Sprint's Google Voice comes with landline fee

Sprint smartphone users who have started using Google Voice on their devices have discovered that, in some cases, the people they call are being hit with overage charges. This could be a major knock against the intriguing, ground-breaking partnership between Google Voice and Sprint, which announced in March that it would be making the service available on some of the carrier's smartphones.

While porting was not an option at that time, the companies later offered an integration feature that allowed Sprint callers to use and display their Sprint number as their Google number without having to actually port it and pay the porting charges. Using Google Voice is free to Sprint users, but, because Google Voice is a landline service, the folks being called from that service may face an extra landline fee.

Afters many users reported the charges, Google admitted their existence and explained that nothing can be done about it, which seems like a sure way of discouraging people from using Google Voice numbers as their primary Sprint numbers.

Skype has developed strong relationships with some carriers. Google would do well to do the same, but unexpected charges aren't going to help it find a foothold among Sprint users.

For more:
- read this Daily Tech story

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Sprint announced Google Voice integration in March
Google has been looking for ways around number porting
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