SAN DIEGO—Leap Wireless International Inc. has wrapped up the sale of two Ohio markets and put the finishing touches on a joint venture that will allow the carrier to launch its Cricket Communications brand in Portland, Eugene and Salem, Ore.
Leap sold wireless assets and 15 megahertz of spectrum in both Toledo and Sandusky, Ohio to regional carrier Cleveland Unlimited Inc., which operates under the Revol brand in Ohio and Indiana. The licenses cover nearly 930,000 potential customers and almost 600,000 covered POPs. Leap reaped $28.5 million and an equity interest in LCW Wireless, which owns a wireless license in the Portland market.
Leap put $25 million toward the formation of the joint venture in Oregon, along with two spectrum licenses and operating assets in Eugene and Salem. Leap owns a 73-percent, non-controlling equity interest in LCW Wireless. The rest of the joint venture’s interest will be owned by two companies: CSM Wireless, which contributed a Portland spectrum license to the pot; and WLPCS Management, which bought in with cash.
According to the carrier, Leap and its joint ventures now cover about 71.9 million potential customers nationwide.
“We look forward to working with our joint venture partners on the build out of a promising new market cluster,” said Doug Hutcheson, Leap’s president and chief executive officer. “This new market cluster represents 3.2 million licensed POPs and presents a great opportunity for consumers.”
