SAN DIEGO-Leap Wireless International Inc.’s Cricket, a flat-rate, all-you-can-talk, local wireless service, appears to have kept the company afloat during first-quarter 2001, according to financial reports released last week.
Leap reported that during the first quarter, its Cricket service grew to just more than 339,000 customers, compared with approximately 190,000 customer it held as of December 31. Looking forward, Leap’s president and chief operating officer, Susan Swenson, added, “We think we are well positioned to reach our goal of approximately 450,000 customers by the end of the second quarter and approximately 1 million customers by year’s end.”
Operating revenues for Leap’s U.S. operations totaled $36.8 million, a 158-percent increase from the previous quarter.
Leap did report a consolidated net loss of $114.4 million, or $3.88 per share, up from a net loss of $103.5 million, or $3.82 per share in the previous quarter. The company blamed the increased loss on Pegaso, the Mexican wireless company it co-founded and currently owns 20 percent of. Leap said 89 cents of the $3.88 net loss per share reported was the result of losses for Pegaso.
Leap also announced it plans to release details, including timing, pricing and brand name, of a new data service on May 10.
