By We have been waiting for T-Mobile to jump into the 4G LTE game for a while and Magenta’s time to shine is almost here. We can expect an announcement any day now. We know T-Mobile has been testing the network across the US, and now we have a leaked screen shot giving us the first 7 markets and a launch date.
According to the leaked image, T-Mobile will flip the switch on 7 markets this March 26th. The first cities to get LTE’s blazing speeds are said to include Las Vegas, Phoenix, San Jose, Houston, Washington DC, Kansas City and Baltimore.
Only a few devices will support the faster speeds at launch, including the Galaxy Note 2 (which has been getting its LTE-friendly update), the BlackBerry Z10 and the T-Mobile Sonic 2.0. Not much to choose from, but this list should grow in no time. Are you ready for some T-Mobile 4G LTE?
[Via: TmoNews]
Phoenix Arizona is FIRST?! WOOHOO!!! Sprint should take notice lol
I’ll be excited for lte when it comes integrated without having to turn on a separate antenna, which I’m not sure is even possible, and when it doesn’t put any extra burden on battery whatsoever. Until then I’m very happy with HSPA speeds.
Completely agree… LTE was the nail in the coffin for me ditching verizon. The service and hardware provided a horrendous and shameful experience.
Have you tried it lately?
If this is legit, and it comes to my hometown (DC), Verizon can kiss one 10yr subscriber goodbye. :)
In my area, T-mo HSPA+ on Nexus 4 is faster than Verizon LTE (though they both get spanked by AT&T where coverage/stability is concerned).
Is this LTE-Advanced? Do we finally have true 4G in America (I’m talking about before the definition for 4G was changed to consider HSPA+ and LTE as 4G)?
4G was never defined until after T-Mo started marketing HSPA+ as such. Anyway, it’s Release 10, yes… 10, 11 and 12 are LTE Advanced at this point, allowing for carrier aggregation and different MIMO configurations… and it meets the classifications of IMT Advanced, as opposed to just plain ol’ 4G.
No, CTown is correct. The definition of 4G was altered. And while my memory has been known to fail me, I believe AT&T marketed HSPA+ 14 as 4G before T-Mobile did.
Nope…AT&T had to because T-Mobile was doing it for months.
Ah, you’re right! It was in response to Sprint calling their WiMax 4G. But my prior point (4G was defined previously, then adjusted to include LTE, WiMax 1/1.5, and HSPA+) stands.
It was in direct response to T-Mobile who called their similar HSPA+ “4G” for several months which forced AT&T’s hand. It really had nothing to do with Sprint’s WiMax.
Wat?
No, T-Mobile started calling it “4G” because it outperformed Sprint’s WiMax. AT&T then followed T-Mobile’s lead. It absolutely had to do with WiMax at the root.
Yeah actually it did.
No he isn’t, and no 4G’s definition was not altered… 4G at no point had been defined. There were markers around *proposed* standards… which is why when the ITU met to formalize 4G, they agreed that while it was undefined, could be applied to forerunners of what was proposed so long as they provided clear improvements over initial 3G deployments… it then classified what was originally proposed, yet formalized as 4G under a new term, IMT-Advanced… which is the official designation that LTE-Advanced will have, yet also be 4G.
T-Mobile was the first to use 4G in relation to HSPA+14. They did it in response to the marketing blitz Sprint and Verizon did around WiMax and LTE, which also failed to meet the proposed, yet not final, specification… AT&T did not use the term until after the ITU defined 4G… they began using it in 2011, with the Atrix and Inspire… introduced at that years CES. The MyTouch 4G was out on T-Mo in October 2010. The ITU defined 4G in December 2010.
That’s cool and all, but all I know is that they better not mess with the unlimited for $30/month.
So since it is LTE-Advanced, does that mean we can expect end-user speeds of 80-100mbps?!?!?
I know, I know, an individual user doesn’t reeeeally need more than 20mbps,…it’s just super cool to see 60-80+mbps on the speeded.net app!!!
I already saw speedtest screenshots on the net of 56-62mbps on Tmo’s LTE network, very, very impressive!!!
