Posted on 08/08/2011 3:21:34 AM PDT by rawhide
Comcast Corporation is partnering with several metro Atlanta school districts to educate families about a new program to offer discounted Internet access to low-income students.
Today at a morning press conference, Comcast executives along with Mayor Kasim Reed, Gov. Nathan Deal and other area leaders will announce the program, which will be offered to families of students who qualify for free or reduced-priced school lunch.
Families who qualify will receive broadband Internet for $9.95 a month with no activation fee, no modem rental and a voucher to purchase a computer for $149.99. The Atlanta launch is part of the company's larger campaign to shrink the nation's "digital divide" by addressing the barriers to Internet access, according to David Cohen, executive vice president of Comcast Corporation.
"We see the debilitating negativity that is created through the digital divide," Cohen said of the decision to offer the program.
The main reasons people don't have Internet are a mistrust or lack of understanding about how it works, the cost of a home computer and the cost of service, he said. The program could reach 374,000 students in 28 metro Atlanta school districts. The company does not expect the additional subscribers will clog the network for other users.
In Atlanta Public Schools, 78 percent of students qualify for discounted lunch. Statewide, that number is about 56 percent, according to the Georgia Department of Education. Comcast estimates 45 percent of Atlanta residents aren’t connected to broadband.
Atlanta Public Schools Chief Technology Officer Dave Williamson, said the district will be encouraging parents to take advantage of the offer.
"We believe it will be used in large part to support our educational mission by providing students with the means to stay engaged in the learning process beyond the regular class day,” he said.
I’m sure you’ve seen the 0bama ads already.
They’re all over yahoo mail.
So they have no choice. Comcast has to help the federal government build it's zoo.
We are in much the same boat. However, we DO qualify for this. I just don’t think I want comcrap in my house at any price.
Poor people gotta have their porn, too.
If everything is subsidized for the poor by the government or whoever then why would the poor ever do anything to help themselves? Being poor or unemployed should be a motivator but society is taking it away and replacing it with dependence.
There are people who can make such a statement with a straight face? Wow! Acadamy Award material right there.
IOW the bigger the dependency the greater the reward.
failure is rewared.
success is punished.
Destroy the poor’s jobs and give then them the internet instead (for less than $20 in food stamps at the current rate).
What a deal!
Reboks=Reeboks
Obamarx will not be satisfied until the entire united states of America becomes a complete socialized third world sh*thole with the government controlling every aspect of ones life.
Shal ' aam
AAPiY
Mikey
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