Leap customer adds increase 90% quarter-to-quarter

Leap Wireless added more than 250,000 net new customers to its Cricket service during the third quarter--a 90% quarter-over-quarter increase--bringing its total customers using the service to more than 724,000.

The carrier’s net adds were generated largely through the launches of its two largest markets--Phoenix, Ariz., and Denver, Colo.--during the third quarter. At the end of the third quarter, Leap had launched 25 markets in 14 states. The carrier plans to launch 40 markets in 20 states as part of its buildout plan.

Leap also launched service in Fayetteville, Ark; Boise, Idaho; and Dayton, Ohio, during the third quarter. Earlier this month, the carrier launched Cricket in Omaha, Neb., and Salem, Ore. Leap expects to launch the Reno, Nev. and Toledo, Ohio, markets tomorrow.

Total operating revenues for Leap’s U.S. operations during the third quarter were $66.7 million, an increase of $18.9 million over the $47.8 million reported for the previous quarter. Service revenue rose to $57.2 million, a 45% increase compared to the second fiscal quarter of 2001.

--Kelly Carroll, staff writer