Cricket

AT&T to begin shutting down Cricket’s CDMA network in March, iPhone users won’t be affected

AT&T announced on Thursday that it will begin, as planned, shutting down Cricket's CDMA network in March, taking many Cricket plans and phones with it.

The shutdown comes after AT&T purchased Cricket in March 2014. AT&T is shutting down the CDMA network to roll customers over to its GSM network. Furthermore, AT&T has slowly been farming Cricket’s unused spectrum for use with its own GSM network. AT&T will use Cricket's spectrum, after a spruce up for its standards, to offer better coverage to customers.

FCC approves AT&T’s $1.3 billion acquisition of Leap Wireless

Last summer, AT&T announced that it had reached an acquisition deal with Leap Wireless. The company said that it would be buying out the provider, which owns and operates the popular prepaid carrier Cricket, for $15 per share—equal to $1.3 billion. All it needed was approval from the FCC.

And it just got it. Yesterday the Federal Communications Commission gave AT&T's acquisition proposal a thumbs up, ruling that "the public interest benefits of the proposed transaction outweigh the likelihood of significant public interest harms." So what does this mean for everybody involved?

Cricket landing iPhone 5s/5c on October 25

The United States wireless carrier Cricket Wireless today announced that it will start selling Apple's new iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c on Friday, October 25. Would-be shoppers can pre-register their interest here or visit the MyCricket website for more information. Cricket, a prepaid Leap Wireless brand, offers a cool $50 a month off-contract nationwide talk/text/data plan and back in May 2012 had become the nation’s first wireless operator to offer unlocked iPhones with a pre-paid plan...

Leap Wireless says it won’t have to purchase unsold iPhones following strong sales

Leap Wireless held its quarterly earnings call yesterday. And aside from losing some 360,000 subscribers to 'increased competition,' and droopy revenues, its numbers actually look pretty good. Smartphone sales are up, ARPU is up, and churn is down.

But the number that really interests us is that the company's iPhone sales were up during the quarter. In fact, Leap's CFO Perley McBride said during the call that the carrier won't have to purchase $100 million in unsold iPhones as it originally thought...

AT&T buying prepaid U.S. telco Leap Wireless

In another sign of a major consolidation taking place in the U.S. wireless industry, carrier telco on Friday made known its intention to buy regional prepaid carrier Leap Wireless.

AT&T has agreed to pay $15 per share in cash to acquire all of Leap Wireless’s assets. As you know, Leap provides wireless services through its prepaid Cricket Wireless brand.

The transaction, pending customary regulatory approval, is meant to bolster AT&T’s coverage, enhance its spectrum, increase AT&T's retail store presence and make AT&T more competitive to customers interested in low-cost prepaid service...

Leap Wireless reports improved iPhone sales after dismal quarter

Back in February, Leap Wireless submitted a rather alarming filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). It had been seeing much weaker demand for the iPhone than expected, and it was only on track to sell through half of its first-year commitment.

But apparently, the problems were only temporary. Yesterday, the company—who sells the iPhone through its subsidiary Cricket Wireless—reported its earnings for its first operating quarter this year, and it told investors that it is seeing much better iPhone sales...

Cricket lowers unlimited iPhone plan to $50

Cricket, a subsidiary of Leap Wireless, started offering the iPhone last year. Initially, it was the only prepaid carrier offering the popular smartphone, but it has since been joined by Straight Talk and other low-cost competitors.

So it's no surprise that the wireless provider announced today that it's revamping its iPhone plans, bringing them more inline with its Android plans and the competition. The service now starts at $50 for unlimited everything...

Cricket seeing much weaker than expected iPhone sales

Leap Wireless, the US telecommunications company that owns and operates the regional carrier Cricket, just submitted a rather alarming filing with the the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

It seems that Cricket is only on pace to sell through half of its first-year commitment with Apple, which goes to June, leaving it on the hook for some $100 million in remaining iPhone purchases...

Cricket, C Spire, GCI, Bluegrass Cellular and Appalachian Wireless landing the iPhone 5 on September 28

Regional United States carriers C Spire and prepaid wireless operator Cricket Wireless will begin offering Apple's latest iPhone 5 on Friday, September 28, it has been confirmed. Additionally, Alaska's GCI, Bluegrass Cellular and Appalachian Wireless announced September 28 availability of the iPhone 5, a week after the device becomes available on AT&T, Verizon, and Sprint in the United States...

Prepaid iPhone 4 and 4S now available on Cricket

As expected, Apple's smartphone went on sale at Cricket Wireless this weekend. The carrier is the first to offer a prepaid, no-contract iPhone here in the US.

The company says that the launch is generating quite the buzz, with customers lining up outside of several of its retail stores to buy the handset...

iPhone goes pre-paid on Cricket beginning June 22

Apple continues to roll out its iPhone to regional carriers in the United States with the addition of Cricket Communications, a Leap Wireless company. What's interesting about this particular announcement is that Cricket is a pre-paid carrier so basically they've just become the nation's first wireless operator to offer the unlocked device with a pre-paid plan...