The First CDMA AWS Mobile Phone Comes From Cricket

Cricket Communications, a US provider of unlimited wireless services, unveiled the first CDMA AWS mobile phone for the American market, the UTStarcom CDM7126. The phone is created to work on the new AWS (Advanced Wireless Services) spectrum band, which basically means that besides supporting 850 and 1900 MHz CDMA networks, it can also operate on the 1700 MHz frequency.

UTStarcom CDM7126 comes in clamshell form factor and has a sleek metallic appearance. Its features are kind of basic and include Bluetooth connectivity, voice recognition, Cricket Mobile Web, predictive text input, an internal color display and external indicators to warn users about incoming calls and messages. Other specs are not known for the moment, but it's obvious that the phone is an entry-level, affordable one.

"We are pleased to be the first wireless carrier to offer an AWS wireless phone to our customers," declared Al Moschner, Cricket's Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer. "Taking this leadership position underscores our commitment to fostering product innovation by introducing CDMA's first tri-band mobile device that enables multi-market use. This introduction marks the successful conclusion of two years of planning and development by UTStarcom and Cricket."

UTStarcom CDM7126 can operate all over Cricket's coverage area, from New York to California, and it will also work in the areas that Cricket plans to cover during 2008, areas that include Las Vegas and Oklahoma City. The new handset is currently available only at Cricket retail stores in Tulsa, Oklahoma, but it will soon come to all Cricket stores across the US.

Cricket Communications has very affordable value plans compared to other North American operators. The most expensive plan, for example, is priced at just $60 and offers unlimited national minutes at any hour of the day and night (in Cricket's coverage area), free SMS and MMS, caller ID, voice mail and 200 US roaming minutes per month.