What a crock. Among other things, the article completely omits what is the biggest hurdle for Google, or any new company, for entering the phone market - infrastructure.
A newcomer has no hope of competing in major metropolitan markets such as New York, SF, Boston etc, without the multi-year process of scouting, negotiating, and installing cell towers throughout the cities. Even in private buildings where planning permission is not needed, many of the prime locations have been snapped up by Verizon, AT&T etc on multi-year exclusive or limited compete leases. "Newer" companies such as Virgin Mobile lease their backbone from Sprint etc for exactly this reason.
A newcomer has no hope of competing in major metropolitan markets such as New York, SF, Boston etc, without the multi-year process of scouting, negotiating, and installing cell towers throughout the cities. Even in private buildings where planning permission is not needed, many of the prime locations have been snapped up by Verizon, AT&T etc on multi-year exclusive or limited compete leases. "Newer" companies such as Virgin Mobile lease their backbone from Sprint etc for exactly this reason.