Google plans to reach more communities and bring its Fiber Internet service to residents in public and affordable housing locations.
The move is in line with the program ConnectHome, which was launched by the White House and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). On its pilot launch, the program aims to cover more than 275,000 low-income families including almost 200,000 children across 27 cities.
Google Fiber is currently available in three pricing options. The basic plan, which offers a speed of 5MB per second, is free from monthly charges although it comes with an installation fee of $300. The next option offers a much higher speed per second and charges $70 a month, although there's no need to pay for an installation. There's also a bundled plan that includes 1GB of Internet and 150-plus TV channels, which costs $130 every month.
However, the new initiative will bring Google Fiber services to low-income residents for $0 a month and with no installation fee.
"Today, in all of our Google Fiber markets, we're launching a program to connect residents in select public and affordable housing properties for $0/month with no installation fee," said Google in a blog post.
Apart from bringing fast and cost-free Internet services, Google will also offer basic computer courses to residents and create computer training labs in each of the company's Fiber markets.
"Providing an Internet connection is just one piece of the puzzle," wrote Erica Swanson, Google Fiber's head of community impact. "People can only take advantage of the many benefits of the Web when they understand why it matters and know how to use it."
At present, Google Fiber is live and running in three cities, Provo, Kansas City and Austin. Five more cities are already lined up for an expansion; these include Raleigh-Durham, Charlotte, Atlanta, Nashville and Salt Lake City. Other sites such as Phoenix, San Antonio, Portland and San Jose are also potential locations for expansion.
The ConnectHome program is aimed at keeping school kids online when they get home from school and they need to access the Internet to do their homework. If the initiative proves to be successful, it will allow a number of public housing students to enjoy the same educational opportunities that are usually only present in middle and upper class households.
Google first rolled out its Fiber Internet service to housing project residents in Austin, Texas in November after partnering with the Housing Authority in Austin. It was deemed as a successful venture with more than 90 percent of the residents who came from public housing locations able to sign up for the service, while more than half were able to complete the digital literacy training that came with the program.
"With support from local organizations and city leaders, we hope to see this same kind of success across the country," added Swanson.
