Cricket Wireless 2010 Annual Report Download - page 8

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Item 1. Business
Overview
We are a wireless communications carrier that offers digital wireless services in the U.S. under the “Cricket»”
brand. Our Cricket service offerings provide customers with unlimited nationwide wireless services for a flat rate
without requiring a fixed-term contract or a credit check.
Cricket service is offered by Cricket, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Leap. Cricket service is also offered in
Oregon by our wholly-owned subsidiary, LCW Wireless Operations, LLC, or LCW Operations; in the upper
Midwest by our wholly-owned subsidiary, Denali Spectrum Operations, LLC, or Denali Operations; and in South
Texas by our joint venture, STX Wireless Operations, LLC, or STX Operations. We control STX Operations
through a 75.75% controlling membership interest in its parent company, STX Wireless, LLC, or STX Wireless. In
addition, we own an 85% non-controlling membership interest in Savary Island Wireless, LLC, or Savary Island,
which holds wireless licenses and a related spectrum lease covering the upper Midwest portion of the U.S. outside of
our Chicago and Southern Wisconsin operating markets.
Leap was formed as a Delaware corporation in 1998. Leap’s shares began trading publicly in September 1998,
and we launched our innovative Cricket service in March 1999. Leap conducts operations through its subsidiaries
and has no independent operations or sources of income other than interest income and through dividends, if any,
from its subsidiaries.
Cricket Business Overview
Cricket Service
As of December 31, 2010, Cricket service was offered in 35 states and the District of Columbia and had
approximately 5.5 million customers. As of December 31, 2010, we and Savary Island owned wireless licenses
covering an aggregate of approximately 184.6 million POPs (adjusted to eliminate duplication from overlapping
licenses). The combined network footprint in our operating markets covered approximately 95.3 million POPs as of
December 31, 2010. The licenses we and Savary Island own provide 20 MHz of coverage and the opportunity to
offer enhanced data services in almost all markets in which we currently operate, assuming that Savary Island were
to make available to us certain of its spectrum.
In addition to our Cricket network footprint, we have entered into roaming relationships with other wireless
carriers that provide Cricket customers with nationwide voice and data roaming services over an extended service
area covering approximately 285 million POPs. We have also entered into a wholesale agreement which permits us
to offer Cricket services outside of our current network footprint. These arrangements enable us to offer enhanced
Cricket products and services, continue to strengthen our growing retail presence in our existing markets and further
expand our distribution nationwide.
The foundation of our business is to provide unlimited, nationwide wireless service and to design and market
our products and services to appeal to those customers seeking increased value. Our primary Cricket service is
Cricket Wireless, which offers customers unlimited nationwide voice and data services for a flat monthly rate. Our
most popular Cricket Wireless rate plans bundle certain features with unlimited local and U.S. long distance service
and unlimited text messaging, along with mobile web, 411 services, navigation and data back-up. In addition to our
Cricket Wireless voice and data services, we offer Cricket Broadband, our unlimited mobile broadband service,
which allows customers to access the internet through their computers for a low, flat rate. We also offer Cricket
PAYGo
TM
, a pay-as-you-go unlimited prepaid wireless service designed for customers who prefer the flexibility and
control offered by traditional prepaid services. In early 2011, we launched Muve Music
TM
, an unlimited music
download service designed specifically for mobile handsets, in select Cricket markets, and we expect to expand its
availability throughout 2011. None of our services require customers to enter into long-term commitments or pass a
credit check.
In August 2010, we revised certain features of a number of our Cricket service offerings. We introduced “all-
inclusive” rate plans for all of our Cricket services in which we eliminated certain fees (such as activation,
reactivation and regulatory fees) and telecommunications taxes. We also introduced smartphone-specific rate plans
2