It's a question consumers have been asking since 2008 when Sprint Nextel launched the U.S.' first fourth-generation (4G) wireless network. Over the years, Sprint has introduced non-phone devices such as USB modems, PC cards and "mobile hotspots" that connect other gadgets to 4G, but people continued to clamor for compatible phones.
Now it appears the wait won't be much longer. Sprint tells Forbes its first 4G handset will launch in the first half of 2010--a few months earlier than many expected.
The phone will run on the 4G WiMax network Sprint has been building with wireless Internet service provider Clearwire Corp. (Sprint owns 51% of Kirkland, Wash.-based Clearwire.) This 4G service is currently available in 27 U.S. markets covering more than 30 million people and will extend to Houston, Tex. in the next few weeks. By the end of the year, the network is expected to include Boston, New York, San Francisco and Washington and cover up to 120 million people.
Paget Alves, Sprint's president of Business Markets, says the company views 4G as a multi-billion dollar business opportunity. Healthcare, transportation, manufacturing, media and retail companies are already using 4G to train and communicate with employees, he notes. Sprint says 4G technology can be up to 10 times faster than 3G, making it a good fit for bandwidth-intensive applications like streaming video, transmitting medical images and e-mailing training manuals.
This universal "need for speed" means businesses and government agencies--not just consumers--will likely adopt Sprint's 4G phone when it debuts, says Alves. He declined to disclose additional details about the handset, but online reports point to a touch-screen phone running Google's Android operating system, designed by Taiwan's HTC. Since Sprint's 4G network is not yet nationwide, the handset is said to be "dual-mode", automatically switching to Sprint's 3G network in areas where 4G isn't available.
Sprint is counting on its new 4G phones and markets to keep it ahead of rival Verizon, which plans to introduce its own 4G network--using a different technology called LTE--later this year. In Sprint's most recent earnings call, on Feb. 10, Chief Executive Dan Hesse called 2010 "the year of 4G" and said the company is working with "several equipment manufacturers that will embed 4G capability into dozens of devices."
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