- Clearwire's LTE Advanced-Ready Network to Offer Capacity Resources for Cricket's 4G Network
- Agreement Will Supplement LTE Coverage that Cricket is Deploying Across its Own Networks
San Diego and Bellevue, Wash. - March 14, 2012 - Cricket Communications, Inc., a leading provider of innovative and value-driven wireless services, and Clearwire Corp (NADSAQ: CLWR) today announced that they have entered into a five-year wholesale agreement. With the agreement, Cricket will become the second operator signed on to leverage Clearwire's forthcoming LTE Advanced-ready network, which will provide capacity off-load services to supplement Cricket's own LTE network. Cricket currently plans to deploy LTE across approximately two-thirds of its current network footprint over the next two to three years and to cover up to approximately 25 million POPs with LTE network technology in 2012.
"The high-speed 4G LTE networks we are deploying will complement our current robust 3G network and allow us to continue innovating value for our Cricket customers," said Doug Hutcheson, President and CEO of Leap Wireless, Cricket's parent company. "We believe this agreement with Clearwire provides us with an attractive option to supplement our own LTE build-out strategy and gives us the flexibility to access additional 4G capacity where needed as data-centric devices continue to become more popular."
"The beginning of our long-term wholesale partnership with Cricket is a key step forward in the development of Clearwire's wholesale LTE business model," said Erik Prusch, President and CEO of Clearwire. "Not all LTE networks are created equally. We have always believed that our unmatched spectrum portfolio offers a compelling resource that can and will enable wireless operators to thrive in the 4G marketplace of the future. We are very pleased to provide Cricket with additional mobile broadband resources to supplement their own LTE build in order to deliver a robust 4G experience for their customers and we continue to actively seek new opportunities to serve the needs of other 4G providers."
Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
About Cricket
Cricket is the pioneer and leader in delivering innovative
value-rich prepaid wireless services with no long-term
contracts serving more than 5.9 million customers. Cricket
offers wireless voice and mobile data services over the
latest, high-quality, all-digital 4G (LTE) and 3G CDMA
wireless networks. In 2011, Cricket launched its
award-winning Muve Music® product, the first music service
designed for a wireless phone that now has more than
500,000 customers. Cricket's innovative products and
services are available at Cricket branded retail stores,
dealers, national retailers and at www.mycricket.com. For
more information about Cricket, please visit www.mycricket.com.
About Clearwire
Clearwire Corporation (NASDAQ:CLWR), through its operating
subsidiaries, is a leading provider of 4G wireless
broadband services covering more than 130 million people in
the U.S. The company holds the deepest portfolio of
wireless spectrum available for data services in the U.S.
Clearwire serves retail customers through its own CLEAR®
brand as well as through wholesale relationships with some
of the leading companies in the retail, technology, and
telecommunications industries, including Sprint. The
company plans to launch a next-generation 4G LTE
Advanced-ready network to address the capacity needs of the
market, working closely with the Global TDD-LTE Initiative
and China Mobile. Clearwire is headquartered in Bellevue,
Wash. Additional information is available at http://www.clearwire.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This release contains forward-looking statements which are
based on management's current expectations and beliefs,
as well as on a number of assumptions concerning future
events made with information that is currently available.
Forward-looking statements may include, without limitation,
expectations regarding the companies' respective
network development and market launch plans and the
provision of wholesale roaming services under the agreement
being entered into. The words "will,"
"would," "may," "should,"
"estimate," "project,"
"forecast," "intend,"
"expect," "believe,"
"target," "designed," "plan"
and similar expressions are intended to identify
forward-looking statements. Readers are cautioned not to
put undue reliance on such forward- looking statements,
which are not a guarantee of performance and are subject to
a number of uncertainties and other factors, which could
cause actual results to differ materially and adversely
from such statements. For a more detailed description of
the factors that could cause such differences, please refer
to the filings made by Clearwire and Cricket's parent
company, Leap Wireless International, Inc., with the
Securities and Exchange Commission, including the
information under the heading "Risk Factors" in
the parties' respective Annual Reports on Form 10-K.
The parties assume no obligation to update or supplement
such forward-looking statements.
Cricket Contacts:
Greg Lund, Media Relations
858-882-9105
glund@cricketcommunications.com
Amy Wakeham, Investor Relations
858-882-9876
awakeham@cricketcommunications.com
Clearwire Contacts:
Susan Johnston, Media Relations
425-216-7913
susan.johnston@clearwire.com
Alice Ryder, Investor Relations
425-636-5828
alice.ryder@clearwire.com
JLM Partners for Clearwire
Mike DiGioia or Jeremy Pemble, 206-381-3600
mike@jlmpartners.com or
jeremy@jlmpartners.com