While Verizon Wireless and AT&T (NYSE: T) have been duking it out as to which carrier has the largest 3G map, T-Mobile USA has been quietly and quickly building out its high-speed network across the country.
To be sure, T-Mobile has been lagging, and still is, but it’s closing the gap. In two years later, it has gone from covering zero to 205 million people, which is roughly two-thirds of the population in 271 cities. That’s right behind AT&T, which claims to cover roughly 230 million people in 350 cities. Verizon claims to cover 284 million people.
The Deutsche Telekom (NYSE: DT) subsidiary plans to unveil these figures today at a joint press conference. It is unknown whether executives from either company will address recent break-up rumors that say DT is considering to spin-off or take T-Mobile USA public. In addition to the network updates, T-Mobile USA will talk about the upcoming availability of the HTC HD2, an entertainment-packed device that comes with content from Barnes & Noble (NYSE: BKS), Blockbuster (NYSE: BBI) MobiTV, and Paramount Pictures.
More network stats: In addition to covering more people, T-Mobile is talking about speed. Since they are still rolling out the network from the ground up, it’s now opting for the faster HSPA 7.2 technology, which is now available on its entire footprint. From there, it will move quickly to roll out HSPA+, which offers 21 mbps. Jeremy Korst, T-Mobile USA’s director of broadband products and services, told mocoNews: “We are first national carrier in the U.S. to deploy and launch on that.” It is announcing its first HSPA+ device, the webConnect Rocket USB Laptop Stick. It will be available in March, but no word on pricing or plans. Korst: “AT&T and Verizon have been busy battling away, while T-Mobile has been aggressively and much faster building out its network. It’s something to recognize,—the expansion of HSPA+ will surprise people.”
HTC HD2: Brenda Fisher, T-Mobile’s marketing product innovation manager, said when they decided to launch the HD2, running Windows Mobile 6.5, it only made sense to package it together with entertainment services because of the 4.3 inch display, which is almost an inch bigger than the iPhone’s 3.5 inch display. “We always do lot of consumer research and what they are asking for is mobile entertainment.” The phone will be available exclusively from T-Mobile this Spring for an undisclosed price.
The device comes preloaded with:
—Barnes & Noble eReader app: Users can download and read from over one million e-books.
—Blockbuster on Demand: This is Blockbuster’s first ever full-length movie download service on a mobile phone. Full-length movies can be downloaded over Wi-Fi (not 3G), and therefore can be watched even when out of service area. Trailers and other content can be watched over 3G. The movies will expire per Blockbuster’s typical rental agreements.
—MobiTV: The streaming TV service, which is on many phones today, offers live TV as well as next day access to popular TV programs.
—Paramount Pictures: The device comes pre-loaded with Transformers 1 and 2.
—GoGo Inflight Internet: Because all of these things are kind of worthless without connectivity, T-Mobile is providing six months of free in-flight Wi-Fi access on the device from GoGo.