Being the last of the 4 major carriers to launch a 3G network is a ruff road, but spinning a 3G data launch into a 3G Voice-Only launch is terrible. According to the latest reports, T-Mobile USA will be launching their 3G network today, May 1 in New York City (sorry New Jersey, EDGE only). The disappointing news is that this launch is labeled as Voice-Only using T-Mobile’s UMTS 1700MHz band of 3G flavor.

“3G is the next generation of our wireless network, following our current GSM network. In this early phase of our network evolution, 3G is a new technology for carrying wireless voice calls and supporting existing data capabilities on our network. In future phases, this next generation network will power ‘high-speed’ (3G) products and services that connect customers in new and exciting ways. … Inform customers who are interested in high-speed data that the first phase of our 3G roll out supports voice only.”

There it is folks, straight from the horse’s mouth; T-Mobile will be launching Voice-Only 3G in NYC. When the other major carriers launched their 3G networks, data cards or handsets focused on DATA were released first since the primary reason for a high-speed network is clearly data. We really do not understand this launch for T-Mobile or what they were thinking by even leaking news that their 3G network was prepping launch at Las Vegas this year.