Needy families offered low-cost Internet service, computers

As part of its merger with NBC Universal earlier this year, Comcast is required to provide 2.5 million low-income households with high-speed Internet access for less than $10 a month; computers for less than $150 a month; and digital literacy training, according to the Federal Communications Commission.

Nearly everything Miami-Dade students -- and their parents -- need for school can be done online: Check homework assignments. Work on extra tutoring. View digital textbooks. Check children’s grades. Or e-mail their teachers. But 72 percent of families in this Florida county’s neediest neighborhoods didn't have Internet service at home in 2008, when Miami-Dade County Public Schools last did a survey. A program launching this week in partnership with the cable provider Comcast seeks to change that. Families with children who qualify for free or reduced-price school lunches can sign up for low-cost, high-speed Internet access, buy a computer at a discount, and take free digital literacy training. “Access to the Internet is akin to a civil rights issue for the 21st century,” said David Cohen, Comcast’s executive vice president. “It’s that access that enables people in poorer areas to equalize access to a quality education, quality health care and vocational opportunities.”