I don't think it is a matter of not being able to reach Google the network service but the Google provided services that run on the phone (they may well then access the network and provide useful error messages that you fully handle). It is more like a case of a missing library than a loss of network connectivity. There is a good argument that you should always check anyway but there is also the argument that the app is only designed to run on devices with the Google Play services installed and that you only sell it that way so anyone without must be pirating anyway.

Besides that what do you do to handle the loss of something your app requires as a basic service? A nice error beats NullPointer but not by much.