Cricket Wireless is a prepaid
wireless service provider in the United States. Cricket Wireless offers voice, text, and data and is a wholly owned subsidiary of
AT&T Inc. As of 2011, it provided prepaid wireless services to approximately 5 million subscribers in the United States. Cricket Wireless was founded in 1999 by
Leap Wireless International, Inc. On July 12, 2013,
AT&T Inc. agreed to acquire Cricket's parent company
Leap Wireless International for $1.2 billion. The merger was approved by the
Federal Communications Commission on March 13, 2014, and later that same day, Leap Wireless announced the completion of its acquisition by AT&T.