Internet Essentials, our signature high-speed internet adoption program for low-income families, has grown into the nation’s largest and most comprehensive broadband adoption program, and Comcast NBCUniversal’s leading community investment initiative. Through this program, we have connected more than 3 million Americans to the power of the internet at home, and made tremendous progress in closing the digital divide.

In 2016, we announced a collaboration with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to make Internet Essentials available to public housing and HUD-assisted residents living within our footprint. Through our partnership with HUD, up to 2 million HUD- assisted homes now have access to low-cost internet service.

Connecting Native Americans with an Important Resource through Internet Essentials

At two years old, Susanna Baltazar had no running water or electricity. Her family had just moved to an Indian reservation in Arizona, and even the most basic resources were out of reach. Fast forward to today, and Susanna is now a mother to four wonderful girls and living in a beautiful home they built. While many of the amenities that were absent from her childhood now flow easily throughout the house, there has been one thing missing – access to the internet.

The Baltazars are one of thousands of Native American families who are not connected to the internet at home. In fact, over 40 percent of Americans living on tribal lands lack access to broadband, compared to 10% of Americans overall1. This digital divide hinders access to more than just the internet – it can negatively impact education, career opportunities, and job performance for millions of Native Americans living on reservations.

Comcast NBCUniversal is committed to changing these statistics by closing the digital divide through our Internet Essentials program, which offers low-cost, high-speed broadband access to low-income American families. We are working to create opportunity for the generations of individuals currently being left behind without the digital literacy skills and access to technology that have become requirements for success in today’s world. We believe that the power of the internet can have a direct, positive impact on the Baltazar family’s future.

For Susanna’s youngest daughter, Elodia, access to the internet has a direct connection to her dream of studying music education in college. As a self-taught pianist, the 17 years old’s only challenge in advancing her studies is access to the resources she needs to get there – namely, instructional videos she can watch through the internet. Through the help of Internet Essentials, Elodia will be able to connect to the true power of the internet from her own home, and take the next steps in making her dream of teaching music lessons on the reservation a reality.

Like her daughter, Susanna also has dreams, but she struggles with the lack of internet access limiting opportunity, especially as it relates to pursuing new jobs. With more than 80% of Fortune 500 companies requiring online job applications, and some not allowing potential employees to fill out an application onsite, internet access has become a gatekeeper to career advancement. While Susanna enjoys her part-time work at the reservation’s museum gift shop, she hopes that the internet access and digital literacy training she will receive through Internet Essentials will help her learn skills to work on her resume, apply for jobs, and sign up for an email account. Like her daughter, she is looking to change her future.

Internet Essentials has connected over three million Americans to the power of the internet at home, and we continue to expand the program to reach more families in more underserved areas across the country. To learn more, please visit www.internetessentials.com.