jonaaron

You know, if everyone using this got a free Nexus device then the pricing would be good. 

I don't see how this is realistic.  The effective minimum bill (with miniscule data use) is $21/mo.  Over two years that's only a $504 outlay.  If we assume the Nexus 5 was sold at cost like many sources say it was, that means Google only makes $150 over two years on this customer on the actual service.   The prices may be off a bit on the data at $10/GB, but they're definitely not going to be giving away a device that costs them $350, let alone over $500 to make.  The data prices need to go down the more you use, or something more realistic.

I dunno, if you compare it against exceptionally priced prepaid plans, it doesn't seem all that great.

 

You can get the T-Mobile 5GB plan for $30/month.  I know there are other prepaid plans that offer similar value.

 

For $5/GB seems to be the disruptive pricepoint that I would expect google to compete at.

 

Competitive isn't good enough for a disruptive service - which is what Google is trying to do.

The 5GB T-Mobile plan is a much different beast.  For one, it has only 100 minutes of voice, this has unlimited.  Secondly, that 5GB plan has no off T-Mobile network coverage.  Maybe if you never leave a major city that will work for you, but otherwise, this will provide much more coverage.  Imagine if Google gets additional small carriers in-tow--they might be able to get close to Big-2 coverage in many places for less cost.

 

It doesn't seem very competitive at the low, medium, or high end of data usage to me?  For my case of using ~700 MB/month and on the $25/month Sprint Framily plan, Google Fi would be *close* at $27/month;  but there's no motivation to switch.  For heavy data users it will be far more expensive.  Extremely low data users are probably better off with Ting.

It's competitive with today's Sprint plans on the low end.  Family Share pack is $45 for 1gb and $50 for 2gb.  If you have multiple lines or employee discounts, Sprint's plans can become more attractive.  Then again, it might not, since Google will only charge you for what you use--and no overage charges (just additional usage).  Maybe you're much better at exactly hitting your data allotment than I.

I think it is less of a disappointment when you look at the fairly innovative things that are being done here:

1. Multi-profile SIM, with on the fly switching.

2. Automatically using VPN on public wifi networks to do wifi calling (not just home hotspot)

3. Transitioning from Wifi to cellular automatically on dropped calls (and possibly cellular to cellular?)

4. MVNO price comparisons are not exactly fair since most MVNOs have zero roaming partners, so coverage is not

equivalent.  Obviously Google has fairly extensive 2G coverage here that networks like virgin or even ting (aside from voice only) do not have.

5. Unused data is refunded at the end of the month to the tenth of the GB.  

It starts to get uncompetitive at higher data usage rates, but maybe they will get the cost down eventually.