Leap Wireless
Encyclopedia
Leap Wireless International, Inc. is an American public telecommunications company that provides wireless services through its subsidiary, Cricket Communications
. Leap was founded in 1998 and was built on the premise of unlimited services with no contracts and no credit checks, providing access to wireless services to customers who couldn’t otherwise afford it, or who didn't want the long term commitment of a one or two year contract.
Leap has all-digital CDMA 1X and 1xEV-DO networks that have expanded significantly in the past few years. Leap has approximately 7 million wireless subscribers. Leap currently offers service across parts of 34 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
. It is the seventh largest wireless telecommunications network in the United States.
Cricket uses a flat rate
billing method, offering rate plans from $35 to $55 per month before taxes. Cricket offers nationwide extended calling area on most service plans which extends coverage to all Cricket coverage areas. Cricket also offers Nationwide Roaming
, which provides customers the ability to use their Cricket phone throughout the US and Canada
while outside of Cricket coverage areas.
was a subsidiary of Leap Wireless International, Inc. The pre-paid wireless service was not an MVNO, as it used its parent company’s CDMA 1xEV-DO network to provide pre-paid wireless services to its customers.
Jump Mobile offered customers unlimited incoming calls from anywhere in the world, outgoing calls at 10 cents per minute, and unlimited incoming and outgoing text messages within the U.S.. The pre-paid service included voicemail, caller ID, call waiting, three-way calling, and offered features such as directory assistance, ringtones, games, and wall papers. Customers could send international text messages from $.10 to $.15 per message and could call internationally from $.05 a minute.
Jump Mobile launched in its first market in 2005, and discontinued services and operations in 2010.
Cricket Communications
Cricket Communications, Inc. founded in 1999, also known as Cricket Wireless, provides wireless services to 7 million customers in the United States. The company is a subsidiary of Leap Wireless, utilizing its CDMA 1X and 1xEV-DO networks...
. Leap was founded in 1998 and was built on the premise of unlimited services with no contracts and no credit checks, providing access to wireless services to customers who couldn’t otherwise afford it, or who didn't want the long term commitment of a one or two year contract.
Leap has all-digital CDMA 1X and 1xEV-DO networks that have expanded significantly in the past few years. Leap has approximately 7 million wireless subscribers. Leap currently offers service across parts of 34 states, and has recently purchased spectrum at the AWS
Advanced Wireless Services
AWS-1 or UMTS band IV, is a wireless telecommunications spectrum band used for mobile voice and data services, video, and messaging. AWS-1 is used in the United States and Canada...
auction giving Leap coverage of an estimated 110 million potential customers. Leap Wireless is headquartered in San Diego, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. It is the seventh largest wireless telecommunications network in the United States.
Cricket Communications
Cricket Communications, Inc. founded in 1999, is a subsidiary of Leap Wireless International, Inc. It offers prepaid wireless service in the USA. As of quarter 1 of 2009, Cricket provides service to more than 4.5 million customers in all of the 50 states on Leap’s CDMA 1X and 1xEV-DO networks.Cricket uses a flat rate
Flat rate
A flat fee, also referred to as a flat rate or a linear rate, refers to a pricing structure that charges a single fixed fee for a service, regardless of usage. Rarely, it may refer to a rate that does not vary with usage or time of use...
billing method, offering rate plans from $35 to $55 per month before taxes. Cricket offers nationwide extended calling area on most service plans which extends coverage to all Cricket coverage areas. Cricket also offers Nationwide Roaming
Roaming
In wireless telecommunications, roaming is a general term referring to the extension of connectivity service in a location that is different from the home location where the service was registered. Roaming ensures that the wireless device is kept connected to the network, without losing the...
, which provides customers the ability to use their Cricket phone throughout the US and Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
while outside of Cricket coverage areas.
