Verizon dropped a “save the date” into our inbox this afternoon, asking that we reserve some time on May 22 at CTIA for a “special announcement” from COO Marni Walden. We were actually planning on skipping CTIA this year as the wireless tech conference has become a waste of time over the last two years, but this certainly means we’ll be in attendance. The question is, “What kind of announcement are they going to make?”

Looks like the leak from last week was right (except for the date). This morning, Sprint announced the addition of 21 brand new 4G LTE markets, ranging all the way from the California coast to Charlotte, North Carolina. The Now Network has stated before that 2013 would be a big push year from them in this area, as they continue to compete against AT&T and now T-Mobile in the 4G LTE coverage game.

Take a peek below for the full list of new markets. 

According to a recently leaked internal document, Sprint plans to light up a nice list of 4G LTE markets here in the U.S. on April 12. A total of 21 markets will have their switches flipped, bringing their grand total of active 4G markets to nearly 100 now. 

Today, AT&T is launching a few more 4G LTE markets to go along with the well-sized list that went live earlier this month. Starting now, grape growers down in California can access 4G LTE on their compatible AT&T devices, as well as folks in Jackson, TN and even Kalamazoo, Mich.

On a funny note, every time I hear “Kalamazoo,” I sing the little T-Mobile 4G jingle. “One, two, Kalamazoo.” 

The Facebook announcements continue on this morning with HTC and AT&T partnering up to release the first Facebook-focused phone, the HTC First. It’s available April 12 (same day as Facebook Home) for $99.99 on contract at AT&T. You can pre-order today if you’d like. Oh, it has LTE as well. The device sports a Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 dual-core processor, 4.3″ 720p display, 5MP rear camera, 1GB RAM, and runs Android 4.1.

This morning, AT&T is flipping the 4G LTE switch in a nice big handful of U.S. cities. All the way across from California to Florida, customers will now have the ability to bask in high data speeds.

To see the full list, have a look below. 

The Casio G’z0ne Commando rugged line of smartphones has been enough of an underground success that Verizon is on the verge of carrying its newest family member, the G’z0ne Commando 811. Fitted with 4G LTE, dual-cameras, microSD card slot, and a removable battery, this looks every bit as rugged as its older brother. The Commando 811, which stopped off at the FCC, is dust, water, and shock resistant, making it the ultimate outdoors and action sports smartphone – at least that’s how it’ll be sold. 

AT&T announced this morning that they are to bring Amazon’s Kindle Fire HD 8.9″ tablet, complete with 4G LTE to their network starting April 5. Customers can pick up the device for $399, but can save up to $150 when signing a new two year agreement with the device. AT&T is the first carrier in the U.S. to offer the device at a subsidized price point.