03/18/2020
Valuable info for all students (courtesy City College NY). Hopefully you can benefit from this. There is for school students as well.
With an unprecedented number of schools closing and students across the country shifting to digital learning because of COVID-19, several companies are offering free services for the next 60 days in addition, AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, Sprint and Comcast have announced additional services during the coronavirus outbreak, such as the removal of data caps and waiver of late fees. Students should check with their individual carriers for these arrangements. https://www.cnet.com/news/carriers-are-suspending-internet-data-caps-during-coronavirus/
Verizon has made digital resources available to schools and teachers across the country.
The Verizon Innovative Learning Schools Connection website has a number of resources including tips to prepare for and implement robust digital learning plans and Verizon’s partner Digital Promise has helpful COVID-19 online learning resources and FAQs.
Knowing many students also rely on schools for more than learning, Verizon is working with nonprofit partners to ensure children from low-income families still have access to healthy meals while their schools are closed.
Altice USA and Charter Communications both announced on March 13, 2020 that they would offer free broadband services to students taking online classes. Both providers cover different parts of New York City.
Charter announced that it would offer free high-speed Spectrum Internet service and Wi-Fi for 60 days to households with students taking online classes because of the coronavirus outbreak. Students can call (844) 488-8395 to enroll. Installation fees will be waived for new student households, the company said. Spectrum said regular pricing will take effect at the end of the 60-day period if a customer doesn’t cancel or change the service. For more information, see https://corporate.charter.com/newsroom/charter-to-offer-free-access-to-spectrum-broadband-and-wifi-for-60-days-for-new-K12-and-college-student-households-and-more
Charter/Spectrum are also offering their wifi hotspots for free. Here's a map: https://www.spectrum.com/wifi-hotspots
Altice USA said that it would offer Altice Advantage 30 mgbs broadband service for free to college students without Internet service for 60 days. Eligible students can call 866-200-9522 to enroll. For more information see https://www.alticeusa.com/news/articles/feature/corporate/altice-usa-brings-free-broadband-k-12-and-college-students-during-coronavirus-pandemic
Comcast are offering free access to Xfinity wifi hotspots. For a map of Xfinity WiFi hotspots, visit xfinity.com/wifi. They're also offering 25mb service with free installation for the next two months. For new customers, applicants can simply visit www.internetessentials.com. The accessible website also includes the option to video chat with customer service agents in American Sign Language. There are also two dedicated phone numbers 1-855-846-8376 for English and 1-855-765-6995 for Spanish.
Altice/Optimum: Altice is also opening up their wifi hotspots, which includes AlticeWifi, optimumwifi, and cableWiFi: https://www.optimum.net/internet/hotspots/
For households with K-12 and/or college students who may be displaced due to school closures and who do not currently have home internet access, we are offering our Altice Advantage 30 Mbps broadband solution for free for 60 days to any new customer household within our footprint.
Starting Monday, March 16, 2020, eligible households interested in this solution can call:
866-200-9522 to enroll in Optimum region
888-633-0030 to enroll in Suddenlink region
AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, Sprint and Comcast are offering additional help.
