Google Nexus phones during the launch of its latest range of Nexus 5X and Nexus 6P in New Delhi,... [+]
The company is dropping its invite-only requirement to access the service best known for its transparency on pricing, and making it accessible to anyone, Google said in a blog post.
In an attempt to make it more attractive to a new wave of consumers, it’s also throwing in the LG-manufactured Nexus 5X for $199 for new sign ups, a significant discount from the $349 that the 16 GB-version of the phone currently costs. (The phone is already being sold at a discount from the $490 it cost at launch in September 2015).
Project Fi has boasted a simple pricing plan to challenge the often-confusing services offered by traditional carriers, particularly when it comes to paying for data.
A customer of Fi will pay $20 per month for voice, text and Wi-Fi tethering, and then another $10 per gigabyte of data used.
While most carriers will charge a fixed, monthly fee for data, Fi customers also only pay for the data they use, and then are credited with any data left over. So if they pay $20 for calls, plus $30 for 3 GB of data but only end up using 2 GB, they'll get $10 credited back on their account at the end of the month.
Crucially for those who travel a lot, Google keeps a flat rate on its data prices across 120 countries outside the U.S.
Calls on Fi are made over Wi-Fi by default if that’s available, and then switch to a cellular network rented from Sprint or T-Mobile when a user moves out of range of a Wi-Fi signal.
For now, the service only works with a limited range of Google’s Nexus devices (the Nexus 6, 5X and 6P) thanks to their unique SIM that can access the two different cellular networks.
The managers of Project Fi say they've been observing how Project Fi’s early adopters used the service over the last 10 months. More than 15% of its early customers used Project Fi phones abroad, and on average all the service’s customers had been using about 1.6 GB of data per month, thus paying around $16 for data.
The data also showed there was a decent amount of public Wi-Fi available across the country: more than 50% of Project Fi customers were connecting to public Wi-Fi hotspots on a weekly basis.
“People across the U.S. can now sign up for service without having to wait in-line for an invite,” said Project Fi’s product manager, Simon Arscott. "While Project Fi is still in its early stages, we’re excited to welcome our next wave of customers and look forward to growing and improving together."