Difficult question to answer. What speeds you can get depend on a lot more than just the Technology, LTE or LTE-Advanced. What affects bandwidth more-so, is the amount of spectrum, and the category of the phone’s LTE chipset. You need a category 3 chipset for LTE to max at 100mbps, to see it regularly, you’d need category 4. However spectrum is also limited in many cases, and makes this impossible, even in the best conditions. Verizon has 20mhz for LTE, and theoretically maxes out around 73mbps, and doesn’t go above 60-70 in real world maximums, and typically gets more like 10-30mbps down, and less in congested areas. Now if T-mobile had 100mhz for spectrum and tons of bandwidth on their towers, and you had a category 4 lte chipset in your phone, none of which is happening, then 80-100mbps or even higher regularly might be possible.
As it stands, Tmobile’s 56-62mbps speeds you saw are likely around the max they can offer, and are only there now as long as the network isn’t congested. Some cities aren’y congested and will always have awesome speeds, others will slow down a lot more.
In the very least, i hope that if the pipe gets widened to 80-100Mb vs 42mb, there would be less chances of a slowdown during high usage. (aka a cubs game, etc…)
I wonder when nyc will get some lte loving.
Well they were counted as one of the areas showing live LTE, but it can take a long time to cover 10 million+ people. Sprint is still working on covering it properly, I imagine tmobile will gradually cover NYC over 3-6 months.
as some one who lives in Kansas which is now covered with LTE by all four carriers and google plus, this makes it almost bearable to live here, almost.
Phx, hell yeah!
Boston? ;(
I live in Connecticut, so generally, no where is all that congested. So here, it’s more so a matter of signal strength. The fastest speed I’ve ever gotten on Vzn LTE is 55mb/s I think, something like that, fastest upload was about 15mb/s.
I just think Tmo is a better option cause they have HSPA 42 as a fallback network, EVDO on Sprint & Verizon is garbage!
I think it’s a damn shame that ATT, with all their revenue & profits, never followed the GSM upgrade path, and stopped at HSPA 21, did ATT even deploy HSPA 21 everywhere?. . .Whatever happened with HSPA 42 ATT?????
I sure am glad we live in a world where 6-10+mb/s is a norm, I still remember the day when 1mbps on a cellphone was exciting.
what about the fourth largest metropolitan area?
Is Charlotte not cool enough for the LTE club?
Tmo is going to cover 200m by the end of the year, things will move fast people.
I’m on Verizon, just waiting for T-Mobile to get a smartphone with the Snapdragon 800 and I am going to make the move to the HSPA+42/LTE-A network!!! Unlimited tlk/txt/web good deal!!!
More customers should give T-Mobile a closer look, ATT & Vzn are OVERrated!!!
Verizon is all about marketing that’s all, I’ve been with them for 3yrs, “America’s Most Reliable Network” switches from 4G to 3G more than enough. I’m on 3G right now in Meriden, Ct, not impressed with this so-called “reliability”, I’m happy to pay for **4G**,…but NOT 3G!!!
Must be nice to switch between 4g and 3g. My Tmo goes 4g to 2g.
Most T-Mo OTA ROMs don’t make a distinction between UMTS/HSPA (3G) and HSPA+ (4G). They both just say “4G” in the status bar…
@ Michael Parks where do you live?
I live in Connecticut, New Britain.
Charlotte NC. My HTC Sensation stock Rom does distinguish 2g/4g and the occasional g.
It’s about time somebody started off with where I live. I’ve never understood why podunk New Mexico always gets their stuff before Phoenix.
Yay for Las Vegas. Hopefully this will fix my possible dead spots ALL OVER TOWN!
Thanks for the news, Edgar. I was on my lunch break at DISH earlier today when I read an article that said T-Mobile LTE had been detected in additional cities like here in Denver. I can’t wait for them to flip the LTE switch so I can get the most out of my DISH Anywhere app. It streams live TV channels or recordings from my DVR to my phone; I love it because I can watch live baseball games, even when I’m not home, and T-Mobiles higher data speeds mean I can stream my games in higher definition.