MetroPCS launches first 4G LTE market and phone

From CNET News.com: MetroPCS launched the nation's first Long Term Evolution 4G wireless broadband networkTuesday in Las Vegas along with the first ever commercial LTE handset.

Like all MetroPCS services, the new 4G wireless broadband service is prepaid and it doesn't require a contract. For $55 a month, users get unlimited talk, text and data. And for an additional $5 a month, they also get 18 channels of streaming video.

The prepaid wireless operator is launching the new service with the first LTE handset: the Samsung Craft.

But before you get too excited, there are some important caveats. For now the service is only available in parts of Las Vegas. Eventually, MetroPCS will expand the service to its other markets. By 2011, Tom Keys, MetroPCS chief operating officer, said the company expects to cover 19 markets with the LTE service.

MetroPCS does not support 3G technology for data on the rest of its network. Instead it offers a 2.5G data implementation. So the move to 4G was a way to leapfrog the 3G data technology and move right toward faster speed wireless broadband. What this means for consumers who sign up for the service is that when you are not in 4G wireless territory, the network that you end up using is really a 2.5G network instead of a speedier 3G network.

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