Will Google get Project Fi Right?

I have been spending time looking at a new telecom initiative that Google is about to launch called Project Fi. If done right, it could  be a disruptive move into the wireless telecom market. This project is both an experiment and an innovative concept at the same time.

The idea is that if a person signs up for Project Fi, wherever you are with your phone, it will automatically connect you to the fastest possible network. That could be a Google-approved public WiFi hotspot or it a 4G LTE link from one of its partners (Sprint and T-Mobile are on board to start). This service maps very closely to Qualcomm’s vision of making LTE and WiFi seamless. The idea is a person can be connected all of the time and automatically be shifted to the lowest cost option for that data transmission. 

This is a more ambitious version of the cellular/WiFi switching we’ve already seen from Sprint and T-Mobile, functionality that lets you swap from one to the other. But Project Fi goes beyond switching from WiFi to cellular connections and back again. The goal is to create a truly cross-platform experience where, for example, you can forget your phone at home and still make calls and texts from your work computer.

What I find the most interesting aspect of Google Project Fi is it conceptually puts the SIM card in the cloud. Google users can already get to their email, documents, photos and much more by logging into a Web browser but Project Fi adds calls and texts to that mix. As an intense smartphone user, I like the overall objective of Project Fi. The idea of making sure smartphone users are on the fastest possible speeds and lowest cost option wherever they are and on whatever device is a home run for Google — if it works as advertised. 

That “wherever” part extends across the world which, as an international traveler, really interests me. Project Fi users pay $20 a month for talk, text, WiFi tethering and international coverage in 120+ countries and it’s $10 per gigabyte of data. Another great feature is you never pay for unused data and that cost is credited back to you monthly. Google is letting users request an invite from the Project Fi web site but, at this stage, you’re going to need a Nexus 6 to get involved. That’s partly because some advanced circuitry is required for switching between so many types of network around the world. But Qualcomm is working on similar architecture and you can bet Apple will be doing the same with their iPhones in the future since this network switching concept has great merit. 

While in principal I really like this idea, the actual adoption by users is questionable to me. The fundamental goal is great but it comes with two levels of cost. First is the hard cost of $20 a month and $10 per gigabyte. It would have to work perfectly on all types of handsets if it was to really benefit Google and a large customer base. On the other hand, it is a bargain for international travelers if this really works across international networks and allows for seamless transition between voice, data, etc., and at these costs. If you have travelled internationally and used your smartphone and had to pay for international data plans, you realize the cost of Google’s service would be significantly less, especially if you are a heavy data user.

But the other cost is the amount of mobile ads you will be bombarded with by Google, which is key to their overall business model. I recently saw a private report on consumer’s views of Google’s mobile ads and it shows people are increasingly annoyed with the constant ad campaigns they have to endure on their smartphones from Google pushing ads incessantly. The other issue is that Google knows where a person is, what their preferences are and invades people’s life in ways most people do not want. This too would be part of this service.

Google’s Project Fi is in its early stages and will, of course, evolve and could be an interesting way for Google to entrench themselves as a telecom provider with extensive services. But, at this stage, I really wonder what its adoption rate will be given issues of privacy and increased mobile ads that will clearly be part of their business model and add to the overall cost/benefit ratio for people who decide to use this program.

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Tim Bajarin

Tim Bajarin is the President of Creative Strategies, Inc. He is recognized as one of the leading industry consultants, analysts and futurists covering the field of personal computers and consumer technology. Mr. Bajarin has been with Creative Strategies since 1981 and has served as a consultant to most of the leading hardware and software vendors in the industry including IBM, Apple, Xerox, Compaq, Dell, AT&T, Microsoft, Polaroid, Lotus, Epson, Toshiba and numerous others.

14 thoughts on “Will Google get Project Fi Right?”

  1. “…The other issue is that Google knows where a person is, what their preferences are and invades people’s life in ways most people do not want. This too would be part of this service.”

    Just seeing the Google Logo was the deal breaker. Less than zero interest.

    1. I don’t have a problem at all with your sentiment. Where I am perplexed is that you don’t seem to have as big an issue with the carriers. I sure do.

      1. Could be even worse,

        someone might be reporting on very old history dated “October 17, 2012” referring to iOS 6 which shipped over 2.5 years ago.

          1. O,

            You’ve got nearly 4000 comments in Techpinions alone. What’re you doing?

            Let’s just say we tend to disagree.

          2. There’s a lot of pointless arguments in those 4,000, you know, people trying to make a fake point, then switching argument when it doesn’t work. Like this comment’s parent, maybe ?

          3. Let’s let people look at, for example, this thread, and make up their own mind about who’s contributing and who’s trolling and willing to switch angles topics endlessly to that end….

  2. You can already text from any computer with apps such as Pushbullet, and I’m sure Hangouts will get that soon too.
    I’m not aware of Android pushing any ads, I know I haven’t seen any ever. Apps do, but Android itself doesn’t. I think users are confusing their ad-supported apps with the OS, which is an issue, but not the same one.

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