Google announces 'Project Fi' mobile phone network for Nexus 6 owners
Owners of Google's Android flagship Nexus 6 smartphone now have a new option for wireless service, as the company officially announced its long-awaited mobile service, dubbed Project Fi, on Wednesday.
Project Fi subscribers will pay a base fee of $20 per month, which includes unlimited domestic voice calling and SMS, along with the ability to tether other devices to their handset via Wi-Fi. Data will cost $10 per gigabyte per month, and the company will adopt a "pay for what you use" data billing policy.
For instance, customers who sign up for 3 gigabytes of data each month --?which would cost $30 --?but use just 1.4 gigabytes would receive a rebate of $16, the company said. Project Fi subscribers can choose data plans up to 10 gigabytes per month in 1-gigabyte increments.
Perhaps most interestingly, international data roaming will be included at no extra charge in more than 120 countries, though it will be limited to 3G speeds. International calling will cost just 20 cents per minute, and international SMS will be free.
Project Fi will be limited to consumers in the U.S. at launch, and Google says that their handset will automatically switch between Wi-Fi, Sprint, and T-Mobile, depending on which service offers the strongest signal in a particular location. A Nexus 6 is required, as Google says it is the only handset with the requisite combination of hardware and software.
Interested consumers can sign up for an early access invitation now.
Project Fi subscribers will pay a base fee of $20 per month, which includes unlimited domestic voice calling and SMS, along with the ability to tether other devices to their handset via Wi-Fi. Data will cost $10 per gigabyte per month, and the company will adopt a "pay for what you use" data billing policy.
For instance, customers who sign up for 3 gigabytes of data each month --?which would cost $30 --?but use just 1.4 gigabytes would receive a rebate of $16, the company said. Project Fi subscribers can choose data plans up to 10 gigabytes per month in 1-gigabyte increments.
Perhaps most interestingly, international data roaming will be included at no extra charge in more than 120 countries, though it will be limited to 3G speeds. International calling will cost just 20 cents per minute, and international SMS will be free.
Project Fi will be limited to consumers in the U.S. at launch, and Google says that their handset will automatically switch between Wi-Fi, Sprint, and T-Mobile, depending on which service offers the strongest signal in a particular location. A Nexus 6 is required, as Google says it is the only handset with the requisite combination of hardware and software.
Interested consumers can sign up for an early access invitation now.
Comments
I pay TMo a little less than that (three lines) but I don't consider it unlimited LTE data.
https://support.t-mobile.com/message/395236
As far as Google's plan don't you think the roaming will be appealing to travelers?
Wow, if it's all as promised, I've got to say that that's pretty nice. A family of four will pay $80, plus, say another $50 or so for data (for example, our family of four uses almost never uses more than 4GB - 5GB a month, if that). That's substantially less than what ATT charges, esp. if a couple of phones in the family plan are current models.
The international features on top of that are an excellent saving too.
I don't care if it means following Google's lead in this instance, but Apple should really do something similar and disrupt carriers.
Not that great.
I pay $50 a month for T-mobile unlimited 4G-LTE data
Yeah, T-mobile is still beating Fi on the numbers, but it will be interesting to see how it shakes out using the best signals from two major networks. T-mobile coverage is not great between cities, but has been improving significantly every year. One of their support techs told me that by the end of the year, all of their old 2G towers would be converted to 4G LTE.
I was on the TMob $50/month plan too, but the minutes limit was getting me. [EDIT] I got my plan mixed up. The old $30/month minutes limit was cramping my style. The $50/month plan was cramping my style with the throttling[/EDIT] Now my oldest son and I are on the $100/month plan with unlimited everything, and at full 4G LTE speeds with no throttling. That one's going to be tough to beat. It was also nice to show up in Cairo and be almost instantly connected and talking internationally for only $0.20 minute.
Wow, if it's all as promised, I've got to say that that's pretty nice. A family of four will pay $80, plus, say another $50 or so for data (for example, our family of four uses almost never uses more than 4GB - 5GB a month, if that). That's substantially less than what ATT charges, esp. if a couple of phones in the family plan are current models.
The international features on top of that are an excellent saving too.
