T-Mobile plans to be serving 21 markets with 3G by middle of next month

How convenient, T-mobile. That $199, Android-flaunting, 3G HTC G1, to be officially unveiled next week, is supposed to start selling on October 17th, just when the carrier plans to flip the HSDPA switch on eight new markets: Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles, Orlando, Philadelphia, Sacramento, San Francisco and Seattle. T-Mobile plans to follow those up with Birmingham, Denver, Detroit, Kansas City, Memphis and Tampa by the end of the year, covering about two-thirds of its customers with 3G before 2009 rolls around. It's been a rough few years for the T-Mobile faithful, but it looks an end is in sight -- at least for the urban among us.

[Nando @ Sep 18th 2008 9:09AM]

About freaking time...

[Frankie @ Sep 18th 2008 9:15AM]

YES!!! Now I can terminate my Sprint Data plan, and use my phone as modem. Saving me a grand total of..... $65 bucks a month!!! (Student loans just kicked in and I need all I can get).

[WickedFURY @ Sep 18th 2008 9:36PM]

no kidding

Waiting has finally paid off. 3G should boost tmo's headset lineup in the future .xD

[tealfixie @ Sep 18th 2008 9:24AM]

Any word on how much the plan costs?

[7on @ Sep 18th 2008 9:35AM]

Hopefully they'll be nice and leave it at the 20. But then I remember they're a Telco... :(

[David @ Sep 18th 2008 9:28AM]

DC, anybody?

[kccboy2004 @ Sep 18th 2008 9:30AM]

If that is not the start of a plan to dominate the world of phones, I don't know what is.

It seems in hindsight, that Google let Apple blow off a little steam with its last (rythmes with disastrous?) 3G launch, then BBBBLLLAAAMMMMMMM..... the iPhone rides off into the sunset, wasted, irrelevant and pointless....obscure.

[Eric @ Sep 18th 2008 9:35AM]

That is stretching it a little bit. I think the G1 will do very well, but let's face it, it won't do as good as the iPhone. Eventually Android as a whole may overtake it it, but not just with this phone.

[kccboy2004 @ Sep 18th 2008 9:52AM]

@Eric,

Too true, but I am talking Android, not HTC. Clearly HTC is innovative; Apple blatantly copied their Touch Flo control. Apple does tend to copy though (and screw it up)... I guess that it because they can copy but not paste. (boom boom).

No, we are talking Android; companies such as Apple, which employ proprietary software will go the way of the Dodo. We won't even talk of the iPhone as being the Betamax of the mobile phone market.

[jake @ Sep 18th 2008 1:08PM]

I agree with Eric, the Android strategy is to get onto many phones, so it is not going to be the same as the iPhone where people flock to basically 1 phone (2 generations). It is going to be some time before it can overtake the iPhone. Remember the main goal of Google with Android is to greatly increase the number of web enabled phones through multiple phones, it is not just to sell the G1. The success of that goal doesn't ride on the G1 overtaking the iPhone.

[7on @ Sep 18th 2008 9:36AM]

Heeeeeey, I live in Kansas City. :) Go me :D

[FTW?!?! @ Sep 18th 2008 9:54AM]

WHA HAPPUN??
Where the effin A is Miami?
I just renewed my contract because I was promised 3G service by Nov 1.
if (!3G) { contract = terminated; }

[bachviet @ Sep 18th 2008 12:58PM]

I believe T-Mobile launched 3G in Miami two days ago. 3G goes live in Portland, OR, today.

[bachviet @ Sep 18th 2008 1:02PM]

I believe 3G went live two days ago in Miami, FL. Portland is on the list for 3G launch today.

[Langdon Alger @ Sep 18th 2008 3:08PM]

I believe you meant

contract.terminate();

I'll let you decide if you should add a check to ensure that contract is not null. Those NREs (or NPEs if you're old school like me) can be a real bitch.

C:\DOS
C:\DOS\RUN
RUN DOS RUN!

[inteller @ Sep 18th 2008 9:42AM]

whew...tmobile don't strain yourselves there!

[Neeko @ Sep 18th 2008 9:42AM]

Hmm if the HTC HD comes to Tmo anytime soon i might have to jump ship from SPRINT.. Iv been a faithful customer for over 7yrs but hey GIVE ME SOME BETTER PHONE CHOICES. The Pro is nice but im really digging that HUGE screen on the HD. I live in NY so Tmo 3G isnt really a concern..

[Major4Play @ Sep 18th 2008 9:44AM]

Why is this cutting edge news ? America is in the mobile dark ages, T-Mobile launched their UK 3G service in 2003.
HSDPA is technically 3.5G, so what are you talking about ? watched one to many iPhone commercials and now don't understand what any of these terms mean ?

