First 'WiMAX' mobile to be launched in the US this summer

Paul Nesbitt

US network Sprint will unveil a smartphone, built by HTC, which will run on a WiMAX network in the US, in a move which could hasten the adoption of so-called 4G technology around the world.

Sprint will launch its WiMAX phone at the CTIAWireless conference in Las Vegas on 23 March and the company is already running TV commercials to promote its Sprint Overdrive 4G service.

Sprint claims that its 4G service is 'up to ten times faster than 3G' and that it will herald a 'wireless revolution.'

The Sprint Supersonic smartphone will feature a 4.3in AMOLED 800 by 480 capacitive touchscreen and a 5 megapixel camera.

And in a sign that Sprint is primarily interested in signing up customers to its 4G network, rather than becoming a significant player in the phone business, the company's commercials showed a customer using an iPhone with its service. The commercial claims that the iPhone's performance is 'limited by AT&T's 3G speeds.'

While Sprint's 4G service will be the first in the US, similar services are already available in Korea (from KT) and Russia (from Yota).

In the UK the WiMAX forum has issued a plea for the government to release a wireless spectrum to enable the creation of WiMAX networks here. This is unlikely to happen before next year, however.

Instead the mobile networks are working on LTE (Long Term Evolution) as their '4G' technology which they claim will offer faster performance.