US operator MetroPCS has switched on LTE networks in Las Vegas, a move that enables it to tout itself as the country’s first LTE operator. The nation’s fifth-largest carrier has also unveiled Samsung’s Craft device, which it claims is the world’s first commercially available LTE ‘phone’. Unlimited talk, text and Internet access is available for US$55 or US$60 a month from the ‘flat-rate, no annual contract’ operator. The operator said the Samsung-built Las Vegas LTE network will “cover the majority of MetroPCS’ existing CDMA network footprint” in the city, with further rollouts in remaining MetroPCS markets planned for later this year and early 2011. The operators stressed it will expand coverage further next year. Cities touted for future launch soon include Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Detroit, locations in Florida, Los Angeles, New York City, Philadelphia, Sacramento and San Francisco.

With LTE offering vastly improved data speeds, MetroPCS talked up a number of new services supported by the technology (available on the US$60 package), including: MetroSTUDIO, a new source of multimedia content, including full-track downloads, ringtones and ring-back tones, as well as video content from NBC Universal, Black Entertainment Television (BET) and Univision, available on-demand and powered by RealNetworks; a new social networking and instant messaging aggregation application, incorporating Facebook, MySpace and Twitter, as well as AIM, MSN and Yahoo! IM clients; and an upgraded MetroNavigator feature with the addition of voice-activated GPS and turn-by-turn directions. Meanwhile Samsung’s Craft device, a multimode LTE-CDMA handset, is available for US$299 after a US$50 rebate. The device has a 3.3-inch AMOLED screen, WiFi capability, 3.2 MP camera and combination touchscreen/slide-out Qwerty keyboard. Interestingly, the device is not marketed as a smartphone, and does not run a high-profile operating system. Unlike Verizon Wireless, which is using SIM cards for its LTE devices, the Samsung Craft will use a Universal Integrated Circuit Card to authenticate the phone to the network.

Users should expect to see cheaper phones and further devices in 2011. “We’ll have some mid-market devices in the first, maybe second quarter,” Thomas Keys, COO of MetroPCS, told Light Reading Mobile.  “We’ve got Android coming out on some of the decks we’re looking at too.” Eventually the portfolio will expand with data dongles and other devices. “We haven’t seen any LTE tablets yet though,” Thomas told LR Mobile.

MetroPCS’ launch of LTE is not unexpected, but does give it a serious edge over larger rivals Verizon and AT&T (which are not due to launch LTE technology until the end of this year, and mid-2011, respectively). In addition, Verizon has said it will not launch LTE smartphones until the middle of 2011. In Europe, TeliaSonera has pioneered the launch of commercial LTE networks with initial activation in December 2009. Of note is the fact that MetroPCS today gave no indication of expected download speeds from the new network, in contrast to recent comments from rivals.