Cricket Wireless suddenly has several more options if you’re looking for access to 5G on a prepaid wireless plan. That’s because starting today, it will offer nationwide 5G access across all of its plans, which launched a year ago with support for only one device and only on its more expensive unlimited plans. Cricket Wireless also revealed it’s added 2 million customers in the last two years and is now serving some 12.4 million subscribers.
The other big change for Cricket Wireless is removing an 8Mbps speed cap on its cheaper $30, $40, and $55 plans. How much bandwidth Cricket Wireless can reliably provide — using AT&T’s network — after the caps go away is something we’ll only find out as people try it out. Reading the fine print at the bottom of the announcement points us to Cricket’s coverage map, as well as lists of compatible 5G devices. It also points out that the $55 per month plan still carries a stipulation that “Cricket may temporarily slow data speeds if the network is busy.”
Of course, the benefits customers see from 5G, no matter which wireless carriers they use, have been pretty disappointing so far. With the changes, now you can potentially get 5G access for as little as $25 per month, per line, on a plan with four phone lines. And with AT&T’s plan to expand the reach of its mid-band 5G connections over the next couple of years, even if things aren’t significantly faster for you right now, that could change.
