Mar 13
AT&T revealed last July plans to acquire Leap Wireless, which would bring Cricket Wireless under its wing. In November, the company achieved stockholder approval, and earlier today received a thumbs-up … Continue reading
Dec 09
The major US telecoms delivered at minimum 1.1 million cell phone records to law enforcement at all levels of government in 2012. The records include voicemail and text content. The telecoms earned $26 million from the transactions. Many of the fulfilled information requests legally required no warrant, no subpoena, and no probable cause. These and […]
Jul 14
Jul 12
AT&T just agreed to acquire Leap Wireless, the company behind the Cricket brand.
Posted in: Today's ChiliAT&T just agreed to acquire Leap Wireless, the company behind the Cricket brand. The acquisition includes Leap’s spectrum which will be absorbed into AT&T’s network and should offer AT&T customers more 4G coverage in more cities.
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May 01
Some mobile carriers depend on the kind of smartphones that they carry in order to make even more money by snagging new subscribers who cannot wait to pick up the device, even more so when said device is available exclusively only to a particular mobile carrier. Remember when AT&T was the sole carrier in the US to offer the Apple iPhone? That certainly drew a whole lot of subscribers to the mobile network for sure. Well, Leap Wireless came to an agreement with Apple in June last year, where they signed a contract with Apple in order to purchase close to $1 billion worth of iPhones ($900 million to be exact) over the course of three years,
According to Leap CEO Doug Hutcheson, he claims that they are offering a device financing program to help sell additional units of the iPhone, with the company in line to roll out another phase of the financing program which will see it expand it to cover two-thirds of those switching over to Leap from post-paid carriers. Regardless, the recent increase of iPhone sales will not change Leap Wireless’ mind to purchase additional iPhone units other than the ones that they have already agreed to pick up. There is an expected drop off of iPhone sales this spring according to an analyst.
By Ubergizmo. Related articles: AT&T To Offer LG Optimus G Pro Exclusively, T-Mobile And MetroPCS Merger Complete, 
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Feb 28
There were a lot of people who were excited when prepaid wireless carrier Leap Wireless, who operates the Cricket Wireless mobile phone brand, announced that it would be offering the iPhone 5. I think a bunch of people forgot that carriers like AT&T and Verizon offer big subsidies to get people to purchase the phones and sign up for new contracts. A network like Cricket Wireless that offers no subsidies requires you to pay for the entire device up front.
In the case of Leap Wireless and Cricket Wireless, that meant users needed to pay at least $500 for an iPhone 5. Many of the customers who shop prepaid carriers are looking for no contract and budget phones. It never seemed likely to me that they’d be willing to cough up $500 for a smartphone. It appears I was correct because Leap has announced that it believes it may end up with $100 million worth of unsold iPhones by the middle of 2013.
The company says that it is on pace to sell only half the number of iPhones that it committed to sell during the first year of its Apple contract. That contract is set to end in June and the poor sales comes despite the fact that Apple previously allowed the wireless carrier to sell the iPhone at a reduced price when compared to unlocked iPhones. Leap’s inability to sell the iPhone could make some of the national carriers such as Verizon and AT&T seriously reconsider their plans to reduce any subsidies on smartphones.
[via WSJ]
Feb 28
The iPhone has proven itself to be one of the more desirable smartphones out there in the market ever since the first iteration of the iPhone was unveiled to the world in 2007 – which means it would nearly be half a dozen years that the iPhone is commercially available this year, how time flies. Having said that, most carriers would love to have the iPhone as part of their portfolio of devices considering what a hot ticket item it is, but folks over at Leap Wireless (who operate Cricket Wireless) beg to differ, and could see the iPhone as a bane rather than boon.
Thing is, Leap Wireless mentioned to the Wall Street Journal that they still have quite a sizeable inventory of iPhones left, and are on track to sell just half the amount of iPhones it had committed to selling in its first year contract with Apple. Should the figure remain very close to where it is at the moment, this would mean that Leap Wireless will end up with approximately $100 million worth of unsold iPhones. Hey, if you’re looking for a new iPhone, you might want to hit up Cricket Wireless to help them out of this rotten predicament.
By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Report Suggests That Eight Out of Ten Corporate Device Activations Belong To Apple, Apple Passbook Accepted At 13 MLB Stadiums For 2013 Season,
Feb 28
Leap Wireless’ sales of the iPhone have significantly under-performed, despite expectations that a prepaid iPhone 5 would be in hot demand, with $100m-worth of unsold stock expected by June. Leap’s deal with Apple saw the iPhone 5 offered through Cricket Wireless at $500 with no ongoing commitment, but according to an 10-K SEC filing, the carrier predicts it will have only sold half of the expected units by the time the smartphone reaches its first birthday.
