Land of the Free: Google Fiber announces free high-speed internet access to residents of public housing

In what seems to be a radical move, Google Fiber has announced to offer free high-speed internet access to residents of public housing.

Yes, Google Fiber in a very recent blog post announced its plan to offer free high-speed internet access to the people residing in housing projects in its future as well as current markets where Google Fiber is provided. According to the post, which was penned by Erica Swanson, Head of Community Impact for Google Fiber, it is a move to offer high-speed internet access to the several households that find it difficult to afford basic internet connectivity.

"Internet is the place we turn to for connecting with folks, learning new stuffs, and discover opportunities for economic and personal development. However, not everyone is fortunate enough to avail the perks that the web has to offer," writes Erica Swanson in the same blog.

"In fact, around 26% of the households with annual income of less than $30,000 lack access to web in comparison to a mere 3% of youth earning more than $75,000 per year. Google Fiber is striding to redefine that."

According to a news article published on Mashable, Google Fiber's move is rolled out in collaboration with the recently unveiled ConnectHome plan initiated by the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the White House. ConnectHome aims to offer free or low-cost internet access to 25+ cities.   

Though Google is already providing a free tier of high-speed internet as a part of its Google Fiber solution, the company will be waiving the installation fee of $300 from now onwards, a move expected to be welcomed by many, stated the article.

At present, Google Fiber is available in Kansas City, Utah, MO and Austin, Texas and is en-route to Salt Lake City, N.C., Raleigh-Durham, Nashville, S.C., Charlotte and Atlanta as well.

Google, with the vision of bringing high-speed internet connections to more and more locations, is also joining hands with a host of local organizations in every city to offer computer labs and digital literacy training programs.

A news article published on Fortune happens to claim that Google's early trial program for digital literacy program organized in Manchaca Village, Austin proved to be a huge success wherein a good number of people signed up for the program and half of them completed the entire training program as well.