If You Build it, They Will Come - Sprint's 4G Story

As Sprint (News - Alert) officials said at a recent demo session, “You need spectrum to build a network – and the new 4G networks require 7 to 15 times as much spectrum from day one. And then you need an appropriate backhaul setup to bring traffic back (such as Clearwire (News - Alert), here in New York).”

But Sprint took on this challenge with aplomb. Soon, it will reap the rewards.

The 4G network soon to hit Manhattan offers plenty of benefits to mobile phone users. It’s really fast at uploading Youtube videos – so fast that it made my 3G Blackberry Torch cry. As an added perk, both the HTC (News - Alert) EVO and the Samsung Epic work as hotspots – allowing other users to share the 4G network securely.

As an added benefit, 4G network customers can still use 3G service if that’s all that’s available – it has been grandfathered in.

According to Matt Carter, Sprint’s 4G president, “Sometime this year you are going to experience the transformational powers of 4G here in New York. Sprint is the first in the market with 4G and it is important for us to continue extending our leadership in 4g.” He added, “It’s not just network deployment issue for us – it’s also the knowledge. It is ecosystem support -- the 4G network.”

This sort of aggressive (and impressive) maneuvering was a matter of survival for the Sprint camp.

The company has been considered a third fiddle to its competitors for awhile now and the 4G network may level the playing field some…