Leap Wireless widens Q1 loss with Cricket investment, net subscribers double year-over-year

Leap Wireless, an affordable mobile service provider reported a widening first quarter loss of $47.4 million, or 74 cents per share, compared with last year's first quarter loss of $16.9 million, or 28 cents a share. The loss is mostly attributed to the company's investment in Cricket Broadband.

The company's shares were still trading up today, as subscriber rates skyrocketed. The company boasted 493,000 net customer additions in the first quarter of 2009, more than doubling its net adds in the same period last year.

Affordable mobile phone services are doing well given U.S. economic conditions. Yesterday, MetroPCS reported an 11 percent increase in income and said it added 684,000 customers. Boost Mobile, a similar service, claimed 764,000 new customers in the first quarter.