A new site called Billshrink.com is being touted as a way for wireless customers to save money. Well that would be great if it included all wireless companies – prepaid and contract carriers. We decided to test this for ourselves using data we have for the average Cricket Wireless customer.
Based on company surveys, Cricket customers talk an average of 1,500 minutes per month — more than double the wireless industry average. And 52 percent of Cricket customers have “cut the cord” and rely solely on Cricket for their phone service. By comparison, twelve percent of all other U.S. wireless subscribers rely solely on their mobile phone (Yankee Group survey). In addition, 93 percent of Cricket customers reported their Cricket phone was their primary phone, compared to just over half of traditional wireless customers.
Here are the stats we inserted into Billshrink:
- Anytime minutes: 1500 per month
- Average bill: $45
- Text usage per day: ~15/day
- Location: Chicago 60610 (as an example)
The following is an image of the BillShrink results:
We found it interesting that BillShrink said that zero…zilch…none of the 79 plans available were better and that Billshrink actually said, “Based on what you’ve told us about your cellphone usage, it appears that you are already on the best plan!” What this means is of the four carriers included on Billshrink – AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, and Sprint – that Cricket offers the better value.
To conclude, we thought we would also share the following graphic which compares Cricket with other wireless carriers.
We would love to hear what you think about our test. Please, feel free to try it for yourself: www.Billshrink.com.
Both images are available on the CricketNation Flickr site.
Comin’ straight out of Quahog….it’s the Family Guy Freakin’ Sweet Sweepstakes! Just by downloading Family Guy: Uncensored to your Cricket phone, you’ll get a chance to win a Family Guy Party Pack, with all seven seasons of Family Guy on DVD, and some extra special surprises straight out of Quahog, Rhode Island!
Based on the hit Fox TV show, Family Guy: Uncensored allows you to participate in mini-game “episodes” based on hilarious situations. Just imagine you are Peter…or Stewie…or any other of your favorite Family Guy characters, making your way through Quahog. Find yourself walking down Spooner Street, or hanging at the Drunken Clam, or even pestering Mayor Adam West at City Hall. You’ll get the chance to help Quagmire fulfill his “jungle fantasy”, or the mysterious “Giant Chicken”, or even take on the foe from the future known as “ROBO-Stewie”. It’s just like being in the show, with its memorial moments and non-stop humor, and it’s all on your Cricket phone! And now, it’s even better, since Games & Apps now longer requires the BREW fee - you’re free to shop Games & Apps for this (and other) cool games! (You will require pre-purchased Flex Bucket Services, though).
From now until June 21st, you’ll be able to see the the “Family Guy: Download to Win” folder featured in Games & Apps. Just head to your mobile web storefront, and you can not only find the game, but all sorts of other cool Family Guy-related media for your phone (ringbacks, ringtones, wallpapers, and other stuff).
Head on down to http://www.mycricket.com/cricketfeaturesdownloads, and you’ll be able to grab a banner for your website. In June, you’ll get text messages and e-mails pointing you in the right direction to download the game. Winners will be randomly selected on June 29th, and stay by your phones, because you’ll be notified if you’ve won beginning July 1st! You’ll have to pick up your prize at your local Cricket store, and have to show a government-issued identification card to verify your identity; winners will also need to sign a liability release form.
Official Sweepstakes Rules
Mother’s Day is this Sunday and we at Cricket just wanted to take a moment to recognize all the hard working mom across the country. We hope all of the moms out there a day of family, joy and rest. You’ve earned it! We hope it turns out to be exactly the kind of day you want.
And don’t forget to call your mom… you don’t even have to wait until Sunday. She’d love to hear from you.
On behalf of the Cricket Team, for all the moms out there, we wish you a very Happy Mother’s Day!
Recently, Cricket announced that it became a premiere sponsor of Rebuilding Together, supporting its hard work in rebuilding low-income neighborhoods throughout the country. By donating over $3 million in cash, products, and advertising, Cricket Wireless is helping Rebuilding Together make a much greater impact.
