Google has just become a cellphone operator

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By Larry Banks

Google has just announced Project Fi, its new mobile phone service. The search giant is partnering with T-Mobile and Sprint for the new project in the US only.

Google is now a mobile phone operator

Project Fi is pretty much like a regular mobile phone operator plan that you’d get from anywhere, such as AT&T, but Google is making it easier to switch between Wi-Fi and cellular, and allowing you to pay only for the data that you actually use.

As an example, when you use Project Fi (or whatever it will actually be called on your bill), it will automatically connect you to the fastest and best quality network within range.

So, if you use cellular but there just happens to be a faster Wi-Fi service nearby, it will switch you over automatically and vice versa. Google says that it does use encryption once you are connected, in order to protect you and your device.

Google claims that it will credit you for data that you’ve paid for but not used, once the billing cycle finishes. That’s the main benefit that you can’t get with any mobile phone operator at the moment.

Google Fi

The lowdown

For just $20 a month, you will get all the main benefits, such as talk, text, and international coverage. And on top of that you’ll pay a flat fee of $10 per Gigabyte (GB) of data. That makes 1 GB worth $10 a month, 2 GB worth $20 a month, and so on.

That’s a noteworthy deal, as not only is Google crediting you for any data that you don’t happen to use, but the pricing is very simple and a lot easier to understand compared to those offered by the operators themselves.

For the moment, unfortunately Project Fi is only available on a Google Nexus 6 phone. You can connect our phone number to any device that uses Google Hangouts, so that you can make and receive phone calls on phones, laptops and Chromebooks, among other devices.

Sundar Pichai, of Google, said at March’s Mobile World Congress that Google was working on a small scale wireless network, but this is the very first time that any details have been revealed.

SOURCE: Google

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