Cricket Becomes Fourth U.S. LTE Carrier
Cricket Wireless became the fourth LTE carrier in the U.S. on Wednesday with the launch of its first LTE network in Tucson, Arizona.
Leap Wireless, parent company of Cricket Wireless, announced on Wednesday the start of its transition to 4G LTE with the launch Cricket's first LTE network in Tucson, Arizona. This makes Cricket the fourth LTE carrier in the U.S., behind AT&T, MetroPCS, and Verizon Wireless.
More than 90 percent of Cricket's Tucson service area should be covered by the new 4G LTE network and further expansion is planned for nearby Nogales, Arizona in 2012. According to Leap, Cricket's 4G speeds range from 5 to 10 times faster than the carrier's current 3G data speeds.
Right now, Cricket users in Tucson can only tap in to the new LTE network via the Huawei Boltz USB modem, which is available from Cricket for $149.99. The Boltz looks like your standard USB modem, with support for USB 2.0 and a hinged design that allows you to pivot the device to best fit your system's setup. It's also backwards compatible with Cricket 3G networks, so you can use it in non-4G Cricket markets. Cricket plans to offer smartphones and tablets with LTE support in the future.
LTE service plans start at $50 per month for 5GB of data at speeds up to 3 Mbps, and go up to $60 per month, which also gets you 5GB of data, but at speeds up to 6Mbps.
Just keep in mind that, as we discovered in our special report, , not all 4G networks are created equal—and that goes for 4G LTE as well. currently offers the greatest LTE coverage in the U.S., along with incredible data speeds, but we've also seen some great numbers on AT&T's as well. MetroPCS, on the other hand, offers merely decent speeds at very low prices. The carrier's average 4G speeds are more like a very good 3G network. Judging by Cricket's 3-6 Mbps LTE data caps, that may also be the case here.
Check back with PCMag for a closer look at Cricket's LTE network as it expands in the future.