Home Internet Offers
As schools all around the country are closing due to COVID-19 and classrooms are moving online, many districts are scrambling to support their educators and students with distance learning. One of the biggest challenges they face is that an estimated 9.7 million students don’t have access to the Internet at home.
The Digital Bridge K-12 project is EducationSuperHighway’s response to the crisis; we’re supporting school districts to increase connectivity outside the classroom so that students have the Internet access they need to continue learning.
The following Internet Service Providers are offering free or low-cost service, flexible payment plans, and additional offers to support students and families.
This is the first post in a series that will continue to be updated as new offerings develop. You can find Part 2 (Mobile Offers) here and Part 3 (Additional Low-Cost Offers) here.
If you have additional offers or resources, please get in touch.
Home Internet Offers
- Offering two months of free service to new Access customers who order by May 23, 2020. $5/mo or $10/mo thereafter, depending on your speed.
- Expanding eligibility based on income and to households participating in National School Lunch Program/Head Start.
- Waiving all home Internet data overage fees.
- Offering new low-income Internet Essentials customers two months of free Internet (through 12/31/20) and raising the speed of that program’s service to 25/3 Mbps.
- Xfinity Wi-Fi hotspots located in businesses and outdoor locations across the country will be available to anyone who needs them for free – including non-Xfinity Internet subscribers. For a map of Xfinity Wi-Fi hotspots, visit www.xfinity.com/wifi.
- Pausing their data plan for 60 days and giving all customers unlimited data for no additional charge.
- No disconnects or late fees and offering flexible payment options.
- Starting April 3rd, Verizon is making a new broadband discount program available to new Fios Internet customers who qualify through the Lifeline program.
- $20 off any Fios Home Internet Mix & Match plan, as reflected below with discounts applied:
• 200/200 Mbps for $19.99/mo
• 400/400 Mbps for $39.99/mo
• Gigabit Connection for $59.99/mo (includes Fios router) - Router rental charge waived for 60 days as part of the Verizon COVID-19 response (customers may also choose to buy or use their own router).
- Free Connect2Compete service until July 15, 2020, $9.95/month thereafter
- Free phone and remote desktop support through Cox Complete Care until July 15, 2020, to provide peace of mind and ease for technology needs
- Resources for discounted refurbished equipment through our association with PCs for People
- A Learn from Home toolkit for schools, including instructions on how to fast-track eligible students without internet access.
- Charter will offer free Spectrum broadband and Wi-Fi access for 60 days to households with K-12 and/or college students who do not already have a Spectrum broadband subscription and at any service level up to 100 Mbps. To enroll, call 1-844-488-8395. Installation fees will be waived for new student households.
- Charter will partner with school districts to ensure local communities are aware of these tools to help students learn remotely. Charter will continue to offer Spectrum Internet Assist, a high-speed broadband program to eligible low-income households delivering speeds of 30 Mbps.
- Charter announced it is expanding the eligibility for its 60-day free offer for Spectrum broadband Internet and Wi-Fi access to include educators (K-12 teachers and college/university professors) who do not already have a Spectrum account.
- Educators who live in a Spectrum market and do not currently have broadband can contact Spectrum at 1-844-488-8395 to sign up. A free self-installation kit will be provided to new student and educator households.
- Charter will open its Wi-Fi hotspots across their footprint for public use.
- Spectrum does not have data caps or hidden fees.
Altice (Optimum and Suddenlink)
For households with K-12 and/or college students who may be displaced due to school closures and who do not currently have home Internet access, they are offering their Altice Advantage Internet solution for free for 60 days to any new customer household within their footprint.
- If you live in the Optimum service area, please call 866.200.9522
- If you live in the Suddenlink service area, please call 888.633.0030
- Increasing the speed of the Mediacom Connect2Compete low-cost Internet program to 25 megabits per second (Mbps) down by 3 Mbps up (currently 10 Mbps down by 1 Mbps up). Qualifying families who subscribe before May 15, 2020, will receive 60 days of complimentary Mediacom Connect2Compete service.
- Extending the pricing of Mediacom’s Access Internet 60 broadband service to new customers at $19.99 per month for the next 12 months (currently retails for $29.99 per month).
- Pausing monthly data allowances across all Mediacom broadband service tiers through May 15, 2020.
- Providing complimentary access to all Mediacom Xtream Wi-Fi Hotspots for 60 days.
Sonic (CA region)
- Sonic is offering three months of free Internet access and unlimited nationwide home telephone service to households with K-12, college students, or senior citizens 60 or older.
- No data caps.
- No contract. There is no long-term commitment. Service is month-to-month, and households may cancel the service at any time during or after the free period.
- Free equipment rental: free Wi-Fi equipment is included for three months.
- Free installation: Installation and setup are free. Installers will take COVID-19 precautions, including hand sanitization, gloves, and safety glasses.
Cable One (New Wave Communications, Sparklight, Fidelity Communications)
- A 15 Mbps Internet plan for $10 per month is available through December 31, 2020, to help low-income families and those most impacted by coronavirus challenges, such as seniors and college students. No documentation will be required to sign up for this plan.
- Also opened free Wi-Fi hotspots in the company’s local office parking lots across its footprint for public use during the crisis in order to keep individuals and communities connected.
- Working with residential and small business internet and phone customers who have been harmed financially by the COVID-19 pandemic to keep them connected, including waiving late fees through July 31, 2020, and offering flexible payment plans.
- Permanently boosting the majority of the company’s residential internet data plans by an additional 50 to 300 GB for free (based on plan) as of July 1, 2020.
- Temporarily stopped disconnections, will waive late fees, and are not charging data cap overages.
- New customers with students or financial need will be eligible for 60 days of free Internet access to help assist with work or school-at-home scenarios.
- Atlantic Broadband has introduced “Atlantic Broadband Internet Assist” for a limited time for residents in need in its service areas who do not currently have Internet with Atlantic Broadband. The new 15 x 1 Mbps service, normally priced at $9.99 per month plus taxes, will be offered free for 60 days. New Atlantic Broadband Internet Assist customers also will receive free installation and a free modem with the service.
- Upgrading broadband plans for existing customers and offering free entry-level plans for new customers through the end of May, including free Wi-Fi equipment for new customers who are students or teachers.
- Vast opened all Wi-Fi hot spots to customers and non-customers free of charge. A list of locations can be found at vastbroadband.com/hotspots.
- Vast will partner with school districts to ensure students in need of connectivity for remote learning with limited resources can still have Internet access.
- They continue to offer their low-income Internet programs to those that are eligible.
- Vast does not have data caps so customers with additional usage will not be charged any additional fees.
This is the first part of a three-part series; view Part 2 here and Part 3 here.
