MetroPCS offers LTE in Las Vegas
From Broadband Reports: MetroPCS has beaten all other carriers to the punch by launching LTE service in Las Vegas. According to a company statement, the company is also offering the first LTE-supported smartphone right out of the gate (albeit not one that will compete with Android or iOS): The Samsung Craft (see device specs here), which they’re selling for $299 after a $50 rebate.
The company’s base LTE plan is $55 a month (prepaid) for unlimited talk, SMS, and unlimited data speeds of around 6-8 Mbps. That price point includes all taxes and fees; MetroPCS continuing its effort to differentiate itself by not assaulting consumer bills with below the line costs.
The company is also pushing a $60 tier, which features layered social networking services and a RealNetworks-driven video service dubbed Metrostudio. According to the company, tethering is not allowed in either the $55 or $60 tier.
The network, built in cooperation with Samsung, should cover most — but not all — of the existing MetroPCS CDMA footprint in Las Vegas. According to MetroPCS, the company hopes to have the service deployed across in all of their markets by January, with several additional deployments before the end of the year.