GFiber drops SMS and Google Voice integration from its home phone service
Existing numbers, hardware and calling will remain, but customers must manage voicemail and call history through a new GFiber portal.
By Ryan Merket · Published
Why it matters
GFiber Phone customers using a household number for shared texts, account alerts or two-factor codes must move those workflows before SMS disappears from the service.
GFiber is moving its home phone customers onto a new platform that removes SMS and disconnects their numbers from the Google Voice app, cutting two of the features that distinguished the internet provider's phone service from a conventional landline replacement.
The change is scheduled to roll out during 2026, according to GFiber's support page. GFiber says affected customers will receive emails with their individual transition timing and instructions. A customer surfaced the change on Reddit on August 5th after receiving the notice.
The update applies to GFiber Phone, the voice-over-internet service formerly sold as a home phone "powered by Google Voice." Customers could use a GFiber Phone number through the Google Voice app, giving a shared household or business line access to text messaging and app-based call management.
That arrangement ends when each account moves to the new platform. The underlying phone line, existing number and physical phone box will continue working, and calls within the US and Canada will remain included. GFiber says customers will not need replacement hardware.
What customers lose in the migration
SMS will stop working entirely for the GFiber Phone number after migration. Previous messages will remain available by signing into the customer's Google Voice account, but the number will no longer send or receive new texts.
The distinction matters because Google Voice itself continues to support SMS. GFiber is removing the feature from GFiber Phone numbers as part of its platform change rather than announcing a broader shutdown of texting in Google Voice.
Customers will also lose access to their GFiber Phone number inside the Google Voice mobile and web apps. Call history and voicemail will move to a dedicated GFiber Phone portal, and customers will need to record a new voicemail greeting after their transition. International calling rates outside the US and Canada are also changing.
GFiber is adding call-handling controls through the new portal, including schedules that route calls differently based on the time of day and the ability to ring multiple devices. The current GFiber Phone product page also advertises call forwarding, power-outage routing, call screening, do-not-disturb controls and voicemail access through the portal or a phone keypad.
The pricing picture depends on when the customer subscribed. GFiber's transition notice says existing customers covered by the update will keep their $10 monthly rate. GFiber currently advertises the phone add-on to new customers for $20 a month.
Customers who still want Google Voice must obtain a separate Google Voice number, then configure GFiber Phone to forward calls to it. That workaround preserves access to Google Voice features under a second number, but it does not restore SMS to the original GFiber Phone number. Any accounts, alerts or two-factor authentication systems tied to that household number will need another SMS-capable destination.
GFiber continues separating its service from Google products
The platform migration removes a prominent Google dependency from GFiber's consumer phone product during a larger restructuring of the broadband business.
On March 11th, GFiber and Stonepeak-owned Astound Broadband agreed to combine in a new broadband provider. Stonepeak is set to hold a majority stake, while Google parent Alphabet will retain a minority position. GFiber's existing executive team is slated to lead the combined operation.
GFiber then made its shortened name official on March 26th, retiring Google Fiber as its primary brand. The phone migration pushes the product in the same operational direction: customers will use GFiber's own portal rather than a Google consumer app to control their service.
The effect is a narrower phone product. GFiber Phone retains calling, 911 support, voicemail and routing controls, but it loses the app-based texting that allowed one fixed number to operate across several people's devices. For households using the number strictly for voice calls, the transition should require little beyond recording a new greeting. Customers who treated GFiber Phone as a shared messaging line face a service downgrade and a number-migration problem that call forwarding cannot solve.