AT&T has announced that it’s providing a brand new tier of its low-cost Access from AT&T plan, which lets eligible clients get “up to 100 Mbps of symmetrical speeds” for $30 monthly — an enormous improve from the place the ten or 25 megabits per second for $10 monthly the plan used to max out. The $30 price-point could appear to be a steep improve, however anybody who’s eligible and applies to the Affordable Connectivity Program can rise up to $30 off their web invoice, which might primarily make the highest-tier Access plan free.

Of course, the upper speeds are dependent in your handle, with AT&T noting on its website that 100 Mbps is barely out there in restricted areas. Your family earnings may also need to be underneath a specific amount to be eligible for Access from AT&T plans; for a one-person family, the max earnings is $25,760, and for a three-person family it’s $43,920. People on sure profit packages like SNAP are additionally eligible.

AT&T is protecting its unique Access plans round, which have speeds at 10 Mbps or much less for $10 or much less. They might be an choice for individuals who can’t or don’t wish to apply to the ACP and might’t afford $30 every month. Those plans will nonetheless have knowledge caps, although.

It’s good to see web service suppliers doing these kinds of upgrades — web wants have solely expanded since COVID began, and speeds like 25 Mbps might be very limiting if a couple of particular person wanted to make use of the web at a time. Early final yr, Comcast additionally elevated the speeds of its $10 monthly plan, going from 25 Mbps to 50.

Disclosure: Comcast is an investor in Vox Media, The Verge’s mother or father firm.