Google Fiber is looking into home phone services
As a part of a potentially large experimental program, Google may offer home phone services to select Fiber customers. Google Fiber phone will allow users to connect all mobile and landline contacts to one phone number, like Google Voice.
Members of Google Fiber's Trusted Tester program have received invitations to join an experimental telephone service , reports The Washington Post. The invite has been rolling out to the members for the last one month.
Trusted Tester program includes Fiber subscribers who wished to try out new features of Google Fiber. Currently, Google Fiber provides broadband internet and cable television services to specific locations in the United States.
The Google Fiber Phone service appears to be very similar to Google Voice, which also lets the user link all the telephone numbers to one contact. It also derives features like voicemail transcriptions and automatic call screening from Google Voice.
“Our latest offering is Google Fiber Phone, which gives you the chance to add home phone service to you current Fiber service plan, and offers several advanced features,” reads the invitation.
The advanced features include a phone number that ‘lives in the cloud,’ voicemail messages delivered directly to the subscriber's email, spam filtering, do not disturb and call screening.
To avail Fiber Phone services, the subscribers can get a new number or transfer the existing mobile or landline number. Interested invitees have a week to enroll to the new service.
Fiber does not offer a conventional phone services as of now. But with Fiber Phone, the search giant might be eyeing on becoming one of the ‘triple-play’ providers in the market.
A ‘triple-play’ bundle, provided by many cable operators consists of internet, TV and phone services. Google will have to compete with established ‘triple play’ service providers like Comcast and Time Warner.
Eventually, Google may integrate the Project Fi into its broadband service. Project Fi is a low cost cellular service which uses both T-Mobile and Sprint's networks.
