Comcast offers ways to help Americans keep connected during coronavirus pandemic

On the heels of offering new, low-income Internet Essentials customers two months of free internet and raising the speed of that program’s service to 25/3 Mbps, Comcast has 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 the coronavirus.

“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 Comcast Cable Chief Executive Officer Dave Watson. “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 important initiatives:

• Xfinity WiFi Free For Everyone: 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 xfinity.com/wifi. Once at a hotspot, consumers should select the “xfinitywifi” network name and then launch a browser.

• Pausing Our Data Plan: “With so many people working and educating from home, we want our customers to access the internet without thinking about data plans We are pausing our data plans for 60 days giving all customers unlimited data for no additional charge.”

• No Disconnects or Late Fees: “We 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. Our care teams will be available to offer flexible payment options and can help find other solutions.”

• Internet Essentials Free to New Customers: New customers will receive 60 days of complimentary Internet Essentials service, which is normally available to all qualified low-income households for $9.95 per month. Additionally, for all new and existing Internet Essentials customers, the speed of the program’s Internet service was increased for no additional fee and will continue going forward.

• News, Information and Educational Content on X1 and Flex: “For those with school-age students at home, we’ve created new educational collections for all grade levels in partnership with Common Sense Media. Say ‘education’ into your X1 or Flex voice remote. For the most current news and information on coronavirus, say ‘coronavirus’ into your X1 or Flex voice remote.

•24x7 Network Monitoring: “Comcast’s technology and engineering teams will continue to work tirelessly to support our network operations. Our engineers and technicians staff our network operations centers 24/7 to ensure network performance and reliability. We are monitoring network usage and watching the load on the network both nationally and locally, and to date it is performing well.”

For information and updates from Comcast related to coronavirus, visit: comcastcorporation.com/COVID-19/.

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