T-Mobile's MetroPCS Adds Nokia Lumia 521 and LG Optimus F3, Expands Market

On Thursday, T-Mobile said that it has doubled the size of its prepaid MetroPCS service, and was adding two new prepaid phones today - the Nokia Lumia 521 and LG Optimus F3.

This was a move to get to prepaid customers in various cities before AT&T can, with its newly acquired Leap Wireless service, better known as Cricket Wireless. The move signals a general trend of reaching out to prepaid customers with better devices and services, as the market for subscribing contract customers, or so called "postpaid" users, is generally seen as tapped out.

MetroPCS service is now available in 15 new cities, including Washington, D.C., Houston, Seattle, and San Diego, according to CNET. T-Mobile is hoping to grab prepaid customers in these regions while there's still confusion over AT&T and Cricket Wireless. "We have a moment in time here, and we're moving quickly to seize it," said T-Mobile Chief Marketing Officer Mike Sievert to CNET. "It's going to take (AT&T) months to get there. There's not a moment to lose."

In addition to the new 15 markets for MetroPCS, the company has potential plans in the making for an additional 30-market rollout in the future. MetroPCS sells services that run on T-Mobile's network, which itself is moving towards more and more LTE markets and higher speeds. Of course, MetroPCS is also looking to coax customers with the new devices its offering.

The Nokia Lumia 521 costs only $99, but comes with a 4-inch LCD display, and a 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 processor, with 512 MB of RAM. It has 8 GB internal storage, a 5-megapixel camera, and Windows Phone OS. However, for now, it will only work on the HSPA+ network, which is slower than LTE.

The Optimus F3, however, costs $149 and does have access to the LTE network. It runs Android 4.1.2 on a similarly 4-inch screen, with a decent resolution, giving you 233 pixels per inch. It runs a Dual core 1200 MHz processor, with 1GB Ram. It only has 4 GB of internal storage, but that can be upped by up to 32 GB with a microSD card.

Here's a list of the new markets for MetroPCS:

Baltimore 
Birmingham, Ala.

Cleveland and Akron, Ohio

Corpus Christi, Texas

Fresno, Calif.

Houston, Texas

Memphis, Tenn.

New Orleans, La.

Rio Grande Valley, Texas

San Antonio and Austin, Texas

San Diego, Calif.

Seattle and Tacoma, Wash.

Tallahassee, Fla.

Toledo and Sandusky, Ohio

Washington, D.C.