If there's one area where Dan Hesse, CEO of Sprint, does exceptionally well, it's introducing firsts. First affordable all you can eat plan, first unlimited calls to any wireless carrier, first 4G network. So, it's no surprise that the Wall Street Journal is reporting that the next first isn't far away.
According to the WSJ, Hesse is expected to introduce the HTC Supersonic as the nation's first 4G capable phone, in a presentation next week at CTIA. Rumors of the Supersonic started surfacing back in December of last year, followed by leaked images and even a short (albeit uneventful) video. To date, there hasn't been much in the way of "official" information regarding the Supersonic, mostly just conjecture and a report from Forbes that we could expect a 4G phone from Sprint this summer.
If WSJ's tipsters (read: "people familiar with the matter") are right, and everything goes according to plan, there's a very good chance that Sprint will be touting the very first (and I'd bet second and third) phone, capable of surfing the web at DSL-like speeds. Not only will it be a first, but it will be a first for a while. Verizon, which just finished field testing their 4G network in two test markets, plans on having LTE in 25-30 markets by the end of this year, however, they don't intend to have a 4G capable phone until mid-2011. This leads analyst Avi Greengart of Current Analysis to believe that "It's now or never" for Sprint because "They won't have an exclusive on the 4G marketing message indefinitely."
Next week is going to be a crazy week in Geekland - who's ready for all the exciting announcements? Sound off in the comments!
