Cricket's Muve Music service goes live in Las Vegas

Leap Wireless' (NASDAQ:LEAP) prepaid Cricket Communications unit launched its Muve Music all-you-can-eat service to consumers in the Las Vegas market. Cricket will roll out the solution to additional locales including Chicago, Washington D.C., Nashville, Baltimore, San Diego, Milwaukee and Phoenix next month, expanding into more markets during the spring. Cricket originally planned to introduce Muve Music earlier this month but delayed the launch to iron out some software issues.

First announced in late 2010 and premiering in conjunction with the new Samsung Suede touchscreen multimedia phone, Muve Music is touted by Cricket as the first unlimited digital music service bundled with a new wireless rate plan, and includes songs from all four major labels (Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment and EMI Music). The solution leverages a new SanDisk solution that enables DRM-free over-the-air downloads--content is stored and protected on a special flash memory card, which according to Cricket skirts conventional DRM requirements and translates to an improved user experience, enhanced handset performance and extended battery life. Cricket notes that the Samsung Suede ships with a dedicated music button enabling one-touch access to Muve content; in addition to full-track downloads, the service also boasts unlimited ringtones and ringbacks.

Muve Music is available as part of Cricket's $55 flat-rate monthly service package, which includes unlimited nationwide calling as well as unlimited messaging, mobile web access, data backup and video. The Samsung Suede carries a MSRP of $199.

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