As Cricket Wireless expands its national reach, the company is also expanding its functional offering. Long a go-to source of prepaid, low-cost cell phone service, the company includes an unlimited plan including data, text, and voice starting at $45 per month. Android and Blackberry plans are five and ten dollars more, respectively.
The latest addition to the ‘unlimited’ package is called Muve. Available on the Samsung Suede feature phone in January 2011, a monthly plan of $55 gets the customer unlimited talk, text, web, and now music. The company that introduced America to unlimited plans will include full music track downloads, ring tones, and ring-back tones. Catalogs will be available from Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, Warner Music Group, and EMI Music. No contract or credit checks are required for Cricket users.
Verizon Wireless has offered the V-Cast service to its customers for years, but this new move from Cricket may trickle through the major carriers quickly, leading to similar plans from the big four. The music industry seems slow to move to a fully digital marketplace, but the tide will certainly force their ship ashore eventually.
Cricket Wireless serves 35 of the top 50 markets in the United States. Cricket services are fully available, including 3G data coverage, in the Charlotte metro.
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