If you’re living with high-speed internet in one of Google’s Fibre cities, your landline telephone might yet live to see another day. In the US, Google has announced Fibre Phone, a cloud-based phone number you can use from any tablet, laptop or phone — including a landline. It’s like Google Voice on bad steroids.
The proposition is fairly straightforward. You can either keep your existing landline number or pick a new one and connect any pre-existing phone up to the Fibre Phone box. For $US10 ($13) a month, you get unlimited US nationwide texts and calls, plus caller ID, call waiting and 911 emergency calls. And if you’re using the Fibre Phone number from a more modern device, the service will transcribe voicemails for you and and text you the transcripts — just like Google Voice has been doing for years.
Why is Google doing this? Who the hell knows. It’s a way to squeeze a few extra bucks out of Fibre customers and could be some sort of regulatory play to ease expansion of its fibre network. Either way, all the Google Fibre cities are in the US so Australia won’t get the Fibre Phone. If you do happen to live in a US Google Fibre city and are weirdly interested in modernising your landline, you can sign up here.
[Google]
Top image via Google