Google's Wireless Strategy Starts To Take Root

Already a fixture on most computers, Google has taken an important step to become a mainstay on wireless phones, too. In a potentially big breakthrough, Verizon Wireless said this past week that it would use Google's Android software on some of its devices, while unconfirmed reports indicate the Internet-search giant could soon enter a relationship with AT&T. Verizon Wireless and AT&T are the two largest mobile-phone companies in the U.S., with more than 160 million customers combined. Google has been trying for several years to get the companies to adopt Android, an operating system designed to make wireless phones very easy to use. The goal of Google is not necessarily to make money from the software, but to extend its presence beyond the world's roughly 2 billion Internet-connected computers. As more Internet traffic shifts to wireless networks, Google wants to make sure people are using its software on mobile devices. "They want to lock people into the Google world," said wireless analyst Tero Kuittinen of MKM Partners. "They are literally giving Android away."