T-Mobile announced it was launching its 4G LTE network at an event this morning in New York City. The network will come online in seven cities to start and is planned to reach 200 million by the end of 2013.
LTE on T-Mobile is now active in Baltimore, Houston, Kansas City, Las Vegas, Phoenix, San Jose and Washington D.C. The carrier says it will cover 100 million Americans by midyear, and the full 200 million before 2014 rolls around.
T-Mobile CEO John Legere said that was even before taking into account the spectrum that T-Mobile obtained by merging with MetroPCS. He also said the carrier's existing HSPA+ 42 network -- which the carrier calls 4G -- already reaches 225 million people, but that its LTE would be "blazing fast." With the two "4G" networks, T-Mobile claims it will have 50% more bandwidth than AT&T.
The LTE announcement comes at the same time that T-Mobile changed the way it sells phones by eliminating subscriber contracts, instead having customers pay for the full cost of their phones in installments. It also officially brought the iPhone 5 to its lineup, which will connect to both the carrier's 4G networks.
What do you think of T-Mobile's announcements today? Share your reactions in the comments.