• After 15+ years, we've made a big change: Android Forums is now Early Bird Club. Learn more here.

Google and Nexus

I appreciate Google's Idea, but i really wish Google would just start their own service...i mean if they hate it so much why not make Google Voice something fantastic to work with, with a built in VOIP to make and receive calls through the GV number...if they really wanted to get rid of the carriers then they could make it happen, i mean it's Google, they own like everything anyways.
 
Google did start with some kind of broadband? in Kansas, I think.

I would prefer buy the phone outright, then pick the carrier I want. I don't mind a contract if there is a feature I would want - Some TMO users still have the 5.99 internet grandfathered from a contract. Just not a contract that includes a subsidized phone and huge penalties for said phone if I leave.
 
Digital Controller said:
I appreciate Google's Idea, but i really wish Google would just start their own service...i mean if they hate it so much why not make Google Voice something fantastic to work with, with a built in VOIP to make and receive calls through the GV number...if they really wanted to get rid of the carriers then they could make it happen, i mean it's Google, they own like everything anyways.
Click to expand...

I remember hearing about how they were trying to develop a city-wide wifi service that could do just this. I haven't heard of it in a while, though. Perhaps this is why they're developing the fiber network in Kansas City, to supply the necessary bandwidth as well as providing home internet (and sticking it to Comcast/Verizon). It'll be a huge undertaking, either way.
 
Carriers make it easy to just walk into a store, pick a locked phone tied to a carrier and then walk out using it. If you wanted to just pick a phone that is unlocked and then pick your carrier, it is less obvious how to do this for most people. Walk into any non-carrier store and most of the phones you see are locked. I once asked about unlocked phones at a store and there were like 2 older ones that I didn't like.

I checked the web site of my carrier and whether or not I purchase pay full price up front or subsidised on a 3-year, the monthly cost is the same. Carriers aren't going to give you a break on your plan because you didn't make them subsidise your phone for you. The only real advantage you get from getting an unlocked phone and paying full price up front is the ability to switch carriers. One benefit is for people who are travelling a lot, they can just get a SIM in whatever country they are in and use their phone without huge roaming charges.

I personally would have liked to just pick any phone and then go with any carrier, but it is just easier and simpler for me to just pick a phone tied to my carrier and be done with it. When I last got a new phone, I was rather hard pressed for time as I was leaving for holidays the very next day. If I had more time, I would have investigated other carriers and looked at buying a phone outright. I had intended to do this next year, but since my old phone failed and I really wanted a working phone before I went away, buying a carrier locked phone was just the most convenient thing for me to do at the time.
 
I was still with Bell at the time and was eligible for a hardware upgrade. Smaller carriers such as Mobilicity and Wind do have better plans, but people I have talked to report that service is spotty at times. If my phone hadn't died, I would have considered switching when my plan would have expired next year. I am mostly close enough to the city centre that I would expect service to be satisfactory.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom