Actually, Most Carriers Will Have Faster Tablets Next Year

Sprint made some headlines this week by touting to Forbes that it will have a tablet on its faster 4G data network next year.

However, the other U.S. carriers want people to know that they are planning faster-network tablets for 2011 as well.

Verizon, which launched its 4G network this month, said it will have both phones and tablets for the network by the middle of next year. T-Mobile said it too will have a 4G tablet, though T-Mobile uses that term to refer to HSDPA+, what most everyone else would call a faster version of its existing 3G network.

Only AT&T said it did not want to speculate on its product plans for next year. But then, it does sell an Apple product and certainly wouldn’t want to be seen as pre-announcing anything.

So, to summarize, if you want a tablet and are willing to wait until next year, you will probably be able to buy one on the faster network of your carrier of choice. If you buy an iPad or Galaxy Tab this year, it will run on the existing 3G network only.