I don't care if it means following Google's lead in this instance, but Apple should really do something similar and disrupt carriers.
I don't know, I think Apple would lose a lot of time on that, and I'd rather they stay focused on software issues and building up the cloud infrastructure.
Wow, if it's all as promised, I've got to say that that's pretty nice. A family of four will pay $80, plus, say another $50 or so for data (for example, our family of four uses almost never uses more than 4GB - 5GB a month, if that). That's substantially less than what ATT charges, esp. if a couple of phones in the family plan are current models.
The international features on top of that are an excellent saving too.
I don't care if it means following Google's lead in this instance, but Apple should really do something similar and disrupt carriers.
I am sure single or family with the limited Data usage will like Google's wireless offer. For single line user with zero to limited Data usage, it is no brainier but for family of say 4 with some Data need, it has to be comparable with plans like T-mobile's $100 for 4 lines text,talk,Data. Google plan for family of 4 equals $20 x 4 = $80 than anything over 2GB usage puts it over T-mobile plan. One good part of Google is un-used Data be credited. So, this is not easy decision but worth for single user or family who want unlimited talk/text but not able to pay higher cost. Moreover, Google just needs to make sure to support iphone and other phones and not just Nexus.
MVNO customers are pretty price sensitive, I don't see a great demand for this in the marketplace.
It's not clear if the Nexus phones are subsidized or not. I would imagine that are unsubsidized. Each person/member of a household would be required to have paid full price up front for the Nexus 6 to be able to make use of this plan, no?
I'm not sure MVNO subscribers care that much about a Nexus 6. This seems to be marketed to Nexus 6 owners, yet I don't see how this marginally more affordable plan will move the needle of Nexus sales. A few Android dorks will bite, but who else?
Project F*ck it.
"Google says that their handset will automatically switch between Wi-Fi, Sprint, and T-Mobile, depending on which service offers the strongest signal in a particular location."
And if only Verizon or AT&T has signal in a particular location.... F*ck it.
Seriously, I have YET to see one in person. And I make a specific effort to notice what phones people have.
If Google wants to shake up Internet or wireless they need to make it widely available. Limiting it to a small number of users (Nexus 6) or communities (Five) doesn't benefit enough people, nor will it do much to cause existing providers to be more competitive.
If you use mostly wifi and very little data, could be interesting(assuming you don't mind carrying a massive phone). For data hogs like myself, not very tempting. I would have thought they would undercut the price per gigabyte substantially, but this is about the same the other carriers, and more expensive once you go over 4 or 5 gigabytes on an individual plan. On the flip side, the traveling and included tethering a nice perks. Not a huge shift, but maybe a start in the right direction. Anything that will continue the trend of turning the carriers into dumb pipes is a good thing.
Not that great.
I pay $50 a month for T-mobile unlimited 4G-LTE data
Does T-mobile impose arbitrary restrictions on what you may do with the data? I.e. do they charge extra if you're funneling the data to another device?
I also wonder if Google will force you to their website when you do a search. I like when you access a hotel wireless network and they first force you to their website to agree to their T&C or pay a user fee. I bet google will make user go the google way only.
AT&T leases it long distance fibers across the country and I know when they have peak demands or during an emergency they can throttle back or knock off those who are leasing the lines. I would imagine Sprint and T-mobile would have the same situation and will not allow google users to over take their services.
Google with its NSA-like hunger for data will gain access to our cell phone use and tracking as well as mobile web, im and email data.
With Google there is always a hidden agenda...
The question is who is providing cell service, what happen when the primary owner user of the service has increased demand or peak demand need, Does those Google users get throttle back. When you piggybacking on someone else services you usually get knock off when they primary user needs the service.
I also wonder if Google will force you to their website when you do a search. I like when you access a hotel wireless network and they first force you to their website to agree to their T&C or pay a user fee. I bet google will make user go the google way only.
I read on The Verge (take that for whatever it's worth) that Google's service piggybacks on top of Sprint and T-Mobile, plus WiFi. Whichever service you happen to be using (based on signal strength) will be the one which adds to your data usage.
EDIT: Ignore my post. This was all addressed in the story.