Comcast connects 44,000 low-income Las Crucens to the Internet in 10 years

On the 10th anniversary of its Internet Essentials program, Comcast announced it has connected more than 296,000 low-income New Mexicans with home Internet service, including 44,000 in Las Cruces.

Internet Essentials is the nation’s largest and most comprehensive broadband adoption program, the news release said.

Since 2011, the company, working in collaboration with its network of thousands of nonprofit partners, has connected a cumulative total of more than 10 million nationwide to broadband Internet at home, the overwhelming majority of whom were not connected prior to signing up. Comcast said it will invest $1 billion in the next decade to connect more low-income Americans to the Internet.

In addition to the 44,000 in Las Cruces, Comcast said it has connected 180,000 low-income residents of Albuquerque to the Internet since 2011, 21,600 Santa Fe residents, 9,600 Deming residents, 8,400 Los Lunas residents and 6,800 Farmington residents.

Comcast’s Internet Essentials 10-year progress report also shows the program increased Internet speeds six times without ever increasing the price of the program, which has remains at $9.95 a month; launched a Lift Zones program to connect more than 1,000 community centers across the country, including more than 30 in New Mexico, with free WiFi by the end of 2021; signed up hundreds of schools, school districts and other organizations that have come together to connect thousands of students to the Internet during the Covid-19 pandemic; and offered 60 days of free Internet service to any new Internet Essentials customer who needed to get online during the coronavirus outbreak.

Comcast Corp. has more than 56 million customers in the U.S. in Europe.

To apply for Internet Essentials, call 1-855-846-8376 (English) or 1-855-765-6995 (Spanish) or visit www.internetessentials.com. Also visit https://corporate.comcast.com/education.