Sprint (NYSE:S) today announced the initial group of devices that will
operate on its 4G LTE network – Galaxy Nexus™, boasting a pure Google™
experience, LG Viper™ 4G LTE with eco-friendly features and Sierra
Wireless™ Tri-Network Hotspot, 3G, 4G and 4G LTE mobile hotspot. Full
product specifications, pricing and availability will be shared closer
to each device’s launch date.
The debut of these devices is a key element of Network Vision, Sprint’s
plan to consolidate multiple network technologies into one seamless
solution. With Network Vision, Sprint customers can expect to enjoy
ultra-fast data speeds, improved 3G voice and data quality, and stronger
in-building signal penetration providing a more valuable wireless
experience and enhancing the value of current unlimited plans.
“The first three products that will run on the Sprint 4G LTE network
exemplify the cutting-edge technology our customers can expect from
Sprint as we progress with our 4G LTE rollout,” said Steve Elfman,
president of Network, Wholesale and Product Development for Sprint.
“Galaxy Nexus packs industry-leading features and the best of Google
into a beautiful design while LG Viper 4G LTE continues Sprint’s
commitment to green devices that don’t sacrifice speed or technology.
These products combine with our unlimited data pricing plans to give
Sprint customers a powerful wireless experience.”
On Jan. 5, Sprint CEO Dan Hesse announced
that customers in Atlanta, Dallas, Houston and San Antonio are expected
to be among the first to benefit from 4G LTE and improved 3G coverage in
the first half of 2012. Additional areas that will receive 3G
enhancements and 4G LTE expansion in 2012 will be announced later in the
year.
Approximately 15 4G LTE devices are currently on track to be launched in
2012 including handsets, tablets and data cards. Additionally, 4G
devices, including HTC EVO™ Design 4G, Samsung Epic™ 4G Touch and Nexus
S™ 4G, will continue to be sold in 2012.
The new 4G LTE smartphones will benefit from Sprint Everything plans
including the Everything Data Plan with Any Mobile, AnytimeSM
offering unlimited data, texting and calling to and from any mobile
phone in America while on the Sprint Network. With Sprint’s unlimited
data plans, customers don’t have to worry about throttling or surprises
on their monthly bill from data overage charges like they might with
tiered data plans from other carriers.
Sprint’s unlimited data plans also benefit NBA fans. As the Official
Wireless Service Partner of the NBA, Sprint exclusively offers
Sprint NBA Mobile on Android phones, including the upcoming 4G LTE LG
Viper. This new custom app provides in-game and post-game video
highlights, news, scores, stats and live home and away radio broadcasts
to NBA fans.
Robust Features at 4G LTE Speeds
Pairing the beauty of Samsung hardware with a pure Google experience,
Galaxy Nexus on Sprint is built on Android™ 4.0, Ice Cream Sandwich. Ice
Cream Sandwich brings an entirely new look and feel to Android. It has a
redesigned user interface with improved multi-tasking, notifications,
Wi-Fi hotspot, NFC support and a full web browsing experience. Galaxy
Nexus features software navigation buttons, a first for Android
smartphones. The lock screen, home screen, phone app and everything in
between has been rethought and redesigned to make Android simple,
beautiful and useful.
Ice Cream Sandwich introduces innovations such as Face Unlock, which
uses facial recognition to unlock your phone. Using NFC (Near Field
Communications) technology, Android Beam allows users to quickly share
web pages, apps and YouTube™ videos with friends by simply tapping
phones together. Users can even video chat with up to 10 friends with
Google+ Hangouts for mobile. Galaxy Nexus will also be Sprint’s second
smartphone enabled with NFC supporting Google
Wallet, enabling the phone to be used like a wallet to make safe,
secure purchases at hundreds of thousands of participating
retailers.
Green without Compromising Speed
LG Viper 4G LTE brings customers the benefit of eco-friendly features
without missing out on speed or the latest technology. Initial
eco-friendly features include a charger with a no-load consumption
rating of .03W, which exceeds the EC Code of Conduct on energy
efficiency and the casing is made of 35 percent recycled plastics.
Additional details will be provided closer to availability.
