*George Cleveland, vice president of consumer operations for Cricket Wireless, is all smiles these days. The source of this grin is rooted in knowing that Cricket is making good on its motto to customers across America. The company’s motto is: “Cricket: Something to Smile About.”
So, inquiring minds want to know: What is there to smile about? Cleveland said customers in most regions – urban and rural – of America are smiling because of the power and reach of Cricket. Cleveland said that Cricket now offers a nationwide 4G LTE network that covers more than 317 million wireless customers with easy and affordable plans.
These plans, according to Cleveland, include no annual contracts, a great selection of phones customers want, and unlimited talk, text and data access in and between the United States, Mexico and Canada.
“At Cricket, we are focused on making things simple for our customer,” said Cleveland. “It’s about simplicity, transparency, and being friendly to our customers. What’s so appealing to our customers is there’s no annual contract. You know exactly what you are going to pay every single month. It’s a great value to our customers that can help them plan their budgets.”
Cleveland added that Cricket, a wholly-owned subsidiary of AT&T, offers wireless plans that start as low as $35 per month (with a $5.00 autopay). Taxes and fees are all included, with no roaming charges.
Additionally, the company has a relatively new unlimited plan for $70 per month, which, according to a Cricket distributed press release, provides more 4G LTE coverage nationwide than T-Mobile, MetroPCS, Sprint or Boost. Cleveland again emphasized that with all plans, there are no annual contracts required, and monthly taxes and fees are always included.
“Prepaid, or no contract as we like to call it, is really becoming an opportunity for customers to have flexibility, and better plan and manage their monthly budgets and wireless needs without being tied to a contract,” said Cleveland. “That’s the flexibility that Cricket offers. Customers are not locked into anything. We make it easy for them to stay with us. If they want to change their rate plans, they can at any time. There’s a lot of value to a no wireless contract.”
Cleveland, a CPA, knows how the wireless landscape has evolved over the past two decades. In 1996, a few years after earning a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Morehouse College, Cleveland began his telecom career. His first position was a senior accountant with BellSouth Cellular in Atlanta. He subsequently progressed through various sales leadership positions with AT&T Mobility, before being promoted to regional sales operations director at AT&T, where he supported company-owned retail outlets in the south central region.
Cleveland continued to climb the company ladder to reach such positions as executive director of AT&T University, and assistant vice president of AT&T Customer Solution Centers. Since assuming his current role as vice president of operations for Cricket Wireless in June, 2015, Cleveland oversees all sales operations, customer care, training and communications, distribution planning, national retail, and digital (online) properties.
While happy with his career achievements at AT&T, and now its subsidiary Cricket Wireless, Cleveland said there are many company job and career opportunities for African Americans and other ethnicities.
“We are a very diverse company, and are always looking for high-caliber employees from all demographics and ethnicities,” Cleveland said. “We are really growing across the country. We are growing our authorized retailers because they are our largest point of distribution in terms of how we get our products out.”
Cleveland is also happy about the exposure Cricket received from its recent partnership with the televised BET Awards. Cricket sponsored a national sweepstakes contest for individuals to have a chance to win seats at the event.
More national exposure for Cricket is coming.
“We are in the process of creating more diversity initiatives,” said Jermaine Spight, senior public relations manager for Cricket. “We want to reach out to African American media outlets and develop relationships. We know they are a central part of our relationship with our customers, because a large part of our customer base is made up of African Americans. Our goal is to provide more affordable wireless services to low income communities across the nation.”
For more information about Cricket Wireless, its wireless plans, locating stores in areas across the nation, or learning more about job and career opportunities in various sectors of the United States, log on to: www.cricketwireless.com.
(story by Don St. James)
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