T-Mobile LTE live in seven markets starting today

Today at T-Mobile's UNcarrier event in New York City, the company officially launched its 4G LTE network in seven markets around the US. These cities include Baltimore, Houston, Kansas City, Las Vegas, Phoenix, San Jose, and Washington DC. T-Mobile expects its 4G LTE network to reach 100 million Americans by mid-2013, and 200 million people by the end of 2013.

We've already seen what LTE devices will be available on T-Mobile, but those devices are pretty much useless without the LTE network to go along with it. Of course, only seven markets in the US is nothing close to what Verizon and AT&T currently have, but if T-Mobile's goal of 200 million people by the end of the year is met, the competition between the three of these carriers could heat up quick.

Earlier, it was said that T-Mobile's LTE was detected in eight cities before the launch, including Denver, New Orleans, San Diego, New York, and Seattle, for which these cities weren't officially announced by T-Mobile today. These cities may be markets that will see the flip being switched shortly, but T-Mobile didn't include these cities in their announcement during today's event.

However, before the official launch of the LTE, many T-Mobile users reported being able to access LTE in several cities such as Phoenix, Houston, and San Jose, which wasn't all too surprising, considering that T-Mobile most likely wanted these areas live with LTE as the carrier made the announcement.