Leap Wireless International deploys, owns, and operates wireless networks in domestic and international markets with strong growth potential. Despite being a child of celebrity, the Qualcomm spin-off has worked hard in the last year and a half to position itself as the wireless service for the common man.

In the U.S., Leap's Cricket operating concept is designed to change the way people use wireless telephones. Cricket offers a flat-rate service that allows for unlimited use of a wireless phone in a predetermined area. The phones do everything the traditional cell phones do except roam. The majority of Cricket's customers are completely new to wireless.

Internationally, Leap invests in growth markets with local partners. Leap's operating companies are Pegaso in Mexico, of which Leap owns 28.6 percent, and Smartcom PCS in Chile, which Leap owns entirely. Pegaso owns licenses to operate a nationwide fixed and mobile PCS system in Mexico, where teledensity (main telephone lines per 100 inhabitants) is 10.9 percent and wireless penetration is only 6.6 percent. As of Nov. 30, Pegaso had almost 27,000 subscribers on its network. Smartcom PCS operates a nationwide mobile wireless system in Chile, where teledensity is 22.6 percent and wireless penetration is 9.5 percent. The company began commercial operations (under the name Chilesat PCS) in September 1998 and had 61,300 subscribers as of Nov. 30.

Leap's CEO Harvey White has an impressive track record of start-up successes and more than 20 years of telecommunications industry experience. White joined the Jacobs-Viterbi juggernaut at Linkabit and was one of the cofounders of Qualcomm, where he served as president.

Leap was spun off from Qualcomm as a separate public company in September 1998. On that day the stock closed at $8 per share. On Feb. 22, the stock closed at $88 giving Leap a market cap of $1.8 billion. Leap has about 80,000 shareholders and 19.8 million shares outstanding.

When Leap became a separate company there were 44 employees. Today, there are 88 people working at the corporate office. Half of them are part of Cricket Communications, Leap's domestic operating company. Not directly on Leap's payroll are close to 1,700 employees in Leap's operating companies both domestically and in Mexico and Chile.

"We’re proud of all that Leap has accomplished in our first year and a half," says Harvey P. White, chairman and CEO of Leap. "Going forward, we will continue to be dedicated to executing on our current projects, as well as evaluating additional opportunities to bring wireless to underserved markets throughout the Western Hemisphere."

— Andrea Moser