Google Had Plans To Subsidize Android Unlimited Data

I bet most of you can remember when Android first came out. The first few phones that rolled out weren't all that great, and the operating system took a while to mature to the point that it became popular. Some details of what Google had originally planned have been rolling out over the last few days and one the most interesting details is this one.

Google had originally intended to subsidize the cost of unlimited data plans for Android devices making the plans available at about $10 per month for users. That would've been impressive, especially today with data plans on some carriers running up to $30 a month and not being unlimited. Originally, Google's plan was to sell smartphones through its own online store and then subsidize data costs through T-Mobile.

For whatever reason that plan never happened. I have to wonder if a major reason the plan fell through was that T-Mobile lacks the coverage area required. The main reason the plan failed though would have to be because Google never had success directly selling smartphones to consumers. I think today if Google had a nice Android phone with good hardware and was subsidizing the cost of data on a reliable network, consumers would buy.

[via Liliputing]