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T-Mobile Launches 3G Network, But No New 3G Phones

Finally! T-Mobile officially made it official. Though users reported that the network was up and running late last week, T-Mobile announced the launch of its 3G services in NYC yesterday. Too bad it doesn't have any killer 3G phones to use on it.

We've been waiting, and waiting, and waiting for T-Mobile to get its 3G act together. Its larger three competitors -- AT&T, Sprint, and Verizon -- have offered high-speed wireless data networks for subscribers to use for browsing the Web and other services for years. T-Mobile has badly needed to catch up. That's why it forked over billions of dollars to the FCC back in August 2006 during the AWS spectrum auction for its own little slice of 3G nirvana. That was nearly two years ago. What the heck took so long to get the network up and running?

Well, for starters, you don't just throw a wireless network up in several months time. A lot is involved, even if T-Mobile already has assets (read: cell towers) on the ground that are hooked into the wired networks. But the bigger problem was none other than the federal government. It was supposed to clear off of the spectrum won by T-Mobile last year, but took its time in doing so. That means T-Mobile had to wait (and wait and wait and wait) for the government to get off the spectrum before it could launch.

All that aside, T-Mobile has finally joined the 3G game. Great. But only four handsets can use it. You see, T-Mobile's flavor of 3G lays in the 1,700-MHz band. T-Mobile has added four midrange feature phones to its portfolio of devices over the last few months that have the right radio inside. Those four phones will be able to access this faster network for voice and data services in NYC. T-Mobile said it will have most of its data footprint covered with 3G by the end of the year.

The problem is, T-Mobile didn't launch any major new high-speed 3G devices to really take advantage of this new network. I expected more from T-Mobile. T-Mobile usually knows how to throw a party. Something like the launch of its 3G network, which is pretty major, should have been sounded off with more fanfare, if you ask me.

That means T-Mobile should have dropped a killer smartphone or other media monster phone on launch day. T-Mobile did commit to launching a new HSPDA device within a few months, and more by the end of the year. I think T-Mobile wasted a big opportunity, though, to call attention to its new network and a new device by failing to have one ready to go at launch.

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