T-Mobile plans wider 4G LTE channels near end of 2013

Not even a month has passed since its big New York City event and T-Mobile is already hitting the press again with some big announcement. The carrier revealed that it will be upgrading its 4G LTE with wider channels not only in New York City but nationwide as well, all by the end of the year.

Earlier this month in New York City, T-Mobile unveiled its 4G LTE in 116 live markets all over the US, covering 157 million people. T-Mobile CTO Neville Ray left a promise of average speeds of 10Mbps to 20Mbps on the network. And it seems that the company is planning to deliver on that promise before the year is over.

T-Mobile’s 4G LTE service started with 2x5MHz channels in New York City. The carrier plans to accommodate faster speeds and more users by widening its channels. It is now testing 2x10MHz in certain areas of New York City such as 11th Avenue. CEO John Legere was not one to remain modest, posting a photo on Twitter showing off speeds of 60Mbps on download and 18Mbps on uplink and saying “Let’s see others run this fast.”

The carrier conducted their tests by utilizing part of its existing spectrum normally used for 3G and switching it back to normal afterwards. By the end of the year, T-Mobile plans to update its 4G LTE service in New York City to 2x10MHz in addition to its HSPA+ 42 network. It also plans to roll out the update to 90 percent of the top 25 markets nationwide.

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Leaked: list of first cities to get T-Mobile LTE on March 26

On Tuesday, March 26, T-Mobile will flip the switch on its LTE network in seven cities across the US. See the list here.

It took them forever (plus a botched sale attempt to AT&T), but the fine folks at T-Mobile are finally ready to light up their Long Term Evolution network. The grand opening will happen on March 26, and we’ll be accompanied by the official launch of T-Mobile’s new Uncarrier brandingand new unsubsidized plans.

While the details of the Uncarrier campaign have been thoroughly leaked already, we didn’t know until now the markets where T-Mobile will first roll out its 4G LTE network. Today, that final mystery has been dispelled, thanks to a report from the guys at TMoNews that lists the seven cities that will get T-Mobile LTE on March 26:

• Las Vegas, NV
• Phoenix, AZ
• San Jose, CA
• Houston, TX
• Washington, DC
• Kansas City, MO
• Baltimore, MD

If you own a Galaxy Note 2 from T-Mo or if you brought your own LTE device to the network, you’ll get to experience high-speed wireless speeds without lifting a finger. Another way to get in is to wait for the launch of the Galaxy S4 or the HTC One, two great LTE handsets slated for release in late April.

We’ve had clues about some of the markets in this list (Las Vegas for instance, since CES in January), but confirmation is always welcomed. Now, all we have to do is wait till Tuesday for the official details.

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