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Google, the ever looming behemoth of a company that has conquered pretty much everything it has bothered to, is slowly inching its way into the mobile phone market.  First with the introduction of the Android OS that is currently making waves with several different phone models (the Mototola Droid in particular), now with an internal phone that is rumored to go consumer soon, and finally with Google Voice, which is still in it’s beta stage.  Google Voice is the one part that interests me in particular, as I am more than tired of dealing with price gouging that comes from owning a cell phone plan.  As much as it is to be charged a fee for texting someone in the United States as opposed to Canada, I think I’m ready for an alternative, and I don’t think I’m the only one.

Click the image to be taken to the Youtube Video about Google Voice

Cell phone plans in Canada are so far behind even the United States in terms of value for a consumers’ dollar that it is almost laughable, as the States are well behind Europe and Asia.  Simple things like texting, which costs the providers so little that it is considered basically a freebie to them, cost $10 to add the unlimited option to a cell phone plan.  Not only that, but ‘unlimited’ in this case really means up to 1000 texts sent.  Now that number might be high, according to Nielsen Mobile, the average U.S. teen sends and receives 2899 texts monthly. Given that any text that is sent over the allotted 1000 generally has a small fine (in my case $0.10 per text), it may seem like a small amount, but it can quickly add up for a service that is costing the provider almost nothing.

The same could be said for their data plans, which are also over the top.  Coming in increments of 500mb and 1GB for monthly usage, this can easily be achieved if one is using significant amounts of commonplace things like Google Maps, Flickr, etc.  Once again, the charges for going over the usage border on ‘extreme’ to put it gently.  All of this is what is leading me towards my impending switch to Google Voice for as much as possible.  The benefits that it presents, unlimited local calling, extremely low international rates, exceptional voicemail, unlimited texting, etc., all help it outweigh any negatives that are assocaited with the product.  The only thing left to do now, is to wait for Google to expand the service into Canada.  Currently there are ways around the US only implementation, but it is still very much incomplete.  There were signs that it would be soon that the service allowed for calling from Canada, but, as with any big rollout, the official release date is ‘when it’s ready’.  I’m still keeping my fingers crossed for a nice Christmas present from the Google Santa.