Google’s telecom ambitions aren’t limited to just the United States, the company has apparently been talking with a British mobile carrier about allowing free international roaming when in the region. To clarify, this doesn’t mean that anyone in the United Kingdom is going to have access to Google’s service, it just means that Google’s American customers will have free roaming while in the covered parts of Britain.
It is understood that Google aims to create a global network that will cost the same to use for calls, texts and data no matter where a customer is located. Google is in talks towards a deal with Hutchison Whampoa, the owner of the mobile operator Three, that will allow Americans to use their phones abroad at no extra cost, industry sources have disclosed. The two giants are discussing a wholesale access agreement that would become an important part of Google’s planned attempt to shake-up the US mobile market with its own network. It is understood that Google aims to create a global network that will cost the same to use for calls, texts and data no matter where a customer is located. By linking up with Hutchison, it could gain wholesale access to mobile service in the UK, Ireland, Italy and several more countries where the Hong Kong conglomerate owns mobile networks.