[hyoomen @ Sep 18th 2008 10:02AM]

Uhm...does anybody else not see *ANY* Texas cities listed? Houston is what -- the fourth largest city in the country? But Tampa?! Really? So much for my little piggy bank that has been happily awaiting the release of G1.

[hyoomen @ Sep 18th 2008 10:07AM]

Er... after doing some searching, it seems TMobile somewhat quietly rolled out to Houston, Dallas, San Diego, Miami (this Tues), Portland, etc.

Wow. Way to go!

[Jash Sayani @ Sep 18th 2008 9:47AM]

"Android-flaunting..". Hmmm.... Nice. Waiting to see what Google has done all these years.... But I dont think that the interface would be as good as the iPhone interface...

[Sameer Surampalli @ Sep 18th 2008 10:22AM]

If the rumored prices are true, we should be looking at $25 for an unlimited 3G data plan and $35 with unlimited texting.. Regardless, that's still cheaper than the iPhone's plan and beats paying for an EV-DO plan for $60 or $70..

[Neeko @ Sep 18th 2008 10:40AM]

i pay $7 for unlimited data 3G and text message on SPRINT. Not everyone agrees to pay outrageous prices for data.

[Jeff @ Sep 18th 2008 9:56AM]

Welcome to 2008 T-Mobile!

[Live Crunch @ Sep 18th 2008 9:57AM]

The price depends on how you are going to buy the HTC .

$200 for new customers
$150 for customers with contract expired and (2y renewal)
$400 for the phone it self

All explained at http://www.livecrunch.com

[Yaniv @ Sep 18th 2008 3:01PM]

No texas cities listed..... and since when is Orlando & Tampa bigger than Miami????
FTW!?

[Steve @ Sep 19th 2008 7:33AM]

@Yaniv:

Texas (Austin, San Antonio, Dallas-Ft. Worth, Houston) were among the first cities to get T-Mobile 3G service. I don't have the roll-out dates in front of me but it's available in all four of those cities.

[JS @ Sep 18th 2008 10:34AM]

T-Mobile has the best customer service I have ever encountered by any telecom company ever. So glad to see this piece of news come out as my BlackBerry Pearl has been looking for a new replacement for a few years now. When do we get the 3G love in D.C./Richmond area?

[Live Crunch @ Sep 18th 2008 11:03AM]

Btw I was expecting post to be about markets and what markets will have 3G I know for current ones. Sorry I live in part of the state where 3G is not available.

[TJ @ Sep 18th 2008 11:27AM]

I have been a loyal Tmo customer for 7+ years. EDGE and WiFi have worked out except for when I'm on the road. Tethering over EDGE works, but is slow. 3.5G is awesome, but I'm not seeing the higher end business phones to take advantage of it. Android/Dream looks good and I think it will do well, but there are a lot of gaps that still need to be filled before it's a good option for me (Outlook/Exchange synch being the biggest). Tmo: get me the new HTC phones and I'll stick with you if your service stays as good as it has been over the years. AT&T is bringout out the Touch Diamond and the Touch Pro...both crush my Dash. Get us business users a better selection or you will continue to lose us.

TJ

[SaDudE @ Sep 18th 2008 11:30AM]

If you guys really need to know, the national launch of T-Mobile 3G is on Oct 1st, 2008. Slowly but surely they have been releasing new markers on a near weekly basis.

I get most of my facts for T-mobile from tmonews.com...check it out cause honestly all of this Android news is like old hat to me...heard about it near a month ago

Enjoy!

[Dubb @ Sep 18th 2008 12:24PM]

Yea, I went searching for it.

http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2008/07/30/t-mobile-3g-service-coming-october-1-to-27-markets/

Phoenix is on the list, yay!

[Earl @ Sep 18th 2008 11:30AM]

Why are some of these small cities getting 3G before other larger ones?
Doesn't really matter to me, mobile data plans costs too much. Especially since I have no trouble finding a Wi-Fi spot when I need too.

[Bob @ Sep 18th 2008 11:49AM]

Is this a press release from 2002? Oh, it's t-mobile, that explains it.

[Ken Sykora @ Sep 18th 2008 12:55PM]

aaaand where's Minneapolis? :( Seriously

[bachviet @ Sep 18th 2008 1:05PM]

Already launched last month.

[chefgon_ign @ Sep 18th 2008 1:03PM]

Cleveland is number 40. Keep up the pace, T-Mo, you're half way here.

[DJ SlipStream @ Sep 18th 2008 4:33PM]

I certainly hope Cleveland gets 3G sometime soon

[ben @ Sep 18th 2008 4:43PM]

How about coming to Canada? Having only 1 provider (rogers) for the WHOLE country that does GSM really sucks (you can't count fido as they are owned by Rogers.