NEW YORK — Leap Wireless International Inc., the parent of the Cricket cellphone service, on Thursday said it will be the first mainland U.S. phone company to sell recent iPhone models on a prepaid, no-contract basis.
Starting June 22, Leap will sell the iPhone 4S starting at $500 and the iPhone 4 starting at $400. Service will cost $55 a month for unlimited calls, texting and data.
Leap Wireless, is based in San Diego, focuses on selling no-contract service to low-income households. Its own network is limited to certain cities. In other places, it uses Sprint Nextel Corp.’s network.
The iPhone is compatible with only part of Leap’s network, and the company is limiting sales to those areas, which include Denver; Houston and Austin, Texas; Portland, Ore.; Pittsburgh; and Salt Lake City. Leap said the arrangement will be available in areas covering about 70 percent of its 6.2 million subscribers. Leap is the sixth-largest cellphone company in the U.S., as measured by number of subscribers.
Open Mobile, which serves Puerto Rico, became the first U.S. company to start selling the iPhone 4 and 4s on a no-contract, prepaid basis May 18.
When the original iPhone launched in 2007, buyers could choose to set it up directly on an AT&T prepaid plan, but that option disappeared with later models. It has been possible to use imported or hacked “unlocked” phones on prepaid plans as well.
