Comcast acquires Wilco cable system, service provider to Philadelphia Housing Authority

Comcast has announced the acquisition of the cable system assets from Wilco Electronic Systems Inc., the African-American-owned company that delivers services to homes managed by the Philadelphia Housing Authority (PHA). 

Financial terms of the deal weren’t announced. But Comcast said it will make significant upgrades to services delivered in the PHA footprint, making available its full range of products including the X1 video system, Xfinity Internet, Xfinity Voice, Xfinity Home and Xfinity Wireless. Comcast will also deliver its subsidized broadband service, Internet Essentials. 

Fort Washington, Pennsylvania-based Wilco’s cable system delivers services to around 9,000 PHA residents. The deal will bring broadband internet services to many of these residents for the first time. 

“We are happy to reach an agreement with Comcast that will now offer PHA residents the ability to be able to reap the benefits of its Internet Essentials program as well as many other advanced technologies,” Wilco Founder and President Will Daniel said in a news release. “The opportunity for PHA communities to obtain these services through Comcast, which was founded by my personal friend Ralph Roberts, is an important step in bridging the digital divide here in Philadelphia.”

“Residents of our conventional development communities will now have many more options, including Comcast’s Internet Essentials program, and the ability to bundle their innovative products through a single provider,” noted PHA President and CEO Kelvin A. Jeremiah. “The ability to bring Internet Essentials to PHA residents at our traditional public housing sites will be a tremendous step forward in bridging the digital divide.”