Comcast Internet service for $9.95/month

Requirement "Has at least one child receiving free school lunches through the National School Lunch Program "
Internet Essentials Home

 

Makes me wonder who has to foot the bill for the rest of the costs associated with this.

 

The people they charge a lot more to for the same crappy service.

 

Exactly. Just another thing I have to subsidize.

 

So what happens if your kids are too young to go to school? You're screwed?

 

I'm pretty sure Comcast is still making money hand over fist even at $9.95/mo. They charge $44.95 for standard internet, $24.95 for a secret, unadvertised basic service, and upwards of $100 when you get internet with their cable/voip bundle. That doesn't include the crazy profits they get from renting out cable modems or wireless routers.

Really, internet should be $9.95/mo for everyone by now, being it's a basic human right and all.

 

I agree. 5Mbps should be available for $9.95/mo period. The rates they are charging are phenomenally high. I pay about $2000 a year just for my cable, internet, and phone services. I also wish they had a menu system for cable channels. I could pick 25 stations and throw away everything else. Make it $1/channel per month until it reaches the standard rate for everything. I'd be happy with that.

 

I have the unadvertised 25 dollar a month Comcast basic cable,I think the speed is about 1.5 Mb a second. It works fine for browsing and email and you don't even notice the slower speed 95% of the time,it even works OK with Netflix!
You will notice it if you do a lot of downloading or want to download a big file.
Also if you have multiple users in the household it slows down.
The only way I found out about it is when I was in a Comcast office for a billing question and I saw it posted on a sign up on the wall along with the other rates. You will never see this rate mentioned on their website or in the literature. Just another example of ripoff behavior from Comcast!!

villasbill

 

Not just comcast, but most ISP's offer it. AT&T, SBC, Ameritech whatever they're called these days had $19.99 1.5Mbps internet too, unadvertised. Not sure if they still have that.

I would gladly pay $9.95 a month for 1.5Mbps internet even if for a second line.

 

People, Brian Roberts stated on an Urban radio station (WURD 900 AM Phila) that they are attempting to bridge the digital divide.
It would be nice if they would extend it to all of the people who are out of work and cat owners also IMO, I would jump from Verison DSL ($15 per month for spotty 925 Kbps / 445 Kbps! MEOW
I would love the see the netbook they are pushing for $149
maybe the OLPC XO-1?
Roger sums this up well below vvvv Plus it indoctrinates users at an early age

 

I guess it's nice of them, but the only way they can charge so little for this is because they are gouging the rest of us that don't have a choice in ISPs for 100+ a month for internet and cable TV.

 

What's wrong with people who might not otherwise have Internet access going to the library for it? Why are the fees I'm paying for service going toward subsidizing those who don't?

 

It's a tax write-off. Win-win for Comcast. They're really not doing anyone any favors, Comcast wont do anything unless it benefits them (and helps them put on a good face).

 

Comcast makes money off the advertising it pushes as a result of it's relationship with other media companies. Same reason you can only get certain channels as 'packages', not just the ones you want, they KNOW people don't want the garbage channels and would never pay for them otherwise, so they put 90 of them with the 10 you do want and tell you it's all or nothing.

The US ISP market and the whole expense of phone/internet/media would hit the floor if the market was opened up to private companies instead of just a few big ones who have a regional monopoly. This works in some European countries and they pay very little for phone and internet because there are so many companies competing, and they all use the same infastructure to provide it so there's no difference in quality, just the price you pay.

But I suppose it's what we get for paying $3/gal for gas instead of $8/liter. Guess we have to get gouged somewhere.

 

When I last paid for Comcast, they charged 40 bucks for the HBO package, and you got like 10 channels, 8 of which were completely worthless lol (HBO Latin???)

 

it's a business. they can have such a deal if they want. if you don't like it, switch to a different service provider.

 

thats the problem. in our area there is no other cable provider. the same where my parents live. you have one cable provider. there is no choice if you want cable speeds. you either pay out the nose or go dsl or some other crappy service.

 

A few posts have been removed. Let's keep this thread on-topic, guys. Thanks.

 

Just chatted with Comcast customer service about low budget internet service for low income family. I was just inquiring about it...(what are the qualifications, etc). Then CS offered me $19.99 per 12 month promotion...*internet 15/5 package. I was paying $45/monthly just for internet. After 15 min of chatting, I am one happy camper.

 

Maybe the $19.99/mo comes with a downgrade in service to their lower-level speeds.

 

It is same service I've been getting 15M down and 5 up speed.

Try it with your local comcast customer service either using chat or phone

You have nothing to lose by "asking"... Good luck

 

Bravo Comcast ! I commend you for doing something good and giving back to the nation.

People always have an immediate reaction to condemn those less fortunate; I do not.

However, looks like Comcast didn't do this out of the good of their hearts (as usual). Is a ploy that was used to get the NBC-Comcast merger approved.

Comcast offers cheap broadband to poor families | Signal Strength - CNET News

Whelp, I believe I found the catch

 

Good Catch Alex! ^^^^^^^^^ Just heard on a radio interview that comcast will upgrade to 3.0 M Download speed for the same $9.95. If I was paying full price for 1.5 (the present speed for the discount program) I would call comcast & ask for a free upgrade or reduced rate!!! the 9.95 rate will also be available to more people.

 

They should just make it 1.5Mbps @ $9.95 for anyone. I wish AT&T would do this, just as an alternate internet setup.

 

Verizon launches wireless broadband for rural, remote homes ? USATODAY.com
plus a 10 gig limit??? Enough to consider netzero dial up !!!

 

$60/mo!? yech. But I guess decent if you have no other alternative.

 

blech. and i thought 40 dollars a month for 250gb of data was atrocious. glad i dont live in a rural area.

 

Pretty sure I haven't seen that in the bill of rights.

 

Would you still be able to get this for $9.95 even when school is not in session (summer vacation)?

And would this be enough for Netflix videos and Youtube videos?

 

3.3% of eligible homes in the Philadelphia area are using the internet essentials program. How It Works I heard an interview with David Cohen of Comcast who said people are not subscribing for may reasons including " They think it is a scam". I find it interesting that the D/L speed is not easily found on their site, I did find some specs on another site but am not sure if the info here Comcast to Offer Broadband, Win7 PCs / Infopackets.com is accurate.
Here is the latest on the Speed: http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Philly-Forces-Comcast-to-Broaden-10-Broadband-Offer-121335