U.S. regional prepaid carrier Cricket today announced today that it will be offering the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c to customers beginning October 25th. The devices will be compatible with the company's various nationwide 4G LTE and 3G CDMA wireless networks and feature nationwide talk, text and data plans with no annual contracts.
Cricket Communications, Inc. today announced Cricket Wireless will offer iPhone 5s, the most forward-thinking smartphone in the world, and iPhone 5c, the most colorful iPhone yet, to customers beginning on October 25, 2013. Customers may pre-register interest today at www.mycricket.com/register. For more information please visit: www.mycricket.com.
Cricket first began offering the iPhone in 2012, but stated back in Feburary that weak iPhone sales would prevent it from purchasing its full allotment of iPhones from Apple. However, Cricket's parent company Leap Wireless announced during its Q1 2013 financial results that its subsidary experienced improved iPhone sales amidst significant customer and revenue losses.
This past July, AT&T agreed to acquire Leap Wireless for $15/share -- roughly $1.2 billion in cash, plus the $2.8 billion in net debt that the company held. Cricket has now also become the third major prepaid carrier to offer the iPhone 5c and iPhone 5s after Sprint's Virgin Mobile and AT&T's AIO Wireless.