The Redbox Instant Twitter account tweeted the big news today. The service (by Verizon) is starting its gradual roll-out (but you do still need to get on the waiting list).

The service is $8 a month (it’s free for one month), and gives users access to unlimited streaming movies and 4 DVD credits per month.

The U.S. has been waiting nearly a year for Redbox to launch its answer to Netflix Instant, and now the battle should heat up substantially. It will be quite interesting to see how many deals Redbox is able to make to get more content. Right now, the service has a long way to go to catch up to Netflix on that front. It doesn’t even have TV shows, and the movie selection is far less than Netflix, but it is just getting started. Let’s see how it plays out.

The mobile apps are now in Google Play and the App Store (via 9to5Google).