Tri-State Finalists Qualify to Attempt New Guinness World Record for the Fastest Text Messager
El Paso, Texas, Albuquerque, New Mexico & Tucson, Arizona - June 24, 2006 – Ten finalists have qualified in contests in El Paso, Texas and Tucson, Arizona for an expense paid trip to Albuquerque, New Mexico to compete in Cricket’s Tri-State Beat Ben Contest to attempt a new Guinness World Record for the fastest text messager. In addition to attempting a new Guinness World Record, finalists will try to beat Ben Cook, the country’s fastest text messager, to win $1,000 and 12-months free phone Cricket® unlimited wireless phone service. [Note: Won’t be Cricket Communications, Inc. service if winner is from El Paso] it. Five additional finalists will be chosen from preliminary rounds in Albuquerque, New Mexico in July. The finals will be held in Albuquerque, New Mexico on Saturday, July 15, 2006, from 4-6:00 p.m. at the Coronado Mall on 6600 Menaul Blvd NE.
The contestants won by having the fastest fingers in the preliminary rounds. In order to set a new Guinness World Record for the fastest text messager finalists will have to type the Guinness authorized 160-character passage: "The razor-toothed piranhas of the genera Serrasalmus and Pygocentrus are the most ferocious freshwater fish in the world. In reality they seldom attack a human," on their wireless phone faster than 43.2 seconds Two Cricket judges, both with accurate stopwatches, will monitor finals contestants. To have a qualifying time, competitors will have to type the paragraph the fastest, with no extra spaces and no spelling errors. Finalists will be able to use their own wireless phone, but the "short text" and other timesaving features on the cell phone will be disabled.
“We are delighted to host Cricket’s Tri-State Beat Ben Contest,” said Edye Popke, area general manager for Albuquerque, Tucson, El Paso, & Las Cruces. “We’ve planned an exciting and fun summer event and hope to have a new Guinness World Record! Text messaging is becoming one of the most popular ways to communicate and with Cricket you get unlimited text messaging.”
Ben Cook, a seventeen year old Cricket customer from Provo, Utah, set a new world record in 2004. He’s appeared on many radio and TV talk shows including the Tonight Show with Jay Leno, and participated in many contests and demonstrations. Ben Cook will be at the finals to defend his record.
Offering A Full Suite of Wireless Services
As the pioneer of unlimited anytime minutes with no long term contracts required, Cricket service offers a wireless alternative for those individuals and businesses looking for affordable, flat-rate wireless services. With a Cricket phone, Paso del Norte residents can make and receive their calls within their calling area without worrying about an expensive bill at the end of the month. Cricket service is offered at a price that is competitive to that of a traditional home phone, but with Cricket, the customer gains the added benefit of mobility. With Cricket unlimited wireless plans, customers have the option of choosing picture messaging, unlimited text messaging and AOL® Instant Messenger™, plus calling features including voicemail, caller ID and call waiting.
In addition to providing unlimited local and long distance wireless voice services over a high-quality CDMA 1X network, Cricket service offers a variety of add-on services for customers including a Travel TimeTM roaming option for customers who wish to use their phone outside their calling area, as well as Cricket ClicksTM – Cricket’s data service, which includes downloadable games, ringtones, wallpapers, information services and more. Cricket customers also have the option of placing international long distance (ILD) calls to more than 100 countries, including Mexico.
About Cricket
Cricket is a simple, 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 minutes with no long-term commitments or credit checks required. Cricket 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 visit www.mycricket.com. Cricket service was pioneered by Leap Wireless International, Inc., headquartered in San Diego, Calif. For more information on Leap, visit www.leapwireless.com.
