Does Google want to be our phone company?

The most interesting thing I’ve read about the Googlephone is the possibility that it will route all voice calls as VOIP via Google Voice. This is the “Google wants to be your telephone company scenario” that could quickly put the company at-odds with wireless carriers, Internet service providers, and most of the rest of the telecom universe.

Smart: This would be a living example of net neutrality at work, as this is something the incumbent carriers, with their huge voice infrastructure, would have a hard time accepting. If the Internet isn’t neutral, ISPs could theoretically stop Google’s VOIP plans.

Crazy: Google gives the telephone and cable companies a good example of how VOIP could hurt their bottom line, turn them into mere data pipeline companies, and potentially threaten their survival. This will harden their opposition to net neutrality and could help them find supporters in Congress, who prefer old, stable companies to upshots like Google.

If the Nexus One uses VOIP for voice calls, customers will only need to purchase wireless data service. Whether that will result in savings, or usher in usage-based data pricing is unknown. I suspect the latter.

Or, perhaps, Google will buy wireless data services in bulk and resell them to customers directly, effectively making Google the wireless carrier for the Nexus One.

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