Comcast now offers $10 Internet for low-income families

by Martin Moylan, Minnesota Public Radio

St. Paul, Minn. — Households in the Twin Cities and western Wisconsin with low-income elementary and secondary students are now able to get high-speed Internet service for about $10 a month.

Students qualify if they are eligible for free school lunches. Comcast agreed to provide the service to win Federal Communications Commission approval for its merger with NBC.

Comcast estimates some 90,000 area students qualify for the discounted Internet service, along with netbook computers costing $150.

St. Paul Public Schools spokeswoman Julie Schultz Brown says School District Superintendent Valeria Silva welcomes the Comcast initiative.

"Superintendent Silva is very excited about getting low-cost internet to as many of our families who don't already have it as possible," she said. "Having the low-cost computer for student use is great. But we're also interested in making sure that the students and the parents have training."

Comcast said it will provide computer and Internet training through various organizations.

The speed of the low-cost Internet service is 1.5 megabits per second.