MetroPCS to launch 4G LTE Android handset in Q1 2011

Imagine unlimited talk, text, and 4G data for only $55 per month. That is the no-contract plan that MetroPCS is offering right now on their first LTE handset, the non-Android Samsung Craft.

We don’t talk about our nation’s fifth largest carrier that much, but MetroPCS is expanding their 4G LTE network to a city near you and they plan to have an Android phone for it in Q1 2011, possibly as early as February.

Their 4G coverage, as last month, is limited currently to the Las Vegas, Dallas-Ft Worth, Detroit, Los Angeles, and Philadelphia metro areas. That 4G coverage is expected to expand to Sacramento, Central Florida, Boston, North Florida, South Florida, San Francisco, Atlanta, and New York City by the end of 2010 to the early 2011. Full 4G LTE roll-out in all the MetroPCS service areas is expected to be completed by the end of 2011.

To put that in perspective, MetroPCS should cover roughly 110 million people with their 4G LTE network this year, about the same size as Verizon and their newly launched 4G network.

MetroPCS did not announce who would produce their first Android LTE phone, but they did say it would support VoLTE (voice over LTE) technology so they can migrate customers from its CDMA network to its LTE network.

Samsung produced the first LTE handset for MetroPCS so chances are high we could see them also release an Android model. Rumors have suggested we could see a Galaxy S type device with LTE support sometime early next year, so we will continue to dig for more details.

For more info on MetroPCS, hit up their official web site and check out their plans.

{Via Androidandme}

Posted in: 4G LTE, Androids, LTE, LTE handset, MetroPCS