An interesting idea.

The relationship between Silicon Valley and the wireless operators has been a hot topic in recent months. Few deals have been announced in the US though there have been more abroad. Watching the carriers go head to head with Google, Yahoo! and Microsoft on Search and web browsing (information retrieval on phones) leads one to suspect the two sides have talked, but failed to reach agreements - or perhaps it's too early for the carriers to know exactly what they want long term.

Whether or not the carriers would be willing to let one of these online players be an MVNO is one aspect that hasn't been discussed that extensively. Our research shows that few consumers are interested in ad-sponsored voice services, but consumers seldom say they are.

The other interesting aspect would choice of technology. We haven't seen a greenfield entrant with the same resources as Google. Just because they bid doesn't mean they have plans for a national roll-out. We've seen that with our local Wi-Fi - the SF trial.