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Google's Seinor Vice President and head of Android, Chrome and Google Apps, Sundar Pichai, confirmed rumors that Google will soon be entering the mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) turf in the US, Venture Beat reports.
Pichai took the stage at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona to discuss Google and Android's different facets. However, what stood out is his revelation that Google is currently working with "carrier partners" and the plans to announce something huge in the future.
He didn't spill much information about the plan of Google to possibly be an MVNO (Mobile Virtual Mobile Operator) in its future endeavors. This happens when a company rides along with existing carriers to offer its own network service. Also, Pichai tried to down play the news by openly admitting that it didn't plan to do anything at scale at the moment. This means that the plan will be launched as a pilot project and then proceed from there. In addition, it is most likely will involve tying both the wireless and cellular services.
This is not the first time that Google got involved in these types of project. They were publicly known to tie up with "carriers" but more on the "network" side. By doing so, Google's made their technologies and services easily available for consumers and customers around the world. The projects include Google Fiber, which is aggressively (but slowly) crawling out in the US and Project Loon, which is conceived to bring high-speed Internet access to remote and isolated areas of the world through the help of hot air balloons
IT World also reported that the Google Executive said that won't be a full-service mobile network in competition with existing carriers. Pichai instead confirmed that Google will provide a platform through which the project can experiment with new services for Android smartphones.
Pichai also measured it to the work Google has done their hardware, where Google partnered with Nexus' line of devices. Although Pichai gave out Google's possibility to enter the mobile services business, he also made it clear that it is not meant to challenge to giant companies like Samsung and HTC.
