WSJ: Google To Unveil Wireless Service As Early As Wednesday

(RTTNews) - Google Inc.'s (GOOG, GOOGL) new U.S. wireless service is set to be unveiled as early as Wednesday and is expected to allow customers to pay only for the amount of data they actually use each month, the Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday citing people familiar with the matter.

The move reflects Google's increasing penchant to be involved in the telecommunications industry as a partner as well as a competitor. Although the Internet giant plans a limited wireless service, it could send tremors across the wireless industry, where competition is rife and the arrival of yet another company can cause some shivers.

According to the WSJ report, the service will initially work only on Google's latest Nexus 6 smartphones and will run on the networks of Sprint Corp. (S) and T-Mobile US Inc. (TMUS) as Google has not built a wireless network.

The devices will reportedly be able to switch between Sprint and T-Mobile networks, depending on which carrier has the strongest signal. This would end the reliance on a single carrier.

The service is also expected to use Wi-Fi networks to route phone calls and data, which could further reduce subscribers' bills.

According to the WSJ report, the move to allow customers to pay only for the amount of data they actually use each month could further push carriers to do away with lucrative "breakage." Many traditional wireless plans require subscribers to pay for volumes of data that expire at the end of each month and in which the customers lose the unused portion of data.

Sundar Pichai - senior vice president at Google overseeing Android, Chrome, and Google Apps - revealed in early March at the World Mobile Congress in Barcelona that Google plans to launch a limited U.S. wireless service.

Pichai also said that the proposed wireless service would be limited in scale and would not take on entrenched players such as Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) and AT&T Inc. (T). He added that Google would partner with carriers to launch the service, the way it works with hardware makers for its Nexus devices.

GOOG closed Tuesday's trading at $533.97, down $1.41 or 0.26 percent on a volume of 1.84 million shares.