The arrival of the iPhone isn't the only big news announced by T-Mobile today, as the carrier also revealed that its 4G LTE network is officially going live today in seven markets. The initial list of T-Mobile LTE cities includes Baltimore, Md., Houston, Texas, Kansas City, Mo., Las Vegas, Nev., Phoenix, Ariz., San Jose, Calif., and Washington, D.C. T-Mobile intends to aggressively roll out its LTE service throughout 2013, with plans to cover 100 million people by the middle of 2013 and 200 million people by the end of the year.
Of course, an LTE network doesn't mean much without hardware to run on it. The good news is that T-Mobile already has some LTE-capable hardware available and will be adding more in the coming months. Customers that want to get in on the new 4G LTE network now can pick up handsets like the BlackBerry Z10 or Samsung Galaxy Note II, as well as the new Sonic 2.0 Mobile Hotspot LTE. T-Mobile also reaffirmed its plans to offer the HTC One and Samsung Galaxy S 4. Expect the HTC One to hit T-Mo "later this spring" for $99 down, while the Galaxy S 4 will be launching in the second quarter (a T-Mobile exec said that it'll be arriving "around May 1"), also for $99 down.
Along with the launch of its LTE network, T-Mobile revealed that the new Value plans that we recently spotted on its website are known as the "Simple Choice Plan." With the Simple Choice Plan, customers start out with unlimited talk, text and web, including 500MB of high-speed data and mobile hotspot support, for $50 per month. Any subscribers that want additional high-speed data can add it at a rate of 2GB for $10 per month. They also have the choice of adding unlimited high-speed data for an additional $20 per month, though that option only includes 500MB of mobile hotspot. When it comes to adding additional lines to the plan, T-Mobile charges $30 per month for the second line and $10 per month for each additional line. More details on the Simple Choice Plan can be found over on T-Mobile's website.
UPDATE: T-Mobile has posted a video that features CEO John Legere discussing all of the changes that T-Mobile announced today. Check it out below.
Via T-Mobile
