CricKet Buys Pocket

Looks like we now know how CricKet is going to expand into South Texas. An agreement has been reached, and the owner of Pocket Communications, Paul Posner, has sold the company for an undisclosed sum to Leap Wireless, owner of the CricKet service. So that's why coverage maps seemed so familiar...

I've heard rumors that all CricKet support staff in the Texas area has been laid off, in favor of the Pocket agents, who seem to be doing a much better job at support. Also, HEB outlets will now sport CricKet phones near the front doors instead of Pocket phones. Service prices are expected to rise up to otherwise-national levels now that CricKet has done away with its heated competitor, which had precisely 277,777 customers at the time of the purchase.

A sad day in the unlimited space, I must say. Quotin Posner, "My indomitable Texas spirit for offering great service fell when I saw how much money Leap was offering for my world-class cell service provider. Don't worry; I'll probably use it to buy some sort of spectrum from AT&T or something and start some other wireless business that benefits everyone in Texas. I mean, come on, when AT&T bought Dobson CellularOne, after Dobson CellularOne bought Concho Cellular, I knew it was only a matter of time..."

CricKet is now the larger of the two unlimited cellular providers in the U.S. by a small margin. Their South Texas network should be ready by the end of the month, with Laredo and Brownsville going live today, since little work was needed to switch over from Pocket to CricKet service. Update your PRLs, everyone!

Or not. April Fool's! May Pocket never die!