Comcast has pledged to donate more than $500,000 worth of internet service and equipment to nonprofits and low-income students and adults in Memphis over the next three years.
The announcement came during a press conference Tuesday with Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland at the Girls Inc. gymnasium in North Memphis.
Comcast also committed to connecting 3,000 Memphis-area families to the internet over the next three years. In addition, Comcast delivered 500 laptops and donated $170,000 to Memphis community-based organizations to support digital skills training and other activities designed to close the digital divide.
“Advancing digital equity and closing the digital divide are top priorities for Comcast,” Comcast Regional Senior Vice President Jason Gumbs said in a news release. “We are proud to have the support of Mayor Strickland and our community partners in Memphis as we continue to address digital inequities and connect as many Memphians to the internet as possible.”
Tuesday’s event was in conjunction with the 10th anniversary of Comcast’s Internet Essentials.
The program aims to serve low-income households with students, seniors, veterans, people with disabilities, and residents enrolled in public assistance and housing assistance programs. It provides free digital literacy training, the option to purchase a subsidized, low-cost computer and low-cost, high-speed internet service.
A 2021 USA TODAY report found that despite being one of the most populated counties in Tennessee, just 32% of Shelby County households have broadband access.
Today, 200,000 people in Memphis and 500,000 in Tennessee benefit from Internet Essentials, according to Comcast.
In February, Comcast launched Lift Zones in Memphis, providing Wi-Fi coverage inside safe spaces and community centers designed to enable students to get online for distance learning and to do their homework. There are six Lift Zones in Memphis.
“Connecting every home and every business to the internet with high-quality high-speed service is today to the quality of life and creating jobs as connecting businesses and homes to electricity was 100 years ago,” Strickland said. “We take for granted that we can jump on there anytime, check some issue out, Google anything, plan a vacation, apply for a job.
“If you don’t have the means, you don’t have that ability to do it.”
Organizations receiving donations from Comcast on Tuesday included Girls Inc. of Memphis, NAACP Memphis Youth Council, ProGeny Place and the Mayor’s Office of Youth Services.
Comcast has already invested $500,000 in Memphis to support digital equity since 2016.
Astrid Kayembe covers South Memphis, Whitehaven and Westwood. She can be reached at [email protected], (901) 304-7929 or on Twitter @astridkayembe_.
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