US providers lower prices or increase speed for low incomes

Many US providers are cutting prices or increasing download speeds on cheaper Internet plans at the behest of President Joe Biden’s administration. This is done for customers who live below or just above the poverty line.

Lowering prices and increasing speeds is done as part of the Affordable Connectivity Program, says the White House. That program already existed and is aimed at providing fast internet to people who earn a maximum of 200 percent of the income that counts as the poverty line. According to the program, there is fast internet with a download speed of 100Mbit/s or more.

For example, provider Verizon has lowered the price of a subscription with 200Mbit/s down from about $40 per month to $30 per month. Provider Spectrum has doubled the download speed of its $30 per month subscription from 50 to 100Mbit/s.

Under the program, people who meet the conditions can receive up to $30 a month discount on their internet subscription. For residents of reservations, the maximum is $75 per month. The discount could apply to 48 million Americans, about 11.5 million households had already signed up for the program.