Cricket first pre-paid US carrier to offer iPhone; on $55/month unlimited plan, starting June 22 [Updated]

Cricket Communications, a Leap Wireless company, is the latest carrier to offer new Apple iPhone models (the iPhone 4 and 4S to be more specific) in the United States. Updated with statement from Apple below.

On June 22, it will thus become the first pre-paid carrier in the country to offer the iPhone to customers who opt for its no-contract, $55 per month ‘unlimited’ voice, text and data plan for smartphones.

Unlimited, in this case, means under a ‘fair usage’ policy of 2.3 GB per month.

The iPhone 4S and iPhone 4 smartphones will be available online and in Cricket-owned stores and dealers in nearly 60 markets across the US.

The iPhone 4S will be available for $499.99 (16 GB model) while the iPhone 4 can be purchased for $399.99 (8 GB model).

Customers can sign up to receive more information on the launch here, although that page was unavailable at the time of writing. Update: the page is now live.

Other telcos offering Apple’s ridiculously popular iPhone in the United States include AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, C-Spire and a handful of other regional carriers.

Cricket Communications claims 6.2 million customers.

Update: Apple has released a statement about the iPhone coming to Cricket to The Loop:

By making iPhone available on pre-paid plans through Cricket Wireless, we are making the best smartphone more accessible to an even broader market in the US.