Leap preps for AWS launch

The first handset supporting the new band goes on sale tomorrow in advance of Leap’s first AWS service launch in Oklahoma City

Cricket Communications will begin selling its first phone with an Advanced Wireless Services chip Saturday in Tulsa, Okla, as its corporate parent Leap Wireless prepares its to turn up in the coming months its first network using the new frequency bands in nearby Oklahoma City.

The handset, the UTStarcom CDM7126, is a tri-band CDMA device supporting not only the PCS frequencies Leap uses in all of its other markets, but the new 1.7 GHz and 2.1 GHz AWS bands. Several other operators have begun to introduce AWS phones into their line-ups as they prepare for their own AWS network launches, but as of yet no network has gone live publicly.

Fellow Tier II provider MetroPCS has introduced two AWS phones, the Huawei M318 and the ZTE D-Series, in advance of its planned launch of networks in Las Vegas in the second quarter and Philadelphia in the fourth quarter. T-Mobile has also begun bringing new devices to its portfolio to support its new UMTS network in the AWS band. It plans to launch those 3G networks in a handful of markets—including New York City--before the end of the second quarter and expand throughout 2008.

Leap, however, might beat both of those operators to market. Head of investor relations Jim Seines would only offer that Leap would turn up its network in Oklahoma City “soon,” and has already begun promoting the coming expansion on its retail Web site. The ultimate goal is for Leap to phase out its current PCS-only line in favor of a portfolio composed entirely of tri-band AWS phones, but in the interim Leap will begin launching markets with a more limited selection, he said.

“We have a little bit of problem with variety right now—we only have one,” Seines said, but he added that will change soon. Seines said Leap is negotiating deals with other handset vendors to add to the launch portfolio, and while it’s unlikely Leap would launch service in Oklahoma City with only one device, he didn’t rule out the possibility entirely.