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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.'"
1. Nails
2. Hammer
3. Coffin
4. Profit!!!
Now our only choices will be AT&T and Verizon.
I for one welcome our new corporate overlords!
Could someone with a bit more enlightenment spell out what this means for subscribers, please?
Informatus Technologicus
I can't wait until we have only one phone company!
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.
Read radical news here
I'm VZ for work and home. My girlfriend is Alltel. Now I don't have to worry about not being in her circle!
--- rapper/producer/bachelorette party stripper
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.
"It's the height of ridiculousness to say for those 9 lines you get hundreds of millions."
when nextel and sprint merged they were hailed as the next big thing.. take over the industry.. yada yada yada.. now look at them..
F the FCC
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!
brandelf -t FreeBSD
Does that mean now that the horrible Alltel commercials will finally end?
What even defines a monopoly anymore?
Shouldn't there be some cap on the ratio of providence of a service or product to demand or something?
Obviously 80 million wireless subscribers is approaching a significant portion of the US population. And let's do the numbers on AT&T.
double-u tea eff question mark exclamation point.
Read my Very Short "Stories"
It must be pointed out that without safety, and "freedom" being used as a shield for attacks against our society, there is no freedom left to protect because you aren't safe to exercise it any longer.
"It's the height of ridiculousness to say for those 9 lines you get hundreds of millions."
What the heck are you talking about? unsuccessful troll.
Sirius/xm was approved.
I hope this isn't the final nail in Sprint's coffin. I happen to be very attached to my $30/month everything unlimited SERO plan.
You're foolish enough to think that a VZ and AT merger will benefit you as gaining the feature set of VZ + AT = both of you.
Expect more likely, both of you = - (VZ + AT).
"It's the height of ridiculousness to say for those 9 lines you get hundreds of millions."
We should therefore stop arguing, and accept that theirs is the superior intellect, after all, what could possibly go wrong?
A learning experience is one of those things that say, 'You know that thing you just did? Don't do that.' - D. Adams
Welcome to turdville. Population? You. You'll be happy to learn that at least you'll have the best coverage available. Oh and hurray for taking one more giant step towards a single company owning everything.
If you wanna get rich, you know that payback is a bitch
Just for trying this crap they should split Verizon in twain. Veri gets the even phone numbers, and Izon gets the odd ones. Ready... Set... Compete!
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.
There are 4 boxes to use in the defense of liberty: soap, ballot, jury, ammo. Use in that order. Starting now.
That sentiment is great until the new big few realize that indirect collusion can make for greater bottom lines for the companies involved. You'll end up like us paying some of the highest prices in the world for the least amount of service.
Uh..isn't Alltel entirely CDMA currently? I've never even heard of them having GSM.
We can say good by to those stupid commercials now.
Other then that, having a even larger company with more control over their customers so they can screw them more is all i see coming out of this.. Good thing i dont use a cell phone, or believe in them.
---- Booth was a patriot ----
and if you give up your freedom for safety/security, then you're protecting nothing.
Which is funny, since GSM providers like AT&T and T-Mobile (I have T-Mobile) are moving to 3G standards such as UMTS/HSDPA, which are CDMA-based. =)
There goes my uncrippled phones.
I wonder what effect this will have on the Alltel commercials: The Verizon kid is the nastiest, most obnoxious of the lot.
</humor>
www.eFax.com are spammers
You cannot tell me that you don't enjoy summoning the wwwizzzzard for hours on end. He doesn't show up though... because it's family time. /redundant
Stupidity only gets you so far, then you've gotta try
I can use my cell phone on top of Halfdome cause that would be pretty nice.
Ave Molech Setting
If I could use my SIM card in it, I wouldn't care if my phone used TDMA, CDMA, GSM, BDSM, or Avian Carriers.
But after 2 years with Sprint hoping my piece of junk phone would hold out long enough for me to escape to T-Mobile without having to sign up for another piece of junk phone from Sprint because I can't just buy a used piece of junk phone (there pretty much aren't any non-piece-of-junk phones out there) and stick my SIM in it... I'm done with CDMA, thank you very much.
Alltel is CDMA.
