For whatever reason, it seems that Google is no longer accepting new signups for the free version of Google Apps. The option to switch to the free version will no longer be available in 30 days. Hmmm, perhaps the customers still have some time anyway before this is bound to happen like sometime in January next year. However, the change has no impact on the customers who are already using the free version. They can continue to use Google Apps for free. More information can be found at http://googleenterprise.blogspot.com/2012/12/changes-to-google-apps-for-businesses.html
http://support.google.com/a/bin/answer.py?answer=2855120.