When Sprint decided that it wanted its customers to have access to HTC’s One XL, it could have done things the easy way, having HTC pop a radio compatible with its network into the same phone everyone else is getting. Instead, we saw the carrier work with the manufacturer to come up with the HTC EVO 4G LTE, tweaking the One XL design with a larger battery, microSD support, and new case construction. Sprint hasn’t yet revealed when the phone will arrive with any more certainty than sometime before the end of the quarter, but we’ve heard rumors more specifically looking at the first or second week of June. That’s still a way’s off, but it looks like there’s at least one hurdle out of the way of the EVO 4G LTE’s release, upon the publication of its FCC certification paperwork today.

We’ve seen this model number PJ75100 tied to the EVO 4G LTE before, and if you still need some convincing, the phone’s paperwork reveals frequency support for Sprint’s CDMA and EV-DO bands, alongside LTE band 25, which Sprint will be using for 4G service – the same we saw on the Galaxy Nexus for Sprint when it hit the FCC last month.

Sprint is opening pre-orders for the EVO 4G LTE on May 7, going for just about $200 on-contract.

Source: FCC