You might have heard the rumors earlier this year, but Google has just confirmed that the company will become a wireless carrier. This likely means that Google will be purchasing wholesale access from both T-Mobile and Sprint, and will eventually sell cellular products directly to customers.

Google reps have stated that the company is working on the process on a smaller scale right now, but that will likely expand in the future.

A Move Apart for Google

Moving closer to mobile is a big move in a different direction for Google. Google has talked about putting a much bigger emphasis on mobile before, but this is the first huge move in that direction for the company. Google is also working on bringing mobile connectivity to those in the world that don’t have it, and this combined with the fact that Google will now have a large stake in mobile largely means that Google is going to have a hand in almost anything.

What does this mean for the public? Essentially, Google is going to become a Mobile Virtual Network Operator, and that means that Google will eventually be offering mobile options to the public at a discount. Google has no real intention of becoming a major competitor in the virtual market. Instead,the company wants to use its new mobile position to experiment.

Bigger Things for Android

While Google hasn’t mentioned anything about Android yet, it can be speculated that once the company controls data plans, Android platforms may just be designed in a unique way. What it also means is that Google will be getting a much larger piece of the whole mobile and network pie, and that Google is largely going to be a company that most people want to get involved with simply for the Android plans and discounts.

It will be interesting to see whether Google moves towards Verizon, T-Mobile, or AT&T. What the company can do and what it has to offer largely depends on which company Google decides to cozy up to. How much of the online and connected world does Google own, or will Google own soon? The answer here is a whole lot - from connecting people in remote villages across the world to tapping into the mobile market, Google is far from being a small company.

Standing Out

The other big question here is how Google will stand out amongst all the other MVNO companies out there. In the US, there’s a lot of competition already, and Google will have to find a way to nudge into the competition in order to accomplish much of anything. Then again, Google has some cards in its back pocket like unlimited data plans, connections through Gtalk and Hangouts, and all of the other products that Google currently owns.

Needless to say, it will be interesting to see how Google moves into the mobile space, and what the company plans to offer users in order to pull them away from other MVNO options. Google is expected to announce more details about this move in the near future.