Leap Continues to Lead National Trend of ‘Cord Cutters’

May 2003 - Leap Wireless today announced that the results of a nationwide company survey revealed 37 percent of Cricket customers do not have regular phone service at home. This compares to 26 percent in June 2002.

"This significant increase among our customer base in less than a year demonstrates that we continue to lead a trend in shifting landline minutes to wireless minutes," said Harvey P. White, Leap's chairman and CEO. "We believe that more and more of our customers see the value in our Cricket product offering and are taking to heart 'Why pay for two when one will do?"

The company study, conducted by an independent research firm, polled approximately 3,000 customers across all 40 of the company's markets and has a margin of error of plus or minus 1.7 percent. Of those Cricket customers who reported having no regular phone at home:

* 56 percent were between the ages of 18 and 34
* 75 percent were single, and
* 51 percent lived in one- or two-person households.

"Cricket service is at the forefront in driving the landline replacement trend," said Roger Entner, Program Manager, Wireless/Mobile Services with the Yankee Group. "Cricket service provides an effective solution for people who choose to use their mobile phone as their only phone and forego traditional home phone service."

According to the Yankee Group's 2002 Mobile User Study, only three percent of wireless customers have gone completely wireless. While the Yankee Group reports that not everyone has cut the cord, the growing reliance on wireless phones has already displaced 25 percent of U.S. landline phone minutes - a number that is expected to rise to 35 percent by 2004.

As the pioneer and market leader in providing affordable mobile services, Cricket continues to change the way that people communicate with its flat-rate, unlimited local wireless service:

Cricket leads the national trend shifting calls and minutes from traditional landline service to wireless phones with 86 percent of Cricket customers in this survey reporting that they use Cricket as their primary phone. According to the Yankee Group, more than half of cell phones users use them as their primary device for private voice communication.

Cricket customers talk an average of more than 1,200 minutes a month compared to the average U.S. subscriber who logs about 490 minutes of use per month.

Cricket service is available in 40 markets in 20 states stretching from New York to California. With more than 1.5 million customers as of December 31, 2002, Leap is the ninth largest service provider in the U.S. in terms of customers.

About Cricket Service
With Cricket service, customers can make unlimited calls over their service area for a low, flat rate. Cricket customers can call long distance anywhere for a little more - just 8 cents per minute to anywhere in the United States and just 18 cents per minute anytime to anywhere in Mexico or Canada. The service offers text messaging, voicemail, caller ID, three-way calling and call waiting for a small additional monthly fee. Cricket also offers downloadable Ringtones. The extra value Cricket Talk rate plan is $39.99 per month plus tax, which includes unlimited local calls, 500 free minutes of U.S. long distance and a three-feature package (including caller ID, call waiting and three-way calling). Cricket service is an affordable wireless alternative to traditional landline service, and appeals to people completely new to wireless - from students to young families and local business people. For more information, please visit www.mycricket.com.

For more information, please visit www.leapwireless.com.

SOURCE Leap Wireless