Apple's iPhone 5 to launch on US prepaid carrier Cricket Sept. 28

AppleInsider

Cricket on Thursday became the first prepaid carrier to announce it will carry Apple's new iPhone 5 starting Sept. 28.

Apple's latest iPhone will be available through U.S. carrier Cricket with pay-as-you-go pricing. The same company was also the first prepaid carrier to offer the iPhone earlier this year, when it gained access to the iPhone 4S.

Cricket Wireless is a prepaid subsidiary of Leap Wireless, which offers "unlimited" data plans under a "fair usage policy" of 2.3 gigabytes per month. It has a total of 6.2 million subscribers.

In an announcement on Thursday, Cricket Communications said the iPhone 5 will be available to customers in "select Cricket markets" beginning Friday, Sept. 28. No information on pricing or any potential pre-order period was given.

Pricing on the iPhone 4S was $500 for the 16-gigabyte model without a service contract. The carrier also offered the 8-gigabyte iPhone 4 for $400 contract-free.

Cricket offers $55-per-month "unlimited" plan that includes talk, text and data. The carrier offers wireless voice and mobile data services over 4G LTE and 3G CDMA through its parent company, Leap, which is the owner of the seventh largest wireless telecommunications network in the U.S., with coverage in all 50 states.

rot'napple

Anybody used or uses their service and if so, how was it?

Also, do they piggyback with service agreement with say ATT, Verizon or Sprint? Or is their network all theirs?
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manukkahfratata

According to Wikipedia, Cricket Wireless has an agreement with Sprint and MetroPCS. As such, connectivity should be almost as good as Sprint in most cases? I wonder how does the reception compares to Virgin Mobile which also have a similar arrangement with Sprint?

jeffdm

The name is apt. "What is their price?" "chirp chirp chirp"

tallest skil

Originally Posted by Rot'nApple 

Also, do they piggyback with service agreement with say ATT, Verizon or Sprint? Or is their network all theirs?

 

Since they use CDMA and LTE, it's going to be Verizon's network if they piggyback.

rot'napple

Quote:

Originally Posted by JeffDM 



The name is apt. "What is their price?" "chirp chirp chirp"

 

Does Cricket's "advertised" price come with fees, surcharges, upgrades (outside of sales tax, fcc fees and stuff that is applied to all phones required by the state) that makes that $50.00 plan or whatever $90.00 or whatever?  In other words, does "chirp, chirp, chirp" mean "cheap, cheap, cheap" as in what you see is not what you'll get with regards to price?  Of does "chirp, chirp, chirp" mean their coverage is lacking and one minute you have access to their services and the next it's silence - dead air?  Curious to know what symbolism 'chirp, chirp, chirp' how its meaning was intended.

ssquirrel

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rot'nApple 

 

Curious to know what symbolism 'chirp, chirp, chirp' how its meaning was intended.

 

That's the sound a cricket makes.  Of course this article talks about their costs and their website or a quick call to customer service should clear up any questions about extra fees.

bonobob

Quote:

Originally Posted by manukkahfratata 

According to Wikipedia, Cricket Wireless has an agreement with Sprint and MetroPCS. As such, connectivity should be almost as good as Sprint in most cases? I wonder how does the reception compares to Virgin Mobile which also have a similar arrangement with Sprint?

Or, based on my experience with Sprint, almost as bad.  I have had absolutely atrocious data rates with Sprint's 3G, and am amazed at how often their 3G services are down, leaving just 2G data capability.  With the addition of MetroPCS cells, maybe Cricket would actually do better on average than with Sprint alone.

_rick_v_

I just love how all these companies define "unlimited" by some specific amount.

And no, reaching that threshold and throttling you down to slower-than-modem speeds (making even getting mail painful) doesn't count as unlimited, sorry.

jeffdm

rot'napple wrote: »

Does Cricket's "advertised" price come with fees, surcharges, upgrades (outside of sales tax, fcc fees and stuff that is applied to all phones required by the state) that makes that $50.00 plan or whatever $90.00 or whatever?

My current bill has $6.20 of taxes and fees, making my total likely $56.20. I would only save about $10/mo over my current bill, and still have to provide for my device separately.

In other words, does "chirp, chirp, chirp" mean "cheap, cheap, cheap" as in what you see is not what you'll get with regards to price?  Of does "chirp, chirp, chirp" mean their coverage is lacking and one minute you have access to their services and the next it's silence - dead air?  Curious to know what symbolism 'chirp, chirp, chirp' how its meaning was intended.

ssquirrel wrote: »

That's the sound a cricket makes.  Of course this article talks about their costs and their website or a quick call to customer service should clear up any questions about extra fees.

Correct. More specifically, it is an onomatopoeia for the sound a cricket makes, otherwise used to indicate a null response or dead air, if it weren't for the cricket, of course.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onomatopoeia

_rick_v_ wrote: »

I just love how all these companies define "unlimited" by some specific amount.
And no, reaching that threshold and throttling you down to slower-than-modem speeds (making even getting mail painful) doesn't count as unlimited, sorry.

I don't get it either. I don't understand why statements of "unlimited" are allowed to stand, legally.

tkrunner1738

Quote:

Originally Posted by JeffDM 





My current bill has $6.20 of taxes and fees, making my total likely $56.20. I would only save about $10/mo over my current bill, and still have to provide for my device separately.

Correct. More specifically, it is an onomatopoeia for the sound a cricket makes, otherwise used to indicate a null response or dead air, if it weren't for the cricket, of course.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onomatopoeia

I don't get it either. I don't understand why statements of "unlimited" are allowed to stand, legally.

how is your bill only $66.20? I pay like $96.23 with att so I'm sure my plan is 89.99. Which seems to be about right for the major carriers. I have a year left on my contract, after that I'll see if there is another carrier that will support an unlocked iphone with all the same features for a cheaper price. I was surprised to hear that t mobile's system doesn't allow for visual voicemail. But now it seems apple is making more versions of their phones to work with certain carriers. Which seems to make the idea of having an unlocked phone almost null and void unless your using it to travel abroad, and just finding a nano sim to stick in it. 

jeffdm

tkrunner1738 wrote: »

how is your bill only $66.20? I pay like $96.23 with att so I'm sure my plan is 89.99.

$40/mo voice 450 min. daytime/w rollover
$15/mo 200MB data
$5/mo 200 texts (grandfathered, otherwise no longer available)
$6.20 taxes/fees

It's technically not a comparable plan, but it works for me most of the time.

Which seems to be about right for the major carriers. I have a year left on my contract, after that I'll see if there is another carrier that will support an unlocked iphone with all the same features for a cheaper price. I was surprised to hear that t mobile's system doesn't allow for visual voicemail. But now it seems apple is making more versions of their phones to work with certain carriers. Which seems to make the idea of having an unlocked phone almost null and void unless your using it to travel abroad, and just finding a nano sim to stick in it.

I would be curious if any of the MVNO carriers support visual voicemail.