In an interview with Forbes, Sprint confirmed that it will launch its first 4G mobile phone sometime in the first half of 2010. Many had expected that Sprint would not launch a 4G phone until later in the year.
Sprint launched its 4G WiMAX service back in September 2008 but has yet to offer any mobile phones compatible with it. Not surprisingly, customers have been asking for 4G phones since the launch and Sprint now expects that businesses, government agencies, and consumers will all jump on the opportunity for significantly faster speeds on their phones.
As for specific details on the phone itself, Sprint’s president of Business Markets, Paget Alves, revealed nothing. Past rumours suggest that the device could be none other than the HTC Supersonic.
Sprint’s WiMAX network (run in partnership with Clearwire) is currently available in 27 U.S. markets covering more than 30 million people. By the end of the year, Sprint is looking to extend it to include Houston, Boston, New York, San Francisco and Washington to offer coverage to some 120 million people.