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MetroPCS Offers 'Unlimited' Text, Talk, LTE for $55
New Limited Time Offer Tries to Lure New LTE Users

Despite a significant explosion in prepaid wireless users, MetroPCS's earnings last quarter saw the company losing subscribers for the first time ever. MetroPCS lost 186,000 customers in the second quarter, but insists it will get those subscribers back as it continue to deploy LTE services. As part of that effort the company today announced they're now offering unlimited talk, text and 4G LTE data for only $55 per month as part of a limited time promotion:

quote:
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MetroPCS also today unveiled a promotional 4G LTE service plan that is only available for a limited time but offers benefits that can last a lifetime – unlimited talk, text and 4G LTE data for only $55 per month for a single line. Families can get this unbeatable offer for just $50 per month on the account's second, third and fourth lines. Even though the promotional service plan is available for a limited time only, customers will continue to receive service at the promotional price for as long as they maintain service with MetroPCS. The $55 service plan can save individuals up to $2,200 over the course of two years in service costs alone when compared to similar competitor offers.
While that's certainly a nice price drop compared to other carriers, MetroPCS has a limited device lineup and their "LTE" is more like LTE light, with the company's limited spectrum resulting in an LTE service that frequently struggles to deliver 1 Mbps speeds. "Unlimited" data also often means a 5GB cap, after which users are slowed down even further for the remainder of their billing cycle.

Update: MetroPCS reached out to us with a few clarifications:

quote:
We currently have 7 4G LTE handsets in our line-up, ranging from $149 ($99 after rebate) to $459. While it is certainly a matter of opinion, we feel like our handset portfolio has continued to get stronger throughout the year and we’re offering at least one device that matched with our customers’ needs and lifestyles

LTE speeds are tricky to gauge based on the variables involved but we’re seeing between 3 – 5 Mbps in most areas of coverage, as opposed to struggling to get to 1 Mbps. And in this case ($55 plan), unlimited means unlimited. There’s no throttling. As with our existing $70 plan, customers can use as much data on 4G LTE speeds as they like
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Angrychair
join:2000-09-20
Jacksonville, FL

Angrychair

Member

BYOD

This country seriously needs bring your own device impressed upon all the cdma carriers by law. The idea that a carrier can refuse to allow a device on their network is absurd.

At least with GSM I can use whatever phone I want just by swapping sim cards.
88615298 (banned)
join:2004-07-28
West Tenness

88615298 (banned)

Member

Re: BYOD

said by Angrychair:

This country seriously needs bring your own device impressed upon all the cdma carriers by law. The idea that a carrier can refuse to allow a device on their network is absurd.

At least with GSM I can use whatever phone I want just by swapping sim cards.

Well let's see do they use the same frequencies as other CDMA carriers? Um nope. So how would you use your device then?
sandman_1
join:2011-04-23
11111

sandman_1

Member

Re: BYOD

Yes they do, ever hear of roaming agreements?
88615298 (banned)
join:2004-07-28
West Tenness

88615298 (banned)

Member

Re: BYOD

said by sandman_1:

Yes they do, ever hear of roaming agreements?

Great but you're not getting 4G if you're roaming now are you?
sandman_1
join:2011-04-23
11111

sandman_1

Member

Re: BYOD

Last I checked, 4G wasn't a CDMA tech..

And in the future, the 4G incompatibilities will be overcome especially as they phase out 2G and 3G.
iansltx
join:2007-02-19
Austin, TX

iansltx to Angrychair

Member

to Angrychair
The issue with the US is that there are tons of disparate bands and technologies. You have CDMA, GSM, HSPA, WiMAX and LTE on 850, SMR, 1900 (plus G band on Sprint), 2500, AWS and three different flavors of 700MHz (Verizon, AT&T, everyone else).

For example, MetroPCS's GSIII will have CDMA on at least 1900/1700 and LTE on at least 1900/1700. Sprint's S3 has CDMA on 850/SMR/1900 and LTE on 1900. AT&T's S3 has quad-band GSM, tri-band (or better) HSPA+ and LTE on 700 and 1700. Verizon's has quad-band GSM, a few bands of HSPA and LTE on 700MHz Upper C.

BYOD only works when you have economies of scale that scale beyond a single carrier. We had that ten years ago with cellular and PCS with GSM and CDMA. Now? Not so much.
tmc8080
join:2004-04-24
Brooklyn, NY

tmc8080

Member

little value..

not much different than what's already in the market..
phones seem to be getting more expensive..

sprint, tmobile and metro have very limited LTE footprints.. and the markets including prepaid are just about saturated..

therefore, little value... try coming in at $40 a month with 5gb limited lte speed unlimited, not $55-- and not have to buy a $400+ phone to get it..

bobjohnson
Premium Member
join:2007-02-03
Spartanburg, SC

bobjohnson

Premium Member

Re: little value..

Sounds great to me for a prepaid option if you are where they have coverage.
tmc8080
join:2004-04-24
Brooklyn, NY

tmc8080

Member

Re: little value..

said by bobjohnson:

Sounds great to me for a prepaid option if you are where they have coverage.

