ALBANY, Ga. — Mediacom Communications recently announced that the discounted broadband service it provides to low-income families with K-12 students has surpassed the 1,000-mark companywide, and 238 of those connec tions benefit students in families throughout southwest Georgia who did not previously have access to home internet.

To extend student learning from classrooms to homes, Mediacom partners with the national non-profit, EveryoneOn, to provide affordable, high-speed internet service to students who qualify for the National School Lunch Program. Participation in the company’s educational Connect2Compete program increased each month over the past year, and students from 26 Georgia communities extending from Columbus to Valdosta use the low-cost internet connections. 

All students in Colquitt County receive free school lunches, so none are signed up for the National School Lunch Program individually. However, the families would qualify for the internet price reduction if the students would otherwise qualify for the lunch program. Contact Mediacom at www.mediacomc2c.com or by phone (toll-free) at: 855-904-2225 for details on how to apply.

The current 2017-18 school year marks the first full year in which Mediacom has offered the program throughout its entire service area. Eligible families pay $9.95 per month to receive internet service with download speeds of up to 10 Mbps and WiFi capability. The discounted service waives equipment and installation fees.

“Technology and the internet play an increasingly critical role in the education of our youth. As a leading broadband company, Mediacom wants to close the achievement gap between students in homes with access to high-speed internet and those without it,” said Doug Frank, Mediacom’s group vice president for operations.

“We’re proud of the progress made during this initial ‘pilot’ year when we introduced a more robust service with faster internet speeds and built-in WiFi,” Frank said. “We hope to double the number of student families using Connect2Compete in this next school year, and we’re enlisting local educators and community leaders to help us give more students this opportunity to succeed in the digital age.”

“Partners like Mediacom help our continued efforts to connect all people to the internet and we are proud to work with them,” said Chike Aguh, EveryoneOn’s CEO. “By offering this low-cost service to students and their families, we know that we can meet our goal of connecting one million people by 2020. The 1,100 households that have been connected already show Mediacom’s commitment to ending the digital divide.”

Many schools now provide students with laptop computers and expect the educational experience to include online learning beyond the classroom, Mediacom said in a press release. The faster speeds and WiFi service from Mediacom Connect2Compete allow students to access online homework assignments, watch educational videos, and participate in virtual teams that may include scientists and students anywhere in the world. Parents can also stay involved in their student’s education by easily accessing report cards, school forms and other related information. Low-income families using Mediacom Connect2Compete can typically reduce the expense incurred with higher-cost data plans associated with mobile phone service when that is the primary way students access the internet from home.

“This is not a government program,” Frank added. “It’s an investment our company is making to expand broadband access to low-income households where students have not had other options to connect to reliable, high-speed internet.”

Eligible families retain the discounted internet service for up to 24 continuous months and can re-apply if they continue to meet eligibility criteria.