Nerd rage is the funniest rage.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alltel#Network_technology
From an email discussion earlier:
So in the Alltel commercials, does the Verizon tech lookalike now get to noogie "Chad," and make him drive the "Wizard" van?
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?
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.
Unstable Apps: Our Android Apps Don't Suck
I've been a happy Alltel customer since December - glad to know I can look forward to higher prices, lower customer service, and a throttled internet connection - now likely to be run straight through NSA central. I'm thrilled.
Write back when you get sober....
Or when Limbaugh fires you....
---- Teach Peace. It's Cheaper Than War.
If this ends those annoying Alltel commercials with the dumbass blonde "cool" guy and the dumbass pseudo geeky guys I am all for it!
were his rant not identical to a majority of the commentary at any of the large lefty blogs. Nice try, though.
Alltell is and always has been CDMA. Are people terminally stupid when it comes to cell phone technologies? I see more misinformed people posting (on /. of ALL places) about cell phones than any other topic.
Your sucky Alltel service is now suckier Verizon Service.
Look for a new scam^H, err... added feature where you now are automatically extended to a new two year contract. But that's OK because you can always opt out by calling their Customer Retention Service and be put on hold for an hour before being hung up on.
Makes me want to get drunk in..... wait for it.... more bars in more places.
Kinda sucks for anyone who left Verizon due to shitty service and chose Alltel.
Yes, I know it is spelled peon. But this seems more accurate.
Corporations shouldn't be allowed to buy other corporations. It wasn't like that in the beginning, but railroad tycoons wanted to consolidate and argued that corporations should have all the rights (but none of the responsibilities) of an individual person.
Allowing corporations to merge is against every principle the free market stands on.
That's a dictionary definition. That is NOT a US antitrust law (or anyone elses antitrust law) definition. A monopoly market exists when one firm (or a small number of firms) have the ability to raise prices above the [competitive] market level. That alone is not an antitrust violation though. You also need to have them actually do something which is detrimental to the marketplace (predatory pricing, pricing below cost, etc).
-Daniel
To appeal the FCC decision they'd have to go to the courts. Since the FCC is an administrative agency, the courts will basically look only at whether or not the FCC's decision was arbitrary/capricious. That's a pretty tough standard.
By the way, one of the main reasons XM/Sirius was likely approved was because they both lose craptons (that's the technical term) of money. If the choice is zero providers of a service, or one, we prefer taking the one. The other reason it can/has/will be approved is that there's many ways to get music in your car... FM Radio, HD Radio, CD's, iPod's/podcasts, etc. Between the two of these things, they came up with enough reason to approve it.
In the case of VZW/Alltel... well certainly there's no danger of VZW going bankrupt. Alltel is a different story. Their financial picture isn't all that pretty. But just one of them being in trouble won't necessarily be enough to approve it. And certainly there's no other way to get mobile phone service than to use a... mobile phone. But of course there's still 4 major cell carriers. I'd bet this is approved, but for different reasons than XM/Sirius.
-Daniel
And yet you will still be using a GSM phone network and have sims... Are there plans to have sims for CDMA networks such as Verizon or Sprint ?
waiting for ad.doubleclick.net
Does that mean Starbucks is a monopoly?
Verizon now has a network that no one will be able to touch for years. Even if ATT bought everyone else it wouldn't have such dominate coverage (That's after getting the technology integrated). In the end ATT will never be able to catch up. Verizon and Alltel are both on the same path to LTE, will have little to no technology integration issues and will save billions in operating and roaming costs. Between their acquisition of MCI, FIOS TV and Internet and now this dominating wireless coverage they pretty much own any kind of retail data you could want to purchase. Wimax is going to be relegated as the last huge failure by Sprint as they fade into the background. Only thing to do is sit back and wait for the commercial where the VZW guy stretches his hand out to Chad and says "Your not such a bad guy". As Chad cracks a tear and puts his hand out the VZW guy rips it off and beats him to death with it.
Yuck. If they try that on me, I'd take 'em to small claims court. There's nothing in my contract that gives them the right to extend it by two years just because they bought Alltel. It's bad enough that the only cell provider I didn't hate is being eaten by Verizon ... to be forcefully switched to the provider I hate the most? Not cool.
