Google to offer own cellular network plan

BARCELONA, Spain — Google will soon be offering cellular network plans.

Vice president Sundar Pichai says Google, the leading Internet search engine and mobile software provider, is working with unnamed network operators on developing a cellular plan. He says “you will see us announce it in the coming months.”

Speaking at the Mobile World Congress wireless show in Barcelona, Pichai said on Monday “we are at a stage where it important to think about hardware, software and connectability together.”

Pichai calls Google’s plan to offer cellular services “a project” and insists that the Internet giant is not a threat to traditional telephone and Internet service providers.

He says “we don’t intend to be a network operator at scale.”

BY JOSEPH WILSON, Associated Press