Google Opens 24-Hour Window ‘Instant Invites’ For Project Fi Wireless Service

Up until this point, you’ve had to acquire an invite to join Project Fi, then sit around and wait to selected to join the festivities. But from now until around this time tomorrow, you’ll be able to bypass the bouncer at the door and get your groove on with other Project Fi participants. 

The #Nexus5X ships today–so Project Fi is giving out instant invites for 24hrs to celebrate http://t.co/t3N7V4FaOC pic.twitter.com/qmpUVHttlS

— Project Fi (@projectfi) October 19, 2015

For those that need a refresher, Project Fi uses a combination of Wi-Fi calling in addition to Sprint and T-Mobile wireless networks. As long as you’re in range of a Wi-Fi hotspot (that you’re authenticated to use), your phone calls are routed via Wi-Fi. When you’re not within range of a Wi-Fi hotspot, your smartphone will connect to either Sprint or T-Mobile’s wireless network depending on which will give you the best service at that particular time and location. 

“If you leave an area of Wi-Fi coverage, your call will seamlessly transition from Wi-Fi to cell networks so your conversation doesn’t skip a beat,” said Nick Fox, Google VP of Communications Products, in April when announcing the service.

Project Fi also differs from traditional wireless plans when it comes to pricing. Customers start off paying a flat $20 for “Fi Basics” which includes unlimited talk/text, international calling and Wi-Fi tethering. Customers then pay an additional $10 for each gigabyte of data that they plan to use per month. So a customer that would like a plan with 4GB of data would pay a total of $60 per month. However, if you don’t use your full 4GB of data during the billing cycle, you receive a refund.

So given that same $60 plan, let’s assume that the customer only uses 2GB of the 4GB data plan during the month. You would then receive a $20 refund from Google for the used portion (2GB at $10 per gigabyte).

Project Fi is currently open to Nexus 6 and now Nexus 5X owners. And it will also be available to the owners of the Nexus 6P when it launches later this month.