I don't really blame them for using Clearwire and Wimax, LTE wasn't ready at the time, Clearwire was going to roll out a "nationwide" WiMax network, and the cost was relatively low in comparison to building the network themselves. Who knows, Sprint may have been planning on building their own LTE network the entire time... just using Clearwire to get the first 4G network and buy some time while Sprint saved money for their LTE network. Clearwire $#!# the bed on securing other wholesale customers and apparently was betting on their retail business to carry the network. Retail revenue wasn't what they expected, they had to slow their rollout and had to rely on Sprint like a crutch. Sprint could have let them go bankrupt, but losing 4G would have taken Sprint down too. So, it all comes down to, would you have rather seen Sprint stay 3G until now? Or be the first with a 4G network covering a good percentage of their customers?