Across Greater Philadelphia, New Jersey and northern Delaware, we continue to focus on fostering connections with our customers and communities. From enhancing and expanding our network and its technology, to adding value to our Internet and entertainment experiences for our customers, to growing our partnerships with community organizations to promote digital equity and more, here are some of the ways we’ve worked to bring important moments to life this year.
Connectivity and Entertainment
We continued to expand the Xfinity 10G Network to more homes and businesses, bringing our products and services to Berks, Chester and Lehigh counties in Pennsylvania, and we heard from new customers in Amity and Coopersburg about their experiences with our services.
And in New Jersey, we partnered with Hopewell and Maurice River townships on a plan to connect their unserved homes and businesses.
To help keep customers connected no matter where they are, Xfinity Mobile has made switching even easier, offering a convenient, cost-effective alternative to other mobile providers. And our business customers are enjoying the benefits as well, as we continue to evolve Comcast Business Mobile.
As unpredictable weather continues to affect our area year-round, Comcast became the first Internet Provider to offer a product designed to maintain connectivity when a storm hits, trees are down or a customer experiences a local outage, with the launch of Storm-Ready WiFi.
Continuing our efforts to ensure our products and services are accessible to all, we launched the availability of live American Sign Language interpreting services at six Xfinity Store locations throughout Greater Philadelphia – with the goal of expanding the service to all retail locations in the coming months.
And to provide a destination for more of our neighbors to experience the complete line of Xfinity and Comcast Business products and services, we opened new Xfinity Store locations in Flemington, NJ, and Upper Dublin, PA, this year.
Giving our customers more to love in entertainment, we began offering Xfinity’s “Free this Week” experience, a weekly selection of movies, shows and apps, on us.
Community Impact
Through Project UP, we connected with more local organizations and elected officials and strengthened our long-standing relationships to advance digital equity and help build a future of unlimited possibilities for our customers and communities. We partnered with United Way to strengthen Philadelphia’s Digital Navigator Network and expanded it so residents of Bucks, Chester, Delaware and Montgomery counties will also be able to take advantage of support for questions about digital access and where to learn digital literacy skills by dialing 2-1-1.
To accelerate student learning outcomes and build a more diverse teacher workforce in Philadelphia, we announced a $500,000 grant to Elevate 215 from Comcast NBCUniversal. We also donated laptops and awarded grants to local organizations like Entrepreneur Works, HomeWorks, Boys & Girls Clubs of Delaware, Metropolitan Wilmington Urban League, as well as the Welcoming Center and Nationalities Service Center, to name a few. All of this and more is centered around our mission to help drive awareness and adoption of the Federal Government’s Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), which provides eligible low-income households with a credit of up to $30 per month ($75 per month on Tribal lands) toward their Internet and/or mobile service. Thanks to ACP, eligible Comcast customers can get home Internet through Comcast’s Internet Essentials or Internet Essentials Plus at no cost once the federal credit is applied. Internet Essentials customers can also add a line of unlimited 5G cellular data ($45) through Xfinity Mobile for as little as $24.95/month after the ACP benefit is applied.
And for 100 small businesses in Philadelphia, we announced new Comcast RISE comprehensive grant packages that include business consultation services, educational resources, a $5,000 monetary grant, creative production, media schedule and a technology makeover. To date, 816 Philadelphia businesses were awarded more than $10 million in total grants and services from Comcast RISE since 2020.
Our People
We heard from team members about the connections they have made with their customers and community members through Operation Old Glory, our employee-driven initiative that replaces worn or damaged American Flags for residents and businesses at no charge. This includes special recognition to one local employee who shared his special connection with the flag this National Veterans & Military Families Month.
Through Team UP, our national volunteerism program, our employees volunteered with nonprofit organizations across Greater Philadelphia. This also includes contributing more than 293,000 pounds of food that our employees, teammates and local customers donated to the Preston & Steve Show’s annual Camp Out for Hunger initiative benefiting Philabundance.
Our employees are what make us an award-winning workplace, named to lists like the Philadelphia Foundation’s The Civic 50 Greater Philadelphia, Fast Company’s ‘Best Workplaces for Innovators’ and ‘DiversityInc’s Top 50 list.’ Plus, accolades including the Latin American Community Center’s ‘Corporate Citizen of the Year,’ and the Delaware County Veterans Memorial’s ‘Dedication to Our County & Community Award’ to name a few.
Looking Ahead
We’re proud of the new connections we’ve made and the ones we’ve continued to foster with our customers and communities across the area, and we’re looking forward to even more partnership and innovation in the year to come.
For more of Comcast’s 2023 news, visit our Comcast Press Room.
