MetroPCS Brings Back Affordable Unlimited LTE Plan

To attract new customers and hold onto existing ones, MetroPCS is introducing a low-rate plan for LTE service. The wireless operator is planning to offer a $10 rebate off its base rate for the new 4G service. In fact, the company is reviving a $40 unlimited plan it first started offering with the debut of the Samsung Craft, the company's first LTE phone.

Because Craft was the only phone offered with the $40 plan, when it was introduced, it went extinct for several reasons. According to Wireless Week, MetroPCS stopped selling the device last year, and Craft's less-than-speedy performance led to poor reviews. So, MetroPCS eventually phased it out in favor of LTE-ready Android smartphones, wrote Wireless Week reporter Maisie Ramsay.

As per the report, the wireless operator now offers four LTE plans ranging from $40 to $60, which include streaming multimedia, music or video-on-demand.

A company spokesman told Wireless Week, "As our customers' mobile needs move forward, MetroPCS is evolving its service plans to fit consumers that are seeking the best value, latest handsets and quality wireless services."

According to Wireless Week, MetroPCS told CNET that discontinuing the $40 plan was intended to be a short-term move. “Bringing the more affordable data plan back has been in the works for a while and will make 4G LTE accessible to a greater audience," the operator told CNET.

Ramsay wrote that the LTE service is only available in some markets, including Atlanta, Boston, Dallas/Fort Worth, Detroit, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Orlando, Philadelphia, Sacramento, San Francisco and the Tampa metropolitan area. This price cut comes as MetroPCS is working to prove to investors that its smartphone strategy is working, Ramsay wrote.

Although, the wireless operator is planning to deliver full fourth-quarter results around Feb. 23, it released preliminary numbers last month. It shows slowdown in new additions, according to Wireless Week. As per the data released, about 197,000 net new customers signed up for MetroPCS service during the last three months of 2011, down from 298,000 the previous year, Ramsay wrote.