This talk, presented on behalf of the Large Millimeter Telescope (LMT) project team, describes the status and near-term plans for the telescope and its initial instrumentation. The LMT is a bi-national collaboration between Mexico and the USA, led by the Instituto Nacional de Astrofisica, Optica y Electronica (INAOE) and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, to construct, commission and operate a 50m-diameter millimeter-wave radio telescope. Construction activities are nearly complete at the 4600m LMT site on the summit of Sierra Negra, an extinct volcano in the Mexican state of Puebla. Full movement of the telescope, under computer control in both azimuth and elevation, has been achieved. First-light at centimeter wavelengths on astronomical sources was obtained in November 2006. Installation of precision surface segments for millimeter-wave operation is underway, with the inner 32m-diameter of the surface now complete. The project plan was revised in 2008 to proceed to first light with the inner 32m of the antenna while the remaining surface is being completed and prepared for installation. We hope to complete this first light objective during this year and carry out some initial scientific work with the inner 32m of the antenna in early 2010. The remainder of the antenna surface would be expected to be completed and installed within about one year after this "first light science" objective is attained with full operation anticipated for 2011.