MetroPCS to switch off CDMA network in Las Vegas, New England on 30 June

MetroPCS, the mobile operator taken over by T-Mobile US last year, has confirmed that it is planning to switch off its legacy CDMA network in Las Vegas and parts of New England on 30 June 2014, and has urged customers to upgrade their handsets to HSPA+/LTE models. The first three markets scheduled to see the changes are: Las Vegas (Nevada), Boston (Massachusetts) and Hartford (Connecticut). A T-Mobile US spokesperson told Wireless Week: ‘We are not shuttering service for MetroPCS customers. We are moving MetroPCS 3G CDMA customers to a better, faster network and offering them 4G HSPA+/LTE phones – giving them a better experience on a better network at almost no cost to them’. T-Mobile US plans to have the ‘vast majority’ of the MetroPCS network shut down by the end of 2015.