Yaaaa, no more annoying Alltel commercials. Finally Nerds can be nerdy in peace!
Learn about Programming (C++ ASM) and Web Design and Development (PHP, CSS, Photoshop) from InfernoDevelopment.com
I haven't renewed my Verizon plan for 5 years. I sure as hell won't when the 3G iPhone arrives and this consolidation of competition makes me want to vomit.
Capitalism my f'n ass.
Where is the broad competition? I see a group of Lords running the Phone companies, once again.
This f'n country just loves to sodomize it's patrons over and over again.
You might be a redneck if you read this article and think to yourself "I wonder what this will have with the sponsorship deal of NASCAR's Ryan Newman's #12 Alltel Dodge?"
Alltel should have merged with another multi-regional instead, so we could have had a third national carrier. (I would count Sprint Nextel if anyone I knew could reliably get a signal here in the 9th largest MSA.)
[Damn lameness filter!]
They say the mind is the first thing to
Ummmm, didn't the press release say that now all Alltel customers would now be part of Verizon's IN network? I.e., now all customers on both Verizon and Alltel can call each other without using minutes or anything.
Just like it did in northeast with the smaller rural cities it once served. Of course, this will mean higher prices and less choice.
I learned something interesting today.
/line.
However, before we get to that, let me just say I think this is a good thing. I've managed several large cell accounts (500+ handsets) and I've had great experiences with Verizon - their business side is great. At least the reps I've dealt with. Conversely, the company I work for now has Alltel and I think they f*cking suck. For reference though, AT&T is the worst company I've ever deal with (500+ account). Then again, I've never dealt with Sprint. This is probably a regional thing, YMMV.
Anyway, our rep had some interesting news today. Now, Alltel services some VERY rural areas including this remote area of Montana that I live in. According to her, Alltel in Montana will never be operated as Verizon, it is impossible due to FCC regulation. After the sale is complete, Verizon will have to divest our market and any others acquired in which there was direct competition (A & B side carrier designation).... to yet another carrier. This will be a good chunk of real estate so the expectation is that it will be to another major player.
So what does that mean? Verizon is going to suck up a lot of urban areas and urban customers and rural customers are likely to get shafted. Shafted meaning they will be transferred to odd little local carriers (yes - they still exist), such as Chinook. Why? Because Sprint still hasn't built out their PCS network in lots of rural areas. AT&T's GSM still has poor coverage in many areas too compared to Verizon & Alltel's older CDMA technology. Also, rural areas are very expensive to install infrastructure in, especially if you're dealing with mountains.
My recommendation for anyone maintaining a large cell account: stop buy equipment and renewing contracts. This deal will likely take 6 months for acquisition, and then a year for assimilation. That means, get your existing contracts as close to expiration as you can so that you're not incurring costs to break your contract. Right now breaking an Alltel contract is approximately $175
----- obSig
So how do you think they're going to kill off the verizon guy in the alltel commercials?
Chewbacon
The Bible is like Wikipedia: written by a bunch of people and verifiable by questionable sources.
I wish AT&T's data could even compete with Verizons or Sprints, currently it sucks. As for T-Mobile, well, they've been promising us a workable 3G for years and still have nothing. Better phones, better service, but crappy data and really crappy data plans as well.
In California Verizon has the best overall network. The big losers in this deal are Sprint and T-Mo. AT&T doesn't need to worry because it's got Apple on their side for 4 more years.
Are people terminally stupid when it comes to cell phone technologies?
Yes, and about economics. Wireless phone service is a natural mono/oligopoly, just like wired connectivity in phone and cable, and energy, and many other services we buy. It is a question of favorable economy of scale, prior investment, knowledge and capability. The whole "Go start your own wireless company then" argument is asinine.
Furthermore, I don't consider the customer service of either company to be below average for wireless providers. I consider both to be well above average compared to most utilities and companies with call centers, speaking from my experience.
FairTax baby!
mmm, i was making a joke... tough guy.
--- rapper/producer/bachelorette party stripper
So...uh...Yeah I'd rather have the fewer annoying commercials.
Blar.
...don't pay it!
