Many people were curious as to why we didn’t see a new 4G LTE iPad on Sprint.
Well in short, Sprint doesn’t currently have an LTE network. Sprint has yet to release a single device on an LTE network. After the new iPad was announced and the world found out Sprint was not getting the next generation tablet, I automatically began to speculate.
Sprint would use either the new iPad, or the new iPhone as a crutch to launch it’s 4G network sometime later this year. To add to the speculation, there also was an article we posted a while back about Best Buy leaking iPad inventory for Sprint.
Dow Jones reported on this earlier today. Sprint’s Chief Financial Officer Joe Euteneuer indicated that Sprint would be able to launch a 4G LTE-equipped iPhone if Apple releases one later this year.
Sprint Chief Financial Officer Joe Euteneuer declined to say if Apple has such an iPhone planned. The carrier plans to introduce the 4G LTE network in only six cities by midyear.
Nonetheless, Euteneuer said Tuesday at an investor conference that Sprint’s Apple contract is similar to those of rivals AT&T Inc. (T) and Verizon Wireless, and that the carrier isn’t being held to any 4G LTE coverage requirements. In comparison, the other two carriers have rolled out 4G LTE to large swaths of the country.
I think Sprint is going to have to step up the game if they want to be major contenders with AT&T and Verizon. Who wants a 4G iPhone that only works in six cities? So they have quite a bit of expanding to do before fall when the new iPhone is rumored to be released.
Would you buy an LTE iPhone on Sprint’s Network?
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