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MetroPCS was unique in the U.S. wireless industry in its bold strategy to move directly from 2G to 4G. Now Metro is backtracking, making the odd move of launching 3G after it has nearly fully implemented a footprint-wide LTE network (CP: MetroPCS completes LTE footprint).
Speaking at a Bank of America Merrill Lynch financial conference, Metro chief financial officer Braxton Carter said the carrier is overlaying EV-DO Revision A over 20% of its CDMA network, which would allow customers without LTE phones to access faster data speeds. Carter explained that while LTE is its primary data network, it wants to expand data services across its customer base, much of which can't afford the high-cost of an LTE smartphone.
"We're in a grace period," Carter said. "We're putting a lot of smartphone...