Comcast is helping communities across Kane County meet their current and future connectivity needs and close the digital divide
Kane County doesn’t need expensive, complex plans to meet its current and future connectivity needs or close the digital divide. The solutions are already in place:
- The communities Comcast serves in Kane County are “Gigabit Cities.” Comcast’s network reaches all the residential neighborhoods in the communities we serve in the county, giving them access to Gigabit+ broadband Internet service, as well as our digital equity programs.
- The federal Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) can cover the cost of Internet Essentials, Comcast’s low-cost Internet service for low-income families, and subsidize the cost of Comcast’s and other Internet and mobile plans available in Kane County.
- Schools and libraries can apply to the federal Emergency Connectivity Fund (ECF) for dollars to purchase computers and Internet service for eligible households.
Gigabit+ broadband service in Kane County
Comcast’s more than 2,500 miles of fiber-rich network infrastructure in Kane County allows us to deliver residential download speeds up to 1.2 Gigabits per second (Gbps) and commercial speeds up to 100 Gbps. In addition, we have more than 60,000 WiFi hotspots in Kane County and more than 20 million nationwide.
We invest in our network to stay ahead of demand, support new technologies and accommodate changing lifestyles
Over the past decade, Comcast has invested $30 billion in technology and network infrastructure nationally – $1.4 billion over the last three years in Illinois alone – to deliver an even greater customer experience, increase reliability, increase speeds and double network capacity every 2.5 years to stay ahead of growing demand, an explosion of new devices and technologies and more people than ever working and going to school at home and on the go. These investments made it possible for Comcast to accommodate a 32% growth in upstream traffic and 11% growth in downstream traffic during the height of the pandemic. We invest in our network continually to make sure we meet the current and future needs of all the households we serve, regardless of zip code.
Comcast has committed $1 billion over the next 10 years to bring about digital equity
Project UP is a comprehensive 10-year, $1 billion Comcast initiative designed to advance digital equity and help build a future of unlimited possibilities. Internet Essentials, Project UP’s centerpiece, provides low-cost Internet service, digital skills training and subsidized computers to eligible low-income households. Internet Essentials is available to students of all ages from grammar school to college, seniors, veterans, people with disabilities and public housing residents enrolled in public assistance programs, ranging from Medicaid to SNAP. The program has helped more than 1.3 million Illinois residents access the Internet at home since it was launched in 2011.
Comcast is participating in the ACP, which provides eligible low-income households a credit up to $30 a month toward the cost of Internet and mobile service, including all of Comcast’s Xfinity Internet and Xfinity Mobile plans, as well as Internet Essentials. In addition, school districts and libraries can apply for federal ECF awards to provide computers and support bringing programs like Internet Essentials to low-income households that aren’t already connected to the Internet. During the pandemic, Comcast partnered with more than 75 school districts and other government agencies to deliver Internet Essentials to eligible low-income households in their footprints.
Comcast recently made a $27,000 “Lift Zone Opportunity Fund” grant to the Quad County Urban League (QCUL) in Aurora to support digital skills training at the organization’s Lift Zone, which Comcast opened onsite in July 2021. Lift Zones are WiFi-connected safe spaces where students can get online to do schoolwork and adults can get online to learn new digital skills, search for jobs and access an array of services. The QCUL Lift Zone is one of more than 1,000 Lift Zones throughout the country, nearly 80 in this region alone.
We’re part of your community
Comcast is proud to serve Kane County. We’re more than just your Internet Service Provider. We’re your friends, neighbors and coworkers, and we share a future. For more information, e-mail economic_development@comcast.com.