Cox Communications Announces Major Effort to Support HUD’s ConnectHome Initiative

Cox Communications recently announced a major investment in its efforts to narrow the digital divide through its support of HUD’s ConnectHome initiative. Cox Communications is extending its Connect2Compete low-cost Internet offering to any HUD-assisted household with school-age children within Cox’s 18-state service area. 

Cox operates six clustered cable systems in 18 states: Arizona, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Nebraska, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, and Virginia.  It is the first Internet service provider within the ConnectHome umbrella to extend such an offering throughout its entire nationwide footprint. This investment from Cox Communications has the potential to impact nearly 250,000 students across the nation currently residing in a HUD-assisted home.

Building on the Obama administration’s goal to expand high-speed broadband to all Americans, in July 2015, President Obama and HUD Secretary Julián Castro announced the ConnectHome initiative to extend affordable broadband access to families living in HUD-assisted housing. Through ConnectHome, Internet service providers, nonprofits, and the private sector are offering broadband access, technical training, digital literacy programs, and devices for residents in assisted housing units in 28 pilot communities across the nation. While nearly two-thirds of America’s lowest-income households own a computer, less than half have a home Internet subscription. HUD’s ConnectHome initiative strives to ensure that students can access the same level of high-speed Internet at home that they possess in their classrooms.

Cox’s Connect2Compete service is $9.95 per month for eligible families, and includes download speeds up to 10 Mbps, free in-home WiFi, free installation, and free access to hundreds of thousands of WiFi hotspots strategically located in markets across the country through Cox WiFi and Cable WiFi.