August 08, 2005
Cricket Offers Free Wireless AMBER Alerts to Customers
SAN DIEGO - Cricket Communications, Inc., a leading provider of unlimited wireless services, today announced that it is providing its customers free Wireless AMBER Alerts - short text messages with information about abducted children in their area.
Cricket is working in conjunction with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) and CTIA to initiate the transmission of a Wireless AMBER Alert to a Cricket phone after law enforcement officials have issued the alert. The Wireless AMBER Alerts are available to subscribers in Cricket markets across the country. The alerts are specific to the zip code selected by Cricket customers who opt-in to receive the alerts. Customers can enter up to five zip codes.
"Cricket is proud to be a part of the wireless AMBER Alert program aimed at finding and protecting America's missing children," said Linda Wokoun, senior vice president of marketing and customer care for Cricket. "Immediately getting the word out about a kidnapping to a large population helps authorities track down children and other victims of abduction. With the majority of our customers using Cricket as their primary phone, we feel this is a helpful way to get the word out when an AMBER Alert is issued. We encourage our customers to opt-in to the Wireless AMBER Alerts program to help keep our children safe."
How to Sign Up for Cricket AMBER Alerts
Cricket is providing its customers free AMBER Alerts by going to www.wirelessamberalerts.org in order to register their phone number. Customers must opt-in to receive text messages and updates.
About Wireless AMBER Alerts
The Wireless AMBER Alerts initiative is a voluntary arrangement among the wireless industry, law enforcement agencies and NCMEC. AMBER stands for "America's Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response" and was created in 1997 when broadcasters in the Dallas-Fort Worth area teamed with local police to develop an early warning system to find abducted children. President Bush authorized the national AMBER Alert program as part of the PROTECT Act signed in 2003, formally establishing the federal government's role in the AMBER Alert program and appointing the Department of Justice as the agency responsible for coordinating AMBER Alerts on a national level. The Department of Justice has officially partnered the NCMEC, authorizing it as the agent that coordinates and disseminates AMBER Alerts to secondary distributors including wireless service providers. To date, AMBER Alerts have been credited with the successful recovery of more than 200 children.
About Cricket®
Cricket is a simple and affordable mobile phone service offering customers and local businesses flat-rate, unlimited service over a high-quality, all-digital wireless network. Designed for customers under-served by traditional communications companies, Cricket is the pioneer of unlimited anytime minutes with no long-term commitments or credit check required. Cricket offers customers access to a variety of the latest handsets and feature-rich mobile applications such as unlimited text messaging, unlimited picture messaging, popular games, ringtones and wallpapers. For more information on Cricket visit www.mycricket.com. Cricket is a brand of Leap Wireless International, Inc. [NASDAQ: LEAP], headquartered in San Diego, Calif. For more information on Leap, visit www.leapwireless.com.
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Cricket is working in conjunction with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) and CTIA to initiate the transmission of a Wireless AMBER Alert to a Cricket phone after law enforcement officials have issued the alert. The Wireless AMBER Alerts are available to subscribers in Cricket markets across the country. The alerts are specific to the zip code selected by Cricket customers who opt-in to receive the alerts. Customers can enter up to five zip codes.
"Cricket is proud to be a part of the wireless AMBER Alert program aimed at finding and protecting America's missing children," said Linda Wokoun, senior vice president of marketing and customer care for Cricket. "Immediately getting the word out about a kidnapping to a large population helps authorities track down children and other victims of abduction. With the majority of our customers using Cricket as their primary phone, we feel this is a helpful way to get the word out when an AMBER Alert is issued. We encourage our customers to opt-in to the Wireless AMBER Alerts program to help keep our children safe."
How to Sign Up for Cricket AMBER Alerts
Cricket is providing its customers free AMBER Alerts by going to www.wirelessamberalerts.org in order to register their phone number. Customers must opt-in to receive text messages and updates.
About Wireless AMBER Alerts
The Wireless AMBER Alerts initiative is a voluntary arrangement among the wireless industry, law enforcement agencies and NCMEC. AMBER stands for "America's Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response" and was created in 1997 when broadcasters in the Dallas-Fort Worth area teamed with local police to develop an early warning system to find abducted children. President Bush authorized the national AMBER Alert program as part of the PROTECT Act signed in 2003, formally establishing the federal government's role in the AMBER Alert program and appointing the Department of Justice as the agency responsible for coordinating AMBER Alerts on a national level. The Department of Justice has officially partnered the NCMEC, authorizing it as the agent that coordinates and disseminates AMBER Alerts to secondary distributors including wireless service providers. To date, AMBER Alerts have been credited with the successful recovery of more than 200 children.
About Cricket®
Cricket is a simple and affordable mobile phone service offering customers and local businesses flat-rate, unlimited service over a high-quality, all-digital wireless network. Designed for customers under-served by traditional communications companies, Cricket is the pioneer of unlimited anytime minutes with no long-term commitments or credit check required. Cricket offers customers access to a variety of the latest handsets and feature-rich mobile applications such as unlimited text messaging, unlimited picture messaging, popular games, ringtones and wallpapers. For more information on Cricket visit www.mycricket.com. Cricket is a brand of Leap Wireless International, Inc. [NASDAQ: LEAP], headquartered in San Diego, Calif. For more information on Leap, visit www.leapwireless.com.
