4G is starting to take shape, and it seems all the players want to avoid a big, prolonged battle between WiMAX and LTE.  Not that it’s going to be much of a battle.  Both Sprint and Clearwire are making noises that suggest they’re not putting all their chips on WiMAX.

We’ve already discussed on TechClicker the development of an all-in-one 4G chip, supporting both WiMAX and LTE.  On top of that, Sprint has already said that they consider themselves “technology agnostic” and that they believe that LTE will be the bigger 4G standard.  It may seem odd, therefore, that Sprint is releasing the HTC Evo 4G (which uses WiMAX) this summer.

For sure, the HTC Evo 4G is going to be a must-have for early adopters, and (depending on where you live) will probably be around for at least few months before the first LTE phones become available.  But there is no guarantee of how long Sprint will continue to run the WiMAX network.  Anyone who bought a Betamax or HD-DVD player may have bitter memories that they don’t want to relive.

The move does have a desperate quality about it, and perhaps it is motivated by financial pressure.  Sprint has already invested $1 billion in WiMAX and reported a loss of $980 million in the fourth quarter of last year.  With everyone agreeing that LTE promises to be the standard, perhaps by making WiMAX available first, they hope to let a failing standard get a foothold.

So far, WiMAX is available in 27 markets, with coverage being expanded throughout 2010.  Sprint is quick to point out that their WiMAX network is designed so they can add LTE, should it become necessary to, in the words of Sprint’s CEO Bill Morrow,  ”sunset one technology going forward”.

And going forward, LTE may be here sooner than you think.  If you are lucky enough to live in Las Vegas, you may have LTE by the end of the year.  MeteroPCS has announced that they intend to have LTE in Las Vegas in the second half of 2010.  Samsung is handling the infrastructure, and will also have the first phone to support the standard.  The phone has been called the SCH-r900, but there are few details available about it at present.  We’ll be sure to keep you informed.

For most of us, we’re going to have to wait a little while.  LTE will probably be available for majority of the US sometime in 2011.