Following the major U.S. carriers after Verizon and AT&T, Sprint also turned to support from long-range WiMAX Evolution (LTE) technology, with goals over the couple of years. Sprint is expected to launch LTE-Advanced commercial services in the U.S. by first half of 2013.

Speaking at a keynote at 4G World conference, Sprint’s vice president of network development and engineering Iyad Tarazi highlighted Sprint’s future plan over the next couple of years, and their focus on the next generation LTE-Advanced spectrum. Tarazi said the company is planning to roll out LTE on its existing 1.9 GHz spectrum to cover WiMAX footprint to 120 million people. By 2013, the company expects its 4G network will cover more than 250 million people.

LTE-Advanced is a faster version of LTE and fits into the 4G standard set by the International Telecommunications Union.  Tarazi said he expects the company will able to provide download speeds of 12 to 15 MB per second with the upgraded LTE network.

Sprint is planning to launch 12 LTE terminal devices, including smart phones, tablet computers and a mobile network card, and all will be available on LTE/CDMA dual-mode networks.  Tarazi added the company will continue to support its existing 3G network and smartphone customers including the new iPhone 4S customers.

Once Sprint joined the fray of 4G networks in 2012, all three US major carriers will enter the LTE generation.  The US is the world’s largest smartphone and LTE terminal device market, and this factor will inevitably lead related business opportunities, creating more competition among network providers, as well as mobile and tablet computer manufacturers.

Sprint competitor AT&T, which is already offering LTE in some US cities, sees a huge growth opportunity as LTE reduces costs per megabyte, and is more spectrum-efficient. The company also sees a great potential for the smartphone market as more players will eventually come out with smartphones bundled with 4G support.  Samsung’s Galaxy Nexus, the first Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, supports 4G LTE network.