CENTRAL U.S. -- Rumor: Verizon Wireless to acquire Thumb Cellular?

[cellular_freak]

I recently spoke with my mom's boss and he informed me that a fellow business man in Caro informed him that Verizon Wireless approached Thumb Cellular about acquiring them. If Thumb Cellular did not agree, the person said that Verizon Wireless would then start expanding into the Thumb region with their own towers and compete against Thumb Cellular.

I find this quite interesting and exciting at the same time. I've really been expecting this to happen and really hope it comes true. One of the biggest reasons (other than the iPhone) that I left Verizon was because they didn't service the Thumb and I was always roaming. If they decide to acquire Thumb Cellular, my mom and a lot of people in my family have already said they would hop ships from AT&T to Verizon. AT&T's coverage in the Thumb is mediocre compared to what Thumb Cellular has. Especially because they are CDMA, they can be used even in the middle of the woods, where AT&T can't.

[larry]

I would think Verizon would be too busy with the Alltel merger to want to acquire someone else right now. But who knows. Rumors are usually meaningless. I also remember another rumor someone posted about Sprint aquiring IPCS which didn't come true.

[cellular_freak]

Originally Posted by larry

I would think Verizon would be too busy with the Alltel merger to want to acquire someone else right now. But who knows. Rumors are usually meaningless. I also remember another rumor someone posted about Sprint aquiring IPCS which didn't come true.

Yeah, but I think a lot of that was because people were hoping that it would happen. There was nothing really to back it up. People in the Thumb tend to know everybody and since it was a business person in town, I think it would be a reliable source because most people around here know nothing about cellular-anything so for somebody to say that, they must have spoken to a Thumb Cellular person. And since it's a relatively small, rural and private company, I really wouldn't put it past Verizon to scoop it up. Because the thing is, Thumb Cellular roams exclusively on Alltel when outside the Thumb, unless you go down by Detroit, then it's Verizon. With Verizon acquiring Alltel, T.C. is losing one of it's main roaming partners and Verizon also would be covering the entire state of Michigan, except the Thumb. It's a logical move it they want to expand here and control all of Michigan.

[cheddar]

If I was Thumb Cellular I'd be willing to sell the 800mhz CDMA operations to fund my wireline and 700mhz point to point business. Those have better chances long term than a small local cell company.

[cellular_freak]

Originally Posted by cheddar

If I was Thumb Cellular I'd be willing to sell the 800mhz CDMA operations to fund my wireline and 700mhz point to point business. Those have better chances long term than a small local cell company.

Well, Thumb Cellular doesn't have any wireless operations, other than their parent company, which only has the wireline stuff in Pigeon. But their parent company does have 700 MHz throughout Michigan that they could focus on. I just think it is very logical for them to allow Verizon to take them over. Almost everyone I know doesn't stay in the Thumb, which means they would be roaming on Verizon or Alltel while outside the Thumb. So, if Verizon took them over, that eliminates all that roaming. Plus, people in the Thumb get a better variety of plans phones and possibly more towers.

[cheddar]

Originally Posted by cellular_freak

Well, Thumb Cellular doesn't have any wireless operations, other than their parent company, which only has the wireline stuff in Pigeon. But their parent company does have 700 MHz throughout Michigan that they could focus on. I just think it is very logical for them to allow Verizon to take them over. Almost everyone I know doesn't stay in the Thumb, which means they would be roaming on Verizon or Alltel while outside the Thumb. So, if Verizon took them over, that eliminates all that roaming. Plus, people in the Thumb get a better variety of plans phones and possibly more towers.

Yeah, I guess I wasn't quite clear what I meant. I was aware of the distinction between the different arms of the business.