What you need to know
- Google Fi has removed US Cellular as one of its two supported networks.
- This change makes T-Mobile the only officially supported network on Google Fi.
- Subscribers can use US cellular networks even when roaming at no additional charge.
Google Fi has removed one of the two carriers it supports for subscribers, but this is not cause for alarm.
A recent change to Google Fi’s supported cellular networks was essentially spotted by a subscriber’s conversation with customer support that appeared on Reddit (via 9to5Google). The Redditor tried to connect to the US cellular network, but their phone would not even try to establish a network, displaying a “no subscription” message. After a short conversation with support, I was told that “US Cellular is no longer an official network for Google Fi”.
This was later confirmed by 9to5, making T-Mobile the only network officially supported by Google Fi, especially since Sprint merged with T-Mobile.
Those who rely on US Cellular network connectivity need not worry too much about this. Google Fi customer support has informed subscribers that US Cellular can still connect via extended networks (roaming). The only bright spot in this change is that users won’t be charged for using her US Cellular network while roaming.
However, even when both networks are working perfectly fine, users still seem to be thrown out to the T-Mobile network as the only service supported is T-Mobile.
Google hasn’t properly addressed the sudden drop yet, but subscribers were assured by a customer representative for the service that they should expect an official update from Google soon.
