Verizon Wireless To Buy Alltel For $28B

CWmike writes "Matt Hamblen reports that Verizon Wireless has officially announced an agreement to purchase Alltel for $28.1 billion, which would make the new company the largest wireless carrier in the U.S., with 80 million subscribers. The deal will undoubtedly provoke scrutiny by the Federal Communications Commission and the Department of Justice, they acknowledge. Who loses? 'This [deal] is another nail in the coffin for Sprint," said Michael Voellinger, an analyst at Telwares in Parsippany, N.J. 'Alltel is a highly valuable and strategic roaming partner to the top four providers, and this acquisition would put long-term pressure on pricing and terms of those arrangements.'"

Obligatory

[Skeet112 (1088203)]

1. Nails
2. Hammer
3. Coffin
4. Profit!!!

Re:

[cayenne8 (626475)]

This sucks.

I've always had Sprint as my cell provider since I got my first phone about 10 years ago. I've been happy with their service, phone plans, and coverage.

I keep hearing nothing but horror stories about other carriers.....

Re:Obligatory

[mapsjanhere (1130359)]

Yes, I'm one of the Alltel customers, I found out when I got a call from an unknown number, asking me
"Can you here me now?"

Re:Obligatory

[contrapunctus (907549)]

I had verizon. I hated the phone lockdown. So I switched to Midwest Wireless. They were awesome. They didn't mess with the phones. They were friendly. If you canceled or got a new phone they would prorate the cancellation penalty (If you sign a 2 year contract, and cancel after 1 year, you would only pay half the penalty, etc).
Alltel bought Midwest Wireless. I can't get google calendar notifications (until very recently) anymore. Not so friendly. I was pondering leaving Alltel.

It's full circle, if Verizon buys Alltel, I'm back with Verizon.

Fuck it. Time to get an iPhone.

Can you say "Monopoly" ?

[unity100 (970058)]

say it. now spell it.

because this is it.

although im a capitalist, im increasingly starting to think that big corporations need a MAJOR whack on their butts so that competition can be a possibility again.

Re:

[cjb658 (1235986)]

although im a capitalist, im increasingly starting to think that big corporations need a MAJOR whack on their butts so that competition can be a possibility again.

And we all thought we were getting a good deal when the 700MHz spectrum was sold...

Re:Can you say "Monopoly" ?

[DragonWriter (970822)]

But can we at least have one of these conversations without people throwing around the "M" word like it applies to any and every situation involving a public corporation?

Yeah, its really annoying when people say "Monopoly" when the right term is "Oligopoly".

Even without Alltel being bought by Verizon, the four-firm concentration (combined marketshare of the top four firms) in the wireless market is over 80%.

What it certainly is not is a open, competitive market.

That Alone...

[Nom du Keyboard (633989)]

Alltel is a highly valuable and strategic roaming partner to the top four providers, and this acquisition would put long-term pressure on pricing and terms of those arrangements.

That alone should be more than sufficient to nix the deal. Anything that would upset the balance in the market this much should require more than stringent guarantees of access at current prices for the next century -- and not for the next 18 months as would be more likely proposed.

I love merger's

[Galactic Dominator (944134)]

In my area, there are two choices if you wish service outside the metro....Verizon and Alltel. I've been with Alltel for a couple of years and I switched from Verizon. I left Verizon for a reason, and I'm sure many of you know what that is. Poor customer service, billed for things I didn't have, etc, /etc. Alltel has had a few issues with my account, but at least they've resolved them when I call in.

Help me Obi-Wan Kenobi, you're my only hope!

Re:I love merger's

[Nom du Keyboard (633989)]

In my area, there are two choices if you wish service outside the metro....Verizon and Alltel.

With the reduction of providers competing for your business from 2 to 1, do not expect your rates to be going down any time soon.

Thank goodness

[Jor-Al (1298017)]

Does that mean now that the horrible Alltel commercials will finally end?

obviously this isn't illegal

[thermian (1267986)]

We should therefore stop arguing, and accept that theirs is the superior intellect, after all, what could possibly go wrong?

