SAN DIEGO-Leap Wireless International Inc. named William Freeman chief executive officer of its Cricket Communications Inc. subsidiary, where he will oversee the carrier’s corporate and local business operations. Freeman will also assume a seat on Leap’s board of directors and be appointed CEO of Leap, replacing outgoing CEO Harvey White when the company emerges from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
“I am pleased to assume the role of CEO and am impressed by the strength of the company’s overall business proposition,” Freeman said. “With Leap and Cricket nearing emergence from Chapter 11, I am excited about the company’s growth prospects and bright future.”
Freeman currently sits on the corporate boards of the CIT Group and Value Added Communications Inc. and most recently served as president of Verizon Public Communications Corp., which is a business unit of Verizon Communications Inc. focused on pay phones, prepaid programs and long distance.
White announced he planned to step down as CEO of Leap, which he has run since the company was spun-off from Qualcomm Inc. in 1998, last September but would continue to serve on the company’s board of directors.
