This Saturday, February 11th, for one day only, T-Mobile is offering all of their 4G smartphones for free with a 2-year contract. This deal includes the Samsung Galaxy S II, HTC Amaze 4G, Nokia Lumia 710, Balckberry Bold 9900 4G, HTC Wildfire 4G, and more. The deal also includes a selection of tablets like the T-Mobile springBoard with Google.

The “free” part will come in the form of a mail-in rebate when you sign up for a qualifying “Classic Plan.”

T-Mobile is promoting this with an ad campaign, and you can watch the video below. Full press release is available after the clip (so you can scour it for all the little fine print).

PRESS RELEASE: In the spirit of the season, T-Mobile USA, Inc. will show consumers lots of love with another jaw-dropping promotion for its “Valentine’s Day Sale.” For one day only, Saturday, Feb. 11, T-Mobile will give customers the chance to get their hands on the latest 4G smartphones and select tablets for free, making a perfect gift for loved ones or themselves. The promotion includes T-Mobile’s fastest 4G smartphones and select tablets running on America’s Largest 4G Network® such as the Samsung Galaxy S™ II1 and the T-Mobile® SpringBoard™ with Google™.

New and existing eligible customers can take advantage of this deal receiving their device for free after a mail-in rebate card when they sign up for a new two-year contract on any qualifying Classic Plan™2 or for a $0.00 down payment after mail-in rebate card when signing up on a qualifying Unlimited Value™3 plan.

“T-Mobile has a commitment to make the 4G experience affordable and accessible to everyone, so this sweet deal on smartphones and tablets is our Valentine’s gift to consumers,” said John Clelland, senior vice president of marketing, T-Mobile USA. “No matter where loved ones live, T-Mobile wants to bring them closer with unlimited talking, photo sharing, video chatting, texting, and more.”

A recent online Omnibus survey4 with Harris Interactive found that four-in-ten (44%) of first time smartphone buyers in 2012 say the cost of the data plan associated with the smartphone is the most influential reason they have not purchased a smartphone before. The value for customers extends beyond the “Valentine’s Day Sale” as T-Mobile offers the best rate plan pricing on America’s Largest 4G Network.

The following is a sample of the exceptional devices available during the “Valentine’s Day Sale” if customers choose to sign up on a two-year Classic Plan™:

The “Valentine’s Day Sale” will be available on Feb.11 at participating T-Mobile retail stores nationwide and T-Mobile will support the promotion with a national television advertising campaign. For more information about T-Mobile’s “Valentine’s Day Sale” and details about qualifying plans, visit http://bit.ly/z36M9c.

1 Devices must be supported with the following data requirements: voice phones: 200 MB data; most smartphones: 2 GB data; 42 Mbps devices (Amaze and Galaxy S II): 5 GB data.

2Standard upgrade eligibility rules apply for existing Classic customers that stay on a Classic plan; standard migration fees will apply for existing Classic customers that switch to a Value plan and have less than 18 months contract tenure.

3 $0 down payment offer not applicable in RI, CT, or Miami-Dade County, FL; customers in these regions will be eligible for a different offer. Equipment installment plans: On approved credit and 0 percent APR. Down payment and unfinanced portion required at purchase. Remaining balance paid in 20 monthly installments. Total post-rebate price of each device equals down payment amount plus monthly payment amount times 20.

4This survey was conducted online within the United States by Harris Interactive on behalf of T-Mobile USA from December 20-22, 2011 among 2,573 adults ages 18 and older, among whom 235 will be first time smartphone buyers in 2012, and 988 are current smartphone users who will remain smartphone users in 2012. This online survey is not based on a probability sample and therefore no estimate of theoretical sampling error can be calculated. For complete survey methodology, including weighting variables, please contact kmcfadzean@waggeneredstrom.com.

5 Mail-in rebate not applicable in RI, CT, or Miami-Dade County, FL.

“I was not surprised by that decision given what had happened prior to the time that the application was withdrawn,” said the Congressman.

