Ah, here’s a familiar tune. Cross-network phone mods in the United States have declined somewhat since the various carriers’ data bands have become so different, it’s still a popular pastime – though mostly among iPhone users who want a little T-Mobile freedom. That practice has now spread to the much-anticipated Samsung Galaxy Note, which recently had an LTE-flavored release on AT&T. Naturally this comes from XDA developers, via a user calling himself  tomin.fhl.

The LTE phone includes HSPA+ bands that will work on T-Mobile’s HSPA+ “4G” network, but of course they’re locked down (both on the radio and the SIM card) in the AT&T retail version. You don’t even need a custom ROM for the tweak to work – just load up a hacked T-Mobile radio in a custom bootloader and you’re ready to go. It’s not the simplest of hacks, but it should be bread and butter for any experienced Android modder. And of course, this trick ought to work for any custom ROMs that pop up as well.

Early reports indicate that signal is considerably weaker than both an unmodified Note and a standard T-Mobile Android phone, but voice, text and data are all possible. The only thing holding users back is the considerable price tag: a whopping $650 for a contract-free AT&T phone, or a $350 cancellation fee from Ma Bell. But for a certain user, that’s surely a small price to pay to get the biggest, baddest Android phone around on their preferred network.

[via Android and Me]