MetroPCS is teaming up with Samsung to release a 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) SCH-r900 phone in North America during the second half of 2010.
"MetroPCS will be building a network in the Las Vegas metro area in the second half of this year and they will be partnering with Samsung for a complete solution," said Tom Jasny, Samsung VP of wireless networks, during CTIA.
Additional markets receiving MetroPCS 4G service haven't been disclosed, but at least Las Vegas has been confirmed.
All major phone carriers have plans to use faster data networks in the future, with performance increases up to 10 times faster than current 3G speeds. MetroPCS has less than 7 million U.S. subscribers and didn't use 3G very much -- giving AT&T, Verizon Wireless, T-Mobile, and Sprint the opportunity to fight over the network -- but they wants to get a head start on rivals this time around.
Sprint kicked off the 4G party at CTIA by announcing the HTC Evo 4G smartphone, though the Evo is a WiMAX phone, which is a technology that only Sprint will use.
Verizon Wireless plans to also utilize 4G, but they aren't expected to launch a 4G phone until 2011. Until then, the company will continue testing its 4G networks in Seattle and other select markets.
I doubt MetroPCS is going to be a major competitor in the 4G network battle -- and doubt subscribers will leave AT&T or VZW to switch to the smaller network -- but it's great to see its service areas get 4G after the company virtually skipped 3G altogether.
