Right now, in the midst of other 4G roll-outs, MetroPCS has launched the Samsung Craft handset and their first LTE network in Las Vegas. However, as some have noted, this is a no-frills operation that rolls out the new technology to give better bandwidth and stability to already existing apps. This doesn’t quite sit well with all the reviewers, like Stacey Higginbotham from GigaOM who has this to say on the MetroPCS subject,

For those feeling underwhelmed, perhaps this isn’t the LTE story you were looking for. What it is: a prepaid mobile operator that’s trying to retain customers in a world gone gaga for mobile Internet. MetroPCS customers aren’t really looking for the next hot Android or iPhone. They’re looking for access to Facebook, Twitter and most importantly, online video, without having to sign a contract with a carrier. According to Tom Keys, COO of MetroPCS, about half of them use their phone as their primary internet connection, and about 90 percent of them use data on their handsets. “We built this for our customer base, not as a 4G iPhone replacement,” Keys said.

So this isn’t for the MiFi crowd as much as it’s for the MySpace crowd (a site that came up often in Keys’ examples of what his customers want on a phone).

“The attitude Stacey H. displays in her review of MetroPCS’s new LTE capabilities is indicative of the industry-wide attitude towards other 4G providers (including Clear and dozens of mom and pop providers),” says Mark Hopkins of SiliconANGLE. “MetroPCS understands their own market—they aren’t catering to the early adopter crowd, so they actually have time to build for ‘Myspace first,’ as Stacey puts it.”

I agree, there’s room for every niche in this development. Customers want what they want. Here we have a new technology that supports more than just bleeding edge technology—being able to get the benefits of a faster data connection for my usual day-to-day work certainly does me a great deal of benefit. I am an early adopter when I can, but if I already have a good thing going and it just gets a little better, I am very happy to keep on keeping on.

Plus, the adoption of further LTE networks will serve to build a foundation of customers who will eventually want to move to standardized and well rounded technologies. Not everyone can push the envelope and it’s important not to leave the slow adopters behind by forcing them out of their comfort zones.