Sprint recently released a statement politely condemning a controversial new "speedtest" that was done by BTIG Research analyst Walter Piecyk and his team. In the test, Pecyk, using an HTC Thunderbolt on Verizon and an HTC EVO on Sprint, supposedly found that Verizon's LTE averaged 9Mbps download and 5Mbps upload, while Sprint's WiMax only averaged 1Mbps both ways. Sprint issued the following statement regarding this test,
In a word, we find these tests inaccurate.

We work closely with an independent third party research company which reports regularly to us on real-world, scientifically tested speeds and the results we see do not match what Piecyk found. We’ve recently seen speeds in NYC (inclusive of New Jersey) averaging 4-5Mbps download.

The Verizon 4G LTE network is very new so no one has any fully time-tested data on it yet. As their network gets loaded and more than just one smartphone comes forward on their network, we can better assess its capabilities. In the early days of 4G for Sprint, we saw some very high speed numbers when the Network was launched (much higher than our current speed claims) but what ultimately matters to customers is a consistent, long-standing experience based on a network loaded with customers.

While speed tests will come and go, Sprint continues to offer consumers a dependable 4G network, more 4G devices and a better 4G value – with the only truly unlimited 4G – and we will continue to invest in expanding and enhancing Sprint 4G.
It's important to note that most real-world users, and even independent, yet unscientific tests from BGR, the original source of this story, found better speeds on Sprint's network than the study by BTIG Research.

Of course Sprint would want to respond to any negative press, even if it were true. That's the nature of business... you must protect your image. But, it would seem in this instance, they deserve to come forward, because the research from BTIG seems suspect.

Source: SprintDroids.com via BGR