The Sprint 5G network is still due to go live in the first half of 2019, with nine cities (including New York City, Los Angeles and Phoenix) confirmed so far. You'll have to live in the right place to make the most of HTC's hardware, then. And there's a larger question looming over the hotspot: what happens to it if T-Mobile's purchase of Sprint goes through? It isn't likely to become obsolete right away, but you may have to upgrade sooner than you expected if there are significant network changes.