Google Rolls Out Cloud-Based Home Phone Service to Fiber Cities update from March 2016

By The WHIR

Google is becoming a fully-fledged telecommunications provider with the launch of Fiber Phone, a cloud-based home phone service that offers unlimited local and nationwide calling for just $10 per month.

According to a blog post by Google Fiber Product Manager John Shriver-Blake, Fiber Phone will be available in a few areas to start and will eventually roll out to residential customers in all its Fiber cities: Atlanta, Austin, Charlotte, Kansas City, Nashville, Provo, Raleigh-Durham, Salt Lake City, and San Antonio.

While wireless-only households have grown in popularity, there are still 3.4 percent of households in the US with no telephone service at all. According to data from the National Center for Health Statistics, 7.5 million adults and 2.3 million children lived in households without phones.

Read more: Google Fiber Brings Free Internet to More Public Housing Communities

And despite being able to bundle landlines with home Internet and TV, the average cost of a landline is still between $15 to $30; not a lot more than Google’s service, but likely with fewer features.

Google began testing its Fiber Phone service in January by inviting a small group of users to provide feedback.

“Adding Fiber Phone means getting access on the road, in the office, or wherever you are,” Shriver-Blake said. “Your Fiber Phone number lives in the cloud, which means that you can use it on almost any phone, tablet or laptop. It can ring your landline when you’re home, or your mobile device when you’re on-the-go.”

The phone uses a Fiber Phone box that works with any phone, and a handset is not included.

Fiber Phone uses the same rates for international calls as Google Voice, and sends users texts or emails of their voicemails.

This article first appeared at http://www.thewhir.com/web-hosting-news/google-rolls-out-cloud-based-home-phone-service-to-fiber-cities