Cox discounts aid those eligible through government assistance programs

Cox Communication is providing a discount of 50 to 75 dollars a month to people who qualify through the Federal Emergency Broadband Benefit Program. This discount will last until the funds run out. But, one thing that is here to stay is the company’s low cost enhanced internet package “Connect-2-Compete.” Susan Anable, the Vice President of Public Affairs within the Southwest Region, told us more about the resources.

“This program was established as part of a federal act that was adopted back in December–$3.2 billion. The intent was to help people who have been negatively impacted by the COVID pandemic, and they have been financially impacted by loss of job or furloughed from their job or they were already eligible for a government assistance program,” Anable said.

People can establish their eligibility by demonstrating their financial impact or providing proof of participation in a variety of government assistance programs.

The demand for internet increased, “…when kids went home and had to start remote learning, when people couldn’t visit their doctor and needed to have a telehealth consultation, when people were working from home. We obviously saw a huge demand increase in our network and gratefully we made such significant investments in our network. The last 10 years, we were ready and we were able to accommodate. We recognize things aren’t going to go back to the way they were. There will continue to be a need for education, Telehealth, and working from home,” Anable said.

Another Cox program that’s been around for almost 10 years and is here to stay is “a program called Connect 2 Compete, and it’s been a program that was intended to provide a low cost internet service for low income families who have a child or more than one in a household that’s in the K through 12 education system. And so when the pandemic hit last March, we saw a huge increase in demand for that particular program….we did provide free service free new connections for families that didn’t have the service with as much as two months of free service for them,” Anable said.