Why it makes sense for Sprint to launch the Galaxy Nexus with LTE turned off by default

There's something sadly funny about seeing training docs for the Sprint Samsung Galaxy Nexus, nearly half a year after its initial launch in the rest of the world. But that's where we stand today, as Engadget's gotten its hands on some internal Sprint materials showing employees how to sell the thing. There's not much in the way of anything to tell you ​when​ it's coming, but obviously training's a pretty big step toward launch.

The one interesting thing we see is that LTE won't be turned on by default. On one hand, it suggests that Sprint's LTE network might not actually be up and running when the Sprint GNex launches.

But consider this: Even if Sprint were to flip the switch on its LTE network tomorrow, it'd still only be live in Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, Baltimore and Kansas City. Barring any new announcements, that leaves, oh, every city but those without Sprint LTE -- and there are a lot of Sprint stores in the rest of the country that will be selling the Galaxy Nexus.

So while it looks like Sprint will launch the Galaxy Nexus with LTE turned off by default, maybe it's not quite as crazy as it sounds. On the other hand, it doesn't do much to persuade me to to with Sprint's LTE network over more mature networks like Verizon, or even AT&T.