Leap Brings Cricket Unlimited Wireless Services to Lake Charles, La.

~ New 3G Coverage Area Brings Cricket’s Wide Range of Unlimited and Affordable Wireless Voice and Broadband Services Across its Robust Network ~

SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Leap Wireless International, Inc. (NASDAQ:LEAP), the parent company of Cricket Communications, Inc., a leading provider of unlimited wireless services, today announced that it is launching its Cricket unlimited wireless services in Lake Charles, Louisiana beginning today. Local residents will now have access to unlimited, feature-packed 3G wireless voice and broadband services – all at affordable rates that provide great wireless value.

“During challenging economic times when value is key, Cricket’s range of products and services make high quality, value-packed service on a 3G network affordable. It is an appropriate time to bring Cricket’s affordable, unlimited monthly and daily voice services and our very popular Cricket Broadband service to Lake Charles.”

Cricket’s coverage area includes the greater Lake Charles area from the Texas/Louisiana border to the east side of Crowley, La. The Cricket footprint, which covers approximately 1,367 square miles and approximately 241,000 covered POPs, brings Cricket’s total national covered POPs to approximately 91.3 million.

“We are pleased to launch our Cricket service in Lake Charles, our first entry into Louisiana. This new coverage area connects to and expands our Texas calling area, which also includes Houston, San Antonio, Austin, Beaumont, Corpus Christi, the Rio Grande Valley and Laredo for a contiguous coverage footprint of more than 27,000 square miles” said Doug Hutcheson, president and CEO of Leap. “During challenging economic times when value is key, Cricket’s range of products and services make high quality, value-packed service on a 3G network affordable. It is an appropriate time to bring Cricket’s affordable, unlimited monthly and daily voice services and our very popular Cricket Broadband service to Lake Charles.”

Cricket is also bringing approximately 30 jobs to the area, nine of which will be in Cricket retail stores. The remainder of the positions will be provided by wireless dealers offering Cricket services. In addition, Cricket service plans are available at one company-owned Cricket a retail store, seven Cricket exclusive wireless dealers and eight other dealer locations throughout the region, as well as online at www.mycricket.com or via the telephone at 800-922-9169.

Cricket rate plans range from $30 to $60 per month and include unlimited anytime minutes, unlimited U.S. long distance, unlimited text and picture messaging, unlimited text to Mexico, unlimited Mobile Web, unlimited directory assistance, nationwide roaming minutes and more -- all without requiring signed contracts or credit checks. Cricket rate plans also include unlimited use in all Cricket markets across the U.S., as well as Premium Extended Coverage, which allows unlimited use in an even broader area stretching from New York and Boston to California and from Wisconsin to Texas. Cricket has more than a dozen devices available, ranging from affordable mobile phones to higher-end handsets such as the Motorola Evoke featuring a touch-screen and the Messager II with a slide-out QWERTY keypad for easy texting.

Cricket PAYGo offers unlimited daily wireless service at $1, $2 or $3 per day, also without a signed contract or credit check. The PAYGo all-inclusive monthly $40 and $45 plans are available at Target in Lake Charles. The PAYGo $40 plan includes unlimited talk, US long distance, access to Cricket’s premium extended calling area, domestic and international text and picture messaging. The PAYGo $45 plan has all the unlimited features of the $40 plan plus unlimited mobile Web and directory assistance. PAYGo monthly rates include all fees and telecom taxes as well as voicemail, call waiting, caller ID and three-way calling over Cricket’s 3G EVDO network.

In addition to unlimited mobile phone services, Cricket is also offering Cricket Broadband, providing customers’ unlimited Internet access on their desktop or laptop computers over Cricket’s 3G EVDO network anywhere in Cricket's coverage areas. The Cricket monthly broadband service plan is just $35 per month for customers who also have Cricket's low-cost unlimited voice plans, and $40 per month as a stand-alone service.

About Leap

Leap provides innovative, high-value wireless services to a fast-growing, young and ethnically diverse customer base. With the value of unlimited wireless services as the foundation of its business, Leap pioneered its Cricket service. The Company and its joint ventures now operate in 35 states and the District of Columbia, and hold licenses in 35 of the top 50 U.S. markets. Through its affordable, flat-rate service plans, Cricket offers customers a choice of unlimited voice, text, data and mobile Web services. Headquartered in San Diego, Calif., Leap is traded on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the ticker symbol "LEAP." For more information, please visit www.leapwireless.com.

Leap is a U.S. registered trademark and the Leap logo is a trademark of Leap. Cricket, Jump, the Cricket “K” and Flex Bucket are U.S. registered trademarks of Cricket. In addition, the following are trademarks or service marks of Cricket: Cricket By Week, Cricket Choice, Cricket Connect, Cricket Nation and Cricket PAYGo. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.