Sprint Nextel has announced that it will make NFC a standard feature on Long Term Evolution (LTE) smart phones, reports Light Reading Mobile.

Sprint, a launch partner of Google Wallet, told LR Mobile that they will include NFC chips in all LTE smart phones, excluding free phones and low end models, in order to “aggressively promote contactless technology.”

The move should provide more options for consumers looking to use Google Wallet, which is currently only available on Samsung’s Nexus S through Sprint.

Sprint is already turning this around with the addition of LG Electronics’ Viper and Samsung’s Galaxy Nexus LTE handsets, which will both come equipped with Google Wallet when they launch later this year.

“We’re making a big bet [on NFC],” said Trevor Van Norman, Sprint’s director of consumer product marketing, adding that Sprint expects consumer adoption of NFC to “grow quickly” once the device infrastructure is expanded.

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