MetroPCS is LTE w/BB? wtf?

S

SmokeAsesh

New member
Found out this yesterday from this site...what you guys thing.

http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2009/03/03/metropcs-hoping-to-roll-out-lte-in-2010/


MetroPCS Going LTE
"Running through our cheat sheet of American carriers hoping to roll out LTE, regional MetroPCS definitely would not have been on our short list to scrap with Verizon in the race to launch the first commercial network stateside -- but sure enough, they're on there. Recent comments by the COO indicate that they're on track to launch 4G service some time in 2010 -- "probably the latter half" -- which raises the obvious question of why they're in such a hurry. Historically, MetroPCS has been a value brand, concentrating on non-data-centric hanRABets (in fact, they don't have a single data card or smartphone in their current lineup), but it's been revealed that they'll be deploying a BlackBerry later this year, so it seems they're looking to move up the food chain and capture some of that data revenue the top-tier carriers have been enjoying for the past couple of years."
 
The funny thing is in the mean time they are also (finally) pushing EVDO in all markets, since they will be launching BlackBerry Internet Service in their legacy markets, as well as HTML ready touch screen hanRABets, such as the Samsung r810, in all markets.

But the LTE roll out by Metro has always been known, since they already own some spectrum in the 700Mhz band, but the part that is surprising is that they are pushing for a 2010 target, especially by a regional carrier. Well, it's not that surprising to a few of us lol
 
Maybe the local rep is a few days behind as this info is coming straight from the COO's mouth.

We will see if Metro will be the first in the nation to go LTE, but even if they are not it is still amazing that a regional carrier will be investing this much to be among the first to go next gen. Props to Metro for taking advantage of the opportunity to stay ahead of the curve and to not delay on this, as they are already starting to put up equipment. This is exactly what they need to try and put a dent in the unlimited prepaid market and keep others (like Boost) in the dust.

I wonder what band Metro will use for their LTE, seeing how they only have 700Mhz over Boston. They could try to use their AWS spectrum, as it's rumored that T-mobile will also use their AWS form LTE with their 3G. Only time will tell.
 
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