Comcast, Spectrum, and Cox are both offering 60 days of free internet to students during the Coronavirus closures.
As schools across the country close to minimize the spread of COVID-19, we reached out to charter schools and state charter school associations to learn what the biggest challenges facing students, parents, and schools. The resounding answer has been equity issues with distance learning—lack of technology and technology training and internet connectivity.
An estimated 17% of U.S. students do not have access to computers at home and 18% do not have home access to broadband internet, according to an Associated Press analysis of census data.
Comcast and Spectrum both announced 60 days of free internet – with slightly different offers.
- Spectrum is offering free Wi-Fi and broadband access up to 100 MBPS to any household with K-12 and/or college students that don’t already have Spectrum. Installation fees are for these households, and anyone wishing to enroll will need to call 1-844-488-8395.
- Comcast is expanding a service they already offer for low-income families called Internet Essentials. The service will be free for new customers for 60 days and is 25 MBPS. People hoping to sign up for the services can call 1-855-846-8376 for English and 1-855-765-6995 for Spanish.
- Both providers are also offering free access to their Wi-Fi hotspots across the country.
Cox announced that effective Monday, 3/15/2020, Effective Monday, March 16, they are providing:
- Limited-time, first two months free of Connect2Compete service, $9.95/month thereafter.
- Until May 15, 2020, Cox is providing phone and remote desktop support through Cox Complete Care at no charge to provide peace of mind and ease for technology needs.
- Resources for discounted refurbished equipment through our association with PCs for People.
- A Learn from Home toolkit for schools, including instructions on how to fast-track eligible students without internet access Download toolkit.
- Visit www.cox.com/c2c to qualify and learn more.
Additionally, the California Department of Education has a full list of internet offerings and details from all the major carriers.
—
We are working on supporting our client schools and are planning a webinar series to help charter school leaders better understand the myths and facts of the Coronavirus (COVID-19).
Join us for our third webinar in the series, COVID-19: Preparing for Attendance and Staffing Issues, Friday, March 27th at 10:00 A.M. PT.
We will post recorded webinar series on-demand here after each is completed and will continue to update about the coronavirus as the situation demands.
Want to share?
