Sprint to Launch iPhone 5 in Early October

Wireless carrier Sprint is the third operator in the United States to have the Apple iPhone available for purchase on its airwaves, and it seems that it might be roughly a month until that happens.

The mobile phone carrier has announced its employees that they are not allowed to take vacations in the first half of October, as the company is readying the launch of a new device.

There's no specific reference to the release of the new iPhone flavor, but a leaked memo that informed employees on the move and which has just emerged on the web does mention a major release.

”Due to the possibility of a major phone launch in October we are blacking out September 30th through October 15th,” the said memo reads.

It is not unusual for wireless carriers to blackout employee vacations when releasing new, high-end devices, as they try to ensure than there will be enough staff in stores to accommodate a larger number of visitors.

Sprint has been long rumored to be getting the new iPhone model as well, and some of the latest tidbits on the matter even suggested that the company might be releasing the device in October, and the vacation blackout comes in line with these claims.

Recent reports pointed at the fact that Sprint “repeaters” were being installed at Apple stores, and that Best Buy was gearing up for the pre-order availability of iPhone 5 starting with early October, also in line with the vacation blackout.

Undoubtedly, many of Sprint's customers will rejoice learning that the iPhone will arrive on their carrier's airwaves so soon, after being available through another CDMA carrier in the country since early 2011, namely Verizon.

Rumor has it that the new iPhone model will arrive on shelves with support for global connectivity, but that it might not be the LTE device that Apple was expected to launch ever since Verizon and AT&T went official with their plans for 4G networks.