Developed by Lagardere Active North America, BlingTones also includes wallpapers and urban-focused artwork that Cricket Clicks users can easily download to their mobile phones.
"As the first carrier to commercially launch BREW-based BlingTones, we are excited about its market potential and believe it will result in additional downloads," said Al Moschner, executive vice president and chief marketing officer of Leap. "With approximately 60 percent of our Cricket(R) customer base under the age of 34, we believe this application will be very popular. And with hip-hop becoming one of the largest music genres, it is important that we also provide easy and fun ways to make music available to the urban market through applications like BlingTones."
"The cool factor of downloadable ringtones, combined with the popularity of the hip-hop culture make BlingTones an appealing application to urban youth," said Julien Mitelberg, CEO of Lagardere Active North America. "To ensure we are providing music downloads from today's most popular artists, we have formed relationships with some of the hip-hop industry's biggest producers and stars to bring their music directly to the wireless industry. We are pleased to be working with Leap on offering this application to its Cricket customers, especially since the company has such a large number of younger users."
With just a few simple clicks, customers with a Cricket Clicks(TM)-enabled phone and an activated Cricket Clicks service account can easily navigate through the Cricket Clicks catalog and choose either application. The applications will then be automatically downloaded to their phone, and the customer can purchase through credit packages.
In addition to BlingTones, other innovative wireless data applications are offered through Cricket Clicks including wallpapers, games and more. A full listing of Cricket Clicks applications can be found at .com.
About Leap
Leap, headquartered in San Diego, Calif., is a customer-focused company providing innovative mobile wireless services that are targeted to meet the needs of customers who are under-served by traditional communications companies. With a commitment to predictability, simplicity and value as the foundation of our business, Leap pioneered Cricket service, a simple and affordable wireless alternative to traditional landline service. Cricket service offers customers unlimited anytime minutes within the Cricket calling area over a high-quality, all-digital CDMA network. Cricket service is available to customers in 39 markets in 20 states stretching from New York to California. For more information, please visit .com.
Except for the historical information contained herein, this news release contains "forward-looking statements" reflecting management's current forecast of certain aspects of Leap's future. Some forward-looking statements can be identified by forward-looking words such as "believe," "think," "may," "could," "will," "estimate," "continue," "anticipate," "intend," "seek," "plan," "expect," "should," "would" and similar expressions. This news release is based on current information, which we have assessed but which by its nature is dynamic and subject to rapid and even abrupt changes. Our actual results could differ materially from those stated or implied by such forward-looking statements due to risks and uncertainties associated with our business. Factors that could cause actual results to differ include, but are not limited to:
--our ability to attract and retain customers in an extremely competitive marketplace;
--our ability to attract, motivate and retain an experienced workforce;
--changes in economic conditions that could adversely affect the market for wireless services;
--the impact of competitors' initiatives;
--our ability to successfully implement product offerings and execute market expansion plans;
--failure of network systems to perform according to expectations;
--our ability to comply with the covenants in our senior secured credit facilities;
--failure of the Federal Communications Commission to approve the transfers: (a) to a third party of the wireless licenses covered by the asset purchase agreement between Cricket Communications, Inc., and a third party and the other parties to such agreement; and (b) to Alaska Native Broadband 1 License, LLC of the wireless licenses for which it was the winning bidder in the FCC's Auction #58;
--global political unrest, including the threat or occurrence of war or acts of terrorism; and
--other factors detailed in the section entitled "Risk Factors" included in our Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2004 and in our Form 10-Q for the fiscal quarter ended March 31, 2005, which we expect to file shortly, and in our other SEC filings.
The forward-looking statements should be considered in the context of these risk factors. Investors and prospective investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
Leap and the Leap logo design are registered trademarks of Leap Wireless International, Inc. Cricket is a registered trademark of Cricket Communications, Inc. Cricket Unlimited Access, Cricket Unlimited Plus, Cricket Unlimited Classic, Jump, Travel Time, Cricket Clicks and the Cricket K are trademarks of Cricket Communications, Inc.
