Internet giant Google is negotiating a wholesale access agreement with Hong Kong-based conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa, The Telegraph reports.
According to the report, Google aims to create a global network that will cost the same to use for calls,…
Internet giant Google is negotiating a wholesale access agreement with Hong Kong-based conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa, The Telegraph reports.
According to the report, Google aims to create a global network that will cost the same to use for calls, texts and data regardless of where a customer is located.
Google was not immediately available for comment, while Hutchison declined to comment.
Teaming up with Hutchinson, which owns and operates mobile networks in the UK, Ireland, Italy, Austria, Sweden and Denmark, would allow Google to provide cheap overseas calls across most of Europe, in a move that could shake up the global telecoms markets.
Hutchison has recently signed a binding agreement with Spain’s Telefonica to acquire its UK mobile division, O2, for £10.3bn (US$15.3bn) and combine it with its own British operator, Three, creating the country’s largest wireless carrier. Three already offers free roaming in 18 countries.
Last week, the EU Parliament voted to ban mobile roaming charges from 15 December 2015. The proposal is subject to approval by the EU Council of Ministers.
In early March, Google officially announced the launch of an MVNO service in the US this year, potentially straining the already complicated relationship between tech and telecoms.
Speaking at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Google SVP Sundar Pichai was quoted saying that the company aims to provide a “small scale” offering that would integrate hardware, software, and connectivity.
He added that Google was working with existing partners, with details to follow in the coming few months. Pichai said the company is not looking to threaten incumbent telecoms operators, but rather to encourage them to embrace innovation and accelerate the future adoption of new technologies.
The announcement came amid mounting speculation that the tech giant would offer its services by using Sprint and T-Mobile US’s networks.
The search engine is reportedly looking to launch the MVNO in markets where it sells Google Fiber Internet service, which is now present in Kansas City, Austin and Provo, with plans to expand into Europe.
