Metro by T-Mobile

Metro by T-Mobile (formally known as MetroPCS and also known simply as Metro) is an American prepaid virtual wireless service provider and brand owned by T-Mobile US. It previously operated the fifth largest mobile telecommunications network in the United States using code-division multiple access (CDMA). In 2013, the carrier engaged in a reverse merger with T-Mobile US; post-merger, its services were merged under T-Mobile's UMTS and LTE network. Metro by T-Mobile competes primarily against Dish's Boost Mobile, AT&T's Cricket Wireless and Verizon's Visible as part of the wireless service provider brands. Metro was established in 1994 as General Wireless, Inc., by Roger Linquist and Malcolm Lorang. PCS referred to the industry term, Personal Communications Service. Its service was first launched in 2002. As of February 2005, MetroPCS had about 1.5 million subscribers in the country. At the time, the company operated through 21 licenses in Greater Miami, Tampa, Sarasota, New York City, San Francisco, Atlanta and Sacramento. The company expanded to the Dallas and Detroit areas later that year. On April 19, 2007, MetroPCS made its stock market debut. Its $50 million share IPO closed at$27.40, for a market cap of $8 billion. and then expanded over to New York promptly in 2002. In October 2012, the company, known then as MetroPCS, reached an agreement to merge with T-Mobile USA. A reverse merger for MetroPCS, the deal closed on May 1, 2013. The combined company, now known as T-Mobile US, began trading on the New York Stock Exchange. On June 21, 2015, the legacy MetroPCS CDMA network was decommissioned, and customers were migrated to the company's LTE network. At the time of the merger, T-Mobile had about 32 million subscribers, to which MetroPCS added around 9 million. In 2012, there was a series of armed robberies in Metro stores which was attributed to low security measures. In the same year, T-Mobile and Metro became some of the earliest companies to offer unlimited data plans.