While most major US mobile phone carriers struggle to implement 3G wireless networks, Sprint has already made statements with regard to its next generation infrastructure.  Fourth generation or 4G is the successor to 3G wireless access technology. 4G will be based primarily on packet switching unlike 3G which is a mixture of circuit switched and packet switched networks.  Packet switching allows for low latency data transmissions, but when implemented correctly can still burst to very high transmission rates. Japanese company NTT DoCoMo has already achieved 1Gbps real-time packet transmission downlink while moving in a field experiment on 4G radio access last year. NTT DoCoMo plans on commercializing its 4G services in Japan by 2010.

“Sprint Nextel plans to make its long-awaited decision on a 4G (fourth-generation) mobile communications technology by the end of August and start deploying the system in 2008”, said Sprint Chief Operating Officer Len Lauer recently. These speculations are also being fueled by the upcoming spectrum auction that Sprint Nextel is expected to use to leverage its position at the forefront of this emerging technology. The company holds licenses for radio spectrum in the 2.5GHz band that covers about 85 percent of the US population.

Analysts claim Sprint's 2.5GHz network will likely cost about $4B USD to roll out nationwide, but with carriers like Verizon and Cingular using 3G services as ISP replacements, the cost may be easily justifiable. Sprint Nextel has actively tested and publicly explored both WiMax and Flash-OFDM as technologies to supplement its current 3G network with a higher speed mobile data service.