Cricket Move Part of AT&T's Latin America Strategy

There is one easy way to describe the difference in business strategy conducted by AT&T and that chosen by Verizon Wireless. AT&T already is committed to expansion in Latin America, while Verizon remains focused on the U.S. market.

One example: Cricket Wireless, an AT&T value brand, is expanding international service  to nine new countries from the United States.

And that arguably is a relatively small part of the strategy. The most direct evidence are the acquisitions of Nextel Mexico and Iusacell, which make AT&T a direct competitor in the Mexico mobile business, and represent the first “outside the United States” expansion in nearly a decade.

The DirecTV acquisition also delivered AT&T a significant position in Latin America video entertainment, though some think additional expansion in the video area is less likely than investments in mobile assets.

Under the new Cricket plan, U.S. callers can reach Dominican Republic, Colombia, Costa Rica,El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, Jamaica, Haiti, or Nicaragua by adding the country of their choice to Cricket's Smart ($50) and Pro ($60) monthly plans.  

For an additional $10 - $15 per month, the add-ons give consumers a range of mobile-to-mobile and landline calling minutes (depending on the country) plus unlimited text, picture, and video messaging (MMS).