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Google Confirms Plans for Wireless Service

 & Chloe Albanesius Executive Editor, News

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Google today confirmed that it is exploring the option of offering a wireless service.

During a keynote at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Sundar Pichai, Google's SVP of Android, Chrome, and Google Apps, said that in order to push Android forward, you always need to be looking ahead. That's why Google got into the hardware business with the Nexus lineup, and why it's looking into offering wireless service.

"I think we're at the stage where we need to think of hardware, software, and connectivity together," Pichai said, according to a live blog from The Verge. That's especially important as more and more device - like smartwatches - get connectivity.

Don't expect Google to go head to head with the likes of Verizon and AT&T; this will be a "small scale" concept, and the company will be working with current partners, Pichai said. But more details will emerge in the next few months.

When asked if AT&T and Verizon should be worried, Pichai said Google has had conversations with them, according to The Verge. After all, the top U.S. carriers power some of Google's top Android phones, so it wouldn't be a good move to completely alienate them.

Among the things Google is looking at is technology that could automatically connect a dropped call, the live blog said.

Pichai's comments come about a month after reports emerged that Google was in talks with Sprint and T-Mobile to provide mobile phone plans to consumers. First reported by The Information, the project, codenamed "Nova," would allow Google to resell service on the Sprint and T-Mobile networks.

For more, see PCMag's roundup of the Fastest Mobile Networks 2014, as well as How Google Wireless Could Change America.

Stephanie Mlot contributed to this story.

About Our Expert

Chloe Albanesius

Chloe Albanesius

Executive Editor, News

My Experience

I started out covering tech policy in DC for The National Journal, where my beat included state-level tech news and all the congressional hearings and FCC meetings I could handle. I later covered Wall Street trading tech before switching gears to consumer tech. I now lead PCMag's news coverage.

My Areas of Expertise

Getting my start in DC means I still have a soft spot for tech policy; Congressional hearings can sometimes be as entertaining as a Bravo reality show, for better or worse. But PCMag is all about the technology we use every day, as well as keeping an eye out for the trends that will shape the industry in the years ahead (or flop on arrival). I've covered the rise of social media, the iOS vs. Android wars, the cord-cutting revolution that's now left us with hefty streaming bills, and the effort to stuff artificial intelligence into every product you could imagine. This job has taken me to CES in Vegas (one too many times), IFA in Berlin, and MWC in Barcelona. I also drove a Tesla 1,000 miles out west as part of our Best Mobile Networks project. Of late, my focus is on our hard-working team of reporters at PCMag, guiding and editing their robust coverage.

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