Before we start I should put in a slight caveat that this is just in America at the moment, but it is still an interesting development, especially given the network rivalry over the pond.
Google are going to rent network capacity for voice, texts and data from Sprint and T-Mobile along with Wi-Fi hotspots to offer Project Fi. Project Fi will only be available on the Google Nexus 6 handset, partly to limit numbers and partly as it is one of the few handsets with a particular Qualcomm chipset that allows the phone to pick up the very different bands the networks use.
Google has revealed that users will automatically switch between the 4G signals provided by T-Mobile and Sprint and are able to make calls over Wi-Fi without having to use a special app, in a similar way to EE’s Wi-fi Calling. The network uses over 1 million free, open Wi-Fi hotspots that have been specially selected and scrutinised by Google to be fast and reliable.
Not content with coming up with an MVNO that allows users to connect to 2 networks, Google are also shaking up the pricing structure, $20 a months gets you talk, text, Wi-Fi tethering, international coverage in 120+ countries and 24/7 support, you then pay $10 per GB of data, with any unused data refunded at the end of the month. The mobile number can also be used to make calls and send texts via Google Hangouts on PCs and other mobile devices.