Leap signed a three year long purchase commitment with Apple back in May 2012, which came into effect when Cricket began selling phones the following month. That agreement basically means Leap must buy a certain, minimum amount of devices from Apple, even if it doesn’t necessarily sell that many.
“At our current purchase rate, we project that we will purchase approximately one-half of our first-year minimum purchase commitment through June 2013 … If Apple were to require us to meet the annual minimum commitment in each of the three years of the contract term, we estimate that we would be required to purchase approximately $100 million of additional iPhones in mid-2013 above our current purchase rate, approximately $150 million of additional iPhones in mid-2014 above our current purchase rate and approximately $200 million of additional iPhones in mid-2015 above our current purchase rate” Leap Wireless
Part of the problem, Leap suggests, is the limitations of its network coverage. Cricket service isn’t available to the same extent as that of AT&T and Verizon, which can mean potential customers either can’t buy the iPhone where they live, or choose another carrier because they may need to travel outside of Cricket’s network.
As the carrier points out, “if Apple introduces an AWS-compatible version of the iPhone in the future, we will be able to sell the device in additional markets covering approximately 40% of our covered POPs.” Nonetheless, Leap isn’t counting on that necessarily happening – or, indeed, Apple agreeing to renegotiate the purchase commitment – and so is considering other strategies.
They include more comprehensive device leasing or financing programs, which would spread the upfront cost of the iPhone 5 out over a more extended period, or even just changing the sticker price of the iPhone itself. The carrier also hopes to work with Apple to boost its promotional drive, to tackle the possibility that many people might not even consider Cricket in the first place.
Interestingly, while Leap’s COO says he is “not concerned about … meeting the Apple commitment,” attempting to reassure the market during a recent financial results call, he is also putting a big chunk of his faith in another device. “I would say there was a stronger device [than iPhone 5] in our lineup” Jerry Elliot told analysts last week, referring to Samsung’s Galaxy S III.
[via WSJ]
Cricket’s iPhone 5 play stumbles amid half the predicted demand is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Dec 14
Contract free wireless carriers are the way to go for many people around the world for a number of reasons. Traditionally one of the biggest drawbacks of going with a contract free wireless provider such as Leap Wireless or MetroPCS has been the fact that having no contract means you have to pay a large upfront price for a smartphone. Some of those upfront costs can be as much as $500 depending on the device chosen.
MetroPCS has announced a financing program working with Progressive Finance and BillFloat that will provide handset financing options to customers. Leap Wireless is also working with Progressive Finance. Either of those two financing companies will cover the cost of the handset upfront and the customer will pay back the cost of the device plus interest and repayment fees.
Neither financing partner require credit checks. All the customer has to do is provide access to an active bank account. The financing program launched during Black Friday and is now available nationwide at Leap Wireless corporate stores and dealers around the country.
The only caveat to using financing with either of the prepaid carriers is that the customer has to spend $200 more on hardware and accessories. The financing plan with Leap will pay for up to 90% of the value of the purchase. That means that the customer could purchase an iPhone 5 with $105 upfront including the first month of service and 10% of the purchase price of the iPhone. The account can be paid off in 90 days without any interest, but consumers can take up to nine months to pay the full amount.
[via” FierceWireless]
Leap Wireless and MetroPCS offer mobile phone financing is written by Shane McGlaun & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Oct 17
Cricket brings 4G LTE to Las Vegas, outs new Huawei Boltz modem in celebration
Posted in: Today's Chili 
Cricket’s parent company, Leap Wireless, announced earlier last week its intentions to start blanketing more customers with LTE service, though it didn’t say which markets would be the ones to get the same experience as folks in Tucson, Arizona. Today, however, Cricket’s claiming that subscribers in the Las Vegas area can finally get a taste of savory Long Term Evolution, making this the second market where the newfangled network’s now present. To go along with this, Cricket has said a revamped, LTE-ready version of that $150 Huawei Boltz modem will be available online and at retail stores around Sin City (and Tucson) for customers eager to try out the new service. No word on when the carrier plans to bring its “true 4G” network elsewhere, but, according to Leap CEO Doug Hutcheson, the idea is to have “approximately 21 million covered POPs by the end of the year.”
[Image credit: Cricket Wireless Premier Dealer]
Continue reading Cricket brings 4G LTE to Las Vegas, outs new Huawei Boltz modem in celebration
Filed under: Cellphones, Misc, Wireless, Mobile
Cricket brings 4G LTE to Las Vegas, outs new Huawei Boltz modem in celebration originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 17 Oct 2012 14:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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