MetroPCS’ future appears to be set as new parent company T-Mobile US said it plans to bolster the MetroPCS offering, focusing on urban markets.
Speaking this week at the JP Morgan Global Technology, Media and Telecom Conference this week, T-Mobile US executives noted plans to increase the footprint of the MetroPCS offering into a larger number of urban markets. The MetroPCS brand currently focuses on flat-rate, unlimited services that do not require a contract and offers devices with little subsidy.
T-Mobile US CFO Braxton Carter explained that the company planned to expand the MetroPCS offer to 15 new metro markets by the end of the year, with further expansion planned for 2014. That expansion will lead to 100 million more potential customers covered by MetroPCS services over the next six quarters. MetroPCS covered just over 100 million pops prior to its merger with T-Mobile USA.
The focus of the expansion will be on LTE-equipped devices, with the devices in new markets falling back to T-Mobile’s HSPA-based 3G network instead of the CDMA fallback found on legacy MetroPCS devices.
In looking at the cost structure of the expansion, Braxton said the focus would be on smaller retail operations instead of the big-box retailers that have become increasingly crowded with similar no-contract offerings.
In backing the speed of the expansion, T-Mobile US CTO Neville Ray added that the carrier’s first integrated network offering was turned on this week in Las Vegas where the previously separate T-Mobile USA and MetroPCS services would begin running across a unified T-Mobile US core. That move will allow the company to combine the previous efforts that were limited to 10 megahertz of spectrum to support each LTE network in the 1.7/2.1 GHz band into a single network providing 20 megahertz of spectrum support.
While the MetroPCS brand is set to expand, Ray did note that the company would begin moving towards shuttering MetroPCS cell sites beginning in late 2014 or early 2015. MetroPCS reported that in connection with its merger with T-Mobile USA, it planned to decommission up to 10,000 of its 11,500 cell sites.
T-Mobile US is also looking at future spectrum auctions as a way to gain coverage parity with its larger rivals. Ray admitted that while the larger players are able to provide coverage to the last 50 million to 60 million pops easier and less expensively due to their lower-band spectrum holdings, the planned auction of 600 MHz spectrum through the incentive auction process could level the playing field. T-Mobile US’ current spectrum portfolio is filled with licenses in the 1.7/2.1 GHz band, to be used for LTE services, and the 1.9 GHz band to be used for HSPA-based services.
Bored? Why not follow me on Twitter?
