Free internet coming for 35,000 Philly families: city, schools, Comcast to spend $17M on digital equity plan

With the start of the school year just weeks away, city officials on Thursday announced a plan to provide free internet access for 35,000 low-income families that currently lack it.

Under the plan — which will cost $17 million, paid for with a mixture of philanthropic, school, and local CARES Act funding — some households will be wired for free broadband access via Comcast’s Internet Essentials program, and other families will receive at no charge wireless hot spots purchased by the city from T-Mobile.