Comcast Cable is the sole provider of the Internet Essentials high-speed internet service designed specifically for low income Americans who have a child who participates in the National School Lunch program, developed by Comcast. For information on this cheap internet plan for only $9.95 a month, please go to our Internet Essentials page. For contact information on Comcast or Internet Essentials, see the end of the page.

About Comcast Cable

You may think of Comcast as the nation’s largest cable TV provider, but this huge company is far more than that. Comcast Corporation rightfully calls itself “one of the world’s leading media, entertainment and communications companies.”

The company owns Comcast Cable, one of the nation’s largest video, high-speed Internet and phone companies. It owns a majority interest in NBC Universal, which in turn owns and operates a number of news and entertainment cable networks (including E! Entertainment Television, Style Network, G4, The Golf Channel and the NBC Sports Network), broadcast networks (including NBC and Telemundo), numerous local television stations across the United States, television production facilities, Universal Studios, and the Universal Orlando theme park.

Ahhh, but we’re just getting started.

Comcast is the largest cable operator, home internet service provider, and fourth largest home telephone company in the United States. It offers cable television, broadband internet, and telephone service in 39 states and the District of Columbia. As of late 2010, Comcast’s customer base includes 22.9 million cable customers, 16.7 million broadband internet customers, and 8.4 million voice customers. The states we show as having Comcast Cable available are: Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, Missouri, Mississippi, Minnesota, Michigan, New Mexico, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin and the District of Columbia (DC).

In other words, we’re talking big. Huge. One might even say humongus.

Comcast was founded in 1963 and was originally known as American Cable Systems. In 1969, it changed its name to Comcast, a combination of the words “Communication” and “Broadcast”.

Comcast has grown rapidly through a series of mergers and acquisitions.

In 1996, Comcast began offering broadband internet service when it acquired Sarasota Online, one of the largest Internet providers in the south. The company now has more than 14 million internet subscribers.

In 1999 it acquired Greater Philadelphia Cablevision and announced a $60 billion merger with MediaOne.

In late 2009, Comcast announced a mind-bogglingly complex deal with GE in which it gained control of NBC Universal for $6.5 billion. Following the details of this convoluted series of transactions isn’t easy, but here are the basics: After GE cashes that $6.5 billion check, Comcast will own 51% of NBC Universal and GE will own the remaining 49%. Then Comcast was required to contribute another $7.5 billion to cover the costs of programming for regional sports networks and cable channels such as Golf Channel and E! Entertainment Television. GE then took $5.8 billion of that payment to purchase Vivendi’s 20% interest in NBC Universal. When the dust clears, Comcast has the right to purchase GE’s remaining stake in the company.

Some consumer advocates do not believe that bigger is necessarily better. That explains why Comcast won the Consumerist 2010 Worst Company In America award based on votes of dissatisfied customers. To the company’s credit, it publicly acknowledged the award and announced its commitment to improving customer service.