METROPCS IN TALKS TO ACQUIRE POST AT&T/T-MOBILE MERGER ASSETS

The likelihood of a successful acquisition of T-Mobile by AT&T may largely depend on what the latter is willing to give up. The largest GSM carrier in the US may need to throw a few assets overboard in order to satisfy the Department of Justice, and has reportedly been Rethinking Possible by engaging in discussions with several parties interested in scooping up the leftovers. According to Bloomberg, MetroPCS appears to be the frontrunner in the talks, and plans to meet with the Justice Department (alongside AT&T, of course) in the next two weeks to determine if the strategy will appease the regulating body. No guarantees here, of course: it seems like a lot of assets would have to change hands for MetroPCS -- a regional carrier with roughly nine million subscribers -- to be considered a large enough competitor to assuage the government's concerns here. We can't imagine the Feds would be satisfied with any small offering, considering the Department's filed a lawsuit against Ma Bell to block the merger.

DOWNSIDE TO 4G...NO ROAMING

Several companies are hopping on the LTE bandwagon, but it's turning out to be more isolating an experience than we hoped. According to PCMag, a Verizon spokesperson confirmed that its fourth-generation broadband network won't be compatible with other carriers in the US. As it turns out, Big Red and AT&T each own a separate block of 700MHz spectrum with only a fraction of overlap, leaving little room for phones on both networks to mingle with one another. There's not much hope for roaming on MetroPCS or LightSquared, either, as their waves of LTE run at 1700MHz and 1500MHz, respectively. This smattering of frequencies means it'll be near impossible to get roam on other companies' 4G networks nationally.

What's worse, the ITU has approved twelve bands for LTE use around the world, so don't count on a wide selection of global devices -- and you thought sorting through international 3G was bad, didn't you? We're still a long way from learning our LTE roaming fate, but it appears the largest carrier in the US won't make the journey any easier on us.

CONSUMERS CONFUSED BY WHAT 4G MEANS ACCORDING TO NIELSEN

One of the buzzwords emerging here at this year's Consumer Electronics Show is 4G; just today, Verizon Wireless unveiled 10 new 4G LTE devices. But does the average person even really know what that means?

A recent Nielsen study found that 83 percent of the 2,100 people it polled were aware of 4G technology, but only 51 percent actually understood what 4G entailed.
The confusion shouldn't be all that surprising; even the experts have gone back and forth over the definition recently.

In October, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) proclaimed that only LTE-Advanced and WiMAX 2 (802.16m) qualified as 4G, meaning that 4G networks being advertised by Sprint, MetroPCS, Verizon, and T-Mobile actually weren't. Two months later, however, the ITU reversed course and loosened its definition of 4G to include LTE, WiMax, and HSPA+.

When Nielsen asked respondents to define 4G, many of them sided with the ITU's original definition. About 54 percent said 4G was mobile data speeds of more than 100 MBits/s. "However, "no carrier worldwide currently reaches speeds that high," Nielsen said. Some people, meanwhile, also confused the "4" in iPhone 4 to mean that it's a 4G phone (it's not).
Perhaps confusion will be good for business, though. Nielsen said that almost 3 in 10 consumers said they would buy a 4G device in the next 12 months.

METRO PCS STAYS UNLIMITED

With the launch of the first LTE 4G service in the U.S., MetroPCS has reiterated it's commitment to stay unlimited.  Ed Chao, network operation Senior VP, stated the company has no plans to switch to tiered service plans and will stick with unlimited plans for future LTE launches as a way to differentiate itself from other providers.

MetroPCS launched the first LTE 4G service yesterday in Las Vegas. [DSL Reports]

CLEARWIRE TO OFFER PAY-AS-YOU-GO

In a SEC filing WiMax provider Clearwire states they will be offering a pay-as-you-go service.  The companies filing states it "plans to serve a new pay-as-you-go customer segment".  No other details were offered so it is unclear what Clearwire has planned.  Some analysts have speculated this new offering is in response to MetroPCS's impending entry into the prepaid 4G market.  

Clearwire's network is also resold thru Best Buy, Comcast, Sprint and Time Warner.  There is no word on how this move by Clearwire will affect the services offered by these resellers. [Fierce Wireless]