He went on to explain that the merger would have brought an “improvement that we desperately need.” If you remember, one of the goals of the merger was to bring high-speed broadband connections to 97 percent of the U.S. in 6 years, which would have nearly fulfilled President Obama’s broadband plan. Since the deal fell threw, Congressman Boucher told us that, in order for the President’s goal to still be met, the government would have to step in with an investment.

“In this era of concern about deficit spending, finding those investments is going to be very difficult,” he said.

As for AT&T, Congressman Boucher told us that he thinks the company will still try to meet the goals it set with the merger in mind, but that it would take a lot longer than 6 years to fulfill them. Through T-Mobile, AT&T would have saved significantly in its effort to enable 4G, but now, it needs to come up with the monies on its own.

“My guess is AT&T, at this point, is going to focus on strengthening its network in its core areas building out its 4th generation technology on an incremental basis of market-by-market, as it is an opportunity for that investment to realize the highest rate of return,” the Congressman explains. “Instead of it happening within 6 years on a nationwide basis, undoubtedly without the merger having occurred, that may now take a somewhat longer period of time.”

Some reports have indicated that AT&T has been talking with several owners of 700 MHz licenses and is in the process of acquiring them as part of its backup plan in case the T-Mobile deal fell threw. This may very well be true since the company is in need of more spectrum.

The Congressman is also optimistic about T-Mobile saying it is in a “very strong position to be a viable competitor.” However, he did say that it would have challenges with deploying 4G.

“The challenge that T-Mobile faces is acquiring the capital that is necessary to deploy 4th generation technology across its network,” he pointed out.

While AT&T did have to pay T-Mobile $4 billion ($3 billion in cash and $1 billion in spectrum rights), the Congressman said that T-Mobile would still need considerably more financing. What’s more is that T-Mobile’s parent company, Deutsche Telekom, had said, prior to the merger, that it wanted to exit the U.S. market and was not going to invest in it further. If this is still the case, T-Mobile could have a tough road ahead.

Since the future of T-Mobile is still in question, there have been some speculations about whether or not AT&T will make another attempt at buying the company. Congressman Boucher told us that, at this point, it seemed that the companies were headed in two different directions.

Sprint has also been mentioned as a potential buyer of T-Mobile, but the Congressman thinks such a merger would face the same scrutiny that the AT&T/T-Mobile did.

“I think it’s gonna be very difficult for any of the major carriers to purchase T-Mobile, given the position of the Department of Justice and the FCC,” he said.

Speaking of major carriers, he said it would be “impossible” for Verizon to make such a purchase. If a carrier were to purchase it, the Congressman thinks it would have to be smaller than T-Mobile.

Another possibility would be to sell T-Mobile in parts, which is not what Congressman Boucher considers to be a good decision.

“This is a world where business dominates,” he said. “I think Deutsche Telekom will make its decision very carefully based upon the relative value of the business offers that are made.”

In terms of the mobile industry as a whole, Congressman Boucher told us that the merger not going through was negative for mobile, consumers, and the economy.

“The long term impact is that we don’t get the deployment of 4th generation technology to 97 percent of the American public within the next half decade,” he said. “I think that’s the major negative impact.”

“Wireless technology was the answer,” he added. “We were going to bring broadband to the broadband have-nots – I’m not sure what the answer is now.”

What do you think the next steps will be not only for AT&T and T-Mobile, but also the mobile industry? Please share your thoughts.

Verizon will flip the switch tomorrow on networks in Glens Falls and Utica in New York, Brownsville and McAllen in Texas, and Lawton, Oklahoma. Networks in Atlanta, Houston, and Spokane are being expanded.

Users connected to Verizon’s 4G network should generally experience downlink rates from 5 to 12 megabits per second (Mbps), and uplink speeds of 2-5 Mbps.

Verizon offers a wide variety of 4G devices on its network, including LG’s Spectrum, which was announced at CES 2012, the Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7, and Motorola’s Droid line of phones. The iPhone 4S is not LTE capable, so it cannot run on Verizon’s network (a problem AT&T worked around by dual-layering their LTE network with an HSPA+ network, which the iPhone 4S is compatible with). The next-generation iPhone, presumably coming this summer, will probably have LTE capability.

