Sprint 4G v. Verizon LTE

[CtDMonet]

I currently have an EVO (rooted, Deck GB Rom), and live in a 4G area. It is pretty fast, and I really love it. My wife needs a phone (I am still under contract, she is not). Verizon LTE just went live today here. The guy in the office next to mine just tested his Thunderbolt on speedtest.net @16Mbps (I tested 7.8 on my EVO) on LTE. I called Verizon to check prices, and it was much more expensive than Sprint (1500minutes, one 4G phone, 2 lines, corporate discount (23%) w/Sprint = $117/mo). I know that I would have to add 4G to the other phone to be comparable so I'll assume $127 as the baseline.

A 1400 plan with Verizon (2 lines) is $120. Add 4G Data for $60 (2 lines). That's $180 a month. Combine that with the Sprint buyout of my contract ($200? - 1 yr left), 2 new phones ($250-300 ea), makes it look like I need $800 up front, and to increase my bill by $53 a month.

Are there cheaper alternatives? I heard something about studentrate and Amazon Wireless, but haven't really had time to do much research. Any Help?