Nearly without fail, one of worldwide travel’s least appealing elements is having to settle for a slow, inconsistent, and wildly expensive mobile connection from a third-party carrier – but if you’re a Google Fi subscriber, it’s one you won’t have to worry about much longer.
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After adding support for U.S. Cellular last month, Google is once again beefing up its Project Fi cellular service.
Moreover, Google refunds customers for the portion of data they don’t use. The new speeds open up a range of new possibilities we often take for granted such as video streaming, video chat, turn-by-turn directions, faster access to email attachments, and the ability to upload media on-the-move.
Google is fully aware that when traveling overseas, your data connection is a major pain point. With the new additions, Fi’s coverage map now extends to “97 percent of the places Americans travel internationally”, according to Google. And, just as before, there are no extra fees for using data internationally – you pay the same $10/GB that you do at home. But despite what the company implies, of course speed is not the only thing that deters users – cost is also a factor.
Starting Tuesday, Project Fi subscribers will find faster service in more countries without breaking the bank. Most of the time Project Fi connects to speedy LTE. Three is a UK-based provider that offers service across Europe. It’s the same $10-per-GB that they would pay in the United States. An additional gigabyte costs $10 per month.
If you don’t already have one of those phones, Google will be running a promotion on the Nexus 6P for the next week.
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All this carrier switching means Project Fi only works on a tiny handful of specialized hardware: the Nexus 6, Nexus 5X, and Nexus 6P.