AT&T’s 4G network is dual-layer, meaning that it uses both LTE and HSPA+ technology. This makes it compatible with a larger number of phones and prevents users from experiencing a sudden drop in data speeds when transitioning out of an LTE-covered area. This also gives AT&T a competitive advantage over Verizon regarding the iPhone 4S. The iPhone 4S is HSPA+ compatible, but not LTE compatible, which means that Verizon iPhone users have no access to their carrier’s 4G network. AT&T iPhone customers, however, will get at least a partial speed boost from AT&T’s new network.

According to AT&T’s press release, they expect deployment of their 4G network to continue throughout 2012, and be mostly done by the end of 2013.

Are you in one of AT&T’s new 4G markets? Tell us about it in the comments.

[Source: AT&T Press Release]

As part of that story I sent a request for comment to Verizon Wireless. They had this to say:

Verizon Wireless 4G LTE service is returning to normal this morning after company engineers worked to resolve an issue with the 4G network during the early morning hours today. Throughout this time, 4G LTE customers were able to make voice calls and send and receive text messages. The 3G data network operated normally.

While the spokesperson’s statement about the 3G network doesn’t seem to jive with what customers on the support forum were saying, it is nice to finally have some sort of statement from the company. The latest reports on the original support forum thread seem to indicate that the network is in the process of coming back online. Hopefully Verizon customers will be back to normal service soon.

This is actually the second such outage in recent memory. Just two weeks ago (when the support thread was started) Verizon suffered another major data network outage two weeks ago that lasted for most of a day.

Were you affected by today’s outage? If so, have you gotten service back? Let us know in the comments.

The company has been making a minimal effort at damage control via their customer support Twitter feed this morning, but have remained quiet on the details. No comment has been made either on the outage itself or on when Verizon customers can expect the problem to be resolved.

I have sent Verizon a request for comment which has yet to be answered. The Verge, however, is reporting that they did manage to speak to a Verizon spokesperson who only acknowledged the outage without giving any further information.

As one might expect, Twitter has been abuzz with complaints about the outage:

Meanwhile, either someone at Verizon Support has a sense of humor, or they haven’t been paying attention. Just a few minutes ago they responded to this tweet…

With the following:

The timing of the outage is particularly problematic for Verizon, who have been pushing their 4G network heavily in holiday shopping ads for their phones.

AT&T, however, is standing its own ground and fighting for its acquisition to get approved. It filed a formal response to the DOJ lawsuit, in which it said the complaint “fails to come to grips with the significant efficiencies this transaction will generate.”

Are you for or against AT&T buying T-Mobile? Let us know.

The telecom giant, who would become the largest U.S. wireless operator if the deal goes through, is also receiving its fair share of support. Early on, the Heartland Institute, an organization that promotes free market initiatives, expressed their support for the merger and called it a “natural” business acquisition.

Large organizations including Microsoft and Facebook have also endorsed the proposed merger as well as numerous governors across the country. Most recently, 15 House Democrats wrote to President Obama yesterday encouraging his administration to settle the DOJ lawsuit in order for the deal to go forward.

The Internet Innovation Alliance (IIA) has additionally been very outspoken in its support of the merger, especially its Honorary Chairman, former Congressman Rick Boucher. He originated the House Internet Caucus and has a history of being active in Internet-related issues. He spoke with WebProNews specifically about AT&T’s bid to buy T-Mobile and told us that, while the opposition was loud, the support was actually larger.

“The level of support for this merger greatly exceeds the level of opposition,” he said.

The primary goal of the Internet Innovation Alliance is to promote broadband deployment. Through this merger, the IIA and Boucher believe that innovation would increase and that jobs would be created. In turn, both of these areas would result in an improved economy.

“We [IIA] think there are very few steps that could be taken that could do more to help the American economy today than deploying broadband to everyone nationwide,” said Congressman Boucher.

Earlier this year, President Obama laid out a broadband plan in which he said 98 percent of U.S. residents would have access to high-speed mobile broadband service over the next several years. According to AT&T, their merger would bring this access to 97 percent of Americans throughout the country.

