Samsung Galaxy S3 Release Date And Price Announced For MetroPCS: Flagship Phone Debuts On Oct. 22

MetroPCS announced last month that the Galaxy S3 will be coming to its network in October, but has not revealed a release date until today. On Oct. 22, fans of the Samsung Galaxy line will be able to purchase the phone with 4G LTE service and no annual contract.

“We are excited to make the Samsung Galaxy S III smartphone available to our no annual contract subscribers,” said Tom Keys, president and CEO of MetroPCS, in a statement released Friday. “With roughly one million 4G LTE customers already, we recognize that many want a premier smartphone that offers an array of high-end features and runs our 4G LTE network. Available with any of our 4G LTE service plans, this smartphone offers a postpaid experience at a tremendous value to our customers.”

Along with Sprint’s Boost Mobile, MetroPCS is one of the major companies providing cell phone service without long-term commitment. The company also released details on the Galaxy S3’s price on Friday, revealing that the handset will cost $499 off-contract. LTE plans could run between $30 and $70 a month, MetroPCS also said.

The arrival of the Galaxy S3 marks MetroPCS’ most powerful phone to date. Featuring a 4.8-inch screen, a HD Super AMOLED display and a 1.5GHz Qualcomm dual-core processor, the Galaxy S3 is certainly an upgrade for MetroPCS subscribers.

Currently, MetroPCS only offers one other phone from Samsung’s Galaxy line, and that’s the Galaxy S Lightray 4G. The Galaxy S Lightray starts at $459, a slightly cheaper price than the forthcoming Galaxy S3.

T-Mobile, whose recent merger with MetroPCS sparked a lawsuit from shareholders in Texas, announced earlier this month that the Galaxy S3 is its most successful device.

“Did you know the Samsung Galaxy S III is @TMobile’s all-time best-selling device? RT if you love your device!” the company’s Twitter account posted in the first week of October.

T-Mobile did not disclose any sales figures to support this statement, but this achievement shows that the Galaxy S3 was able to outshine other popular Android handsets released on the network this year. These include the HTC Amaze, the HTC Radar 4G, and even its predecessor the Galaxy S2. Unofficial T-Mobile news blog TMONews ranked these devices as the top-selling T-Mobile phones of 2011.

The Galaxy S3 gives T-Mobile and MetroPCS a major boost when it comes to competing with other carriers that offer Apple’s popular iPhone 5. T-Mobile is the only major US carrier that does not offer Apple’s most recent handset.

Samsung’s flagship smartphone has sold more than 20 million units since its release in May, and an executive from the company expects this number to jump by 10 million before the year’s end. Shin Jong-kyun, Samsung’s IT and mobile unit chief, told the South Korean Yonhap News Agency that the Galaxy S3 will reach more than 30 million in global sales by the time 2012 is over.