T-Mobile is branching out to 4G LTE networks, and it looks like the company is optimistic about its chances to catch up, and possibly overtake, rival LTE networks.
The U.S. carrier announced it will cover as many as 100 million customers by mid-2013 with projections to aim for 200 million customers by the end of the year.
Assisting in the 4G LTE coverage are the first two LTE phones for the carrier - the BlackBerry Z10 and the Samsung Galaxy Note 2.
T-Mobile's announcement makes it the last among the top four U.S. carriers to venture in 4G LTE, following AT&T, Sprint, and Verizon Wireless.
At the moment, Verizon is king of LTE coverage, blanketing more than 480 markets across the country for more than 275 million people. Coming in second is AT&T with only 155 LTE markets while Sprint's numbers place it third with 67 LTE markets. If T-Mobile's projections are true, then it could surpass AT&T and Sprint, although bear in mind those two networks will be aggressively upgrading as well.
The news of 4G LTE coverage with T-Mobile might be good news for BlackBerry and Samsung enthusiasts, but is there a silver lining for Apple's smartphones?
T-Mobile is the only major carrier (of the top four) that does not carry any of Apple's smartphones at the moment. Apple launched the first iPhone exclusively through AT&T but has since signed deals with Sprint and Verizon with future iPhone smartphones.
T-Mobile has announced that it has struck a deal with Apple, but there are still no details on when Apple products will begin being available to T-Mobile customers, nor is there any information as to which specific devices T-Mobile will carry. Hopefully, the carrier will opt for the iPhone 5 or whatever new model Apple has up its sleeve.
Related Articles:
- iPhone 5S Rumors, click here.
- For the iPhone 5 vs. Lumia 920, click here.
- For the iPhone 5 vs. Samsung Galaxy S3 drop test results, click here.