Jump Mobile
Jump MobileJump Mobile
Jump Mobile was a mobile cellular communications brand and subsidiary of United States based Leap Wireless International, Inc. From its inception in 2005, Jump Mobile grew to offer pre-paid wireless services customers in 25 states...
was a subsidiary of Leap Wireless International, Inc. The pre-paid wireless service was not an MVNO, as it used its parent company’s CDMA 1xEV-DO network to provide pre-paid wireless services to its customers.
Jump Mobile offered customers unlimited incoming calls from anywhere in the world, outgoing calls at 10 cents per minute, and unlimited incoming and outgoing text messages within the U.S.. The pre-paid service included voicemail, caller ID, call waiting, three-way calling, and offered features such as directory assistance, ringtones, games, and wall papers. Customers could send international text messages from $.10 to $.15 per message and could call internationally from $.05 a minute.
Jump Mobile launched in its first market in 2005, and discontinued services and operations in 2010.
History
- Leap Wireless was founded in 1998, spun off as an independently traded company from San Diego-based QualcommQualcommQualcomm is an American global telecommunication corporation that designs, manufactures and markets digital wireless telecommunications products and services based on its code division multiple access technology and other technologies. Headquartered in San Diego, CA, USA...
. Leap was started with the idea to provide affordable wireless services to a wide range of customers, without credit checks or long-term commitments. Under that principle, it founded Cricket Communications in 1999 and launched in Chattanooga, Tennessee that year. During this time, Leap also operated all-digital wireless service in Mexico and Chile under partnership with other companies. In May 2000 Leap Wireless sold its Chilean wireless operator Smartcom PCS to EndesaEndesa (Spain)Endesa, S.A. is the largest electric utility company in Spain. The firm, a majority-owned subsidiary of the Italian utility company Enel, has 10 million customers in Spain, with domestic annual generation of over 97,600 GWh from nuclear, fossil-fueled, hydroelectric, and renewable resource power...
. - In March 2002, Leap sold its 20 percent stake in Mexican Wireless carrier Pegaso PCS to Telefonica Moviles.
- Leap reorganized in 2002 and (trading under the symbol LWIN) was delisted from the Nasdaq stock exchange on December 11, 2002.
- Leap created Jump Mobile in 2005, a pre-paid mobile wireless service company that shared the unlimited motto of Cricket. Jump Mobile opened in its first market in 2005; its service is currently available in parts of 27 states.
- On September 4, 2007, MetroPCS announced a proposal that MetroPCS and Leap Wireless could merge into a single wireless company. The proposal was withdrawn less than two months later on November 1, 2007. However, due to LEAP's current financial situation, some analysts still believe that a merger will take place.
- On September 10, 2007, Leap's Chief Financial Officer Amin Khalifa, resigned. On November 9, 2007 Leap announced that it would restate its financial statements for fiscal years 2004, 2005 and 2006 and for the first and second quarters of 2007.
- On December 28, 2007, filed restatements of its earnings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Leap reported that it had overstated its income by $22.5 million and service revenue by $7.5 million between 2004 and 2007. During the period, Leap had reported an operating profit of $102.2 million and $3.09 billion in service revenue.
- On February 1, 2010, Leap announced that it was exploring a sale of the company to a larger rival. Talks have been held with Verizon WirelessVerizon WirelessCellco Partnership, doing business as Verizon Wireless, is one of the largest mobile network operators in the United States. The network has 107.7 million subscribers as of 2011, making it the largest wireless service provider in America....
and AT&T Mobility. - In November 2011 it was reported that AT&T was in negotiations to sell it the T-Mobile customer accounts as well a substantial amount of T-Mobile spectrum. The sale if it went through would make it the fourth largest wireless carrier in the United States. The proposed sale was seen as an 11th hour attempt to allay Justice Department anti-monopoly concerns in AT&T's proposed takeover of T-Mobile.
Executive Team
- S. Douglas (Doug) Hutcheson President, Chief Executive Officer and Director
- Walter Z. Berger Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
- Robert Irving, Jr. Senior Vice President and General Counsel
- Leonard Stephens Senior Vice President, Human Resources