Doug Dawson, from CCG Consulting says…

I think it’s in the best interest of ISPs to step into the federal funding void to help tackle this issue. Very few ISPs have attempted to tackle the issue, but one tackled it in a big way. Comcast Internet Essentials provides a monthly broadband connection that includes WiFi for qualifying low-income households for as little as $14.95 per month, with no extra fees for equipment or activation. Participants get access to computer training, either online or in person. Participants can buy a computer for $149.99. The company says it has helped 10 million homes with the program and has a goal to help up to 50 million homes by the end of 2027.

Setting aside the low price issue, the Comcast Internet Essentials program is addressing two of the keys to digital inclusion – getting devices in the hands of people who need them and showing people how to use broadband. I have no idea how Comcast handles these two issues. I have to assume, at their scale, they’ve arranged to buy a lot of basic computers for a low price. If I had to guess, I would think that Comcast outsources the training to a vendor. Comcast can pull this off due to the size of the Internet Essential program – there is a lot of economy of scale in helping 10 million homes. Smaller ISPs are not going to easily be able to duplicate what Comcast has done. But that doesn’t mean that small ISPs can’t make a difference in their markets.

One way for an ISP to participate in the digital inclusion effort is to somehow partner with the local folks who are already tackling the issue. There are folks in most parts of the country already tackling these issues. It might be a library, a non-profit, or a local government agency. In my part of the world, the leader in this effort is the Land of Sky COG, a state-sanctioned group of local governments that work together to tackle local problems.

Providing funding and technical assistance to your local digital inclusion groups can help them pursue their mission of helping people join the digital world.

Thirty years ago (ouch!), I worked for an ISP, Minnesota Regional Network, and a huge part of what I did was digital inclusion. I explained the Internet. I taught people what email was and how to use it. Later, other ISPs hired me to do the same thing. It was the best marketing they had. It got people to sign up, and I suspect they were happy, loyal customers.