Google to give away Fiber to public housing

The internet has become such an essential part of our lives that trying to get by without it is practically impossible. This can be a serious problem for people trying to re-enter the workforce or scrape their lives back together after a serious financial blow. That’s why Google has decided to team up with the Obama Housing Department to bring Google Fiber to public housing residents.

In fairness, this project also seems to be a pretty savvy move on the part of Google to help establish infrastructure for Fiber. The problem is that setting up the famous lightning internet initiative is very expensive. In fact, in their financial announcements Monday, Google revealed that Fiber would be one of their largest expenses in 2016. Working with a government program aiming to bring internet to those who might not have access to it seems like a smart way to offset the costs of laying the groundwork for infrastructure.

The plan seeks to bring gigabit connections to public housing residents free of charge. Included with the package will be pre-wired jacks and free network boxes that will allow smartphones and tablets to connect to the internet even if there are no computers in the home. This project will arrive first in the nine cities where Fiber already exists, starting in Kansas City. There, Fiber has already been installed in nine government housing properties, bringing very high speed internet to 1,300 families. After the program is established in the places where the service already exists, Google wants to expand outward to the 11 other prospective cities it has been eyeing lately.

If you hear a strange knocking sound, that’s just the major internet service providers’ shivering knees knocking together.