MetroPCS Beckons BlackBerry Fans With Curve

While writing about the growing popularity of prepaid phones, I encountered many cellphone customers, still bound under contracts with a major wireless carrier, who said they were willing to sacrifice the bragging rights of owning a fancier device in favor of cutting costs and living with the simpler phones that tend to accompany prepaid plans.

Now, they may not have to.

On Tuesday, MetroPCS, a carrier based in Dallas that only sells prepaid plans, announced the addition of the BlackBerry Curve 8330 to its slate of handsets.

Like all of MetroPCS’s offerings, the phone is available without a contract, and payment is due at the beginning of the month, rather than the end. The company also unveiled a new, flat-rate plan to support its first smartphone. For $50 per month, customers get unlimited talk time, Web browsing, e-mail and text messaging.

The price of the BlackBerry, made by Research in Motion, has not yet been released. But the cost of handsets tend to be higher at prepaid carriers because they typically don’t offer the same subsidies that come with a contract.

Tom Keys, the chief operating officer for MetroPCS, told me last month that one of challenges of competing with major wireless carriers for subscribers was being able to offer customers the same amenities.

To that end, he said the company is “working with top handset makers and will be introducing four to five new handsets over the next six months.” In addition to adding smartphones to its stable, Mr. Keys said the company plans to introduce sleek sliders and phones sporting QWERTY keyboards. In addition, MetroPCS, a regional carrier, recently added coverage in New York and Boston to increase its appeal.

So far, the company’s plans have been gaining traction: During its fourth quarter, the company had the biggest quarterly gain in its six-year history, with the addition of 520,000 subscribers. MetroPCS finished 2008 with more than five million subscribers, a 35 percent increase over 2007.