In order to better serve its subscribers, Comcast is putting its collective resources into the New Jersey Shore area that was hit by Superstorm Sandy last year.
Along the Jersey Shore communities, Comcast has upgraded 144 miles of its infrastructure. Comcast also announced newly renovated service centers with increased staffing and weekend hours; additional service technicians and other benefits to help customers starting May 25.
All told, more than 170 additional techs have been committed to maintain and improve Comcast’s network along the Jersey Shore areas by performing installations and proactively servicing outside cable lines that could have been affected by storm waters and other conditions.
“We know that Hurricane Sandy complicated life for millions of people, and many of our employees and facilities were affected by the storm,” said LeAnn Talbot, senior vice president of Comcast’s Freedom Region. “We were here for the Jersey Shore during and immediately after Sandy, we have been here to support since then and will remain as a partner tomorrow and beyond as people and communities work to rebuild.”
According to DSLReports, Verizon doesn’t plan on repairing its DSL lines in the areas impacted by Superstorm Sandy.
Over the course of the summer season, Comcast will also be rolling out its next-gen, cloud-based X1 platform in the Jersey Shore area to new and returning customers, as well as offering its new Xfinity Gateway that made its debut last month.
Jersey Shore residents will also have access to Comcast’s Xfinity Home service, which includes home automation and security features, and access to “thousands” of additional Wi-Fi hotspots.
For installation sand reconnections, self-installation options are available, as are two-hour technician appointment windows. At Jersey Shore service centers, Comcast said the number of workstations was nearly doubled to provide more expedited, one-on-one attention for customers. This includes centers in Absecon (Pleasantville), Avalon, Brick, Northfield, Ocean City and Wildwood.
The Avalon, Long Beach Island and Pleasantville service centers have been newly renovated and while Sandy wiped out Comcast’s Ocean City facility, two temporary trailers were installed to service customers.
In the immediate aftermath of the storm, the Comcast extended free access to its Xfinity WiFi hotspots for anyone who needed them, including non-Comcast customers, and offered any resident the use of power strips at 15 New Jersey payment centers so that people without power could recharge mobile devices.
A region-wide food drive collected three tons of food for New Jersey food banks providing food to victims of Sandy across the Garden State and southeast Pennsylvania. In addition, Comcast|NBCUniversal employees made record pledges to the United Way and designated Comcast Foundation grants to help fund Hurricane Sandy relief, adding to the more than $23 million raised through NBC’s November 2012 benefit concert for Sandy.
More recently, the company hosted Comcast Cares Day projects in shore communities, providing much-needed help ranging from beach cleanups to an extensive downtown rebuilding project for Highlands Borough.
