The Local Coverage Area is the area in which you live and where your service was activated. All of the normal features and services included in your plan should be available for use in your Local Coverage Area.
NEC, also referred to as National Extended Calling Area (NECA), gives Cricket customers the ability to use their phones in all Cricket markets without incurring any additional roaming charges. NEC is included already in all Cricket plans at no extra charge. Since all plans include unlimited minutes, you can talk as much as you want in NEC areas. To find out what areas are included in NEC, view our Coverage Maps.
Cricket PAYGo phones work in all of Cricket's coverage areas. Outside of Cricket coverage areas you will see a roaming indicator on your phone and roaming rates will apply. Not all features on all phones are available while roaming.
Premium Extended Coverage allows Cricket customers to use their phone in areas outside their local and national coverage areas without incurring roaming charges. Premium Extended Coverage is included in some Cricket cell phone plans, or can be added on to any plan.
Roaming minutes are used when you are using your phone outside of areas included in your plan. Remember, all Cricket cell phone plans include unlimited calling from your home area and from any Cricket market. Some plans already come with a certain number of nationwide roaming minutes; you can also add roaming minutes to your plan each month as an add-on or pay-as-you-go using Flex Bucket. See our coverage maps to learn more about coverage in the areas where you live, work and travel.
A tri-band phone supports 3 different frequency bands, allowing you to use your phone in all Cricket coverage areas without roaming, including our new extended coverage areas. Learn more about Tri-band.
