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HUD, Cox Communications Partner to Offer Low-Cost Internet

The broadband service will benefit students who rely on the Internet for homework assignments, college applications and other school-related work.

(TNS) — Cox Communications and federal housing officials announced Thursday that a low-cost Internet service will be offered to some households with school-age children in Connecticut and 17 other states.

Cox said the $9.95-a-month service could be used by nearly nearly 250,000 students nationwide living in housing supported by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Cox operates six clustered cable systems — consolidated ownership in a geographic area — in Arizona, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Nebraska, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Rhode Island and Virginia.

Meriden is one of 28 communities in the United States participating in ConnectHome, a federal pilot project intended to accelerate the use of broadband technology by children and families living in HUD-assisted housing.

Pat Esser, president of Cox, said the broadband service will benefit students who rely on the Internet for homework assignments, college applications and other school-related work.

"Technology and the Internet play an increasingly critical role in the education of our youth," he said. "Yet students cannot take the Internet home in their backpacks."

Connecticut consumer officials and the telecommunications industry have disputed the extent of broadband access in the state. Consumer officials say service is spotty in some Hartford neighborhoods and rural areas in northwest Connecticut.

The consumer counsel's office selected a few areas in the state that are underserved. Industry representatives insist that Internet access in Connecticut is among the most widespread in the U.S.

©2016 The Hartford Courant (Hartford, Conn.) Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.