Cricket Wireless

Cricket Wireless is a prepaid wireless service provider in the United States. Cricket Wireless offers voice, text, and data and is a wholly owned subsidiary of AT&T Inc. As of 2011, it provided prepaid wireless services to approximately 5 million subscribers in the United States. Cricket Wireless was founded in 1999 by Leap Wireless International, Inc. On July 12, 2013, AT&T Inc. agreed to acquire Cricket's parent company Leap Wireless International for $1.2 billion. The merger was approved by the Federal Communications Commission on March 13, 2014, and later that same day, Leap Wireless announced the completion of its acquisition by AT&T.

History

Leap Wireless launched Cricket Wireless' first market in Chicago, Illinois on March 17, 1999.

On September 4, 2007, competing carrier MetroPCS announced a $5.3 billion bid to merge with Leap Wireless. Leap informally rejected the bid less than two weeks later. MetroPCS officially withdrew the bid less than two months later, on November 1, 2007.