As reported in iTWire in January,  Google was rumoured to have struck deals with mobile carriers Sprint and T-Mobile that will let the company become a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) and sell mobile services without having to build its own network.

Promising that more information would be released as the year progresses, senior vp of products at Google, Sundar Pichai, told the audience at MWC that Google doesn’t intend to compete with other mobile network operators but to “drive a set of innovations” in the same way as Google Nexus smartphones don’t compete with other smartphones.

However, given the successful Google Nexus 5 made by LG undercut the price of similarly featured phones by several hundred dollars in many markets, including Australia, Pichai’s comment appears to signal that Google intends to drive down prices for mobile data plans first in the US and then globally.

The advent of MVNO services such as Boost, Amaysim, Aldi and Virgin (now a subsidiary of Optus) in Australia have already pressured the three network operators in Australia to lower their prices significantly. Vodafone now offers a 3GB data plan with unlimited voice and text for $45 a month.

Google has a major advantage of the telecoms players in the mobile broadband space because it doesn’t need to make a profit.

Market watchers say that the ultimate goal for Google is not to make money on its mobile products and services but to drive increased adoption and use of mobile data so that the world’s biggest online search and advertising provider can make more money from an increase in overall internet traffic.

That being the case, Google’s entry as an MVNO into the Australian market, where mobile data prices are still relatively high, should be welcomed by telecoms consumers.