Quad-core chipsets aren't known to play nicely with LTE radios yet, so no surprise as to why there's no LTE. Also, the LTE radio is one of the most expensive pieces of hardware in the device and really existed originally for the VZW Galaxy Nexus (since VZW has been making a huge LTE push). Without LTE, there's also no worries about the battery size - I have the LTE functionality, but can't use it for more than an hour, and there are still few phones that can handle LTE for sustained periods of time.
By taking out the LTE radio, they've brought the phone down to $300 off-contract. That's a huge drop in price over any other unlocked phone, and you get some of the best hardware out there. HSPA+ is more prevalent than LTE on the GSM networks (and certainly more widespread in Europe), so it's a good compromise IMO. Really the only people who get screwed out of this are Verizon customers, but VZW fucked up the Galaxy Nexus so badly I wouldn't want to have to deal with another Nexus on their network.