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The $20 base charge with "unlimited talk and text" makes me feel like I'd be throwing away money in exchange for nothing. Unlimited only makes sense if I'm goin

by kijin 12y ago

The $20 base charge with "unlimited talk and text" makes me feel like I'd be throwing away money in exchange for nothing. Unlimited only makes sense if I'm going to use a reasonable amount of it. These days, I talk barely 20 minutes a month, and I haven't sent a single text so far this month. Apps that use data are rapidly replacing both of them, and people who use a Nexus 6 with Google are likely to be at the forefront of this trend. I would really prefer a much lower base rate with zero talk/text and reasonable "overage" charges. Even at the old system of $.30/minute and $.25/message, It would probably come out cheaper for me. The overage charges will also encourage me to use more data instead of talk/text, and isn't that what Google wants me to do anyway? (My mother is with a South Korean MVNO and pays a $0 base rate, with "overage" charges at $.0018 per second of outgoing calls and $.02 per outgoing text. Crazy, huh? Pay-as-you-go data is more expensive with her carrier, but she doesn't need much data.) All in all, apart from easy international roaming, I don't see anything special in this offer. It's the same old American carrier racket, only more expensive. I expected more from Google.

natural219 12y ago
Ummm...how is this different from every other cell provider ever? Like where can you currently get anywhere near this level of access for less than $20?
- kijin 12y ago
  That's the point. This is Google, so I expected something different from every other American cell provider ever. At the very least, I would have expected their plans to encourage people to prefer data to talk/text.
- shkkmo 12y ago
  There are a variety of options: FreedomPop provides 500mb a month free data and you can pre-pay monthly for more data with lower overage costs. You do get sprint only. Republic Wireless already does the Wifi calling and switching and unlimited data. Ptel sells prepaid data at a flat $.10/megabye (atleast $10 / 60 days) and there are others in that range. There really isn't anything new here. If they can create a global network of networks where I can bring my own device, I'd be interested. The are other resellers that offer
dm2 12y ago
Data and density is an issue in the US. Compare the size of South Korea, and the size of the US, that's why it's easier to blanket South Korea with data networks. Google is offering ways to more seamlessly switch WiFi networks and make using a public trusted WiFi instantly. The fact is that in the US there are a lot of coverage gaps and places where a specific type of service has very bad coverage (2G or 3G). Without cell data Google Maps won't work (1 year ago, might be better now). We don't know if it will be useful yet, it might be great, it might be nothing special. They are also offering financing on a Nexus 6, I haven't done the math to see if that's worth it (doubt it), but they'll probably be making a good amount of money off of that. Most importantly it will put pressure on Verizon and ATT to lower prices and improve the value of the service, just like Google Fiber does it areas it is available in.

by kijin 12y ago

natural219 12y ago

Ummm...how is this different from every other cell provider ever? Like where can you currently get anywhere near this level of access for less than $20?

kijin 12y ago
That's the point. This is Google, so I expected something different from every other American cell provider ever. At the very least, I would have expected their plans to encourage people to prefer data to talk/text.
shkkmo 12y ago
There are a variety of options: FreedomPop provides 500mb a month free data and you can pre-pay monthly for more data with lower overage costs. You do get sprint only. Republic Wireless already does the Wifi calling and switching and unlimited data. Ptel sells prepaid data at a flat $.10/megabye (atleast $10 / 60 days) and there are others in that range. There really isn't anything new here. If they can create a global network of networks where I can bring my own device, I'd be interested. The are other resellers that offer

dm2 12y ago

Data and density is an issue in the US. Compare the size of South Korea, and the size of the US, that's why it's easier to blanket South Korea with data networks. Google is offering ways to more seamlessly switch WiFi networks and make using a public trusted WiFi instantly. The fact is that in the US there are a lot of coverage gaps and places where a specific type of service has very bad coverage (2G or 3G). Without cell data Google Maps won't work (1 year ago, might be better now). We don't know if it will be useful yet, it might be great, it might be nothing special. They are also offering financing on a Nexus 6, I haven't done the math to see if that's worth it (doubt it), but they'll probably be making a good amount of money off of that. Most importantly it will put pressure on Verizon and ATT to lower prices and improve the value of the service, just like Google Fiber does it areas it is available in.