Following closely behind the Mobile WiMax launches of their spun-off Clearwire unit, Sprint this morning announced that they've launched "4G" wireless broadband services in ten additional cities. According to Sprint statements, the faster broadband service is now available in Salem, Oregon; Milledgeville, Georgia; and the Texas cities of Amarillo, Killeen-Temple, Corpus Christi, Lubbock, Waco, Wichita Falls, Abilene and Midland-Odessa. Customer plans for the new service cost $69.99 monthly for access to both the Sprint 3G and 4G network. The plan costs $10 more than their 3G plan alone, but the 4G access comes with no caps (for now). 3G users face a 5GB monthly usage cap.

The latest OECD data suggests consumers in Canada, Spain and the United States pay the most for calls and text messages of all 30 ranked OECD nations. Unlike Europe, callers in Canada and the US pay to receive messages -- but even factored in North American customers are paying considerably more than dozens of other countries. On average, the OECD found that Americans pay $635.85 on cell phone service, compared to $131.44 per year in the Netherlands or $137.94 per year in Sweden.

The study highlights how prices have decreased 21% for low-usage (360 calls per year, 390 SMS, 8 MMS) consumers, 28% for medium usage, and by about 32% for high usage (1680 calls per year, 660 SMS)consumers.

As an attempt to derail both FCC and Congressional inquiries into exclusive handset deals, Verizon today threw lawmakers a bone. In a letter to lawmakers, Verizon says they'll offer carriers with fewer than 500,000 customers access to exclusive Verizon handsets after six months. It's a fairly small gesture aimed largely at preventing regulation -- though from a letter excerpt it's fairly clear Verizon isn't really budging from their belief that exclusivity deals are great for consumers:Of course Verizon probably wouldn't mind if lawmakers loosened AT&T's grip on the iPhone, and Verizon's move puts the onus on AT&T to make concessions of their own. There's been growing pressure from consumer groups like Free Press for Uncle Sam to end exclusivity deals, which Free Press insists carriers have used to "stifle innovation, cripple applications, and stick users with the bill."

Sprint, Covad, T-Mobile, Clearwire and several other smaller carriers have joined forces with consumer advocacy firm Public Knowledge to take aim at "special access pricing." Through a new lobbying group dubbed "No Choke Points," the companies today issued a slew of statements complaining that AT&T and Verizon have abused their dominant position as gatekeepers of massive backhaul and core networks, imposing unreasonable special access charges on smaller operators requiring cross connectivity. Says the group:This debate is certainly not new, heated up recently since smaller operators are hoping to include special access reform (special access price cuts or caps) in the new broadband stimulus plan.

The latest data from the Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project indicates that broadband adoption continues to surge despite the troubled economy and higher prices, as broadband becomes less of a luxury and more of a necessary utility. According to the outfit's findings, 63% of adult Americans had broadband as of April 2009, a number that's up from 55% in May 2008. Growth particularly surged among older, rural and low income Americans, though it slowed among African Americans.

Of particular interest in the Pew findings is the fact that broadband prices continue to rise for consumers at the same time that the cost of delivering broadband continues to drop.