Cricket Celebrates Five Years in Salem, Expands Calling Area to Portland/Vancouver
SALEM – November 13, 2006 – In celebration of its fifth anniversary in Salem, Cricket LCW today announced a “gift” to its wireless customers: it will soon expand their home calling area through Southwest Washington. Starting in December, Salem Cricket customers will be able to travel up the I-5 corridor, from Cottage Grove to Vancouver, WA, and still take advantage of Cricket’s unlimited minutes and text-messaging plans for the same flat rate.
Cricket will unveil this expanded network on December 12, when service launches in the Portland metropolitan area. Salem and Eugene were previously the only markets in Oregon to offer unlimited wireless service, and after the December 12 expansion, Cricket customers in Salem and Eugene will no longer pay roaming charges when using their Cricket phone in the Portland area.
Cricket is known for providing multiple unlimited wireless services at a flat rate: unlimited anytime minutes, U.S. long-distance, text messaging, picture messaging and instant messaging. The company does not require customers to sign contracts or pass credit checks.
“Our customers in Salem have known for five years the benefit of having a service built around their wireless habits, not one that forces them to adapt to the same old model,” said Neil Grubb, President and CEO of Cricket LCW, the joint venture bringing Cricket service to Portland. “We’re excited to bring them additional wireless freedom by expanding their home calling area, and we’re eager to show Portland a wireless alternative that Salem has embraced since 2001.”
Nationwide, approximately 93 percent of Cricket’s customers use Cricket service as their primary phone, while 51 percent use it as their only phone, compared to the national average of just 12 percent, according to data from the Yankee Group. In addition, Cricket’s customers talk approximately 1,500 minutes per month, more than double the industry average, and send text messages far greater than the national average.
About Cricket® Service
Cricket® service is a simple, affordable mobile phone service offering consumers and local businesses a flat-rate, unlimited service over a high-quality, all-digital wireless network. Designed for customers under-served by traditional communications companies, Cricket service is the pioneer of unlimited minutes with no long-term commitments or credit checks required. Cricket service offers customers access to a variety of the latest handsets and feature-rich mobile applications such as unlimited text, instant and picture messaging, popular games, ringtones and wallpapers. For more information on Cricket service visit www.mycricket.com.
About Cricket LCW
Cricket LCW is joint venture between Cricket Communications, Inc., CSM Wireless, and WLPCS Management providing Cricket wireless service in Portland, Salem, and Eugene, OR, and Vancouver, WA.
