After adding new basic plans for 4G LTE in early 2011, MetroPCS has quietly dropped its lowest-cost option. The $40 plan offered unlimited talk, text, web browsing, and YouTube, although some features — like turn-by-turn navigation and streaming video or music channels — weren't part of the deal. Now, the cheapest plan is $50, which is largely the same but adds 1GB of "multimedia streaming." As with all MetroPCS plans, these are contract-free.

While this news only came to light today, the company confirmed to Fierce Wireless that it actually dropped the plan late last year when it stopped selling its first LTE handset, the Samsung Craft. Since no one seems to have noticed until now, we're guessing that cutting the option had more to do with lack of interest than anything else.