Cricket Wireless

Cricket Wireless is an American wireless service provider, owned by AT&T Inc. It provides wireless services to 10 million subscribers in the United States.[1] Cricket Wireless was founded in March 1999 by Leap Wireless International. AT&T acquired Leap Wireless International in March 2014 later merged Cricket Wireless operations with Aio Wireless.[3]

Not to be confused with Cricket (sport).
Cricket Wireless LLC
TypeSubsidiary
IndustryWireless telecommunications
FoundedMarch 17, 1999 (1999-03-17) in Chicago, Illinois, United States
Headquarters
Atlanta, Georgia
,
United States
Number of locations
5,000 retail stores[1] (2019)
Area served
United States
Key people
Products
ServicesMobile communications
Number of employees
221
Parent
Websitewww.cricketwireless.com

History
Typical Cricket retail store in Thomasville, Georgia
Former Cricket Wireless logo, before acquisition by AT&T

Cricket Wireless was founded in March 1999 by Leap Wireless International. AT&T acquired Leap Wireless International in March 2014 and merged Cricket Wireless with Aio Wireless.[4] Before AT&T's acquisition, the company had 4.5 million subscribers.

Cricket's first market was Chattanooga, Tennessee, in 1999 and through much of its early growth became known as a network focused on small, rural markets.[5][1]

In September 2007, MetroPCS, Cricket Wireless's competing carrier at the time, announced a $5.3 billion bid to merge with Leap Wireless.[6] Leap informally rejected the bid less than two weeks later.[7] MetroPCS officially withdrew the bid less than two months later.[8] In December 2007, Cricket acquired Hargray Communications Group's wireless telecommunications business.[9]

In September 2008, Cricket and MetroPCS entered into a 10-year roaming agreement covering both companies' existing and future markets. The companies also entered into a spectrum exchange agreement covering licenses in certain markets.[10] In November 2008, they launched "Premium Extended Coverage", a roaming partnership with 14 wireless companies.[11] In August 2010, Cricket and Sprint signed a five-year wholesale agreement (MVNO) which allowed Cricket to utilize Sprint's nationwide 3G EVDO network in the United States.

In July 2013, AT&T agreed to buy Cricket Wireless' parent for $1.2 billion.[12] The FCC approved the acquisition between AT&T and Leap Wireless in March 2014.[13]

Cricket Wireless, alongside AT&T, shut down their 2G networks on December 31, 2016.[14] Customers were required to upgrade their devices to use on newer networks.

Cricket Wireless deployed its 5G network nationwide on August 21, 2020.[15]

Coverage network

Prior to its acquisition by AT&T, Cricket's CDMA network used its home network and roaming agreements with Sprint, among other CDMA carriers. However, Cricket's CDMA network was shut down and the spectrum was reframed for use on AT&T's HSPA+ and LTE networks. Following the acquisition by AT&T, Cricket Wireless released devices that use AT&T's 3G, 4G, and 4G LTE networks.

Cricket Wireless noted on their old website that CDMA service would be terminated as early as September 2015. Most devices prior to the merger would not be compatible on the GSM network except the iPhone 4s, iPhone 5, iPhone 5c, and iPhone 5s. Compatible iPhone devices would only require a new SIM card.

Controversies

STARTTLS stripping attack

In October 2014, Cricket Wireless (and its parent company, AT&T Inc.) came under scrutiny for intercepting and modifying its customers' email traffic to downgrade and prevent encryption of the conversation and its metadata.[16] An engineer at a digital security and privacy firm, Golden Frog, first noticed the issue in September 2013 via their Aio Wireless connection (later acquired by Cricket).[17] Upon further investigation by the privacy firm in June 2014, Golden Frog determined that Cricket masked the STARTTLS command in email server responses, thereby "putting its customers at serious risk by inhibiting their ability to protect online communications."[17] In October, a Washington Post investigation revealed that "Cricket did not address repeated questions about the issue and did not alert customers, many of whom rely on Cricket as their sole Internet service, that they would not be able to protect their e-mails from prying eyes. AT&T, which absorbed Cricket when it acquired Leap Wireless that spring, did not respond to a request for comment."[16] The EFF also published a technical analysis condemning ISPs like Cricket from tampering with customer internet traffic.[18]

See also

References
  1. "Cricket Wireless Is Turning 20. Let the Celebrations Begin" (Press release). Atlanta, Georgia: Cricket Wireless. March 11, 2019. Retrieved June 5, 2019.
  2. "Our Team". Cricket Wireless. Retrieved June 4, 2019.
  3. "Cricket Wireless Now Serving 10 Million Subscribers" (Press release). Atlanta, Georgia: Cricket Wireless. January 30, 2019. Retrieved June 5, 2019.
  4. "Cricket Wireless Now Serving 10 Million Subscribers" (Press release). Atlanta, Georgia: Cricket Wireless. January 30, 2019. Retrieved June 5, 2019.
  5. Sidener, Jonathan. "Something to talk about". San Diego Union Tribune. Retrieved August 18, 2017.
  6. Humer, Caroline (September 4, 2007). "MetroPCS bids $5.3 billion for Leap Wireless". Reuters. Retrieved May 9, 2008.
  7. "Leap Rejects MetroPCS Merger Offer". TheStreet.com. September 16, 2007. Archived from the original on January 8, 2009. Retrieved May 9, 2008.
  8. Dano, Mike (November 1, 2007). "Metro ditches bid for Leap". RCR Wireless News. Archived from the original on November 5, 2007. Retrieved May 9, 2008.
  9. "Leap Wireless – Media Relations – Press Release" (Press release). Phx.corporate-ir.net. Retrieved August 27, 2009.
  10. "Leap Wireless – Media Relations – Press Release" (Press release). Phx.corporate-ir.net. Retrieved August 27, 2009.
  11. "Leap Wireless – Media Relations – Press Release" (Press release). Phx.corporate-ir.net. 2008-11-13. Retrieved 2009-08-27.
  12. Musil, Steven. "AT&T completes $1.2B acquisition of Leap Wireless". CNET. Retrieved 2020-06-17.
  13. Welch, Chris (March 13, 2014). "FCC approves AT&T's purchase of Leap Wireless, says it's 'in the public interest'". The Verge. Retrieved March 13, 2014.
  14. "AT&T confirms it shut down its 2G network Jan. 1". FierceWireless. Retrieved 2020-06-17.
  15. "Cricket Wireless Launches 5G Nationwide Network and Samsung Galaxy S20+ 5G Smartphone". www.prnewswire.com. 2020-08-21. Retrieved 2020-09-05.
  16. Scola, Nancy; Soltani, Ashkan (2014-09-28). "Mobile ISP Cricket was thwarting encrypted emails, researchers find". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2018-06-26.
  17. "The FCC Must Prevent ISPs From Blocking Encryption". Golden Frog. 2014-11-04. Retrieved 2018-06-26.
  18. {{cite web |date=2014-11-11 |url=https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2014/11/starttls-downgrade-attacks |title=ISPs Removing Their Customers' Email Encryption |website=Electronic Frontier Foundation |last=Hoffman-Andrews
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.