Google’s long-awaited mobile phone software will finally be available on Oct. 22, when it comes packaged with U.S. company T-Mobile’s new smartphone, the G1. But Canadians shouldn’t expect to see the innovative technology in this country any time soon.
Google’s software, called ‘Android,’ is an important next step in the world of mobile phone technology because it is open source, meaning phone manufacturers can use the operating system on their phones free of charge. This means carriers selling Android-powered phones can offer cheaper phones and lower monthly rates.
It also means anyone can develop applications for the Android platform for free, which users can then download from Google’s Android Marketplace, again at no cost.
Some early Android applications include GoCart, which uses the phone’s camera to scan a product’s barcode, then quotes prices for the product from websites and nearby stores. Another is Life360, which uses the phone’s GPS to track loved ones during emergencies.
“It’s going to force the rest of the industry to look at the model it uses to bring device and software to market,” says industry analyst Carmi Levy. “And to do everything it can to reduce prices, because Google is going to force them to go there.”
Because of all this openness, Android could do a great deal to loosen the noose wireless carriers currently have around their clients’ necks, offering a cheaper alternative to the BlackBerry and iPhone. But a spokesperson for Google says there are no current plans to bring Android to Canada.
Phone manufacturers and wireless providers around the world, from Sprint Nextel to China Mobile, have partnered with Google to bring this new technology to their customers.
It’s no surprise that none of Canada’s current carriers have hopped on board. After all, Canada’s mobile phone companies thrive on control.
T-Mobile can’t bring the G1 to Canada. Canada’s laws prevent foreign telecommunications companies from coming here and potentially taking business away from Canadian corporations, meaning T-Mobile, a subsidiary of German-owned Deutsche Telekom, can’t set up shop.
Android could only come to Canada on a smartphone offered by one of the three main carriers: Rogers, Telus or Bell. None of these companies have announced plans for an Android-powered phone.
“We still live in a virtual monopoly when it comes to buying cell phones,” says Levy. “What we can buy when we walk into a store is pretty much dictated by the whims of Rogers, Bell and Telus. And there isn’t that much incentive among the three of them to bring the latest and greatest phones to the market.”
But all this could change.
In a report this summer, the federal government-appointed Competition Policy Review Panel recommended lifting foreign ownership restrictions on wireless phone networks, echoing recommendations made in a 2006 report commissioned by the former Liberal government.
But even if our telecommunications market remains closed to foreign companies, the introduction of several new Canadian companies over the next year might do something to change the cellular landscape.
Shaw, Globalive and several other companies bought their way onto the airwaves this summer in a government-run auction intended to make Canada’s wireless industry more competitive. The wireless newcomers are poised to enter the market in late 2009.
The result will be a more competitive market, and companies might have to get creative. Levy says the companies would do well to look at offering at least one Android-powered phone. “What better way to offer a better deal than to sell a much better smartphone for less money?”
In the meantime, however, Canadians hoping for a cheaper, more open smartphone can only look across the border with envy. And then go pay the Rogers bill.