Sprint Monday became the first carrier to hit the market with an EV-DO Revision A-capable handset that offers average download speeds of up to 1.4Mbps.

Sprint says that it will provide EV-DO Rev. A capabilities to HTC’s Mogul handset as part of a software upgrade. Sprint started rolling out EV-DO Rev. A technology in October 2006, and the carrier says that the “vast majority” of its mobile broadband network, which reaches over 230 million people, has been upgraded to the technology. Up until this week, Sprint had only offered EV-DO Rev. A for laptop cards.

The EV-DO Rev. A upgrade will allow HTC Mogul users to send and receive data at speeds that are comparable to basic DSL, according to Sprint. Once the upgrade is installed, average HTC Mogul download speeds will increase from between 400Kbps and 700Kbps to between 600Kbps and 1.4Mbps, while average upload speeds will increase from between 50Kbps and 70Kbps to between 300Kbps and 500Kbps. The HTC Mogul is a Windows Mobile device that includes a slide-out QWERTY keyboard, a thumb wheel and a five-way navigation button.

Verizon Wireless, the other major carrier to offer EV-DO Rev. A capabilities, has yet to offer a handset that employs the technology. Verizon began launching its EV-DO Rev. A wireless broadband network in several cities in February 2007, and began offering its own Rev. A broadband card shortly afterward. AT&T currently does not employ EV-DO Rev. A technology, but instead offers High-Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA), which has higher upload speeds than Rev. A, for its 3G handsets.