Comcast Launching “Lift Zones” in South Florida

Miami FL

03 February, 2021

2:31 PM

Description

Comcast today announced the creation of more than a dozen “Lift Zones” throughout Broward and Miami-Dade Counties. Comcast is launching these WiFi connected Lift Zones at 18 locations to provide students with safe spaces to connect to the Internet to participate in virtual classes and complete schoolwork. As the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent shift to online learning continue, Comcast saw the need to address the lack of Internet access among South Florida students that, for a variety of reasons, are not able to participate in virtual learning from home. The Lift Zones will be located at facilities of Comcast community partners, including at Boys & Girls Clubs in Broward and Miami-Dade Counties. “For many local families with working parents, there is no adult available to stay home with children that need to attend their classes virtually. The Boys & Girls Clubs of Broward County provides adult supervision, meals, schools supplies and assistance in a socially distanced environment. With the addition of the Comcast Lift Zone at six of our clubs, we will be able to help more students and families easily access all the resources the Internet has to offer during the pandemic and beyond,” said Karriem Edwards, Vice President of Development for Boys & Girls Clubs of Broward County. This initiative provides free hotspot connectivity both inside and outside the locations and access to hundreds of hours of digital skills content to help families and site coordinators navigate online learning. Lift Zones complement Comcast’s Internet Essentials program, which has helped connect more than eight million low-income people to the Internet at home. “The COVID-19 pandemic has magnified the importance of digital inclusion for everyone in South Florida. Internet access is more important than ever to ensure no students or families are left behind,” said Derek Cooper, Vice President of External Affairs and Community Impact for Comcast in Florida. “Besides attending virtual classes and completing online schoolwork, students and their families can also access important school updates, educational apps and programs as well as the latest news and telehealth applications.” In September, Comcast announced a multiyear program to launch more than 1,000 WiFi-connected Lift Zones in community centers nationwide. This effort is part of its ongoing commitment to help connect low-income families to the Internet and provide resources to help them fully participate in educational opportunities and the digital economy. The South Florida Lift Zones will be located at: Broward County Boys & Girls Clubs of Broward CountyCarver Ranches Club in West ParkDr. Harold (Hackie) Reitman M.D. Club in Fort LauderdaleFlorence A. De George Club in DavieJim & Jan Moran Club in Deerfield BeachLauderhill Club in LauderhillLester H. White Club in Fort LauderdaleMarti Huizenga Club in HollywoodNan Knox Club in Fort LauderdaleRick & Rita Case Club in DavieS. Robert Levine Campus and William E. Slaughter Club in North LauderdaleThomas D. Stephanis Club in Pompano BeachFLITE Center in Fort LauderdaleHANDY (Helping Abused Neglected Disadvantaged Youth) in Fort Lauderdale Miami-Dade County Big Brothers Big Sisters of MiamiBoys & Girls Clubs of Miami-DadeHank Klein ClubNorthwest ClubCenter for Black InnovationSant La Haitian Community Center This week, Comcast also shared several announcements that build on its longstanding commitment to advancing digital equity, including doubling the Internet Essentials program’s download speed to 50 Mbps and increasing the upstream speed to 5 Mbps for all new and existing customers at no additional cost. Comcast has also extended its COVID-19 relief measures, including free Internet service for the first 60 days for new Internet Essentials customers and free access to more than 1.5 million public Xfinity WiFi hotspots to anyone, including non-Xfinity customers, through June 30, 2021.