Pre-paid operator lowers the cost of data and offers its unlimited music service to all its smartphone customers in hopes of driving up APRU

Sarah Thomas, Director, Women in Comms

August 29, 2012

2 Min Read
Cricket Trades Cheaper Data for Music for All

Cricket Communications Inc. has fired the latest shot in the battle of data pricing, announcing Wednesday it will lower the price of smartphone data and make its unlimited music service available to all Android smartphone owners.

The Leap Wireless International Inc. (Nasdaq: LEAP) subsidiary will begin offering the new pre-paid plans, which lob $5 off the previous options, on Sept. 2. The plans start at $50 for unlimited talk, text and 1GB of 3G data per month and go up to $70 for 5GB of data monthly. Cricket slows down data speeds once the cap is reached, but is introducing new tools for its customers to monitor their usage and buy more data at $10 per 1GB when needed.

Cricket is also extending its popular unlimited music streaming service, Muve Music, to all its Android smartphones plans. The app was previously only available on select handsets as a $10 add-on. (See Cricket's 3G-Friendly Mobile Tunes and Leap Hopes Music Will Muve It Nationwide.)

Why this matters
The U.S. mobile market is bifurcating between carriers offering unlimited data plans and those moving to buckets of bytes. Cricket, meanwhile, is trying something a little different, offering data plans that get throttled when you hit a cap but unlimited music to a user's smartphone.

After a weak second quarter in which it bled subscribers, however, Leap will have to draw a fine line between adding new subscribers and driving up average revenue per user (ARPU). Cricket's Muve Music customers have traditionally been some of its most valuable, and Leap's banking on making up for cheaper data by getting its entire customer base hooked on the music app on the go. (See Leap Wireless Promises Results After Weak Q2.)

For more


  • T-Mobile Tosses Data Caps & Speed Limits

  • Cricket Fires Off $30 Shot in Data Price War

  • Cricket Muves Into Kmart Stores

  • Pre-Paid iPhone Parade: Can the Networks Cope?

  • Cricket's iPhone Leap of Faith



— Sarah Reedy, Senior Reporter, Light Reading Mobile

About the Author(s)

Sarah Thomas

Director, Women in Comms

Sarah Thomas's love affair with communications began in 2003 when she bought her first cellphone, a pink RAZR, which she duly "bedazzled" with the help of superglue and her dad.

She joined the editorial staff at Light Reading in 2010 and has been covering mobile technologies ever since. Sarah got her start covering telecom in 2007 at Telephony, later Connected Planet, may it rest in peace. Her non-telecom work experience includes a brief foray into public relations at Fleishman-Hillard (her cussin' upset the clients) and a hodge-podge of internships, including spells at Ingram's (Kansas City's business magazine), American Spa magazine (where she was Chief Hot-Tub Correspondent), and the tweens' quiz bible, QuizFest, in NYC.

As Editorial Operations Director, a role she took on in January 2015, Sarah is responsible for the day-to-day management of the non-news content elements on Light Reading.

Sarah received her Bachelor's in Journalism from the University of Missouri-Columbia. She lives in Chicago with her 3DTV, her iPad and a drawer full of smartphone cords.

Away from the world of telecom journalism, Sarah likes to dabble in monster truck racing, becoming part of Team Bigfoot in 2009.

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