Given that there were people who would try to use the free version for their business, and then kvetch (on HN and/or other major technology blogs) when their account was hijacked and they lost business critical access and couldn't recover quickly because they didn't have the 24/7 phone support, it might actually be better that the free version is getting sunset....
Frankly, I read the blog post and I have Google Apps for Business at work (and use the free version for my domain), and I missed this. It's kind of buried in the middle paragraph, and I don't remember it being trumpeted on the upsell page when I signed up.
If it's anything like the Play Store phone support, it's basically a placebo so you feel instantly gratified, while the CSR sends an email to the real support team ( with ~48 hour turn-around).
This is likely primarily an opportunity to upsell other services - great opportunity to chat with people, make a connection, build a relationship, etc..
