Cellphone users, Google Inc. is calling. The Internet giant launched a wireless service across much of the U.S. on Wednesday with terms that challenge many of the lucrative practices that underpin an industry dominated by AT&T Inc., Verizon Communications Inc., T-Mobile US Inc. and Sprint Corp.
Google said its new service, called Project Fi, will cost $20 a month for talk and texts, including Wi-Fi hookups and international coverage in more than 120 countries, and another $10 per gigabyte of data used each month. That makes the plan between $15 and $20 a month cheaper than many competing offers from the major carriers.
In a departure from typical industry practice, Google said it would credit the accounts of customers who don’t use all their data in a given month, and the service will default to free Wi-Fi airwaves when available.
The move complicates Google’s relationship with carriers it depends upon to promote and distribute phones that use its Android operating system and Google apps. But it is part of a growing effort by the company to expand access to the Internet and make it more affordable, steps that could mean more customers for its others services such as search and YouTube. Read more on the Wall Street Journal.
Will they be subsidizing expensive Smartphones the way the major carriers do? If not then I doubt anyone will be interested. The average smart phone costs between $500 and $700 retail
The FCC has forced all carriers to “unlock” any phone that consumers have paid for in full but so far Google’s service is only available on the Nexus 6, the company’s flagship Android phone which goes for $626.60 unlocked street price and has a 6″ screen so it’s huge. The only thing Google subsidizes is targeting you for advertising amongst other dubious “features”. They could well afford to give the phones and data away for free without seeing a single drop of red ink.