Leap Wireless International Inc. launched its Travel Time roaming service allowing Cricket customers to use their phones outside of native calling areas on a prepaid basis.
Customers can sign up for the service with a $5 Flex Bucket account with per-minute usage deducted at 59 cents or 69 cents per minute. The service is already available to Cricket customers in Phoenix and Tucson, Ariz.; Little Rock, Fort Smith and Fayetteville, Ark.; and Charlotte and Greensboro, N.C. The company said the service would be available in all of its markets by the end of the year.
Customers need either dual- or tri-mode handsets to access the service and must dial 2929 before dialing the numbers they wish to reach. Leap said the extra step in placing calls is to help ensure customers understand they are being charged on a per-minute rate.
The service currently allows roaming across the United States and in Canada, with plans to add roaming capabilities in Mexico.
“We have diligently worked over the past several months, signing roaming agreements with carriers across the country, to develop an away-from-home calling option that would best meet the needs of our customers,” said Al Moschner, executive vice president and chief marketing officer for Leap. “We believe that Travel Time will be popular with all segments of our customer base.”
Leap’s roaming plans gained momentum earlier this year when it signed a deal with Verizon Wireless providing Leap with access to Verizon Wireless’ nationwide network. Leap previously offered limited roaming capabilities for its customers in a handful of markets that were geographically close to each other like Albuquerque and Santa Fe, N.M. But customers could not take phones activated in one market and use them in other Cricket markets in another states.
Leap also launched international text messaging capabilities to Mexico for 10 cents per message sent and free for each message received. The company said the service was geared toward its growing Hispanic customer base, which accounts for about 20 percent of Cricket customers.
