Elijah Ketchum
As of today, Cricket Communications is the first carrier to offer a pre-paid iPhone plan. The company announced that they will begin offering the iPhone on June 22 with a plan of unlimited voice, text, and data for $55. This plan is, obviously, contract free, so the price of the iPhone will be higher, but users will not be locked in for any amount of time. They will offer the iPhone 4 and the iPhone 4S, $399 for the 8GB iPhone 4 and $499 for the 16GB iPhone 4S.
Because this is a CDMA network, these devices are not unlocked, and you cannot buy an unlocked version from Apple and use it on Cricket’s network. It must be bought directly from Cricket, and they are currently not offering the iPhone online so you will need to call and order via phone or in-store until they do so. This should be a pretty big deal for any Cricket users trying to find their next high-end smartphone, and it’s another big step for pre-paid carriers in the US. The iPhone has finally started to branch out here in the states after going to Verizon, then spreading to Sprint and trickling down to smaller carriers such as Cricket. We’re still nowhere near the UK when it comes to purchasing any phone and taking it to any network, but it’s nice to see steps in that direction. Be sure to give your Cricket store a call on June 22 to pick up a shiny new iPhone.
