Sprint Corp.’s president William Esrey gave attendees at the recent Consumer Electronic Show a sneak preview of the carrier’s third generation services nationwide, which is expected this summer.

During the live demonstration, Esrey featured the benefits of high-speed wireless Internet over its 3G networks, such as watching videos on a cell phone, sending and receiving e-mail with attached files to wireless devices, and even turning a mobile phone into a digital camera.

"This is the wave of the future," Esrey said of 3G, "and we’ll be so far ahead of our competitors."

Sprint touted that while other carriers are offering 2.5G services, a modest step to 3G, it will be delivering ‘true 3G’ with data transmission speeds of 144 kbps. Some analysts, however, say the rate falls short of 3G capabilities.

3G Handsets
Esrey did not disclose pricing plans, but 3G subscribers will have to purchase a new 3G Sprint PCS phone. The futuristic Third Generation Sprint PCS Phone by Sanyo features an OLED display, which is ideal for viewing and playing enhanced 3G applications such as streaming video clips, games and digital imaging. The 3G phones will be on the market next year.