Evidence T-Mobile is inching closer to a 3G rollout

Several pieces of evidence were found this week pointing to T-Mobile's launch of a 3G network in select markets today. However, it appears today's launch is only an early step toward a complete UMTS network.

TMO news posted a leaked internal T-Mobile document from April 29, announcing the launch as a part of the company's "Big 5 goal to Deepen Coverage and Begin High-Speed Service Rollout." It clarifies that this phase of 3G only affects the voice channel; all data transmission will still rely on T-Mobile's EDGE network.

The UMTS network will reportedly utilize the 1700/2100 MHz band and be launched in 20 US markets: New York City/New Jersey/Long Island, Austin,Houston, Las Vegas, Minneapolis, Miami, Dallas, Chicago, Philadelphia, Denver, Detroit, Orlando, Kansas City, Atlanta, Los Angeles, New England, Portland, Sacramento, San Francisco, San Diego, Seattle, Washington D.C., Birmingham, Memphis, Tampa, and Phoenix.

Unfortunately, T-Mobile only offers four handsets which even support 3G voice connectivity: Samsung T639, Nokia 6263, Samsung T819, and the Nokia 3555.