

David Pogue: Is Google Voice a Threat to AT&T?  - kcy
http://pogue.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/08/06/is-google-voice-a-threat-to-att/?hp

======
jamesk2
Google Voice is a threat to AT&T and every other potential carrier for the
iPhone. Maybe AT&T didn't really have anything directly to do with GV being
yanked but it sure isn't going to make carriers around the world happy to have
the iphone on their network if it can go around their revenue generating
functions.

I'd love to have the iPhone on Verizon but how much will they want the iPhone
if it is a trojan horse that makes them lose MMS,SMS and international long
distance revenue?

~~~
jrockway
_Google Voice is a threat to AT &T and every other potential carrier for the
iPhone. Maybe AT&T didn't really have anything directly to do with GV being
yanked but it sure isn't going to make carriers around the world happy to have
the iphone on their network if it can go around their revenue generating
functions._

How? Most people don't make international calls with their cell-phone. All
Google Voice calls count as normal calls, and subtract minutes from your cell-
phone plan, just like all other normal calls. So if you are calling your
friend to see why he's late to dinner, AT&T makes as much money off you with
GV as they do otherwise. Same with text messages; when someone sends a text
message to your Google Voice number, it's relayed to your cell-phone. If you
pay to receive random text messages, you paid for that one too. (But I assume
iPhone users have unlimited SMS messages, so who cares?)

Anyway, AT&T loses very little here, and users gain a lot in terms of
convenience.

(There's also the argument that Google Voice makes it easier to ditch AT&T.
That's true, but I ported my number from AT&T to T-Mobile yesterday, and it
took literally 15 minutes, with no involvement from me other than "ok, do it".
So it's already really easy to switch away from AT&T.)

All in all, I don't get it. I'm glad I have a MyTouch 3G instead of an iPhone.
Google Voice works swimmingly for me (and I even get to see a cute tshirt-
wearing android every time I make a call. Yay!)

I'm actually surprised T-Mobile doesn't block GV, as they have a lot more to
lose. With "My Faves", you get unlimited calling to 5 arbitrary numbers. With
your GV number as one of those, all your calls become free. Now that actually
costs them money.

~~~
jamesk2
GV is a VOIP application. Maybe I've read too much TechCrunch but it seemed to
imply that it would use the data network and not use minutes.

Are you sure it used your minutes and SMS instead of VOIP and SMS through
google's accounts?

~~~
ubernostrum
If you use their web application to place calls and send SMS, then yes it's
"VoIP" in the sense that it's using the data connection.

The native applications for various platforms, however, seem to involve
actually using the phone as a phone, but with the calls routed through GV in
order to have the caller ID and such work as expected. IIRC some earlier
efforts involved explicitly dialling your own GV number to initiate the call.

~~~
jrockway
VoIP means voice over IP. The only time your voice goes over IP with Google
Voice is on their internal network. You use a regular phone to call Google
Voice, and then they make a regular call to your destination.

~~~
jamesk2
Thanks jrockway for clearing that up.

So if people get used to using GV on iPhone, Blackberry and Palm, it would
make switching to GV on Android trivial. There would almost no transition
costs.

I get tired of my iPhone (or more likely pissed off at Apple for something)
then I could just take my GV #, make some settings changes, then buy an
Android phone and be off.

Easier switching is better for us, maybe not so much for Apple or AT&T.

~~~
jrockway
Or you could just pull your SIM card out of your iPhone and stick it in an
Android phone.

------
donaldc
Of course Google Voice is a threat to AT&T. But in terms of the Google Voice
app being rejected on the iPhone, even if AT&T applied pressure, in the end
Apple should bear a lot of the blame for this. The final decision was Apple's.

------
harry
Yup! I didn't renew my AT&T contract in favor of Google Voice. Whenever I find
an ~iTouch/Android (Zii EGG!) portable that does what I want over WiFi I'll
happily avoid larcenous SMS fees.

I'd say that's a good threat to AT&T.

~~~
jsares
WiFi isn't as useful as people think but not having any text charges because
you're using the regular data plan is great.

~~~
bockris
I disagree. I love the WiFi on my G1.

It's all but replaced my home laptop for gmail/twitter.

