4G Wireless Carriers Compared: Sprint vs. T-Mobile vs. Verizon

By Molly McHugh Updated December 3, 2010


Launched	September 2008	March 23, 2010	December 5, 2010
Coverage	Currently covers 74 cities. Claims it will cover 120 million people by the end of 2010.	Currently 80 cities. Claims it will cover 200 million people by the end of 2010.	As of Sunday, 38 metropolitan areas and 60 airports. Claims it will cover 110 million people by the end of 2010.
Technology	WiMax	HSPA+	LTE
Advertised Speeds	Downloads: Claims maximum of up to 10 Mbps; averages 3 to 6 Mbps Uploads: Up to 3.1 Mbps	Downloads: Claims speeds of up to 21 Mbps; averages 5 to 8 Mbps Uploads: Up to 5.7 Mbps	Downloads: Claims 5 to 12 Mbps (no average yet) Uploads: Claims 2 to 5 Mbps (no average yet)
Hardware	4G USB Device U1910 4G Desktop Modem CPEi25150 by Motorola Samsung Epic 4G, Galaxy S phone HTC EVO 4G Cradlepoint MBR-1000 4G Broadband Router (for business)	webConnect Rocket 2.0 laptop stick webConnect Rocket laptop stick myTouch 4G smartphone G2 smartphone Dell Inspiron Mini 10 4G netbook	LG VL600 (4G LTE USB modem) Pantech UML290 (4G LTE USB modem)
Rates	Unlimited data plan (within the Sprint network) – (starts at) $49.99 month for USB modems, Evo 4G and Epic 4G users pay $10 monthly surcharge on top of existing data fees 5 GB/month – $50 10 GB/month – $80	Unlimited data plan, reduced speeds if exceeding 5GB/month – $49.99/month for new customers, $39.99 for existing 200 MB/month, 10-cent fee for each MB over – $29.99/month for new customers, $24.99 for existing Prepaid mobile broadband plans: $10 week pass for 100MB; $30 month pass for 300MB; $50 month pass for 1GB 2.0 Laptop stick – $199.99 no contract, $49.99 (after mail-in rebate) with two year contract	5GB/month – $50 10GB/month – $80 (both plans include $10/GB overage fee) 4G USB modems – $49 (after $50 mail-in rebate) and two year contract

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Former Digital Trends Contributor

Before coming to Digital Trends, Molly worked as a freelance writer, occasional photographer, and general technical lackey…

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