Cricket has announced that its first market for its long-planned LTE network will be Tuscon, Arizona with 90% of the city currently covered based on current CDMA coverage and a further expansion to Nogales, Arizona beginning in 2012.
Pricing for the service is set at $50 per month for 5GB of data at up to 3Mbps or $60 for 5GB of data up to 6Mbps with throttling being implemented after the monthly cap is reached. Currently, the only device available and compatible with the new network is a new USB modem manufactured by Huawei in the Boltz, which features a microSD slot with support for 32GB cards as well as dual-mode LTE/CDMA capability for $149.99.
The rollout of LTE service also means that Cricket is preparing to transition away from CDMA on a multi-year basis for data services via  new device lineup launching during the next year, which includes smartphones.
