According to a Forbes report, published on February 18, the struggling Sprint Nextel will take a lead over its US rivals by releasing its first 4G smartphone, boasting the wireless carrier’s WiMax networks-access capability, in the first half of this year.

The 4G - fourth-generation technology called WiMax – facilitates the faster sending of data than the currently-in-use 3G networks. Though some countries are already using the technology, Sprint’s effort will mark the first
4G-caapable phone in the US.

The roll-out and maintenance of Sprint’s 4G network will be handled by Clearwire Corp., a company in which Sprint holds a majority stake. Though the 4G network got off to a slow start, both Sprint and Clearwire want to push the service before rivals roll out their 4G-competing networks – like Long Term Evolution (LTE), which is being worked upon by AT&T and Verizon.

The Forbes’ report, based on the information forwarded by Paget Alves, president of business markets at Sprint, read: “Alves says the company views 4G as a multibillion-dollar business opportunity. Health care, transportation, manufacturing, media and retail companies are already using 4G to train and communicate with employees.

Noting that the Overland Park, Kansas-based Sprint claims 4G technology to be ten-fold faster than 3G, the report said the new technology is a “good fit for bandwidth-intensive applications like streaming video, transmitting medical images and e-mailing training manuals.”