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T-Mobile’s 4G-like HSPA+ network continues to spread toward the carrier’s goal of covering 185 million people in the United States by the end of 2010.
On June 16, the carrier announced that its high-speed technology is now live in a number of additional metropolitan areas, including Los Angeles, New Orleans, Dallas, Atlanta, Houston, Seattle, Tampa, Orlando and Pittsburgh, as well as Charlotte, Greensboro and Winston-Salem, N.C.; Oklahoma City and Tulsa, Okla.; and Charleston, S.C.
Bentonville, Ark.; Anderson, S.C.; and Fayetteville, N.C. also got the treatment.
By June, T-Mobile expects to cover more than 75 million Americans, who can access the technology using the T-Mobile-offered webConnect Rocket USB Laptop Stick or a number of its upward-compatible smartphones. These include the Android-running Garminfone – which is the first with fully integrated Garmin navigation technology – the HTC-made but T-Mobile-branded myTouch 3G Slide, and the Nokia e73, debuting today.
The E73 features a Switch Mode designed to enable users to better separate their home and work lives. Measuring a slim 4.48 by 2.3 by 0.4 inches, it features a 2.4-inch QVGA display, a four-row qwerty keypad, a 5-megapixel camera, built-in Ovi Maps and support for personal email accounts, as well as Microsoft’s Exchange Active Sync. Enterprise-type files can also be viewed and edited on the phone, which T-Mobile has priced at $69.99 with a two-year contract.
While T-Mobile competitors are busy rolling out 4G networks based on LTE (long-term evolution) and WiMax technology, T-Mobile is content for now to focus on HSPA+ – which is says offers speeds entirely competitive with current 4G networks – before eventually turning to LTE.
“T-Mobile has rolled out HSPA+ service to more than 25 major metropolitan areas in four month’s time, as we drive towards having the most pervasive mobile broadband network delivering 4G speeds in the country,” Neville Ray, T-Mobile’s senior vice president of engineering and operations, said in a statement.
“T-Mobile is delivering unprecedented value to our customers with the availability of a super-fast mobile broadband experience combined with compelling and affordable devices and data plans,” Ray continued.
T-Mobile offers Even More Plus plans, which come without a long-term contract, and recently eliminated overage charges for its webConnect data plan.
In May, T-Mobile announced that it is grooming a new CEO, who will become effective in Feb. 2011. Philipp Humm, a former CEO of T-Mobile Deutschland, who introduced the iPhone to Germany in 2007, will replace Robert Dotson. Dotson has served as T-Mobile’s CEO for 15 years.