Sprint Corp. (NYSE: S)'s small cell guru says that the operator needs tiny Long Term Evolution (LTE) radios to facilitate flexible and fast deployment of network capacity for 4G.

Sprint plans to launch its first six LTE cities in the middle of this year. The operator intends to cover 123 million people with LTE service by the end of this year and, next year, reach 250 million people with its 4G network.

Talking with Light Reading Mobile at the recent CTIA show in New Orleans, Sprint VP of Network Development and Engineering Iyad Tarazi explained why the operator has three LTE "picocells" in the works and more on the way.

"The reason we do small cells is that the days where you could build a cell site and [take] 12 to 18 months until you give relief to a customer are really not there anymore," Tarazi explained.

Click on the video below to learn more:

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Tarazi defines the upcoming LTE picocells as "primarily oriented towards one-watt radios for data offload." The operator will start with indoor models from vendors this year and outdoor radio with improved interference management capabilities in 2013.

For more background on the growing LTE small cell market, please check out this video overview from Heavy Reading analyst Berge Ayvazian:

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— Dan Jones, Site Editor, Light Reading Mobile

Full disclosure: These videos were filmed as part of a series sponsored by Cisco Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: CSCO).