Image source: Google.
What happened?
Following 10 months of being invite-only, Alphabet (GOOG 2.56%)(GOOGL 2.58%) is opening up its Project Fi service to all consumers in the U.S., according to the official Android blog. Meanwhile, the company said it wanted to share 7 important insights that it's learned since Project Fi's inception:
- Project Fi users travel a lot
- Quality public Wi-Fi is abundant
- Users like details about their data usage
- Users appreciate SIM-only plans for other connected devices
- Users appreciate 24/7 live support
- Fi customers are creative
- Lots of people want to join Project Fi
Does it matter?
While Project Fi is ditching its invite-only system, there is still an important limitation of Project Fi that threatens adoption: Project Fi is still limited to Nexus devices. At least when it comes to handsets. Project Fi's SIM-only plans work on a wider range of devices, including iPads.
Considering the fact that the vast majority of tablets lack cellular connectivity and Nexus devices similarly comprise a small portion of the overall handset market, Project Fi's impact on the market will still be limited. Google is offering a limited-time promotion for the Nexus 5X, bringing the price down to $199 (from the normal $349) as an effort to bolster Fi's appeal.
