Cricket Communications

Cricket Communications
Type	Subsidiary of Leap Wireless
Founded	1999
Headquarters	San Diego, CA
Industry	Wireless Services
Website	Cricket Communications

Cricket Communications, Inc. is a subsidiary of Leap Wireless International, Inc. It offers wireless service in the USA by way of month-to-month contracts only; it does not require credit checks or long-term service contracts as do other service providers in the U.S. Cricket was founded in 1999 and launched its first market later that year in Chattanooga, Tennessee. It provides service to more than 2.5 million customers in parts of 25 states on Leap’s CDMA 1X and 1xEV-DO networks.

Services

Cricket's month-to-month contracts provide customers with unlimited voice minutes, text and picture messages, and web use. Typically, communications outside of a customer's local area are not covered in the monthly charge, but are instead considered roaming. Cricket views service usage as roaming any time a customer travels outside of their local coverage area, even if Cricket covers the non-local area as well. Cricket offers an "Extended Calling Area" feature to cover these calls, but it does not offer an unlimited roaming plan.^[1][2] Cricket claims that it is able to make its services affordable and available without credit checks by cutting the costs of its operations. For example, it does not automatically provide paper statements, charging customers a fee to receive them.

Parent Company

Leap Wireless International, Inc. is a public telecommunications company that provides wireless services through its subsidiaries, Cricket and Jump Mobile. Leap was founded in 1998. Leap has an all-digital CDMA 1X and 1xEV-DO network that has expanded significantly in the past few years. Leap currently offers service in parts of 25 states, and has recently purchased spectrum at the AWS auction giving Leap coverage of an estimated 110 million potential customers. Leap Wireless is headquartered in San Diego, California, and is traded on the NASDAQ National Market under the symbol LEAP.

Coverage areas

Cricket provides service to the following areas:^[2]

• Arizona: Phoenix, Tucson
• Arkansas: Little Rock, Hot Springs, Pine Bluff, Fayetteville, Fort Smith, Jonesboro
• California: Fresno, Madera, Modesto, Merced, San Diego, Visalia
• Colorado: Colorado Springs, Denver, Fort Collins, Pueblo
• Georgia: Columbus, Macon
• Idaho: Boise
• Indiana: New Albany
• Iowa: Council Bluffs
• Kansas: Wichita
• Kentucky: Lexington, Louisville
• Mississippi: Olive Branch, Southaven, Tunica
• Missouri: Kansas City
• Nebraska: Lincoln, Omaha
• Nevada: Reno, Sparks, Carson City
• New Mexico: Albuquerque, Las Cruces, Santa Fe
• New York: Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse
• North Carolina: Charlotte, Greensboro, High Point, Winston-Salem, Raleigh-Durham
• Ohio: Cincinnati, Dayton, Springfield
• Oklahoma: Tulsa
• Oregon: Eugene, Salem, Portland
• Pennsylvania: Pittsburgh
• South Carolina: Charleston, Rock Hill
• Tennessee: Chattanooga, Knoxville, Memphis, Nashville, Clarksville
• Texas: Austin, Bryan, College Station, Del Rio, Eagle Pass, El Paso, Houston, Killeen, San Antonio, Temple
• Utah: Salt Lake City, Provo, Ogden
• Washington: Spokane, Vancouver
• West Virginia: New Cumberland, Wellsburg

See also

• Revol Wireless - A regional operator similar in concept to Cricket and operating on parts of its networks.
• SMS gateway - send text messages to Cricket customers.

References

External links

• Leap Wireless
• Cricket Communications
• Cricket Wireless Internet