MetroPCS on Tuesday became the nation's first 4G LTE carrier and released the world's first LTE phone, the Samsung Craft. So what does that mean to you? You can read our in-depth story and our hands-on with the Craft, or you can get your quick answers here.
Why is this important? LTE is the next-generation wireless technology that all the major carriers will be switching to over the next few years. (Sprint says it's solid with 4G WiMAX, but its 4G network provider Clearwire has been making moony eyes over at LTE.) MetroPCS is first.
What does LTE get you right now? MetroPCS never had 3G, so Internet speeds on its phones have been pretty awful. For now, LTE gives them 3G-like speeds, video streaming, and full-track music downloads like the big carriers have had for years. Service plans will cost an affordable $55-60 per month.
Where's the LTE? Right now in Las Vegas, and on one phone, the Samsung Craft. It will be in all MetroPCS cities by the end of the year.
So what's in this LTE phone? The $299 Craft isn't a smartphone, but it's a nice, pretty fancy feature phone. It has a bright AMOLED screen, a 3.2-megpixel camera, a full keyboard, and a Web browser.
How is this different from other carriers' 4G? Other carriers are initially doing 4G at much higher speeds, but then again, they had 3G already. MetroPCS is also more intense about doing voice over 4G in the near future, so it can get more capacity on their relatively small slices of spectrum and still charge low, low rates.
Where are the smartphones, and who's making their future phones? Android smartphones are coming early next year. For phones in general, Samsung is obviously on board, but I have it on good word that Huawei and Kyocera will be providing phones soon. It's an open question whether big smartphone makers like HTC and Motorola can bring their prices down low enough to satisfy MetroPCS.
This doesn't sound awesome. What's awesome? A brand-new network technology at $55 per month with no contract is pretty crazy. Also, MetroPCS isn't afraid of VoIP and wants to start VoIP-ing as soon as it can. Running voice calls over the Internet gives other wireless carriers the willies for some reason.
Will MetroPCS LTE phones work on other LTE networks, and vice versa? Not for now, but maybe in the future. MetroPCS is doing LTE on the 1700 MHz frequency, and nobody else is, so the MetroPCS phones only work on its frequency. Verizon phones won't work on Metro's frequency.
Will MetroPCS start selling PC/Mac/iPad Internet access? Not for now. It don't want to clog up its network with road hogs watching high-def Hulu.
Sum it all up in one sentence? MetroPCS is using cutting-edge technology to offer better phones while keeping monthly rates way down.