Metro PCS has followed up on its promise – and beaten far bigger rivals in the process – to launch its 4G LTE network in the US, but it’s chosen a less than exciting handset to mark the occasion. $55 per month gets you unlimited, contract-free LTE access in Metro PCS’ single initial market – Las Vegas – though you’ll also need to shell out $299 (after a $50 rebate) for the Samsung Craft.
The Craft is a featurephone, with a 3.3-inch AMOLED touchscreen, 3.2-megapixel camera, WiFi, slide-out QWERTY keyboard and Samsung’s TouchWiz UI. Metro PCS also throw in a copy of Star Trek on the bundled 2GB microSD card. When you’re outside of LTE coverage (which, unless you live in Vegas, is likely to be most of the time) it falls back onto CDMA networks.
Metro PCS also have a $60 per month service, which throws in MetroStudio access, an audio/video download store powered by RealNetworks. More importantly, they say they’ll be concentrating on broadening 4G coverage over Q4 2010 and into 2011, though there’s no specific rollout schedule at present.