Verizon bought Alltel in a deal in June 2008 for about 28.1 billion dollars. The transition of Alltel customers to Verizon is expected to be completed in a few months. The number of Alltel customers sat at 4.7 million towards the end of 2008. Verizon expects to save close to 1 billion dollars this year as a result of the acquisition.
AT&T has also entered into the merger in it's own way by purchasing the seventy-nine Alltel service areas Verizon had to sell in order to meet regulatory approvals. Approximately 1.5 million customers will be influenced by this purchase of Verizon Wireless assets, which cost AT&T 2.35 billion dollars. The deal isn't finalized yet and also has to meet regulatory approvals. The potential customers would have access to AT&T's free Wi-Fi service and their famous "rollover" minutes.
The states that would be affected by the acquisition are Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia and Wyoming. Customers will be notified exactly when the changes are to occur in their area. The process to switch to AT&T service is expected to take until the end of next year. The majority of the areas affected will be rural.
To see if you will be part of the switch go to verizonwireless.com/alltel
Sunday, May 17, 2009
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