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Project Fi, a mobile phone plan by Google, just introduced their own “unlimited” data plan. Project Fi offers simple flat rate billing, seamless connectivity between cell and open Wi-Fi, and “pay for what you use” data pricing. Google is now improving their service and your potential savings even further with their newly announced Bill Protection.
What is Project Fi Bill Protection?
Bill Protection is essentially a combination of their already existing $10/GB data plan with the flexibility of an unlimited plan. For a single person this means that anything over 6 GB is absolutely free, with one small catch — anything above 15 GB is subject to slower speeds unless you pay $10/GB. Better still, ALL data is covered by Bill Protection, including international and data only SIM cards.
For plans with multiple people, the total amount of data you'll pay for before Bill Protection kicks in his higher. See the chart below:
As for the limit before slower speeds/throttling kicks in with multiple people on the plan, we can't seem to find this number, so if you've got it please share.
Key Features of Project Fi with Bill Protection
- Still only pay for what you use
- No cut-offs, just slower speeds
- Domestic, International and Data-only SIM data is covered
- Automatic connectivity to open Wi-Fi with built-in data protection
Our Take
If you don't use much cellular data you're not going to see any benefit from Bill Protection, but it's always nice to know that you have the option to be a bit more liberal with your data use when Wi-Fi isn't readily available. Remember, Project Fi automatically connects to open Wi-Fi sources and encrypts your data, meaning you have to worry even less in areas with abundant Wi-Fi access. Most people don't burn through 6 GB a month (nevermind a whopping 15 GB) yet this plan offers huge benefits and peace of mind for both international and domestic travellers who use a lot of data without access to Wi-Fi. This plan just makes sense — you pay for what you use without being penalized for those rare months go over the top.
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This is great news. Especially for people with low data usage on average. For the occasional times they may need to use extra data, for things like maps or navigation, they now have a worry free safety net.
This is a positive development. Increased competition is good for consumers. I’d like to see continued downward pressure on price of unlimited data plans.
Not a better deal for my family because we always use less than 2GB per month. T-mobile is about $90 including taxes for 3 lines, Project Fi is $140 before taxes but has the 6GB that we’ll never use.
If you can keep your data usage low, you’ll always find better deals than Fi.
This is another amazing feature of Project Fi. My husband and I love it, especially for using it to travel internationally. No roaming charges. We used to pay more than double for Verizon. Not anymore.
Would this work for me? I am based 7 months of each year in Austria and working in Germany (crossing the border every day). The remaining 5 months are spent travelling here, there and everywhere.
Check out: https://medium.com/digital-nomad-stories/how-to-hack-google-fi-for-non-us-citizens-e065e978d8e4
Thanks for this!
Hmm….so if I spend a lot of time in Germany, would T-Mobile be better or Google? I find that it’s easy to just walk into a store in Germany and t-mobile readily helps me with my bill, etc. Where with Google, obviously, I would have to get any help over the phone.
After factoring in the ease of access to help in a store I might just stay with T-Mobile even though I spend more.
Always going to be better off with a local SIM for a long stay.
With other options out there, this doesn’t sound like that great a deal. If you want a good international plan go with T-Mobile. If you want cheap, Ting is pay for only what you use. Both are better deals.
Sounds like a great option. Will check this out.
Hope iPhone can support this well
It does. While Google won’t say officially on their site, it does work.
Last I heard an iPhone works for calls and data but not every texting or carrier switching.
Text works — but some of the magic google fi carrier switching — specifically in the US, wouldn’t work on a non-fi certified device.
wow – expensive in the US
an I’m complaining for our pricing….10 GB for 25$ (without mobile for free or 1$)
including iphone X for 1$: 70$/month
Meh, it’s google.
Meh? Why do you say meh?
How can this work for a family of data hogs (three kids that seem to need to stream Instagram videos and snapchat all day long??
Hey, when they get throttled they’ll spend less time streaming at least 🙂
Good to know! Looks great.
Let’s hope even more big players enter the competition!
nice deal if you use international a bunch
Google FI is a amazing concept. love it
I’m happy with my 3gb T-Mobile plan for 40 bucks, which is about as much as I’d ever pay for cell service, so I’m hoping that the data caps will always increase so that I always stay below it as my usage evolves.
I like the idea of unlimited data, I always go through more data each month than expected.
I never heard of this, but it’s good to know about options.
Wow, cellphone pricing plans are getting really complicated to comprehend.
Seems like a fancier way of saying it’s unlimited but throttled after 6 gb, unless you elect to pay an extra $10 per gb.
Not throttled after 6GB — throttled after 15GB!
Interesting to watch Google’s mobile development (from a distance!).
While the bill protection is a good perk, their rates still seem a bit high to me as compared to other prepaid carriers.
No roaming fees though.
Tmobile has $60 unlimited for 2 lines for 55+ seniors.
i switched to google fi last year and have never looked back. I’ve used it internationally in costa rica, England and Macedonia and it has worked everywhere. its so nice not to have to stress about my data usage at home, or while travelling!
Thanks for the testimonial.
Not sure thats a good deal when you can get unlimited talk, text and data from several companies now.
But can you get it seamlessly with international coverage?
T-Mobile has pretty much global coverage with their data without any overages.
Yes, but you’ll pay more for high-speed access.
I believe they have $40/month per person for unlimited high speed
Competition in any marketplace is rarely a bad thing, so let’s keep seeing what develops.
lots of competition here, waiting for the market to settle down (if it ever does)