Compare the size of South Korea, and the size of the US, that's why it's easier to blanket South Korea with data networks.
Google is offering ways to more seamlessly switch WiFi networks and make using a public trusted WiFi instantly.
The fact is that in the US there are a lot of coverage gaps and places where a specific type of service has very bad coverage (2G or 3G). Without cell data Google Maps won't work (1 year ago, might be better now).
We don't know if it will be useful yet, it might be great, it might be nothing special.
They are also offering financing on a Nexus 6, I haven't done the math to see if that's worth it (doubt it), but they'll probably be making a good amount of money off of that.
Most importantly it will put pressure on Verizon and ATT to lower prices and improve the value of the service, just like Google Fiber does it areas it is available in.
FreedomPop provides 500mb a month free data and you can pre-pay monthly for more data with lower overage costs. You do get sprint only.
Republic Wireless already does the Wifi calling and switching and unlimited data.
Ptel sells prepaid data at a flat $.10/megabye (atleast $10 / 60 days) and there are others in that range.
There really isn't anything new here.
If they can create a global network of networks where I can bring my own device, I'd be interested. The are other resellers that offer
At the very least, I would have expected their plans to encourage people to prefer data to talk/text.
I would really prefer a much lower base rate with zero talk/text and reasonable "overage" charges. Even at the old system of $.30/minute and $.25/message, It would probably come out cheaper for me. The overage charges will also encourage me to use more data instead of talk/text, and isn't that what Google wants me to do anyway?
(My mother is with a South Korean MVNO and pays a $0 base rate, with "overage" charges at $.0018 per second of outgoing calls and $.02 per outgoing text. Crazy, huh? Pay-as-you-go data is more expensive with her carrier, but she doesn't need much data.)
All in all, apart from easy international roaming, I don't see anything special in this offer. It's the same old American carrier racket, only more expensive. I expected more from Google.