Google will try its hand at providing cell phone service this year by partnering with existing wireless carriers. Sundar Pichai, the company’s senior vice president of Chrome and Android, revealed in a speech at Mobile World Congress today that the company will be testing Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) capabilities in the coming months.
Pichai said that the company has no plans to be “a network operator at scale.” Instead, he likened the program to what Google does with its Nexus devices, showcasing new features in Android while leaving the bulk of the handset market to other players.
The announcement comes after rumors surfaced last month about the program. Pichai said that Google is working with a number of mobile carriers to bring the service to market, but declined to say which ones specifically. Past reports pegged T-Mobile and Sprint as collaborators for the service.
According to Pichai, network operators don’t see Google’ MVNO efforts as a threat. That makes a certain amount of sense, since the Mountain View-based company will be using carriers’ existing networks to power the service and paying for their use.
Even so, Google’s entry into the wireless network business will be sure to make a splash. It will be interesting to see if Apple or Microsoft decide to follow suit after Google’s experiments. After all, Apple already installs a programmable “Apple SIM” in iPads sold from its retail stores that allows users to select which wireless carrier they want to use after purchasing the device.
