MetroPCS has announced a new Samsung SCH-r900 at CTIA 2010. It is due the 2nd half of 2010. Corresponding to the introducing of the new Samsung is the launch of a MetroPCS LTE network in LA. No details on the SCH-r900 have emerged but some have suggested that it is perhaps similar to the Finesse SCH-r810. The phone is LTE enabled and CDMA. Its speculated that it will switch as needed between the LTE OFDMA and CDMA networks depending on availability in the area.

MetroPCS' LTE will be launched over AWS in select areas where it will be co-located with the existing 1x CDMA network. LTE is marketed as 4G even though it does not conform to IMT Advanced 4G requirements. A 4G compliant phone by Sprint was also announced prior to CTIA 2010 last week. Sprint's HTC EVO will use Clear's 4G Wimax network in a partnership between the two companies.

Previous post in the PhoneScoop forum by Ultratinio and Metro123 have indicated the possibility of a LTE network and as well as a tentative BlackBerry introduction, although no official announcement has been made as of yet on the release of additional BlackBerries for MetroPCS.

Sources:

http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/home/permali ... »

http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-12261_7-20001077-103560 ... »

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3GPP_Long_Term_Evolution »

http://www.ctiawireless.com »

http://connectedplanetonline.com/ctia/2010/news/metr ... »