Charter Supporting Students, Schools & its Communities
As we continue to feel the impact of COVID-19, Americans are relying on high speed broadband more than ever before. Charter wants to do what it can to help ease the strain during this challenging time, particularly for students who are relying on distance learning. Charter (under our Spectrum brand name) has committed to the following for 60 days, beginning Monday, March 16:
Charter will offer free Spectrum Internet Assist and Spectrum Broadband, including in-home Wi-FI, to new subscriber households with K-12 and/or college students, as well as teachers, for 60 days.*
NCREASING CONNECTIVITY FOR STUDENTS
· To assist students without access to in-home broadband, Charter is offering its Spectrum Internet service up to 100 Mbps, as well as free Wi-Fi access, for free for 60 days to households that include K-12 and/or college students who do not already have a Spectrum broadband subscription.
· Charter does not have data caps, so there are no caps to waive and we do not have hidden fees. We announced a toll-free number (1-844-488-8395) for families to call to make signing up as easy as possible during this challenging time.
· Additionally, we are reaching out to school districts to ensure local communities are aware of these tools to help students learn remotely and to help spread the word on this important access to connectivity.
HELPING THOSE WHO FACE DIFFICULT ECONOMIC CIRCUMSTANCES
· Many Americans will be affected – either directly or indirectly by COVID-19 – and many may face difficult economic circumstances. For these residential and small business customers, Charter will not terminate service and will waive any late fees.
· Charter’s commitment to increasing access to broadband began before COVID-19 and will continue when it is over. We continue to offer any eligible household low-cost, high speed broadband access through our Spectrum Internet Assist service, which is available across the 41 states we serve. Spectrum Internet Assist includes a free modem and has no contracts, and, like all Spectrum Internet products, has no data caps and no hidden fees.
ENSURING OUR RELIABLE NETWORK AND COMMUNICATIONS SERVICES KEEP THE COUNTRY CONNECTED
· Ensuring Reliable Connectivity – Charter is ensuring the reliable connectivity that is crucial to the country’s continuity, including distance learning, telemedicine, and remote work. Charter has made significant investments in our networks, which are built to exceed peak usage capacity. We monitor these networks 24×7 and consult regularly with other connectivity providers. It is still early, but thus far, across our networks and theirs, any COVID-19-related increase in daytime network activity has been modest and far below capacity.
· Contingency Planning – Charter is focused on contingency planning to maintain our services at the highest level. These efforts include working closely with federal, state, and local government officials, community leaders, and alongside our industry partners to ensure we are meeting needs, sharing appropriate information, staying abreast of developments, and maintaining the appropriate access to geographies that may be operating under a state of emergency.
· Wi-Fi Hotspots and Unlimited Access – Charter customers will continue to have unlimited access to these networks, as Spectrum Internet has no data caps or hidden fees. Additionally, Charter has opened Wi-Fi hotspots across our footprint for public use, a map of which is available at www.spectrum.com/wifi-hotspots.
· Public Service Announcements (PSAs) – Charter has also donated airtime to run 1,000 COVID-19 public service announcement (PSA) spots per week, including on all Spectrum News Networks, for four weeks to our full footprint of 16,000,000 video subscribers at an approximate value of $3,000,000 each week. Additionally, Charter will run the PSAs on our digital video and streaming apps.
To learn more, visit Charter’s COVID-19 Update webpage for latest updates and information.