Dear Comcast Representatives,

We, as members of Illinois for Educational Equity (ILEE), reach out to inform you of several issues regarding the internet service you are providing to Illinois’s most needy families through the Chicago Connected program. It is our hope that these issues can be quickly resolved for the benefit of the affected families. Illinois for Educational Equity represents a community of over 800 teachers, community members, school administrators and staff, and activists within the Chicago-land area. Our mission is to build power through organizing and to advance policies that will lead to a more equitable education system for Illinois students.

Chicago Connected has been a pioneering effort in connecting Chicago’s low-income students to the internet. We recognize the commitment to the community shown by the Chicago Mayor’s office, Chicago Public Schools, RCN, Comcast, and T-Mobile through this effort. The number of unconnected Chicago households with school aged children has been drastically cut thanks to Chicago Connected. We know that you have worked to service thousands of Chicago families, allowing for their students to access their education online during an unprecedented pandemic, and that you have done so as quickly as possible to minimize learning gaps. But there is more work to be done!

As the Chicago Connected rollout has progressed, we have witnessed barriers to access placed in front of Chicago families by Comcast that directly contradict Comcast’s stated desire to help bridge the digital divide in Chicago:

Comcast denied wired internet services to families because they live in what Comcast refers to as “illegal dwellings,'' although other ISPs have no issue servicing those homes;

Comcast charged families for months of internet service because their Chicago Connected codes were not correctly applied, and customer service representatives did not understand the problem or were unwilling to take the time to explain these issues to the families. Through this confusion, many families paid these incorrect bills and have not been refunded, resulting in Comcast being paid double to service these households (once by the family and once through Chicago Connected funders); and

Comcast issued incomprehensible bills that give no indication that the families are enrolled in Chicago Connected, with services being provided and discounted through the program, and no clarity around how to understand the statements they receive every month. Other families were initially told they were ineligible because of past dues. Even once they were allowed to enroll, their bills still showed a past due balance and indicated that they were at risk of losing service if they failed to pay. Families have understood these bills to mean they are being billed and thus discontinued their internet, even though children in the household have needed the internet to attend school virtually.

The impact of these barriers is significant. To serve as a strong community partner, it is the responsibility of Comcast to fully engage with Chicago Connected families to meet their needs, especially in light of the fact that many Chicago students are relying on the Chicago Connected program as the only avenue in which to access their education, and that these inequities will persist once we are back to in-person learning, as schools have already indicated they will increasingly rely on tech platforms for learning.

We call upon Comcast to:

1. Change your enrollment process to accommodate families without an official USPS address. By not providing wired service and defaulting these homes to hotspots, Comcast is failing in its effort to bridge the digital divide, as we know that hotspots do not provide the same high quality access, nor do they serve as anything more than a bandaid to internet access. Furthermore, we know that this policy is unique to Comcast and that this creates discriminatory access to the internet as most families living in what Comcast refers to as “illegal dwellings” are Black and Latinx. This issue extends beyond Chicago Connected. It creates a significant barrier to all Chicagoans who need broadband access, and this must be remedied immediately.

2. Change your billing practices for families enrolled in Chicago Connected to make it clear that the recipient is not being, and will not be, charged and that the recipient is an enrollee of Chicago Connected. Price transparency is a fundamental piece of creating access and equity for all services, internet included. Billing should clearly show services charged and “Chicago Connected” as the discount code to bring a family's internet charge to $0.

3. Immediately enact a process for families who overpaid or paid incorrectly charged bills to be refunded in full.

In line with Comcast’s stated commitment to help bridge the digital divide in Chicago, we look forward to working together to resolve the issues above. We request a meeting with Comcast representatives to collaborate to create equitable access to wired internet. We look forward to hearing from you promptly.

Sincerely,