Sprint to launch 4G LTE in five cities July 15

Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City, and San Antonio will have access to Sprint's 4G LTE network on July 15, the company announced today.

This signals the beginning of what Sprint hopes will be an aggressive expansion of its 3G and 4G network. 4G LTE boasts faster data speeds for downloads and streaming, while an improved 3G network should mean better signal strength, fewer dropped calls, and faster data speeds as well.

Sprint was having a tough time earlier this year with buying the wireless spectrum it needed to continue building its network. Now that it has jumped into the game with five markets, it will have to move quickly to even come close to Verizon Wireless, which is in the 4G LTE lead in more than 300 markets. Additionally, Verizon, the nation's largest carrier, is currently working on a deal with T-Mobile that would allow the smaller wireless service to tap into 15 markets.

Sprint said it will launch in more markets this year with plans to build out the 4G LTE network to serve 250 million people nationwide by by the end of 2013.