A lot of interesting information is coming out of the lawsuit over java between Google and Oracle. Today, a document surfaced showing that Google had planned to subsidize $10 data plans for Android phone adopters.
The sighting was made by Chris Ziegler of The Verge. The document is one from all the way back in 2006, the year before the iPhone was announced. Google must have been throwing out all kinds of ideas to begin their own phone project.
According to the plan, Google would “[leverage] its online properties to create qualified buyers for the Google Phone.” Google would send customers to T-Mobiel for savings, then forego a commission and, instead, put the money into the subsidized data plans. The text of the plan is unintentionally hilarious: “T-Mobile offers a subsidized Google Unlimited Data Plan for $9.99 a month. Google provides back-end service for its product suite designed to avg. 15 MB per month.” An average use of 15 MB per month? That wildly incorrect estimate makes 2006 seem ancient.
Though Google did indeed sell a phone through its website, the Nexus One, the sales figures were poor. I think we can assume that the entire data subsidy plan was scrapped, since data plans are currently far more expensive than $10 and, increasingly, not unlimited.
What do you think? Would it still be worth it for Google to subsidize plans for select Android phones? After all, more internet access means more Google ads viewed. Leave a comment and let us know what you think.
(via The Verge)