WSJ reports the Google MVNO could be announced this week
Google’s plans to launch a commercial mobile service could begin as early as this Wednesday, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal.
The report suggests that the mobile service will allow customers to only pay for the amount of data they use as opposed to more traditional packages that require customers to purchase a bucket of data.
That could be a compelling hook for some mobile customers, though current cellular providers already offer variations on the data bucket theme. Those include T-Mobile US and AT&T Mobility, which allow customers to rollover unused data for either a month (AT&T Mobility) or a year (T-Mobile US), or others that simply throttle data speeds down once a customer depletes their bucket allotment. Some carriers also allow customers to simply pay for data on a per-megabyte basis, though those pricing models are prohibitive. Republic Wireless recently announced plans that will also allow customers to only pay for the data they use.
The Wall Street Journal had previously reported that Google would launch commercial mobile services using a mobile virtual network operator model running across established networks from Sprint and T-Mobile US. Google shed some light on its plans at the recent Mobile World Congress event in Barcelona, Spain, with Google executive Sundar Pichai saying the company intends to share details on its launch plans in the coming months.
Google is expected to tap into Wi-Fi capabilities for at least a portion of its commercial service, something a lot of MVNOs – like Republic and Scratch Wireless – have done. Those plans would see a Google-branded device, expected to be the Nexus 6 at launch, programmed to connect to Wi-Fi networks when available to handle voice, messaging and data communications, only falling back to a cellular network when outside of range.
Analyst have noted that as consumers typically already have Wi-Fi in their homes and with most cellular calls also placed from within the home, it makes sense to tap into a Wi-Fi network to handle most communication needs. Sprint and T-Mobile US have aggressively marketed Wi-Fi connectivity as part of their service offerings.
In addition to cellular carriers, cable providers have also begun to rollout communication services that rely heavily on Wi-Fi connectivity.
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