Not to be outdone by Leap Wireless, who launched a wireless internet service on the same day they rejected a merger bid, MetroPCS has announced that they now have service in the Los Angeles area. This opens the flat-rate, unlimited prepaid cell phone company to 11 million new people. They’ll have six retail shops and 400 authorized retailers in the Southern California area to service customers. We’ve never hidden our ardor for MetroPCS and Cricket; we simply love the idea of flat-rate, unlimited cell phone plans. However, we are aware of the major drawback: if you’re not calling from an area on Metro’s coverage map, you’re going to be hit with some hefty roaming charges. This might become an issue in L.A., as areas such as Beverly Hills and Santa Monica are not covered. Metro claims that they won’t try to dupe anyone into buying a plan if they wouldn’t be completely covered:
“This is our ninth major market, and the most important thing we do is to discern what is not covered,” said Thomas C. Keys, the company’s president. “We believe in honesty.”The company claims that they’ll expand coverage to reach 15 million Los Angelesians by the end of 2008. They might not see much of a customer base in the area until this expansion, since Boost Mobile is already well-entrenched there with an unlimited plan of their own — though theirs is $5 more than the most expensive Metro plan. But Boost has complete coverage in the area, giving it a firm leg up on Metro. We’ll see how this affects future merger talks between Leap and Metro. [LA Times]]]>