MetroPCS first to deploy LTE in the US? May have BlackBerry onboard already

Ilinca Nita  By on 04 Mar 09

The first carrier to deploy an LTE network in the US might not be Verizon and neither AT&T, but MetroPCS, the regional prepaid mobile operator that currently has about 5.4 million subscribers.

Gigaom reports that Tom Keys, MetroPCS’ chief operating officer, said the company’s plans are to deploy LTE in 2010, most probably in the second half of the year.

Since the carrier offers services in only 14 US markets, the deployment should be much faster than in Verizon’s case, which has to cover the whole country with the new and faster network.

metropcs-logo

At the moment, MetroPCS doesn’t have any smartphones in its offering, so one may wonder why does the carrier want to have its own LTE network.

Well, Tom Keys declared that they’ll be bringing a device from “a Canadian smartphone maker” next year – which almost certainly means a BlackBerry will be launched. 

This being said, it looks like MetroPCS’ customers have a really nice year ahead, isn’t it?

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  • Newsman

    This a joke masquerading as news, isn't it?

    Since Verizon has publicly said it will deploy LTE in test markets in the final quarter of 2009, and begin commercial rollout in 1Q10, and has named its hardware suppliers, its hard to understand how anybody could conclude that a MetroPCS plan to deploy a year later would make it the first in the U.S.

    And of course this story is based on nothing but the report in some other “blog” and not on a public MetroPCS statement. Whoever wrote this obviously doesn't own a telephone with which to at least try to call MetroPCS for confirmation.

    And thus we see the death of journalism …

  • http://www.unwiredview.com Ilinca

    You do have a point, but this is more like a rumor that it is news. I'm sure you can see that I said “might not be Verizon and neither AT&T” – with emphasis on “might”.

    Until Verizon actually deploys LTE, no one can say for sure that it will do it when it said it would (i.e in Q1 2010). There are often delays when it comes to these sorts of things. See T-Mobile and its 3G network…

  • http://www.unwiredview.com Ilinca

    Correction: It's more like a rumor than it is news.

  • Newsman

    This a joke masquerading as news, isn't it?

    Since Verizon has publicly said it will deploy LTE in test markets in the final quarter of 2009, and begin commercial rollout in 1Q10, and has named its hardware suppliers, its hard to understand how anybody could conclude that a MetroPCS plan to deploy a year later would make it the first in the U.S.

    And of course this story is based on nothing but the report in some other “blog” and not on a public MetroPCS statement. Whoever wrote this obviously doesn't own a telephone with which to at least try to call MetroPCS for confirmation.

    And thus we see the death of journalism …

  • http://www.unwiredview.com Ilinca

    You do have a point, but this is more like a rumor that it is news. I'm sure you can see that I said “might not be Verizon and neither AT&T” – with emphasis on “might”.

    Until Verizon actually deploys LTE, no one can say for sure that it will do it when it said it would (i.e in Q1 2010). There are often delays when it comes to these sorts of things. See T-Mobile and its 3G network…

  • http://www.unwiredview.com Ilinca

    Correction: It's more like a rumor than it is news.

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