According to the Pew Research Center, 90% of adults use the internet daily, and the average user spends 6.5 hours online each day.
“I mean, could you live without the internet for 5 days?” Tom Henchal, director of customer experience and product management for Comcast, was referring to the time it can take to get internet set up in your home, if you move, for example. The timeframe may have worked 10 years ago, but not now, as approximately one-third of Minnesota's workforce, over 900,000 people, work from home, according to the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development.
“The average Xfinity customer has 36 connected devices,” added Jill Hornbacher, senior director, public relations, Comcast Midwest Region.
The demand for urgent connectivity is why Xfinity, Comcast’s technology provider, is spreading the word about being the first wired major internet provider to offer same-day Wi-Fi connectivity.
During an announcement at Comcast’s Xfinity store in Edina, company officials explained how Xfinity’s same-day Wi-Fi works. New customers now have the option to choose from same-day pick-up at over 15 Xfinity Stores statewide or, if available, same-day delivery to their home. Customers have this option after signing up for Xfinity online, and, if they do it before 3 p.m., their internet equipment is delivered to their doorstep the same day.
“You’ll get a text message saying the driver has picked up your order and they’re on the way,” Henchal said. “It’s kinda like a DoorDash experience.”
Customers then self-install and activate service, which Henchal says takes just 3 minutes as compared to 15 minutes previously.
The option is attractive, especially to the nearly 30,000 new residents who moved to the Twin Cities in the past year. “People used to have to wait days for someone to come out, install, and make sure everything is connected properly,” said Rachel Langsjoen, a real estate agent with Coldwell Banker. “It’s like the Amazon of Wi-Fi, and it’s what people expect nowadays, to be able to get their keys, move into their new home, and start working right away.”
Langsjoen was at the Xfinity announcement event in Edina with fellow Coldwell Banker real estate agent Carmen Cyrzan, who added the work-from-home element of the on-demand need for internet. “So many of my clients work from home now. They get very stressed if it’s not ready when they move in.”
Once set up, customers also have access to Xfinity’s 23 million secure Wi-Fi hotspots and entertainment options through the streaming app. Learn more here.