Powered by Android 2.3, Gingerbread, LG Viper 4G LTE is equipped with a
1.2GHz dual core processor and two cameras – a 5-megapixel rear-facing
camera and a VGA front-facing camera that makes face-to-face video calls
a fun and easy experience. It offers a 4-inch WVGA NOVA display, hotspot
capability and a microSD™ slot supporting up to 32GB. It is also
compatible with DLNA-capable devices.
As a Sprint ID smartphone, LG Viper 4G LTE allows users to cut through
the clutter of more than 400,000 apps in Android Market™ by selecting
from a variety of mobile ID packs featuring apps, ringers, wallpapers,
widgets and more. Currently available Sprint ID packs include Green,
Fashion and Beauty, E!™, MTV™ Music, CMT and NASCAR Sprint Cup. In
addition, LG Viper 4G LTE is NFC-enabled and capable of providing Google
Wallet.
Hotspot Combines 4G LTE, 4G WiMAX and 3G
Sprint expands its mobile broadband portfolio with its first 4G LTE
mobile broadband device, Sierra Wireless™ Tri-Network Hotspot. It will
be the first tri-network (3G, 4G and 4G LTE) mobile hotspot and will
easily allow families, small businesses and traveling co-workers to
share their high-speed connection.
With Sierra Wireless™ Tri-Network Hotspot, customers can extend their
Sprint 3G/4G experience beyond just their laptops to up to eight Wi-Fi®
enabled devices, such as cameras, music players, personal media players
and portable game consoles. In addition, its microSD™ slot allows teams
to share files and presentations with network storage. It is simple to
set up with no software required.
For the most up-to-date details on Sprint’s 4G LTE rollout, please visit www.sprint.com/4GLTE.
About Sprint Nextel
Sprint Nextel offers a comprehensive range of wireless and wireline
communications services bringing the freedom of mobility to consumers,
businesses and government users. Sprint Nextel served more than 53
million customers at the end of 3Q 2011 and is widely recognized for
developing, engineering and deploying innovative technologies, including
the first wireless 4G service from a national carrier in the United
States; offering industry-leading mobile data services, leading prepaid
brands including Virgin Mobile USA, Boost Mobile, and Assurance
Wireless; instant national and international push-to-talk capabilities;
and a global Tier 1 Internet backbone. The 2011 American Customer
Satisfaction Index showed Sprint is the #1 most improved company in
customer satisfaction, across all industries, over the last three years. Newsweek
ranked Sprint No. 3 in its 2011 Green Rankings, listing it as one of
the nation’s greenest companies, the highest of any telecommunications
company. You can learn more and visit Sprint at www.sprint.com
or www.facebook.com/sprint
and www.twitter.com/sprint.
"Safe Harbor" Statement under the Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995
This news release includes “forward-looking statements” within the
meaning of the securities laws. The statements in this news release
regarding network performance, coverage and capabilities, business and
network efficiencies, migration of services new technologies, timing of
deployment, and products and services, as well as other statements that
are not historical facts, are forward-looking statements. The words
“estimate,” “project,” “forecast,” intend,” “expect,” “believe,”
“target,” and similar expressions are intended to identify
forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are estimates and
projections reflecting management’s judgment based on currently
available information and involve a number of risks and uncertainties
that could cause actual results to differ materially from those
suggested by the forward-looking statements. With respect to these
forward-looking statements, management has made assumptions regarding,
among other things, development and deployment of new technologies;
efficiencies and cost savings of multimode technologies; customer and
network usage; customer growth and retention; service, coverage and
quality; availability of devices; the timing of various events and the
economic environment. Sprint Nextel believes these forward-looking
statements are reasonable; however, you should not place undue reliance
on forward-looking statements, which are based on current expectations
and speak only as of the date of this release. Sprint Nextel is not
obligated to publicly release any revisions to forward-looking
statements to reflect events after the date of this release. Sprint
Nextel provides a detailed discussion of risk factors in periodic SEC
filings, including its annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended
Dec. 31, 2010, in Part I, Item 1A, “Risk Factors,” and in Part II, Item
1A, “Risk Factors,” of its quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the period
ended Sept. 30, 2011.
Nexus, Google, Android, and Android Market are trademarks of Google, Inc.
