Do you remember when news of Google Fiber first hit the tech waves? Well, this service is about to expand. Google is now testing something that’s going to make a lot of major telecommunications companies very angry: phone. Start with its committed Fiber users, Google will offer phone services through Fiber in the coming months.
This might mean the end of phone companies and phone plans as we know them. It may also mean the beginning of just one more thing that Google is about to monopolize.
Google Fiber
Fiber was created in order to bring some cities in the U.S internet access that’s faster than anything currently offered. Google decided to test Fiber in select cities and with select clients. Fiber is 100x faster than anything offered through any other company right now. Pricing for the service is also in line with what people in those selected areas are used to paying for super high speed Internet, so Google is keeping things competitive.
Right now, Fiber is only offered in Atlanta, Austin, Charlotte, North Carolina, Kansas City, Missouri, Nashville, Provo, Utah, Raleigh–Durham, Salt Lake City and San Antonio. The company does plan to roll out its Fiber services to other parts of the United States in the coming months, but those that will get the phone service are still a select few.
What Google Phone Could Mean
It wouldn’t make sense for Google to create a phone service that’s the same as existing phone services, so Google is doing things a bit different. Google phone would include a do not disturb feature, a caller ID feature, and spam filtering. Things like spam filtering are completely new to the phone sphere, but are also something that a lot of people might be very glad to have.
All of this means that Google is moving quickly into the telecommunications sphere, and since Google is such a massive company with a lot of money, it may also mean that the search giant is about to eclipse a number of other companies.
Because of its capabilities, Google can offer higher speeds, better phone service, more connectivity, and possibly lower prices than any other company out there (except, maybe, for Amazon).
Gaining Access
In order to gain access to either Fiber or to Google’s new phone services, you have to be part of Google’s program, and in order to do that you have to be asked. So, even if you live in the areas listed above, you can’t get access to what Google is offering yet. You can try to gain access through Google’s website, though.
All of this is really exciting news if you are into Google and what that company can offer. Google has a lot of really interesting things happening right now including phone options. In the future, Google might just control all of your communications - that may be a good or bad thing depending on how you look at it.