dslreports logo
 story category
Google's Project Fi Unveils Its Version of 'Unlimited' Data

A few years ago, Google launched Project Fi, a wireless phone service that leaned predominantly on WiFi, but used the Sprint and T-Mobile networks for cellular backup. Initially, the company offered unlimited talk, text, tethering and international roaming for $20 a month. After that, Project Fi charged you a flat $10 per each additional gigabyte of GB for cellular data whether in the US or abroad (read: $10 for 1 GB, $20 for 2 GB, or $30 for 3 GB) -- up to 10 GB per month. Users got refunds at month's end for any data not consumed.

Click for full size
Today, Google announced that they're shaking up pricing in a number of new ways.

One, Google says it's introducing something called "bill protection." Under this new option, users who consume more than a set amount of data during a month will have their total charges for calls, texts and data capped at a maximum of $80 per month. Like other similar "unlimited" options, users will have their connection throttled for the remainder of their billing cycle. Your throttling cap will vary depending on how many users are on your plan, notes Google.

"If you’re a super heavy data user, you’ll experience slower data speeds in months when you’ve consumed more than 15 GB of data (less than 1% of current Fi users today)," notes the company. "But as always, you’ll have the power to customize your plan, and you can opt out of slower speeds by paying $10/GB for your individual data usage above 15 GB."

While Google is calling this bill protection, it's really just Project Fi's answer to the shift by major carriers to unlimited data, which has resulted in Project Fi seeming slightly less revolutionary than it did at launch.

"With Bill Protection you’ll never have to pay for unlimited data in months when you don’t actually need it," Google says. "If you only use 1.4 GB of data, at the end of the month you’ll pay just $34 instead of $80. So no matter how much data you use, you can save money with Bill Protection every month."

Google's bill protection begins rolling out today to individual subscribers and group plans. The company says that current Fi subscribers will see it appear on their next billing cycle. There's more detail available on Project Fi's new pricing plan over at the full announcement.

Most recommended from 30 comments



Packeteers
Premium Member
join:2005-06-18
Forest Hills, NY

7 recommendations

Packeteers

Premium Member

"slower speeds"

this is meaningless.

most "unlimited" throttle you from 4g to 2g which is basically useless for anything but text.

what i want is a 4g down to 3g throttle - at least then "slower speeds" would still be usable.
Slyster
join:2015-01-08
Sugar Grove, VA

4 recommendations

Slyster

Member

Not good enough

I've been with Fi since beta.

I do not use much data since I'm on wifi mostly but I would be more inclined to use it if the price was better.

This is a bit much still yet.
killer68
join:2017-02-18

4 recommendations

killer68

Member

Still a bad deal

$60 + taxes is not competitive for a T-mobile/Sprint MVNO plan unless you want a seamless global phone with data.

With MVNOs like Mint Sim offering 12 month T-Mobile-based plans for $180 a year with 2GB LTE and unlimited thereafter, that's a better choice.
birchtree95
join:2016-01-26
Creston, IA

4 recommendations

birchtree95

Member

Have we forgotten

Have we forgotten that Fi also uses US Cellular as well? There are giant swaths of the US that would not have Fi coverage without. Just check out the sprint and t mobile coverage in Iowa.