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Google Wants To Be a Wireless Carrier
zacharye writes "Google has already conquered the software side of smartphones and now the technology giant is reportedly in talks to take over the air waves. A report on Thursday claims that Google has held talks with satellite television provider Dish Network regarding the possibility of a venture that would see Google launch its own cellular network and compete directly with the likes of Verizon and AT&T."
When the current crop of American wireless carriers look like a group of mustache-twirling Bond villains, it won't be hard for Google to come off as the better choice. At least they'll have an incentive to give you unlimited high speed data.
Too bad the coverage area will probably be tiny.
A couple of features:
* Transcription of all my voice calls available in Gmail for my leisurely perusal later on
* If I call someone who speaks a language I don't understand, please provide instant in-call audio translation if I select this option
and oh, first post!
For the Angel of Death spread his wings on the blast, And breathed in the face of the foe as he passed: And the eyes of the sleepers waxed deadly and chill, And their hearts but once heaved, and for ever grew still!
Competition is nice, but I don't live in Seattle or Kansas City, so it probably won't affect me. ATT will probably just come up with a new plan where my family can share just a little bit less data for a little bit more money than I'm already paying.
If Google were ever going to get nailed up for antitrust, it would be because they provided network, cell network, phone, software, and content.
If it goes through I'll consider it a sign that they're considered usable
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
A carrier that wants you to spend as much time as possible using its service.
affordable cel here we come.
and the carriers only have themselves to blame.
i worked for some of them and i can tell you all three were dinosaurs.
well, mr dinosaur, here comes the asteroid.
I don't work in this field so I'd like to know if there is a technical reason that cell phone companies charge different for text, data, and voice? In other words is the data all treated the same on the network or is voice given bandwidth priority because it needs to be real time?
I love Jesus, except for his foreign policy.
if my Microsoft Kin phone will work with it.
ill pre-order right now!
Google has $47B in cash, Verizon's market cap is "only" $118B. I'd imagine AT&T's market cap is lower. Surely they could finance buying one of the major carriers. Shoot, sprint they could buy outright with $30B case left over.
Why wouldn't they just buy a network?
"He who would learn astronomy, and other recondite arts, let him go elsewhere. " -- John Calvin, commenting on Genesis 1
Yea cause I wanna give a company that sells my info for billions and billions my actual raw internet traffic... Gag. I guess there is always crypto...
Presently with Google Voice + GrooVe IP on my Droid, I have no need for an extremely overpriced minutes plan, texting plan, or share everything plan. Just give me some data at a reasonable rate, which will happen judging by their Kansas City internet rates. I'll be the first in line to dump Verizon, AT&T, etc for a Google Wireless plan. Just don't be evil with it, and I'll be very happy.
Does it own spectrum it's not using or what?
(Couldn't resist - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJ5X721ABs4)
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Prisencolinensinainciusol. Ol Rait!
Sprint is CDMA. CDMA is a pain in the ass to work with (hence why Nexus phones straight from Google are not CDMA). They'll be competing with AT&T/TMobile as they want their phones to be able to work globally. I imagine AT&T is not worth buying. TMobile would be an interesting choice, though.
I wonder if they would listen into your call or only let you speak after you had listened to an advertisement.
Hooray for more competition in a Marley with absurd profits. Boo that it's google because they're even more monolithic than the smartphone market.
Do you think Google designed, develops and supports Android just for the sake of glory?
Sent as ripples into the electromagnetic field. No single photon has been harmed in the process.
How does working with a satellite TV provider help one build a cellular phone network?
when I say "do not want".
You're not wrong
http://googleopoly.net/Googles_Rap_Sheet.pdf
Google may be a great beneficiary and contributor to the internet with its use of open source and open technologies and history of giving back to the community. The exchange for this is that people use their services from which they collect lots and lots of data to be used for lots and lots of things. (Sales/advertising data primarily, but also providing information to governmet and law enforcement in particular)
On one hand, I can see Google lowering the cost of mobile/wireless telephony and causing all sorts of competitive horrors for the few major telecom companies out there raking in their reportedly 6452% markup profits (that's actually the Canadian telecom data from a previous slashdot story but it's fair to presume we're in the same ballpark where US carriers are concerned). On the other hand, there needs to be some limits on what and how Google can collect as far as user data goes. But now that I think about it, there's probably not much limitation on that in place now with the traditional set of carriers' services. But I know this: Data collection and sales of that data is the #1 source of income for Google. I am not sure I can say the same about the carriers.
This news makes me uncomfortable though I can't say precisely why other than the fact that I generally distrust data collectors and sellers.
two words : mesh networking.
Android phones for everybody and their dog. literally.
the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
I don't know what to think of something like this. On the one hand, it could start out good... but then, anything looks good up against the typical AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint and Verizon. Even a rock in the rectangular shape of a cell phone that you beat your head with repeatedly until you pass out in a crimson puddle sounds more appealing. But then on the other hand, they'll probably subject you to even more ads than their phones do now with free apps, and it would be throughout the entire phone service, so if that's the way it would be I would have to pass. In fact, I would have to see how Google goes when it comes to advertising on their network for over a year before I'd even consider them for cell phone service.
