T-Mobile ready to roll out 3G network?

Go T-Mobile. For so long, you’ve been stuck as the nation’s fourth-largest cell provider, and by quite a large margin. Lately, though, they’ve been upping the stakes. First it was HotSpot @Home, and recently it has been heavily rumored that they will offer VoIP home phone service as well. We love the take-charge attitude, especially as the Big Two, Verizon and AT&T, are seeing unprecedented success. The latest development in T-Mobileville: a 3G network. Rumors have been running rampant recently that T-Mobile will launch it’s 3G network in the early fall of 2007. With that being a mere few months away, people have been scouring for any kind of confirmation. Thankfully, the guys at the The Boy Genius Report have found some: a 3G-enabled phone to be offered through T-Mobile. It’s a Samsung t639, and it’s set to be released on September 10. Don’t take this, though, that the 3G network will be up and running by then. Rather, T-Mobile is likely rolling out this phone as a teaser for the network, and will launch the network once some of its subscribers have compatible phones. The phone itself isn’t overly impressive, but that doesn’t seem to be the point. T-Mobile just wants people on the network, so it will offer an affordable initial solution. Should this prove to be a success, you’ll surely see a ton more 3G-ready phones offered through T-Mobile. A 3G Sidekick can’t be far behind, right? Our one gripe with the t639 is that it’s not WiFi enabled. This isn’t exactly a common function on phones, but we think T-Mobile would do a lot better with this network if subscribers could get both a 3G network and the Hotspot @Home service. Once again, we expect a WiFi 3G phone to be released relatively close to the launch of the 3G network. [The Boy Genius Report] via [Crunch Gear]]]>