‘s oject Fi forces you to use or lose your Voice number

BY GreenBot Staff

Published 6 May 2015

oject Fi invites are on their way, they reveal a lot about how ’s new wireless service will work. 

A series of screenshots posted by a Reddit user show the signup process, with a key provision being that you need to use the Voice number tied to your account or choose another. 

If you don’t bring in your existing number to oject Fi you can choose another. However, your former number then goes back into the Voice pool. So choose wisely.

Additionally, if you port in your current Voice number you lose some signature features, like the ability to make calls send receive text messages through the Voice app or website.

google voice project fi Imgur

If you have an existing Voice number you’ll need to use it with oject Fi, otherwise it disappears. 

Nonetheless, you still can use your number through Hangouts, the service that continues to hint may take over for Voice.

The rest of the process involves choosing your data plan, which is rather straightforward. It starts at $20 monthly for unlimited calls texts, plus $10 per GB for data. So 6GB a month will cost you a total of $80. oject Fi phones (currently on the Nexus 6 is the only choice) hop between T-Mobile, Sprint, public -Fi networks for coverage. 

Another perk is that you’re rebated for any unused cellular data. There’s also no overage charge; you just pay the usual cost of the higher-tiered plan. There are, however, no family plans available.

The story behind the story: ’s oject Fi is the company’s effort to shake up the wireless industry. It had some success with this model through Fiber, as companies like AT&T Comcast have started to offer faster Internet speeds that match the “Gigabit” service from the Internet giant. If more consumer-friendly plans or network-switching capabilities go mainstream, will already have made a positive impact on the wireless industry.