Sprint taking 4G to 8 more US cities in 2010

In addition to expanding WiMax network, Sprint hopes to have first 4G phone by summer

"2010 will be the year of 4G," said Sprint CEO Dan Hesse, in the company’s most recent earnings call.

And he's not just talking.

Sprint has confirmed that a handful of cities--Boston, Denver, Kansas City, Houston, Minneapolis, New York, San Francisco and Washington, D.C--will have high-speed mobile broadband WiMax 4G access by the end of the year. In addition to those listed here, Sprint says a few other cities (though they won't say which) will also be getting 4G launch dates this year.

As of now, only 27 select cities, mostly on the east coast, can take advantage of Sprint's WiMax network.

4G networks will be a welcome upgrade for users of mobile devices in these cities, as 4G offers speeds up to 10 Mbps, three times as fast as 3G networks, which average 1-3 Mbps network speeds.

With this continued expansion, Sprint is aiming to have 120 million customers signed up for a 4G plan, which is normally priced at around $60, by the end of 2010.

Though as of now the 4G WiMax network remains solely accessible to products hooked up to PC card adapters, modems, and hotspot devices, Sprint hopes to launch the very first 4G phone this summer. Designed by HTC, developer of the Nexus One, the new phone will operate on the Android operating system. When it first launches, the network will likely be a little shaky, so 3G will takeover anytime the 4G network access goes away.