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posted by martyb on Wednesday April 22 2015, @10:45PM   Printer-friendly
from the like-the-good-old-days-of-compuserv-and-prodigy dept.

Google is launching a wireless service soon that will charge you for data used, not bulk rates like current carriers:

The service, which would compete with local wireless providers like AT&T and Verizon, is expected to let customers pay only for the data they use on the network. That would mean users only pay when they make calls, listen to music or use apps, as opposed to common wireless service agreements that charge a bulk rate for a certain amount of data.

What Google wants to do is somewhat unique, according to the Journal's report. The company plans to offer two types of services that overlap. When users are on Wi-Fi, their phone calls and other data would use that connection. When not on a Wi-Fi signal, customers would use common cellular radio signals, which are more costly.

Google isn't building its own wireless network to do this. Instead, the Internet giant has reportedly made a deal with US carriers Sprint and T-Mobile to use their networks. For now, this scheme is only expected to be available on Google's Nexus 6 smartphone.

The devil is in the details, of course, what price the data? How good the coverage? Google has tantalized us for years with prospects of its Fiber, unfortunately still unavailable in backwaters like New York City, so it's a bit hard to get excited about this one. On the other hand, maybe it could disrupt cell carriers everywhere?

Update: Google's Project Fi service has been officially announced. It is currently limited to Nexus 6 owners in the United States.

With Project Fi, Google starts plans at $20 per month for unlimited domestic calling and unlimited domestic + international texting. On top of that you can select how much data you believe you will need, with the cost being $10/GB. The unique aspect of Project Fi when compared to other network operators is how Google is changing the situation with unused data. Rather than rolling it over or having it disappear, Google simply credits you for the difference. For example, a user who pays $30 for 3GB per month may only use 1.4GB that month. In that situation, Google will credit them $16 for the data they did not use. [...] Given the rounding, they might as well just charge $1 for every 100MB used, as any overages are charged as the same rate as the data in the plan itself.

Google is also taking much of the pain out of roaming in other nations. The data you purchase for your Project Fi plan is usable in 120 different countries, although it's limited to a speed of 256Kbps. Google's network also extends beyond cellular carriers, with Google's network configured to automatically utilize public hotspots as part of the network itself. WiFi calling is supported, and so the transition between cellular and WiFi should be seamless in theory. Google is also promising that information will be encrypted so that users can have their privacy preserved when using public WiFi.

 
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  • (Score: 3, Interesting) by Appalbarry on Wednesday April 22 2015, @11:22PM

    by Appalbarry (66) on Wednesday April 22 2015, @11:22PM (#174157) Journal

    On one hand, I really don't want any more Google tentacles in my life. I'm already trying to extract myself from as much of the Googleverse as is practical.

    Still, as a victim of the Canadian cel phone triumvirate I would be VERY interested in this. if it made it into the Great White North.

    Right now I pay $50 CDN/month, which includes a massive TWO GIGABYTES of data. Adding another couple of gigs would cost me half that much again.

    If I wanted a "free" phone I would have to cancel this plan, and open a new one which would - I kid you not - increase my monthly spend to $100 for exactly the same package. In other words, that free phone, over a two year term, would cost me an additional $1200 bucks.

    Needless to say I'm now among those who buys phones outright and who will hang on to this grandfathered plan until the execs at Telus are long dead.

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  • (Score: 2) by frojack on Wednesday April 22 2015, @11:32PM

    by frojack (1554) on Wednesday April 22 2015, @11:32PM (#174160) Journal

    Yeah, since its Nexus 6 only, you'd have to get a new phone just to try this plan. That's over 600 bucks right there last time I checked.

    On single line plans this might work. But those of us on family plans can get 10 or 15 or 30 gig plans for way less.
    Even AT&T's "Next" plan (bring your own phone) is $25/mo with 3 gigs included, but things never seem to come out at what the advertised price seems to show.

    --
    No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
    • (Score: 2) by Appalbarry on Thursday April 23 2015, @12:15AM

      by Appalbarry (66) on Thursday April 23 2015, @12:15AM (#174169) Journal

      things never seem to come out at what the advertised price seems to show.

      My favourite up here is the included voice mail package that is limited to THREE messages. If for some unholy reason you need more than that it's a further five bucks a month.

  • (Score: 2) by Nerdfest on Thursday April 23 2015, @03:08AM

    by Nerdfest (80) on Thursday April 23 2015, @03:08AM (#174188)

    I'm in Canada, and pay $25 for 1GB of data, and effectively unlimited minutes and texting. ... as I use a VOIP provider and just got a tablet plan for my phone. Great deal (well, for Canada) and good quality for calls. The only bad part is that I need to use my VOIP app rather than the built in phone client on Android, which is nicer and better integrated. There was a bit of a threat when I signed up that if the provider found out I was using a phone rather than a tablet they'd cancel the plan, but it never materialized. I was actually looking forward to taking them to court for it. Anyway, if you can put up with a VOIP client, it's a great solution for saving some money. I've set up quite a few people with this solution and all are happy.

    • (Score: 2) by Nerdfest on Thursday April 23 2015, @03:30AM

      by Nerdfest (80) on Thursday April 23 2015, @03:30AM (#174192)

      This just got me looking around and I'd never realized that Android has a full SIP client built into the phone app. Time to try that out ... I miss my integration with Tasker, etc.

    • (Score: 2) by frojack on Thursday April 23 2015, @03:31AM

      by frojack (1554) on Thursday April 23 2015, @03:31AM (#174194) Journal

      Who do you use as your voip provider?
      Do you have to use a slim codec to stay within your 1 Gig?

      On mine, I use CsipSimple for calling Europe (mostly) and both ends are SIP, so I don't need a POTS gateway. Quality is astounding on Wifi or LTE, but then both ends are using pretty fat codecs.

      --
      No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
      • (Score: 2) by Nerdfest on Thursday April 23 2015, @11:16AM

        by Nerdfest (80) on Thursday April 23 2015, @11:16AM (#174246)

        I'm using Fongo, and must admit I don't use voice calling much. It seems pretty slim though, maybe 1MB/minute?