In a move that has left a lot of industry watchers amazed, Dallas based MetroPCS Communications has announced that they will begin allowing customers to bring their cell phones from other carriers to have them reprogrammed to use the MetroPCS system.

This amounts to a major change in the traditional cellular company’s business model.  Until now, the cell companies heavily discounted phones that were tied directly to their systems, providing in essence a “loss leader”, relying on the fact that they would make their money on the billing of the cell service.

MetroPCS isn’t changing the backend; they will still be making money from the cell service… they just won’t be subsidizing the purchase of cell phones that are tied to their system.  This allows consumers to keep the cell phone the like, and it allows MetroPCS the ability to gain more customers.  It’s a win-win, and it’s about time this occurred.

MetroPCS’s network coverage includes 14 major cities, including Miami, Atlanta, Dallas, Detroit, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Las Vegas.

Their network uses CDMA technology, so unfortunately, you won’t see any iPhones being ported over – but if you are in their coverage area, aren’t currently with MetroPCS, and are looking for a change – they may be right for you!

For a more in-depth report, check out the AP supplied story at Yahoo News