Sprint’s shift to 4G LTE.  What it means to customers.   I’m Fred Fishkin with technology BootCamp, a report on gadgets and gear.    Sprint has been touting its 4G network for a year and a half.   But that network was based on what is called WiMax, in partnership with ClearWire.  Now,  Sprint, like rivals Verizon and AT&T, is shifting to higher speed LTE technology for 4G and has announced several  handsets and markets that will be available during the first half.   What does all that mean to its current 4G customers?   VP of Product David Owens…

“Their WiMax phone is fine.  It will continue to work as is and we’ve got a long term agreement with Clearwire to continue with our WiMax offerings.   The customers that purchase the LTE product, the benefit of that is we’ll be rolling out more and more cities, again, through ’12 and ’13.”

But those new Sprint LTE phones won’t be able to access the existing WiMax 4G service, which initially, will be more widely available.    You can find us at BootCamp.com.  I’m Fred Fishkin