Racing Against Google to Sell Wi-Fi Phones

Of all the eyes on Google’s new wireless service last month, none were watching more intently than those at the North Carolina headquarters of Republic Wireless -- a startup that is about to face a big new rival.

Google’s new service, called Project Fi, takes the potentially disruptive approach of routing users over free Wi-Fi airwaves where possible and using expensive cellular service only as a fallback. That’s exactly what Republic has done as it has built up a service with a few hundred thousand subscribers over the past four years. It isn’t clear what the entrance of a big consumer brand like Google means for Republic. Optimists say it validates the Wi-Fi-first approach and may help Republic persuade subscribers to switch from mainstream carriers while expanding the number of phones that will work on the service. But there’s also a risk that Google could end up disrupting the 225-person company that moved more quickly to challenge the telecom industry’s predominant pricing.