Mediacom brings internet access to students in low-income households

Mediacom Communications announced that it now provides discounted broadband service to kindergarten to 12th-grade students in more than 1,000 low-income households. Participation in the company’s educational Connect2Compete program increased each month over the past year.

To extend student learning from classrooms to homes, Mediacom partners with the national nonprofit EveryoneOn, to provide affordable, high-speed internet service to students who qualify for the National School Lunch Program. The 2017-18 school year marks the first full year in which Mediacom has offered the program throughout its entire service area. Eligible families pay $9.95 per month to receive internet service with download speeds of up to 10 Mbps and Wi-Fi capability. The discounted service waives equipment and installation fees.

“Technology and the internet play an increasingly critical role in the education of our youth. As a leading broadband company, Mediacom wants to close the achievement gap between students in homes with access to high-speed internet and those without it,” said Ed Pardini, senior vice president for Mediacom operations.

“We’re proud of the progress made during this initial pilot year when we introduced a more robust service with faster internet speeds and built-in Wi-Fi,” Pardini said. “We hope to double the number of student families using Connect2Compete in this next school year, and we’re enlisting local educators and community leaders to help us give more students this opportunity to succeed in the digital age.”

"Partners like Mediacom help our continued efforts to connect all people to the internet, and we are proud to work with them," said Chike Aguh, EveryoneOn CEO. "By offering this low-cost service to students and their families, we know that we can meet our goal of connecting 1 million people by 2020. The 1,100 households that have been connected already show Mediacom's commitment to ending the digital divide."

Many schools now provide students with laptop computers and expect the educational experience to include online learning beyond the classroom. The faster speeds and Wi-Fi service from Mediacom Connect2Compete allow students to access online homework assignments, watch educational videos and participate in virtual teams that may include scientists and students anywhere in the world. Parents can also stay involved in their student’s education by easily accessing report cards, school forms and other related information. Low-income families using Mediacom Connect2Compete can typically reduce the expense incurred with higher-cost data plans associated with mobile phone service when that is the primary way students access the internet from home.

“This is not a government program,” Pardini said. “It’s an investment our company is making to expand broadband access to low-income households where students have not had other options to connect to reliable, high-speed internet.”

Families in Mediacom service areas with students who qualify for the National School Lunch Program can sign up to participate.

For more information, go to www.mediacomc2c.com or call 855-904-2225. Eligible families retain the discounted internet service for up to 24 continuous months and can reapply if they continue to meet eligibility criteria.