Verizon is introducing a brand new low cost to its Fios Forward plans, which ought to let low-income clients get fiber web at no cost when mixed with reductions by way of the federal Affordable Connectivity Program. The free tier, which is often $40 a month, consists of 300Mbps speeds in addition to a $10 low cost on a Verizon Unlimited Wireless plan. Customers who want extra bandwidth (and are in a position to pay extra) can get a gigabit connection for $50 a month with the ACP low cost, which additionally consists of extra advantages and a bigger cell plan low cost.

Verizon says Fios Forward is out there to individuals who qualify for the government’s Lifeline program. The 200Mbps tier used to value $20 a month, in accordance with a Wayback Machine archive from November, so Verizon’s new reductions may very well be saving lower-income clients a considerable sum of money.

The 300Mbps speeds talked about on Verizon’s web site at present ought to be out there to “most customers,” however they will differ by location, in accordance with an e-mail to The Verge from Verizon spokesperson Alex Lawson. Verizon’s press launch says that speeds begin at 200Mbps, which remains to be comparatively excessive in comparison with different low-income web plans.

This is nice information for the hundreds of thousands of people that reside at an tackle that Verizon companies with Fios. Unfortunately, Fios is only available in a handful of metropolitan areas. They’re large ones, to make sure — DC, NYC, Boston, Philadelphia, and Richmond are all on the checklist — however for these on the West Coast or in rural areas, it gained’t essentially be an choice. Verizon’s 5G and 4G house web plans are additionally eligible for the ACP low cost.

Thankfully, Verizon isn’t the one supplier upgrading its service within the wake of ACP. AT&T not too long ago upgraded the utmost speeds of its Access plan, which households eligible for the federal low cost can get at no cost. Comcast additionally doubled the speeds of its low-income plan final 12 months, which can also be eligible for the ACP.

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