Leap in expansion mood: Regional carrier looking to double covered pops by 2010

SAN FRANCISCO — Leap Wireless International Inc. has its sights set on expansion. Nestled in its cozy booth at the CTIA Wireless I.T. and Entertainment 2008 event, Leap representatives, including Greg Lund, senior manager of corporate communications; Jeff Toig, VP of product marketing; and Courtney Prato, senior public-relations specialist, couldn’t be stifled about the big plans for Leap subsidiary Cricket Communications Inc.
Lund said the carrier hopes by next year again to double the number of potential customers covered. Leap initially doubled its numbers between 2005 and 2007.
“We’re set to do that again in ’09,” Lund said.
Leap said it covered 61.7 million pops at the end of the second quarter; it’s now looking to cover more than 120 million by the end of next year or more than 40% of the U.S. population. Not bad for a regional carrier.
Its plan of action? Launch, launch, launch.
Offering service in 29 states, Leap launched in four new markets this year — Las Vegas, Oklahoma City and St. Louis and expanded coverage in Texas. Other cities soon to receive Cricket services include Seattle; Minneapolis; Milwaukee; Chicago; Philadelphia; Baltimore; Washington, D.C.; Richmond and Virginia Beach, Va.; Columbia and Greenville, S.C.; Huntsville, Mobile and Birmingham, Ala.; Biloxi, Miss.; New Orleans, Baton Rouge and Lafayette, La. Lund declined to name which city would launch next, but did say Cricket customers would see a new music product by the end of the year.
Launching in multiple markets within a year is ambitious. Toig is aware of the challenges that accompany bringing Cricket to new cities, the biggest being the network.
“[It] has to work,” Toig said. “We turn on once we have a [network] footprint we can feel good about.”
Distribution is the other challenge Toig addressed, saying once a network is established and the launch is completed, there still needs to be places to buy the phones. Leap entertains a three-tier distribution strategy, Toig said, comprising Cricket retail stores, privately owned premiere stores and indirect locations.
“We go to cities where our demographic is strong,” Toig said. “There aren’t many growth stories left in wireless; and we’re doubling the size of our company.”
Toig said Cricket has wedged itself into a good position with its prepaid postioning.
“Our customer is unique,” Toig said. “We are not Verizon and we’re not AT&T; we go after what major tiers find unattractive.”
That unattractive market is typically lower-income customers that Leap attracts with its flashy no-contract options and lower prices. And in spite of the wallowing economy – where customer drop-off is expected –Toig said it’s not a concern for Leap as the phones are a lifeline for its customers, acting as everything; Internet, texting and even a landline replacement .
“Sixty-eight % of our customers don’t have landlines,” Toig said. “We think we’d win that battle between us and a landline.”
Leap recently added a mobile video service that provides unlimited usage for $5 per month and continues to expand its data offerings. As far as service plans go, Lund said they haven’t changed any of the pricing, but have “packed a lot more value in.”