MetroPCS Pushes New Plans

NEW YORK (TheStreet) - MetroPCS(:PCS) has announced some new service plan pricing which could bring unlimited 4G/LTE services to even more data-hungry users.

As of today, the non-contract phone carrier is offering "all-you-can-eat" 4G data, voice and texts for $60 each month. And $60 means $60 - the price includes all fees, taxes and tips.

There are two other new plans as well. For $50 per month you get unlimited talk and texts and 2.5 GB of LTE data included. For $40 per month you get your unlimited talk and texts and 500 MB of 4G data. Go over those limits (in the two less expensive plans) and you'll be paying more.

Sound too good to be true? Of course, there is a catch, of sorts. MetroPCS doesn't force you to sign a long-term service contract so there is no part of your monthly fees to help pay off the real cost of your phone. No subsidies whatsoever.

So, that means you'll be paying the real price of whichever handset you decide on. And that means, according to a quick check of the MetroPCS Web site, you'll pay anywhere from $50 for a Samsung Freeform III or Huawei M835 to a whopping $500 for a Samsung Galaxy S III. Yes, that's really more like what smartphones cost.

All of this is important because, in the next few months, the MetroPCS/T-Mobile merger should be completed and we'll get to see if these new prices continue.

--Written by Gary Krakow in New York.

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