Earlier this month we explored how despite the fact that not everybody can see it yet, Google Voice could bring significant change to the wireless industry. How? While Google Voice is the first somewhat clunky iteration of this concept, the application takes the actual calling and service mechanism out of the hands of the phone companies, and embraces the idea of everything -- voice included -- being simply data. In time, you should have complete freedom to choose not only your smartphone, its apps and the network -- but the actual calling, voicemail and SMS (IM) mechanisms and applications you use to communicate.

That obviously puts phone operators in a tricky spot, given it not only obliterates traditional phone minute and SMS revenues, but it threatens wireless carrier content and ad ambitions, potentially relegating them to the far less profitable role of "dump pipe" operators. Carriers can (and probably will) fight this, locking down the calling and SMS control mechanisms in innovative new ways. Despite their fears, carriers do appear to be reaching out to Google.

That's made evident by Verizon's Droid, but Sprint made it it clear this week they're playing along (for now) with a few concessions of their own. The company issued a press release saying they'll be collaborating with Google on integrating Google Voice with Sprint services. They also say they're going to stop charging users who move to Google Voice(mail) a $0.20 per minute forwarding charge as of November. For those keeping track at home, Sprint's the last carrier to stop charging unconditional call forwarding fees:Sure, some of this behavior is because the FCC is investigating industry competition and neutrality issues, and recently made waves when investigating why AT&T and Apple blocked Google Voice. But at least carriers seem to be recognizing what Google Voice is doing and are, to some degree, working with Google instead of continuing to fight the natural evolution. They're also not nickel and diming customers who choose to move toward alternative software for basic phone functionality, which for ma bell spawn is -- undeniable progress.

Still, you have to wonder though how long or how far this camaraderie will go. Users are currently gaming the system, using Google Voice to get free unlimited calls by making their Google Voice number part of most wireless carriers frequent caller programs Friends & Family, MyFaves, A-List). That sort of thing is really only the beginning of what happens under a truly open network and device model.