AT&T's Cricket adds 2000 additional retail locations after inking a deal with Aaron's

With the scratching of a pen nub on paper, AT&T's pre-paid Cricket subsidiary added 2000 new retail locations today, in the blink of an eye. The deal involves Cricket having a presence inside a number of Aaron's stores. The latter is known for its nationwide chain of rent-to-own stores, and its clientele matches perfectly with the typical Cricket customer.

Cricket will offer Aaron's customers the opportunity to lease handsets like the Samsung Galaxy S5, Samsung Galaxy Note 3, LG G3, and Motorola Moto G. The handsets will be activated at the store. While leasing the phone might be a cheaper alternative for some, the bottom line includes financing fees that can jack up the price of a handset. For example, leasing the Samsung Galaxy S5 will result in total payments of $840 over the life of the lease. That is pretty steep considering how much you can pay for a refurb or an older model on Amazon or eBay.


Of course, those signing up for Cricket's pre-paid service can decide to bring their own device, in which case activation merely requires the new customer to use Cricket's "Bring Your Own Device" (BYOD) Universal SIM Card Kit. Cricket plans start as low as $35 (including a $5 discount for using auto pay). The Smart or Pro plans include unlimited texts and calls to and from the US, Mexico and Canada.

source: Cricket via AndroidGuys