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Google Launches Project Fi, Competes With Wireless Industry

Customers using the service will pay only for the amount of cellular data they use each month.

(TNS) -- Google Inc. unveiled its cellular service Wednesday, partnering with Sprint and T-Mobile in a bid to shake up the wireless industry.

Customers using the service, named Project Fi, will pay only for the amount of cellular data they use each month, Google vice president Nick Fox wrote in a blog post.

The cell service costs $20 a month and each gigabyte of cellular data is $10 a month. If a customer doesn’t use all their purchased data, they will get a refund, Google said.

Most wireless phone carriers allow their customers to roll over unused data into another month of service without refunding any money.

Last month, a Google executive said the company plans to launch a cellphone network to introduce technology that it wants to see big carriers adopt.

Project Fi is only available on the Nexus 6, the smartphone the tech giant developed with Motorola. However, a Google spokesperson said the company hopes to expand the service to “other Google hardware soon.”

Google shares climbed $5.40, or 1 percent, to $539.36 on Wall Street on Wednesday.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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