Project Fi: Google launches own phone network, promising to fix rubbish data connections

Network relies on existing infrastructure, and is only available in the US so far

Google has launched its own phone network in the US, with the promise of fixing problems of bad service and weak internet connections.

The network borrows its voice and data capacity from US operators Sprint and T-Mobile, and will also allow users to latch onto existing wi-fi hotspots which have been vouched for by Google. Unlike its existing Google Fiber service — which provides super-fast internet connections to homes in selected places in the US — Google won’t have to build any new infrastructure to make Project Fi run.

Google hopes that Project Fi will be as disruptive as the fibre internet project was. That has been credited with forcing existing companies to lower prices and increase speeds.

The network will initially only be available on Google’s own Nexus 6 handsets, because the phone is “the first smartphone that supports the hardware and software” to work with the service, Google said.

Google compared the new service to the programme that produced those phones — the Nexus hardware is created by Google in partnership with hardware makers like Motorola, in a similar way to the way that Google has enlisted the help of existing phone networks. As such, it is known as an mobile virtual virtual network operator (MVNO), working in a similar way to Tesco Mobile and GiffGaff in the UK.

The network works by automatically switching between 4G networks and pre-vetted wifi hotspots, depending on which will give the fastest connection. All data is secure no matter which network users are on, Google says.

It will use those wifi connections to provide phone calls as well as data connections. Because the service means that “phone numbers live in the cloud”, customers will be able to use the service to make phone calls from their tablets or computers.

Customers will pay $20 a month to get what Google calls “the basics” — phone calls, texts, wi-fi tethering and international coverage. After that, customers can pay $10 for each gigabyte of data that they buy, paying in advance and then getting credit back for all of the data that they don’t use.

Prospective customers can use Google’s tool to tell whether the network will cover where they live, and then request an invite at a special page that has been set up for the service.