Galaxy Nexus 4G LTE & LG Viper 4G LTE all hype, no Sprint LTE network to support Launch

We know the hype surrounding the first run of 4G LTE devices from sprint is pretty hot. They are launching both, the already sold out, Samsung Galaxy Nexus and LG Viper 4G LTE this Sunday.  While both devices are great in their own right, the main focus behind them is 4G LTE. We heard that the Galaxy Nexus would be launching with the 4G LTE radios turned off by default. This led to a lot of speculation that Sprint wouldn’t actually have any LTE services anywhere at the time of launch. Looks like those speculations were correct. A little leg work by The Droid Guy has produced some information that might just make some people a little disappointed.

“Sprint has not announced specific launch dates.

We have said: In 2012, Sprint expects to cover 123 million people with Network Vision and 4G LTE service; by 2013, 250 million people should be covered. Six markets are expected to receive LTE by mid 2012: Atlanta, Dallas, San Antonio, Houston, Kansas City and Baltimore. The initial devices already announced to run on 4G LTE will be Galaxy Nexus, LG Viper 4G LTE, Sierra Wireless Tri-Network Hotspot and HTC EVO 4G LTE.”

Most people stop right there and just take the statement as is. Not TDG, they dug in a little deeper and called a few stores from the mentioned markets to see if they could any further details about the 4G LTE plans and if Sprint corporate was just being tactful with their response. Seems after talking with multiple store managers the conclusion was all the same. Sprint has enhanced the 3G coverage and speeds in some locations to provide faster speeds, but no 4G LTE services will be available at launch.

“It will be the 3G in Kansas City until the LTE is rolled out, I think it will be sooner rather than later.” when I dug a little more and asked are we looking at June or say September or October, he said “Oh definitely closer to June”.

So it looks like the first part of June might be the earliest one can expect to find 4G services available on their newly purchased Sprint devices. Of course, if the radio for he service is disabled by default then we assume there will be an update pushed out to activate the service in the select areas that are first on the list.

What do you guys think? Is Sprint putting cart before the horse? Will launching two great devices without the network in place to offer to their customers going to turn into a serious debacle? Personally, I don’t think so. I don’t mind having a great device without the data speeds to support it. As long as I get my emails, phone calls and can text I am happy camper.

Source: The Droid Guy