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The real issue issue is here; > securely send money to friends and family _in the U.S._ Google Voice it's the same problem - most of the world can't use it. I

by harryf 13y ago

The real issue issue is here; > securely send money to friends and family _in the U.S._ Google Voice it's the same problem - most of the world can't use it. Instead of 80/20 this is 20/80

antoinec 13y ago
That's just the first step, testing to a smaller set of users. If it works well, they will expand it to the rest of the world for sure.
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- eknkc 13y ago
  They generally don't. Many Google services have regional restrictions and had them for years. I think they want to do these legally risky stuff within their comfort zone.
beagle3 13y ago
Money Transfer is a legal and regulatory minefield. Telecommunication services is also a legal and regulatory minefield - one that requires less capital up-front, but just as much (if not more) bureaucratic headaches. I'm sure they're working on it, and it's either in-progress or not worth it. (e.g.: in the US, if you are a phone line provider, you get money for incoming calls from other providers when they call you - to the point that something like GoogleVoice could turn a profit just from those fees (unlikely, but possible - many conference call services were run like that). In most of the world, these termination fees are not enough to provide meaningful income that makes a GoogleVoice profitable (or at the very least, not very expensive) to run.
saraid216 13y ago
I'm confused about how this is a "real issue". Businesses operate in certain places. I don't expect the restaurant across the street from my place to cater to the other side of the world. Why is Google required to?
- agravier 13y ago
  It's not required, it's what Google ultimately would like to achieve, so it's a real issue for them. Being available to only a fraction of the total potential users is a real issue because if they dont manage to expand, competitors will eventually snatch the potential users.
  - saraid216 13y ago
    If they're doing it wrong, let them fail.

by harryf 13y ago

The real issue issue is here; > securely send money to friends and family _in the U.S._ Google Voice it's the same problem - most of the world can't use it. Instead of 80/20 this is 20/80

antoinec 13y ago

That's just the first step, testing to a smaller set of users. If it works well, they will expand it to the rest of the world for sure.

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eknkc 13y ago
They generally don't. Many Google services have regional restrictions and had them for years. I think they want to do these legally risky stuff within their comfort zone.

beagle3 13y ago

Money Transfer is a legal and regulatory minefield. Telecommunication services is also a legal and regulatory minefield - one that requires less capital up-front, but just as much (if not more) bureaucratic headaches. I'm sure they're working on it, and it's either in-progress or not worth it. (e.g.: in the US, if you are a phone line provider, you get money for incoming calls from other providers when they call you - to the point that something like GoogleVoice could turn a profit just from those fees (unlikely, but possible - many conference call services were run like that). In most of the world, these termination fees are not enough to provide meaningful income that makes a GoogleVoice profitable (or at the very least, not very expensive) to run.

saraid216 13y ago

I'm confused about how this is a "real issue". Businesses operate in certain places. I don't expect the restaurant across the street from my place to cater to the other side of the world. Why is Google required to?

agravier 13y ago
It's not required, it's what Google ultimately would like to achieve, so it's a real issue for them. Being available to only a fraction of the total potential users is a real issue because if they dont manage to expand, competitors will eventually snatch the potential users.
- saraid216 13y ago
  If they're doing it wrong, let them fail.