Their ads on the web are irrelevant to me because I don't see them, but it's a given that anything they release will not be open enough to perform such blocking.
1) America would be the last place I tried to muscle into the cellular networks. There's lots of small European countries etc. that you could just buy the entire rights to and not have the hassle, and work as a small-scale test of their capability and services.
2) If Google come to the UK and set up a data plan with a realistic cost (i.e. I can't measure it in GBP / Mb without hitting tiny fractions) then I'd buy it - paranoid privacy worries or not.
What mobile telephony needs is an outside player willing to change the rules. So my 3G connection would actually hit technical, not political, limits and I can just pay to compensate for any impact at a rate that provides reasonable profit for a realistic cost.
Google would seem to be the ideal ones to overturn the data problems. Hell, I'd pay MORE than I'm currently on for an unlimited-data (properly!) connection that doesn't limit Skype / Google Voice and doesn't give me any voice or SMS service whatsoever. Such things just don't exist.
When offices are going VoIP and everything else is "oIP" in some fashion now, trying to sell me the end service without giving me access to the "IP" side of things is just profiteering and a backwards technological step.
Don't even get me started on differing and extortionate international rates even when your carrier has a presence in both countries (I once heard the argument that telecoms companies "fund" those underwater cables to other countries etc. and so deserve to charge more for their international services - I guarantee you more traffic transits internationally for general Internet purposes than does anything related to voice telecoms, and if it *doesn't* then the transit can be paid for directly without needing telecoms voice traffic to buoy it up).
The bigger Google has grown, and with each additional service, they have made it harder for themselves to follow their "don't be evil" mantra. It is just too tempting to delve into all of that data. What is usually overlooked (especially when you have cartoon-character-esque dollar signs over your eyeballs) is how easy it will be for all of your private conversations to become much, much less private. All it takes is a line in their never-read-yet-always-accepted EULA that includes "is allowed to store my calls on their servers", then any government in the world will be able to have access to your phonecalls. Sure, there may be a bit of bureaucratic red-tape to get the data, but when has that ever stopped anything?
Sure, that sounds tinfoil hat-ish, but apply this situation to the following situations: 1) Google released a huge amount of "anonymized" data that ended up (shockingly) becoming much less anonymous after it became appearant that the data could be cross-referenced against itself to build a profile for each anonymous user # -- and eventually put a name to that number. And 2.) a recent incident involving anonymous speech and a certain south-east Asian monarch (who shall remain nameless because I don't want to be extradited to Thailand for something I wrote on the internet in a completely different country)...
Well... it all still seems tinfoil hat-ish, but now slightly less so...
Google Fiber is coming to our phones? Brilliant!
One cool thing about starting a new network is that they can skip all the legacy G2/G3 stuff and create a pure LTE-only network. That should reduce the amount of spectrum required. Getting the spectrum is the tricky part. We all remember when they lost the 700MHz bid, but fortunately got the open access provisions included. What is available for them?
I know Apple and Google directly compete, but in a sense they have a common enimy (carriers) and a common opportunity.
The should go in it together to launch a Data Only network, then the phone could be VOIP (like Google Voice). They would both benefit by being free of the carriers, and would shake up the industry.
We do not need huge carriers that produce individual networks.
Cell towers should run like WiFi access points, and the mobile device should handle the hand off between towers.
Each tower can even be run by an individual entity if desired.
Instead there would be entities that sell data credit.
A mobile device would have an account with a data credit reseller.
The mobile device can scan for access in its area and connect to a tower based on how the user priorities (cost, speed, signal strength...)
The tower would then charge the data credit reseller for the user's usage.
This setup allows for each cell tower to compete for users in an area.
This would allow start-up wireless companies to compete immediately.
Once enough individual towers went up then it would compete with the big carriers and force them to change.
May as well say "Legacy technology companies want carriers to think Android is a threat to their existence."
Help stamp out iliturcy.
Just to give you an idea on how things can evolve I would like to share what happen in France. I'm French, so I'm not familiar with US rate, but from what I remeber seeing here, it seems "unlimited" data plan with caps at 500 Mb are about 50$/month. It is somewhat comparable with what we had here before a 4th operator named Free enter the phone market.
Free made a plan which was 20€ = 25$ (15€ =20 $ for who used them also as internet provider) with 2Go caps, free unlimited calls and free ulimited SMS/MSM. No subvension was given to get a new phone, but there was no commitment period either.
In one year we saw dramatic price decrease from most opperators but still Free still succeded to get about 6% of the market (source = wikipedia). My point is indead mobile operators overprice badly the plans, and there is hope when a new one enter the market that things evolve positively.
i would love to see them us maybe use clearwire lte for data and then use t mobile for voiceand other services clear has something like 100mhz of specturm
that would be good for data
Or on a tower some where else on my 5 acre lot close to I95.
I want.
I wish someone would write a credibly-strong voice/data encryption/scrambling smartphone app.
What about RedPhone?
http://www.whispersys.com/