While Sprint’s 4G is still on WiMAX and its LTE network is yet to launch, the carrier has already announced what comes next – LTE Advanced. At the 4G World conference in Chicago today, Sprint mentioned that it will be rolling out its LTE Advanced network in the first half of 2013. The network will be making use of the 800MHz spectrum and is touted to have speeds up to six-times faster than the current crop of LTE available.
LTE Advanced will be capable of reaching peak rates of 1GBps in hotspots and 100Mbps with mobile devices, which means that it will qualify as an official 4G standard – something that carriers haven’t been able to do today, despite their loose usage of the term. If things go according to plan, Sprint could be the first carrier in the country to offer 4G again – just like it achieved with “4G” with WiMAX. However, two years is a long time, so we’ll just have to wait and see. How many of you are excited for LTE Advanced’s arrival?