com/wifi. Once at a hotspot, consumers should select the “xfinitywifi” network name in the list of available hotspots, and then launch a browser.
- With far more people working and taking courses from home, Comcast is dropping limits on data. While the vast majority of customers do not come close to using 1TB of data in a month, the company is pausing data plans for 60 days giving all customers Unlimited data for no additional charge.
- Comcast will not disconnect a customer’s internet service or assess late fees if they contact us and let us know that they can’t pay their bills during this period. The company’s teams will be available to offer flexible payment options and can help find other solutions.
- Comcast is working to make it easier for lower-income people to use its Internet Essentials New customers will receive 60 days of complimentary Internet Essentials service, which is normally available to all qualified low-income households for $9.95/month. Additionally, for all new and existing Internet Essentials customers, the speed of the program’s Internet service was increased to 25 Mbps downstream and three Mbps upstream. That increase will go into effect for no additional fee and it will become the new base speed for the program going forward.
- For those with school-age students at home, Comcast created new educational collections for all grade levels in partnership with Common Sense Media. To keep customers informed, Comcast created a collection of the most current news and information on Coronavirus. Just say “Coronavirus” into the X1 or Flex voice remote.
- Comcast’s technology and engineering teams will continue to work to support network operations. Engineers and technicians staff our network operations centers 24/7 to ensure network performance and reliability.
For more information and updates from Comcast related to Coronavirus, visit:http://www.comcastcorporation.com/COVID-19/