This Saturday, April 25th, is National Rebuilding Day, when hundreds of volunteers in 25 cities will provide free home repairs in low income areas, making these houses safer, more accessible, and more energy efficient. Because we strongly value giving back to the community, Cricket employees will work side by side with Rebuilding Together volunteers.
We are all VERY proud of this new relationship between Cricket Wireless and Rebuilding Together.
Markets involved in this years program include Fayetteville, Nashville, Charleston, Denver, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, Raleigh/Durham, San Diego, Lincoln, Albuquerque, Colorado Springs, Columbus GA, Dayton, Houston, Lake Charles, Lincoln, Milwaukee, Nogales, Omaha, Tucson, Tulsa, Warner Robins GA, Oklahoma City, Savannah, and St. Louis.
Stay tuned for more news as Saturday approaches.
Last Saturday three separate projects kicked off the Rebuilding Together activities that will eventually repair 43 homes in 37 communities across the country throughout 2009. It’s a truly exciting time and one that Cricket employees are especially proud of because of our new premiere partnership with Rebuilding Together.
We did want to share one story though to make this program feel “real” and to show the impact of a project last Saturday in Fayetteville. The homeowner, a 69 year old woman, Loretta, currently has cancer that is in remission. She is also in need of a hip replacement which presently does not allow her to stand or walk very long. The families who live in and around her describe her as the “matriarch” of the areas.
Here’s just a quick overview of what Cricket employees and other volunteers were able to accomplish: install smoke and CO2 detectors, attic insulation, an HVAC system, repair front porch steps and install hand rails, repair plumbing leaks, install and weatherize doors, and replace the hot water heater, among many other tasks geared towards improving the quality of one’s home. We also are providing all homeowners with a Cricket cell phone and one year of service.
Just one powerful example illustrating the importance of what Rebuilding Together does and why we’re so excited about our partnership. We’ll load videos and images of the events as soon as they’re available.
Did you know that Americans discard approximately 130 million cell phones? Less than five percent of discarded cell phones are recycled, totaling about 65,000 tons of waste annually. On this Earth Day 2009, Cricket is proud to announce a nation-wide cell phone recycling program.
Customers can drop off their unused cell phones, from ANY provider, at participating Cricket stores or print a postage-paid shipping label from Cricket’s website (www.mycricket.com/green) and send their phones to the recycling center.
Since a typical phone contains materials like arsenic, zinc and lead, throwing out old cell phones is not only wasteful, it’s dangerous. If disposed of in landfills, these materials can seep into groundwater. If incinerated, the same chemicals end up in the air we breathe.
A portion of the proceeds from the program will be donated to Rebuilding Together. Cricket is partnering with Rebuilding Together, the nation’s leading nonprofit working to preserve affordable homeownership and revitalize communities. The focus of the partnership will be to address issues of safety and homeownership among the elderly, the disabled, families with children, and those impacted by the rising cost of living and falling social service budgets.
Cricket’s recycling program will be facilitated in conjunction with ReCellular Inc. Approximately 50 percent of the cell phones collected by ReCellular are refurbished to near-new condition or otherwise processed for resale. Rebuilt phones are packaged and marketed to users in developing nations of the world where new phones are cost-prohibitive. Products that cannot be rebuilt are disassembled and responsibly recycled. No environmental waste goes to landfills, either directly or through intermediaries, making the process highly effective in reducing or eliminating solid waste. Additional information about ReCellular and its programs can be found at www.recellular.com or www.wirelessrecycling.com.
Happy Earth Day 2009!!
Saturday marks an exciting day for Cricket as we kick-off our 2009 premiere sponsorship of Rebuilding Together! For those of you that don’t know about Rebuilding Together, it’s the leading national nonprofit group helping low-income homeowners by bringing volunteers and communities together to rehabilitate their homes.
As an early celebration of National Rebuilding Day, which will be taking place on Saturday, April 25th, Cricket and Rebuilding Together will be working on two important projects on Saturday, April 18th.
Volunteers will be working on several homes in Arkansas, Nashville and Tucson. These homes will be receiving numerous repairs which will make them safer, more accessible and energy efficient.
Through the projects happening on and around National Rebuilding Day, volunteers will help 43 families in 37 cities across the country!
