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Mar. 12, 2010

T-Mobile USA said today that it is continuing its 3G push, as the company showcased its first HSPA+ mobile device it plans to offer to wireless consumers beginning Sunday.

Its new USB modem device, called the WebConnect Rocket USB Laptop Stick, will initially be available in the Philadelphia market where the wireless carrier has recently upgraded its HSPA network to HSPA+ capabilities.

That upgrade should help increase download speeds from 7.2 megabits per second to about 21 mbps, the company said it hopes.

Overall, the WebConnect Rocket device is backward compatible with T-Mobile's HSPA 7.2 network as well as combining Wi-Fi connectivity throughout. The device is set to retail for about $100 after rebates and a 2-year contract on one of its Even More WebConnect data plans.

With the launch of its new device, T-Mobile USA will also expand its data plans to now include a no-contract option similar to what it launched last November for its voice plans.

The Even More Plus plan allows T-Mobile customers to pay less per month for their rate plans at the expense of the initial wireless handset subsidy, which typically runs between $100 and $200. Mobile users can choose to fold the price of their device into their monthly rate plan charges spread out between four and twenty months.

For customers interested in forgoing the contract as well as a larger handset subsidy, T-Mobile USA offers a capped plan that includes five gigabytes of data transmission per month for $50, which is a $10 per month discount on the 2-year, full subsidy contract offering.

The same $10 per month discount also applies to its capped 200 megabyte per month offering that is available for $20 per month without a contract.

All of its data plans continue to offer unlimited access to the carrier’s HotSpot Wi-Fi service.

Overall, T-Mobile said its HSPA 7.2 network currently is available 274 cities covering more than 207.2 million potential residential customers, with plans to upgrade the backhaul capabilities and network equipment across its network in support of HSPA+ by the end of 2010.

The company added that it expects to turn on HSPA+ capabilities in other major U.S. markets along both the east and west coast in the coming months.

The no-contract plans also undercut the contract data plans from its larger nationwide competitors that run $60 per month for 5 GB of access to their respective 3G networks.

Sprint Nextel recently began offering unlimited access to its Clearwire-sourced WiMAX network as part of its $60 a month package.

For its part, Verizon Wireless launched a no-contract data plan last October that provides for up to 500 Mb of data transmission for just $50 a month, a move that was emulated by AT&T less than a month after.

Both wireless carriers require customers to pay the full price for the data modem on their prepaid offerings.

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Source: T-Mobile USA.