I think they should create a phone that works on a Wifi connection and that for every phone sold - 100 Dollars would go towards your own personal contribution to a WIMAX net over your own city one that you are a stake holder in. I think that would be a really decent way to create a new phone, cell comms net.

Of course you would have the option to choose which network to go with - Like search it would be great if it enabled you to see who is offering the best prices on cell calls. But the upside is that you would try to persuade everyone to use the phone because that way you all get free calls and free wifi whereever you go - Utopian some would say - Workable? Well, if anyone can do it Google can>>>>

In the near term, this is very unlikely and unpractical for Google. First, simply by selecting a cellular radio technology (most certainly GSM and possibly UMTS, not CDMA/EV-DO), they have already limited the possible carriers in the USA to AT&T or T-Mobile. Of course, GSM/UMTS are also the de-facto international standards, and simply by knowing that the Google Phone will be carried abroad by Orange and Vodafone, we know it is GSM based.

Second, they are likely to release it through carriers (SIM-locked) as opposed to unbranded/unlocked, simply because most people do not expect to pay the full price (let’s say $400 for the sake of argument) for the phone. They expect to get it for a substantial discount with a 2-year contract. (As a side point, the iPhone’s sale price is really subsidised as well - Apple get something like 10% of the revenue from the customer’s 2-year contract with AT&T - that’s one important reason that Apple released it SIM-locked).

Third, if the phone is 3G (UMTS/HSDPA) capable, which is likely to be as a selling point vs. the iPhone, it is even more likely that it will be tailored for one specific network in the USA (i.e. AT&T and not T-Mobile, or T-Mobile and not AT&T). That’s because the 3G cellular bands are different between these two providers (AT&T uses WCDMA 850/1900 MHz, T-Mobile is deploying on 1700/2100MHz - neither of which is the same as the 2100MHz frequency used internationally). In other words, if the GPhone is released for the AT&T 3G bands, it will not work on T-Mobile’s, and vice versa. If the GPhone sports 3G, it is likely to come in one US flavor (presumably, for the AT&T network) and one European/Asian flavor.

Longer term, both the 2G/GSM and the 3G/WCDMA networks are dinosaurs. Hence, Google’s bid for the newly opened 700MHz spectrum in the USA. They are likely to deploy a wholly new technology (let’s say WiMax/802.16e for the sake of argument) on this new spectrum - and as such, are likely to make the device more data-centric than any phone that is released today (including the first version of the GPhone). That’s where Sprint is going with their new WiMax network - rumors are that they are launching this as a completely new business, separate from the Sprint Wireless division, with a completely new business model (data/internet oriented, possible phone calls via VoIP, one $59.99/month subscription per person, not per device, etc. etc). For instance, one of the first devices that Sprint will offer for their new WiMax network will be a new version of the Nokia N800 Internet Tablet - - which is not a phone at all!

And sadly, the days when there would be one or two international standard frequencies for a given technology (GSM works over 900 and 1800MHz internationally, and 850/1900 MHz in the USA by both T-Mobile and AT&T) are long gone. Spectrum has become so scarce that we are likely to see a very fragmented WiMax/4G landscape. So, while Sprint may own bands within 2300-2400 and 2500-2600 MHz in the USA, there are no equivalent international standards. Which means that 4G devices (whether WiMax or not) will likely need to be quite a bit more soft-programmable / flexible in turns of adapting to a variety of frequencies, depending on what’s available where they are used. In turn, this means that Google’s possible ownership of the 700Mhz band in the USA does not necessarily translate to a dependency on this particular frequency.