Metro PCS 2009 Annual Report Download - page 6

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capacity and enable us to offer an increasing array of new services and applications
to smartphones. Ericsson and Samsung Telecommunications, both world-leaders in
providing telecommunications equipment, are our initial infrastructure providers for
our LTE networks. In addition, Samsung Telecommunications is expected to provide
our initial dual mode CDMA/LTE handset. With our initial launch of our LTE network,
and as the Web increasingly goes mobile, we expect to offer true mobile broadband
to our subscribers, ushering in a renaissance within the wireless industry. As
Smartphones and other mobile devices utilizing LTE become increasingly feature-
rich, I believe more expansive change in wireless could occur over the next decade
as a result of LTE than we have experienced over the past two decades.
Handsets, greater variety and functionality
As phones become increasingly sophisticated in functionality, we are focused on
enhancing our handset lineup. We are offering more choices of handsets –
Smartphones and messaging and feature-rich handsets – than ever before. In
particular, Smartphones, QWERTY keyboard, and Web-enabled devices are
becoming one of the foundational elements of services we provide. In fact, voice now
accounts for less than half of our traffic, as we see texting and Web service
dominating our traffic. In spring of 2009, we launched the BlackBerry Curve® 8330
Smartphone and our first touch-screen phone, the Samsung Finesse®. In October,
we launched the Samsung Code®, representing our first Windows Mobile 6.1
powered handset. We believe subscribers will continue to demand these types of
handsets, and we plan to continue to add new and compelling handsets to our
portfolio throughout 2010.
Nationally, as more subscribers use smartphones and other advanced handsets,
some national wireless carriers are experiencing data capacity challenges.
Subscribers’ demands for data and their rate of adoption of advanced handsets have
outpaced the capabilities of some other existing mobile networks. We continue to be
pleased with our network performance and its proven ability to deliver outstanding
service that meets the needs of our current subscribers. Looking forward, we believe
subscribers’ demand for broadband data and network capacity will only increase, and
we intend to offer not only a compelling choice of smartphones and advanced
handsets, but importantly, provide an LTE network that meets these growing
demands.
Our strength, our future
As the competitive environment in which we operate intensifies, we believe our core
strength in managing our low-cost network while profitably increasing subscriber
penetration clearly demonstrates that MetroPCS is changing the marketplace. We
intend to be in this business for the long-term and our focus on innovation and
offering our subscribers a post-pay wireless experience on a no contract pay-in-
advance basis has become increasingly important. Our strategy of offering