Pushing ahead on trials that emerged in January, Google Fiber has introduced Fiber Phone, a $10 per month optional add-on that will become available to customers on its basic Internet service, 1-Gig standalone broadband offering, and subs who take its gigabit/pay-TV bundle.
Though Fiber Phone will be available as part of a double-play bundle by pairing it with a high-speed Internet service, the new option will give Google Fiber a way to offer triple-play packages that have long been available from its MSO and telco competitors.
Fiber Phone features unlimited local and nationwide calling as well as the same rates Google Voice offers for international calls. Using some of the same tech that powers Google Voice, Fiber Phone will let customers port their old phone number or pick a new one, and supports features such as call waiting, caller ID and a service that transcribes voice mails, John Shriver-Blake, product manager at Google Fiber, explained in this blog post.
As a cloud-based service, Fiber Phone is supported on a wide range of phones, tablets and laptops. “It can ring your landline when you’re home, or your mobile device when you’re on-the-go,” Shriver-Blake said.
He said Fiber Phone will be offered in a “few areas to start,” but the plan is to launch the service in all Google Fiber cities.
Google Fiber has not announced which markets will get it in the early going. But candidates include all the markets where Google Fiber has launched service -- Kansas City, Kan.; Kansas City, Mo.; Provo, Utah; and Austin, Texas.
Google Fiber has also committed to deploy in Atlanta; Salt Lake City; San Antonio; Nashville, Tenn.; and Charlotte and Raleigh-Durham, N.C. It’s considering expansions in Chicago; Portland, Ore.; Los Angeles, San Jose, Irvine and San Diego, Calif.; Phoenix; Oklahoma City; Louisville, Ky.; and Jacksonville and Tampa, Fla.
