Google (Again) Rumored To Be Launching Their Own Cellular Service

A persistent rumor has once again reared its ugly head. If it sounds familiar, don't be alarmed — we had deja vu, too. A new report claims Google is "preparing to sell mobile phone plans directly to customers and manage their calls and mobile data over a cellular network". That's right, Google is once again (allegedly) preparing to become an MVNO. We know, it sounds great, but this isn't the first time we've heard this kind of thing, so we're highly skeptical.

In fact, it's not even the first time The Information has reported Google was interested in becoming an MVNO. Late last year, they reported Google was considering offering cellular service in Fiber cities.

This time around, they're once again becoming an MVNO — only now its via Sprint and T-Mobile. This is also billed as an affectation of the news they'd become a carrier in fiber cities, even though today's news makes no mention of Fiber cities.

The project is rumored to be codenamed "Nova", and already in testing.

So what's to be believed about Google becoming a cellular provider? They're operating their own network in Fiber cities, or becoming an MVNO? Are they partnering with Dish, or buying spectrum from the FCC and going it alone?

Google's goal is to "get carriers to step up" and "improve the experience", according to the latest report. How Google expects to do that while renting space on a carrier network — well, that wasn't stated. The service is also launching on the #3 and #4 carriers in the US, which is either Google exerting their will on the impressionable, or proof they aren't aware of which carriers actually need changing.

The service is said to launch this year, too, but we've heard all that before. Maybe the only part of the report which does make sense is that this MVNO scheme could be a gateway to service for Google's Nexus devices.

Source: The Information