WIRELESS AND MOBILE NEWS

Cricket Communications, announced the filing of an application for federal Recovery Act funding, in partnership with One Economy Corporation. The grant proposal would extend Project Change Access - an innovative program for affordable wireless broadband service - to low-income residents in Baltimore, Houston, Memphis, San Diego and Washington, D.C.

The proposal to the Department of Commerce's National Telecommunications and Information Administration for a Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP) grant would build on the success of Project Change Access, launched in Portland, Ore., last fall as a pilot program by LCW Wireless and One Economy.  LCW Wireless, a company in which Cricket owns a non-controlling interest, offers Cricket(r) unlimited service in Oregon markets. One Economy is a global non-profit organization that leverages the power of technology and information to connect low-income people to the economic mainstream.

Through a scalable "end to end" approach, Project Change Access would furnish subsidized, low-cost wireless broadband via Cricket's high-quality, all-digital 3G wireless network and a wireless device designed to work with both desktops and laptops.

One Economy would provide specialized sustainability programs that include personal technology tutoring via its "Digital Connectors," a national youth corps that receives leading-edge technology training and extends the benefits by providing service to their communities.
One Economy would also provide targeted and localized content for education, employment, and health care through its multiple online portals.

Project Change Access is designed to help bridge the digital divide for low-income households that lack meaningful broadband alternatives because - even when high-speed network coverage is available - it is not always affordable to low income households.  In 2009, the Pew Internet & American Life Project reported 35 percent of households with annual income of $20,000 or less had adopted broadband, compared to 63 percent nationwide.

"As we have seen in the results of the Portland pilot of Project Change Access, universal broadband is the key to economic revitalization in low-income communities that need growth in businesses and jobs the most," said Dave Maquera, vice president, strategy at Leap.  "Cricket remains committed to bringing the benefits of wireless and mobile broadband to everyone, including low-income families who deserve the benefits of digital innovation that online access brings."

Rey Ramsey, Chief Executive Officer of One Economy, said:  "Our partnership with Cricket will open new opportunities through the powerful tool of broadband and provide people with the resources to access the information they need to make productive decisions about their own lives. Our approach is designed to create a culture of use to ensure those benefits are meaningful and sustainable."