Sprint Will Introduce No More WiMAX Smartphones

Sprint is in the process of switching from providing 4G service with WiMAX to the rival standard LTE. The company has passed an important milestone: it will release no more devices with WiMAX.

The carrier was the first in the U.S. with 4G service. However, it picked WiMAX, which has proved to be slower than LTE, the standard Verizon and AT&T are using. Sprint it announced a 4G switch a few months ago.

It unveiled its first two LTE-based smartphones at  CES last week, a version of the Samsung Galaxy Nexus and the LG Viper. Neither of these is expected to launch for quite some time -- Sprint said recently its first LTE devices won't be on the market until the second half of the year.

According to David Owens, Sprint's VP of product realization, moving forward, this company is going to put its focus on developing more handsets with LTE. Despite this new focus, the carrier will continue to offer WiMAX through 2015, so users of current devices don't need to worry about losing 4G service for years.

Source