• by Gavin O'Malley , Staff Writer @mp_gavin, August 8, 2011

If harder to measure in monetary terms, there's great value in getting Americans of all means online. It's therefore encouraging to hear that Comcast will begin offering discounted Web access and home computers to families that meet certain requirements by the start of the 2011-12 school year.

To be clear, the move isn't a benevolent one on Comcast's part. Rather, per its deal to buy NBC Universal earlier this year, regulators required that the cable and Web provider help low-income households get online. "It seems that Comcast can afford the new program," NPR reports. "When it reported earnings this week, its revenue had risen 51%, to $14.3 billion.

The plan, called Internet Essentials, will be available wherever Comcast offers Internet services -- which it currently does in 39 states. Families will also receive a voucher allowing them to purchase a new computer for $149.99. "For the 2011-12 school year, a family of four making $29,055 a year would qualify -- about 60% of the 300,000-plus students in Miami-Dade County Public Schools," according to The Miami Herald.

Comcast won't charge for the activation costs or equipment rental fees either, and the company guaranteed no price increases on the $10 monthly fee," notes PCWorld. Yet, "The low-cost connection will feature a paltry 1.5 Mbps download speed, and up to 384 Kbps upload."

"Whether Comcast plans to continue the program after the terms of the condition expire or not, we hope this initiative helps push the United States one step closer to closing the digital divide between the ‘haves' and ‘havenots,'" Mashable writes.