First of many

[afidel (530433)]

As many market watchers have pointed out the weaken US economy combined with a likely end to the lazafaire practices of the Bush administration means there are likely to be a fairly large number of mergers started in Q2 and Q3 so that they can get past regulators before a new government is in place.

Alltel commercials

[wowbagger (69688)]

<humor>
I wonder what effect this will have on the Alltel commercials: The Verizon kid is the nastiest, most obnoxious of the lot.
</humor>

Customer backlash?

[jyunderwood (1016191)]

No doubt the Alltel customers who are use to My Circle and relatively un-crippled phones compared to Verizon will not like this.

Would customers be able to get out of their contacts when they merge?

Not sure if this is good for me or not

[GweeDo (127172)]

As a very happy Alltel customer I am not sure what to think of this. While being part of a larger provider does offer more features and phones and what not, Alltel is crazy liberal with what they let you do with your phone. Basically if the MFG supports it, GO FOR IT! Verizon on the other hand is the exact opposite. If you don't pay for their branded apps (other than hacking) you don't get it.

Re:

[Constantine XVI (880691)]

Even though T-Mobile doesn't have the greatest penetration in the US, they are (AFAIK) turning a profit, and have even bigger corporate backing from DT in Germany. That same backing also (hopefully) reduces the chances of a buyout.

Sprint, unfortunately, has neither of those advantages.

Re:Great...Ordering of Priorities

[DigDuality (918867)]

and if you give up your freedom for safety/security, then you're protecting nothing.

Re:Consumers?

[robo_mojo (997193)]

Fewer choices and greater prices.

Re:Consumers?

[mapsjanhere (1130359)]

I don't think so, my Alltel Razor talks to my desktop using usb, my office mate's identical Verizon model is locked up.

Re:yeah.. but..

[Constantine XVI (880691)]

Nextel == iDEN phones & network, running nothing of note
Sprint == CDMA phones & network, running J2ME
Result: disaster

Verizon == CDMA phones & network, running BREW
Alltel == CDMA phones and network, running BREW
Result: probably much better

Re:yeah.. but..

[0100010001010011 (652467)]

Running nothing of Note? Nextel IS the phone of large companies.

NexTel started out as fleet dispatch frequencies and moved into the cell phone range. NexTel has always been an excellent niche between 2 way radios and full blown cell phones.

Our factories have numerous repeaters in them so that we have full coverage in the building. Push to Talk is used constantly. It seems to be the same for all other friends of mine that work in the manufacturing world. AT&T, Verizon are great for upper management and executives but anyone that might get grease on their hands uses a NexTel

J2ME, BREW is all junk for our work. Most of our phones show 4 lines of black on green. They'll all survive a drop from a second story building, being plunged under water and being left in dash in the sun. The batteries also last twice as long as any 'consumer' cell phone I've used.

NexTel definitely has something to bring to the table.
-
While I've never used them AllTel has seemed to drive a bit of competition. First they had the "5 friends" thing then it seems everyone had that. Now they're up to "Any friend on any network" which other people seem to be copying.

Re:yeah.. but..

[oahazmatt (868057)]

Verizon locks down everything, Alltel is freedom. This is bad for Alltell customers in that respect!

Yes, Verizon locks down quite a bit. I have to use BitPim just to do some file transfers.

However, having a $22 Billion debt is not good for Alltel customers, either. They may have "America's largest network" but they don't exactly have America's largest customer base, (The article I read this morning had them at about 15% and 20% of the Verizon and AT&T customer base, respectively) and in order to continue providing to its customers, the company needs some relief.

Is this a good thing? Maybe. I'd like to think the two networks will operate under a large umbrella and Verizon and Alltel might remain as independent as possible, just provide a more complete network coverage.

Is this a bad thing? Maybe. Alltel customers may be turned off if sudden phone lockdowns come out of this.

Guess we'll just have to wait and see.

Re:Come and get your love!

[truthsearch (249536)]

My girlfriend is Alltel.

Dude, your girlfriend's worth $28 billion? That's pretty sweet.

Re:

[maxume (22995)]

Alltel is CDMA.