Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) has so far limited Project Fi to its phones but the company might soon expand it to other handsets.
Project Fi is the company’s hybrid mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) which was introduced in 2015. Traditional MVNOs buy capacity from mobile carriers in wholesale rebrand and then resell the services to the markets. However, Google took a different approach by combining the network services from T-Mobile US Inc (NASDAQ:TMUS) and Sprint Corp(NYSE:S), then boosted the service using Wi-Fi calling. Alphabet added U.S. Cellular to the network in 2016 to strengthen its offering. It also made the billing more competitive by charging consumers for the data they use and refunding for any unused data at the end of every month.
Google wants Project Fi to reach more people
Project Fi’s offering is limited by the fact that it is currently exclusive to Google’s handsets, namely the Google Pixel and the Nexus phones. This means it is only available to customers that purchase these handsets which happen to be high-end, thus locking out those who don’t own them. Google is now planning to change that by making sure that there are mid-range offerings that will feature Project Fi.
Project Fi shared some news through the Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR) microblogging platform, revealing that it is planning to launch a mid-tier handset later this year, courtesy of one of its handset partners. This also falls in line with previous rumors that the firm was planning to bring Android One to the U.S.
The new budget Project Fi device is rumored to be an HTC Android One phone, or perhaps the upcoming 2017 Moto X from Motorola,” pointed out a Liliputing report.
It is currently not clear which device and manufacturer the company plans to use to expand Project Fi to the midrange market. The pricing is also expected to be relatively fair since it will be a mid-tier device. Alphabet hopes that the move will help boost the popularity of the service by introducing handsets that will be more accessible to the masses.
Alphabet stock closed the latest trading session on Thursday at $937.82.