Windows Phone LTE plans: Nokia Ace, HTC Radiant, Samsung Mendel coming to AT&T early 2012

If you’re interested in the Windows Phone mobile operating system, but holding out for LTE 4G devices on the platform, you may not have to wait much longer.

Microsoft’s first round of LTE-equipped Windows Phone devices will be headed to AT&T in the first half of 2012, reports WinSupersite’s Paul Thurrott.

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The phones, which include the Nokia ACE, HTC Radiant, and Samsung Mendel, will debut at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas next month. The ACE is apparently scheduled for release on March 18, 2012, and it’s likely an LTE version of the Lumia 800, which we reported both AT&T and Verizon were testing.

The devices will run a version of Windows Phone that supports LTE, but doesn’t include the Tango update (which is rumored to land in the middle of 2012), the Verge reports.

Windows Phone needed LTE support yesterday, so it’s good to see that plans are already in motion for some flagship LTE devices. Still, Microsoft is going to have a hard time drumming up excitement for its first LTE lineup at CES next year, when Verizon pretty much stole the show with its LTE debut this year. It seems that, yet again, Microsoft is playing catch-up with Windows Phone.