Cricket Announces New Device Lineup

SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Cricket Communications, a leading provider of unlimited wireless services and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Leap Wireless International, Inc. (NASDAQ:LEAP), today announced its plans to significantly expand its device lineup with the introduction of a wide range of affordable Smartphones, touchscreens, feature phones and broadband devices between July and the end of the year. The lineup, which includes the BlackBerry Curve 8530, the Sanyo ZIO by Kyocera and the Samsung Messenger Touch, was unveiled today at Cricket’s Analyst Day, where Cricket laid out its plans to capitalize on the consumer movement to prepaid wireless, not only for talk and text, but also to meet the demand for mobile data services.

“We are determined to make Cricket the best provider of value-driven services in the prepaid wireless industry, and with our new device lineup, available on our true 3G network, we have taken a big step toward achieving that goal”

Cricket intends to launch a total of 15 new devices by the end of the year, including the Kyocera Domino, launched July 20^th, broadband devices such as the Cricket Crosswave, which provides users with an instant Wi-Fi hotspot, and several more feature-rich devices, such as a low-cost Android phone from Huawei and the Cricket TXTM8 3G with a QWERTY keyboard.

“We are determined to make Cricket the best provider of value-driven services in the prepaid wireless industry, and with our new device lineup, available on our true 3G network, we have taken a big step toward achieving that goal,” said Doug Hutcheson, Leap’s president and CEO. “Our Smartphones and touchscreen devices will be affordable to millions of consumers and these new, higher-end devices will also compliment new, all-inclusive service plans that will be priced to drive increased ARPU. As the shift toward the use of Smartphones, touchscreens and tablet devices continues, we believe we are improving our position to capitalize on the rapid growth in this area.”

Continued Hutcheson, “Our customers, like all wireless users, have evolved from seeking low-cost devices to more feature-rich phones including Smartphones and touchscreens. Our understanding of the full breadth of this trend is reflected in a balanced phone lineup that features the latest technology with affordable pricing, along with new, value-rich service plans.”

“The movement from the old high-cost, long-contract, postpaid model toward a more customer-centric, value-driven model has reached a critical tipping point. By offering customers the feature-rich devices that they have come to expect, at affordable prices, we can make their choice of wireless carriers one of price and value and not simply technology,” said Al Moschner, Cricket’s chief operating officer. “Our device lineup represents the largest in Cricket’s history and demonstrates our commitment to bringing feature-rich devices at prices that appeal to a broad spectrum of consumers. Our customers will now have the opportunity to select from cutting-edge Smartphone functionality, our expansive lineup of QWERTY devices and our value-priced feature phones. These devices will be delivered from both our branded supplier partners as well as our own Cricket original in-house supply chain capabilities.”

Cricket’s New Smartphone Handsets

Sanyo ZIO by Kyocera: available this fall, is a sleek, stylish touchscreen Smartphone powered by the Android™ OS. Users can enjoy unlimited HTML web browsing, email and messaging, media sharing, and access to a robust library of applications through the Android market.

BlackBerry Curve 8530: available Friday August 6^th, the most popular BlackBerry yet, offers an innovative new trackpad design and a full QWERTY keyboard. Users can stream music and video, enjoy HTML web browsing at 3G speeds, and choose from a variety of applications available in BlackBerry’s App World.

Cricket’s New Feature Phones

Cricket’s introduction of new feature phones began late last month with the successful launch of the Kyocera Domino, and continues later this month with the launch of refreshed models of two of the Company’s most popular low-cost phones, the Cricket CAPTR II and the Cricket MSGM8 II. Cricket also expects to soon launch the Samsung Messager Touch, offering an enhanced user experience via the Cricket MyHome Screen user interface and a top-of-the-line experience in multimedia, data and voice.

Cricket’s New Broadband Devices

Cricket will be offering Crosswave, a personal HotSpot device that allows computer users to connect several wireless devices at the same time from up to 30 feet away from the Crosswave’s location. The Crosswave is the first step in Cricket’s plan to deploy highly affordable devices that feature connectivity with other devices. Cricket also expects to launch two new modems next week, the Huawei 1705 modem and the Cricket A605 USB modem.

About Cricket

Cricket is the pioneer of simple and affordable unlimited wireless services with no long-term commitments or credit checks required serving more than 5.4 million customers in 35 states and the District of Columbia. Cricket offers wireless voice and broadband Internet services over the latest technology, high-quality, all-digital 3G CDMA2000 1X and 1xEV-DO wireless network. Cricket’s nationwide wireless voice service plans include unlimited anytime minutes, unlimited U.S. long distance, unlimited text and picture messaging, unlimited text to Mexico, unlimited Mobile Web, unlimited directory assistance, as well as a variety of calling features and feature-rich mobile applications such as popular games, ringtones and wallpapers. Cricket Broadband provides unlimited Internet access anywhere within Cricket’s coverage areas at speeds comparable to DSL. For more information on Cricket, visit www.mycricket.com. Cricket is offered by Leap Wireless International, Inc., headquartered in San Diego, Calif. For more information on Leap, visit www.leapwireless.com.

Forward Looking Statements

This press release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements reflect management's current expectations based on currently available operating, financial and competitive information, but are subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated in or implied by the forward-looking statements. Our forward-looking statements include our discussions about planned product and service plan developments, competitiveness and expected financial and operational performance, and are generally identified with words such as "believe," "expect," "intend," "plan," "could," "may" and similar expressions. Risks, uncertainties and assumptions that could affect our forward-looking statements include, among other things:

our ability to attract and retain customers in an extremely competitive marketplace;
the duration and severity of the current economic downturn in the United States and changes in economic conditions, including interest rates, consumer credit conditions, consumer debt levels, consumer confidence, unemployment rates, energy costs and other macro-economic factors that could adversely affect demand for the services we provide;
the impact of competitors' initiatives;
our ability to successfully implement our new product and service plan offerings, expand our retail distribution and execute effectively on our other strategic activities;
our ability to obtain roaming services from other carriers at cost-effective rates;
our ability to maintain effective internal control over financial reporting;
our ability to attract, motivate and retain an experienced workforce;
our ability to comply with the covenants in any credit agreement, indenture or similar instrument governing any of our existing or future indebtedness;
our ability to consummate the joint venture with Pocket Communications, associated integration risks and costs, and uncertainties regarding the performance of the joint venture post closing;
failure of our network or information technology systems to perform according to expectations and risks associated with the upgrade or transition of certain of those systems, including our customer billing system; and
other factors detailed in the section entitled "Risk Factors" included in our periodic reports filed with the SEC, including our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2010, filed with the SEC on May 10, 2010, and our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2010, which we expect to file shortly with the SEC.

All forward-looking statements included in this news release should be considered in the context of these risks. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Investors and prospective investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on our forward-looking statements.

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: BridgePay, Cricket By Week, Cricket Choice, Cricket Connect, Cricket Nation, Cricket PAYGo and Cricket Wireless Internet Service. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.