Today we learned that T-Mobile’s MVNO (Mobile Virtual Network Operator) partners will be offering pre-paid LTE service as soon as T-Mobile goes live with its LTE network later this year. This will be the first time consumers will have access to pre-paid LTE on T-Mobile’s network. Solavei and Ready SIM executives both confirmed to Fierce Wireless that their companies would be offering 4G LTE. This also indicates that 4G LTE service will also be available to customers of T-Mobile’s self-branded pre paid service, “Monthly 4G.”
We don’t yet have pricing details, but it is safe to assume that this move will be one more way LTE will be available much more cheaply than it is through a contract with Verizon. Sadly, many of us are still shackled with high pricing and terrible customer service from the likes of Verizon, Sprint and (shudder) AT&T. But now there is always a light at the end of the tunnel, even if that light is almost 2 years away for so many.
But imagine a world where there is a 4G LTE Nexus device that can be bought directly from Google for somewhere between $300 and $400. It is safe to assume that this new pre paid 4G LTE service won’t cost any more than $70 a month, and it might even include unlimited data. If buying a Nexus device directly from Google without having the bloatware or delayed updates that carriers weigh our devices down with, without sacrificing LTE speeds all while saving somewhere around $50 every month isn’t the dream of every true Android fan, I don’t know what is.
But the only LTE Nexus device so far has been the Samsung Galaxy Nexus for Verizon, and that isn’t being sold anymore. And although the Nexus 4 does have an LTE chip built into it, there isn’t a practical way to activate it through software hacks. So the dream of living unfettered by the chains of a contract carrier while surfing at breakneck speeds continues to elude us, but this news is certainly represents a step in the right direction.