Cricket Wireless has agreed to sell its Muve Music streaming service to French firm Deezer for an undisclosed sum.
Under the terms of the deal, Cricket will close down Muve Music on 7 February, but from 31 January its customers will be eligible for a free trial of Deezer.
Customers who switch from Cricket’s CDMA service to GSM/LTE will be offered longer trial periods. Once the trials are complete, customers will be billed at US$6 per month.
< a href="http://www.totaltele.com/view.aspx?C=0&ID=485790" target="_blank">Cricket became part of AT&T in March last year. As a result of that deal it started offering GSM services using AT&T’s network and plans to close down its CDMA infrastructure. AT&T retained the Cricket brand to serve low-cost customers, and the business operates as a separate entity within the telco.
"Customers are demanding more compelling services from both their music and wireless providers," said Jennifer Van Buskirk, president of Cricket Wireless, in a statement.
"This agreement illustrates our ongoing commitment to deliver the best value in prepaid wireless and satisfy our customers’ growing need for an unparalleled premium music experience," she said.
Muve customers who sign up for the trial and download the Deezer app will have the right to transfer their existing music libraries, but they will only have access to their content for the duration of the trial or for as long as they remain a paying Deezer subscriber, the companies explained. However, certain tracks that were available on Muve are not available on Deezer.