14 cities and 9 states.. compare to the other 2 minoritiy carriers; tmobile & sprint.. long way to go... I think Sprint has more than double LTE than that, and Tmobile will have that soon.

look at the orange (future expansion).. virtually non-existant, I could only find some orange in California..

by comparison, AT&T and Verizon cover thousands of cities..

bobjohnson
Premium Member
join:2007-02-03
Spartanburg, SC

bobjohnson

Premium Member

Re: little value..

said by tmc8080:

by comparison, AT&T and Verizon cover thousands of cities..

Verizon and Att also charge almost $100 a month more for the same 5 gigs and ul talk and text too.
88615298 (banned)
join:2004-07-28
West Tenness

88615298 (banned)

Member

Re: little value..

said by bobjohnson:

said by tmc8080:

by comparison, AT&T and Verizon cover thousands of cities..

Verizon and Att also charge almost $100 a month more for the same 5 gigs and ul talk and text too.

But you can actually get service.
tmc8080
join:2004-04-24
Brooklyn, NY

tmc8080

Member

Re: little value..

said by 88615298:

said by bobjohnson:

said by tmc8080:

by comparison, AT&T and Verizon cover thousands of cities..

Verizon and Att also charge almost $100 a month more for the same 5 gigs and ul talk and text too.

But you can actually get service.

The main point is Sprint and Tmobile are doing oodles better than a Metro PCS on LTE city deployment. Metro basically cherry picked cities of 4 million people or more...

Secondary point.. Metro PCS came into the market on cutting price aggressively... now they're not so keen to compete on price anymore since they've got to spend about 800 million dollars to bring LTE to thousands of cities. Can't do it on $40 a month.. and employees who don't apparently believe in the company and service they sell. Imagine if you went into a Subway store and the guy behind the counter told you the sanwhiches suck.. and are made of expired meat & veggies..
iansltx
join:2007-02-19
Austin, TX

iansltx to 88615298

Member

to 88615298
You /can/ actually get service where MetroPCS has service. I know a number of people who were happy with them in Florida. Same with T-Mobile and even Cricket. Just because Verizon is the only provider that serves where you live doesn't mean every other carrier sucks.
iansltx

iansltx to tmc8080

Member

to tmc8080
...and some people don't travel tons...and they don't require constant connectivity when they do travel. For those people, a wireless provider with a limited footprint and cheap pricing is just what the doctor ordered.

DOStradamus
MVM
join:2003-11-04
Santa Rosa, CA

DOStradamus

MVM

If You Want Truly Uncapped...

MetroPCS has uncapped 4G at $70/month.

Too bad they cripple the Linux kernel on the devices that they sell so you can't tether.
georgeglass5
join:2010-06-07
New York, NY

georgeglass5

Member

Re: If You Want Truly Uncapped...

Can't use a custom rom?
talz13
join:2006-03-15
Avon, OH

talz13

Member

Saving $2200 over 2 years?

Let's do the math on that...
$2200 / 12 months = $183.33 / month
Since they say this plan is SAVING you that much per month, let's add the $55 cost to the monthly amount...

$183.33 + $55 = $238.33 / month.

Don't forget, this is for ONE line. What are they smoking? Who is paying $238.33 / month for one phone? If you assume that the $238 / month is for 3 or 4 lines, that brings the MetroPCS cost up to at least $155 to $205, for a savings of only $38.33 to $83.33 / month.

Still, saving $1k over two years is good, but I'm trying to understand the value they are advertising?
88615298 (banned)
join:2004-07-28
West Tenness

88615298 (banned)

Member

Re: Saving $2200 over 2 years?

said by talz13:

Let's do the math on that...
$2200 / 12 months = $183.33 / month
Since they say this plan is SAVING you that much per month, let's add the $55 cost to the monthly amount...

$183.33 + $55 = $238.33 / month.

Don't forget, this is for ONE line. What are they smoking? Who is paying $238.33 / month for one phone?

$2200 over 24 months not 12. That is $91.67 a month so add $55 it comes to $146.67. But I agree who is paying $146.67 for one line? Verizon's Share Everything plan with 10 GB would be $140.
talz13
join:2006-03-15
Avon, OH

talz13

Member

Re: Saving $2200 over 2 years?

Oh man, one of those "mundane details", glad I'm not writing banking software!
iansltx
join:2007-02-19
Austin, TX

iansltx

Member

MetroPCS is trying to go LTE-only as quickly as possible

MetroPCS doesn't have much spectrum. Therefore it can't afford to run two networks (CDMA and LTE) at full capacity side-by-side. So they're pushing LTE as hard as they possibly can so that folks will move off CDMA, allowing the company to move from 1.4MHz channels to 3MHz and 5MHz ones, ultimately (with proper backhaul) delivering speeds comparable to what you'll get on Sprint.

Also, for those complaining about phone pricing on MetroPCS, their $55 plan has no taxes and fees above the $55 last I checked, and they don't do contracts. So if your $150 LTE phone breaks and you aren't insured, your next phone of that model will be $150, not a multiple of that due to contract subsidies.

Would I go with MetroPCS? No, because they don't serve my area. However if I lived in Dallas, I just might be willing to trade LTE speed (on Sprint) for lower monthly pricing on MetroPCS.

Eddy120876
join:2009-02-16
Bronx, NY

Eddy120876

Member

LTE fryer chip on Metro

The main issue with Metro is most of their LTE phone go nuts if the heat goes too high thats why I don't trust then. Also their LTE is not everywhere.