Sprint Stores Opening Early For HTC EVO 4G [Early 8am Opening For Those Waiting In Line For The EVO 4G, 4G Hotspots Will Be Free Too]

The HTC EVO 4G looks to be quite awesome and the most exciting phone that Sprint-Nextel has carried since the BlackBerry 7510. Allegedly, Sprint-Nextel is receiving a lot of customer interest in the EVO 4G, and accordingly, they’ll be opening their doors early on launch day for all those interested customers.

Engadget got their hands on a leaked internal Sprint memo, where Sprint corporate strongly recommends that all Sprint retail stores open their doors early on June 4th. They suggest 8am and write:

You are encouraged to open early on Friday in anticipation of heavier than normal store traffic due to the launch.

Although the phone is certainly awesome, it doesn’t have the brand recognition of the iPhone and it’s appearance on US television advertising has been minimal. We’re not sure how much of a mass demand Sprint will see for these phones, but it’s still nice that they’re opening their doors early.

Some good news for those of you who live in a city with Sprint’s 4G coverage, too. You’ll be able to use the EVO 4G as a WiFi mobile hotspot without the $30 monthly fee for the first month if you can get a connection to the 4G WiMax network. Again, this comes from the Sprint employee’s guide to the HTC EVO 4G, which Engadget got their hands on.

Oddly enough, those who don’t pay the $30 fee won’t have access to the mobile hotspot on 3G. The employee guide tells employees to remind customers that if they live on the edge of the 4G network, or if they travel regularly out of the 4G network, they should pay the $30 immediately.

Sometime during July, Sprint will turn off the free 4G mobile hotspot service, and users will be required to pay the $30 monthly to continue using it. Judging by the language in the employee guide, this almost sounds like Sprint is unable to charge for the 4G mobile hotspot service.

They write “A resolution is expected to be in place in the July timeframe, at which time the device will require activation.” That, plus the fact that it isn’t being promoted as a “free month” leads us to believe that some back-end issues are forcing Sprint to offer it for free right now.