“The President’s goal is almost entirely fulfilled simply by allowing this merger to go forward,” pointed out Congressman Boucher. “I, frankly, don’t see a way that the President’s goals of having 98 percent deployment within the near term can be met in the absence of this merger.”

He also pointed out that, through the merger, this initiative that would practically meet the President’s goal would be funded privately. In other words, it would not cost taxpayers anything, whereas other broadband endeavors would.

Congressman Boucher told us that the AT&T/T-Mobile deal would be especially beneficial for rural areas as well. Up to this point, the deployment of broadband to these areas has been largely prohibited due to the high cost it takes to string wires over mountainous regions. However, he explains that AT&T plans to deploy 4G wireless technology, which not only reduces the costs associated with wires, but also has speed that is said to rival the fastest broadband connections today.

In regards to the opposition over competition, Congressman Boucher told us that there were plenty of alternatives for consumers.

“Yes, this merger takes 1 competitor out of the space, but in the most densely populated, largest markets across the country, in 18 out of 20 of those, you would still have a choice of 5 or more providers of wireless service,” he said.

Price increases have also been a big concern for consumers. But, as he explained, when other wireless companies have merged in the past, prices have actually gone down instead of up.

Congressman Boucher told us that he did, in fact, believe that the deal would be approved. One reason he thinks it will is because Deutsche Telekom, T-Mobile’s parent company, clearly wants to exit the American mobile market. The company has stopped investing in T-Mobile USA and is not making plans to integrate 4G. For these reasons, it will eventually lose its subscribers unless someone buys it.

Some reports have speculated that Sprint should purchase it, but the Congressman said that Sprint has had trouble integrating previous acquisitions due to compatibility issues. He believes that a T-Mobile acquisition would turn out the same way.

While he does think that AT&T will be able to go forward with its purchase of T-Mobile, he did say that the terms of the deal would likely be negotiated. Congressman Boucher also told us that these terms are what the public should be focusing on instead of questions regarding whether or not the deal should go through.

“The discussion about the blanket ‘yes’ or ‘no’ – should the merger be approved- should be answered in the affirmative,” he said. “The real conversation needs to be about the conditions under which this merger will be approved.”

The status hearing for the merger is set to take place on September 21, and the presiding judge has stated that all parties should be prepared to discuss settlement options.

If the deal goes through, what terms would you like to see included?

With all that in mind, BGR has discovered that Apple is currently testing an LTE-enabled phone with carriers, below is an excerpt from their findings:

“While we can’t confirm that the upcoming fifth-generation iPhone will be able to support 4G LTE, we can now exclusively confirm that Apple’s carrier partners are testing iPhone models with LTE capability. BGR has obtained evidence of an internal iOS test build from one of Apple’s major carrier partners, and buried in the firmware is a property list (.plist file) for LTE. This doesn’t necessarily mean every Apple device that’s about to be released will feature an embedded 4G LTE modem, but it certainly means Apple isn’t sitting on the sidelines as 4G LTE networks continue to roll out around the world. Plus, when Apple finally does make a 4G LTE device, the battery might actually last longer than a few hours. Check out our photo gallery for images of Apple’s LTE plist file.”

It’s unclear at this time if the iPhone 5 will release with full 4G LTE support, but it should be noted that t is expected to support HSPA + technology for GSM networks, which some carriers label to as 4G.

What are you expectations when Apple finally does hop on the LTE train?

Though don’t count on wireless speeds that fast right away, definitely not until well after launch sometime in 2009 or 2010. Verizon will be trialing the platform throughout 2008.

Verizon says it seeks to open up the kinds of devices used on its network beyond mobile phones.

"With a host of new devices and applications, and a particular focus on embedded wireless in virtually every piece of electronics you buy in any store, we believe LTE is the best technology with global scale to deliver on the promise,” said Richard Lynch, executive vice president and chief technology officer of Verizon Communications.

Because Verizon is switching to the same technology as AT&T, it also means that subscribers will be able to move between networks thanks to Verizon’s new open devices policy, announced at the beginning of this week.

At the time of that earlier announcement, it was unclear the impact an open devices policy would have because of the incompatibility between Verizon’s CDMA network and the rest of the world’s (save for Sprint) use of GSM.