On Wednesday, Nov. 13, Sprint announced that it will expand its 4G LTE network to nine additional cities within its nationwide 3G footprint.

Sprint listed the new markets as: Minneapolis and St. Paul (Minnesota); Oakland, Fremont and Hayward (California); Key West (Florida); Fort Smith (Arkansas); Michigan City, La Porte and Bloomington (Indiana); Eau Claire (Wisconsin); Ardmore, (Oklahoma); McAllen, Edinburg and Mission (Texas).

"We're committed to providing improved 3G and 4G LTE as quickly as possible, and keeping our customers informed as to when and where they can experience the new network's superior performance and speed," said Bob Azzi, senior vice president-Network, Sprint. "Our customers depend on their mobile devices as their primary source of communication, business connectivity and entertainment. We're delivering all of that functionality at a very competitive price."

The carrier also announced that during the pre-launch phase, Sprint users with capable devices may begin to see 4G LTE coverage in these areas and can use the faster network even before it officially launches. Sprint also revealed that the company plans to bring 4G LTE in these markets in the coming months, which will be followed by continued enhancements in coverage, performance, and reliability.

Just a month back on Oct. 12, Sprint announced that it will activate its 4G LTE network to 22 new markets covering over 100 cities across the country in the "coming months".

Sprint introduced its 4G LTE network in July 2012 and currently offers the 4G LTE network in 32 cities. Sprint also plans a complete restructure of its current 3G network so that customers can enjoy better wireless signal strength, in-building coverage, and fewer dropped/blocked calls.

"With these enhancements to Sprint's 3G network, the company's prepaid customers, on Virgin Mobile and Boost Mobile, will also benefit and can expect to see better coverage, improved network reliability and voice quality resulting in up to 20 to 30 percent fewer dropped and blocked calls," noted the Sprint press release.

Smartphone and tablet manufacturers are aggressively bringing new 4G LTE capable devices. To keep up with the enhanced technology and to keep pace with other carriers in the U.S., Sprint will have to bring 4G LTE network to its current 3G network as soon as possible.