That's what I did. Cellphone free for well over a year. Don't miss it. Still have broadband and land lines for communication.
Blar.
But the rich guys will always have their loop-holes, only now they have more.
Or will there be sales tax on stock purchases? Yacht and real-estate purchases? Other kinds of investments?
That website is full of bravado, low-brow trash talking and merchandise. The realm of the $50,000/year and under drone. No thanks, we need more taxes not less taxes to pay for this failure of a 'war'
Blar.
So the regular shmoe who spends most of his income on neccessities gets taxed to the hilt, but the rich can get richer at an accelerated rate because they don't pay tax on the majority of their spending: investments! There is also no tax when you sell an investment either!
Anyone who's not a Millionaire and who supports this plan is a fucking retard. It shifts the tax burden off of those who can most afford it and who have proftted the most off of the nation...to those who do all the real work.
Such crap, no wonder the front page panders the the white trash bitch-sites.
Blar.
Now maybe we can stop torturing ourselves with Alltel's lame-ass "Wizard" commercials. They're sucking my will to live! Oh the humanity!
I'm not a millionaire. Hell, I'm not even a hundred-thousandaire. I support the Fair Tax movement. Just because the "less fortunate" screw themselves with more taxes spending on their money on beer and cigarettes doesn't mean it's not fair. Besides, with their welfare checks, it's likely that the tax will be waived for them...
summoned to take over Alltel. So I guess the circle guy will now be wearing a Verizon shirt in the commercials.
Wasn't the whole point of breaking up the telecommunications monopolies specifically to STOP this kind of re-merging in the future?
Who do we have now? Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile. I'd call that a failed attempt at making sure there are no monopolies in this space.
Comment removed based on user account deletion
I think as a society (and also as history has proven), we are afraid that the bigger companies with less flexibility tend to swallow up the smaller companies for the shear intent of profit and "screwing over the customer."
/. (and HoFo), Verizon and AT&T are always compared. Verizon's flexibility sucks, phones are locked down, cancellation fees are high, changing plans is difficult (especially when downgrading), and phone choices are abysmal. AT&T's coverage sucks, customer service also sucks, but phone choices are better. Each one has their advantages.
Did anyone forget when Apple bought NeXT? That happened when Steve Jobs moved back, yes, but at the same time, they took valuable technology from NeXT and incorporated it into what is now OS X. Why do we simply assume that Verizon is going to screw over Alltel customers as well?
What I'm hoping for is that it will be the other way around. Verizon will see that there is a benefit to Alltel's business model and that in order to compete with AT&T, they need to have more flexibility and customer service. On
I know this because I'm a customer of both. I have a Verizon phone to talk to my family and an AT&T phone to talk to my friends and girlfriend (who have switched to AT&T simply because the phones are better). I want Verizon network stability with AT&T phone choices! Alltel's phones were generally better and more flexible than Verizon. I hope this merge will bring that to Verizon.
All but the absolute skid-row bums spend far more on food, clothes and utilities than they do on beer and smokes.
I forsee a booming business in counterfeit 'I'm poor and don't need to pay this extra sales tax' ID cards.
It's naive plan in concept, and a non-starter for actual implementation.
Blar.
Sprint Nextel's dying. It has to vacate it's Direct Connect spectrum by the 26th of this month, killing millions of users and losing a great bit of their coverage, which will effectively cripple the company.
Alltel was the bottom wrung of the five main companies. (Though the commercials were funny.) So Verizon scooped them up, making them the number one carrier with the extra customers.
AT&T is planning on acquiring US Cellular, which will only net them around 6 million extra customers...
After this month, really all that's left is AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile.
Monopolies aside, if Verizon is allowed to acquire Alltel, AT&T should be allowed to acquire T-Mobile. Then we'd have two giant companies vying for power of America's network, while a bunch of itty bitty little local companies (Cricket, MetroPCS, Qwest) and a bunch of prepaid companies (Boost, Virgin Mobile, Helio) flit about like flies.
Two colossal companies. Hmm. Microsoft and Apple?
However this goes, I am interested to see what Google can bring to the table, whenever they figure out what's shakin' in their court.
There's a lot of fucked up shit on the internet. And I've downloaded it all.