Google has created an offer for smartphones that allows you to surf the world at low prices. When less, if compared with US rates
There is also Italy among the 200 countries where you can use Google Fi, formerly Project Fi. Born in 2015, Fi is Google’s attempt to become what in Italy we would call a virtual mobile operator.
A very peculiar and very “American” project, Google’s, that to the average Italian will seem incomprehensible. And, above all, the rates will seem incomprehensibly high. But Google has in mind a very precise customer, who travels a lot and is willing to spend in order not to have surprises. So much so that Google Fi’s latest innovation is the installation of totems for the resale of Fi SIM at the JFK airports in New York and Newark in New Jersey. Two key airports for international traffic to and from the U.S.A.
Google Fi: how it works
The thing to be said immediately is that the Google Fi SIM must be activated in the U.S.A., then it works in almost the whole world (including Italy). From a technological point of view, Google Fi is an interesting project: communications take place through continuous network hops between different U.S. mobile operators (Verizon, AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile) and public Wi-Fi networks (Google ensures to connect only to secure ones). Basically, the smartphone continuously chooses which network is the fastest and connects to that. Once the card is activated, it works in all 200 countries without the user having to do any additional configuration.
Google Fi: how much it costs
The price is the weak point, huge for the European and Italian market, of Google Fi. It starts with SIMs sold at the airport, which for $10 offer unlimited calls in the US, discounted rates abroad (in Italy, for example, 20 cents per minute), hotspot tethering, 24/7 technical support, and the ability to terminate the contract whenever you want. With this amount you get 1 (one, just one) GB of data traffic. Each additional GB you pay an additional $10. The most expensive rate is the $70/month rate, which offers unlimited data in the U.S. and abroad (up to 22 GB per month, after that the speed slows down, but videos “might” be displayed at 480p), unlimited texting and free calls from the U.S. to 50 countries (including Italy, rates for other countries start at 1 cent per minute), the same 24/7 technical service and contracting, plus a Google One membership with 100 GB of cloud space. All these prices are excluding taxes, which in America count for a 10-20% to be added to the chosen rate.
Google Fi in Italy: does it make sense?
For the vast majority of Italians these rates don’t make any sense and are completely out of the market. For Americans, who instead pay much more expensive phone calls and Internet, yes. Moreover, even considering the possibility to use Google Fi abroad, $70 per month is really a lot. At least if you travel mostly in Europe, where recent EU directives have imposed free roaming on domestic operators and, in most cases, you have at least 4 GB of data abroad. For Italians who often travel to Asia, Africa or the United States, instead, Google Fi could be interesting.
Will Google Fi arrive in Italy as an MVNO?
Finally: will there come a day when Google will choose to land also in our country as a local Mobile Virtual Number Operator? In other words: will Google ever compete with TIM, Vodafone, Iliad, Wind and other virtual operators? Some rumors say yes. In short, after Sky also another “intruder” is preparing to make entry into the Italian market of mobile telephony.