WEST U.S. -- Verizon Alltel Merger

[rcallen7]

The business section of the Salt Lake Tribune is reporting that as part of the Verizon Alltel merger Verizon will sell major portions of its system in several states including North and South Dakota, much of Colorado. and much of Utah. Does anyone have any information on what this really means for Verizon customers in those areas? Is Verizon going to have to abandon the Utah market, for example? Will Verizon customers be moved over to Sprint or Cricket? I am presently with Qwest Wireless using the Sprint network. There is little or no Sprint signal at my house or at my son's house. My son recently switched to Verizon and I was thinking of doing so in a week or two (we both get strong signals at our houses from Verizon) but if Verizon is simply going to dump me back onto a signal-free system I will probably opt for AT&T or T-Mobile instead.

[COtech]

Service from the Verizon Wireless ("CellCo Partnership") facilities will continue. The facilities will be divested to a holding company, that will be looking for a buyer for itself.

This has happened before. The initial formation of VZW from Airtouch, Bell Atlantic Mobility, GTE Wireless, and PrimeCo had multiple divestments. The longest running one was the Chicago area facilities of PrimeCo, that operated alone about four years before its purchase by US Cellular Corp.

If you chose VZW in your area and it is divested, be assured that SOMEONE will be operating it in the meanwhile.

COtech

[Quint101]

And also, there is a possibility you won't be divested at all. Only time will tell which network will be divested.

[Andy]

The business section of the Salt Lake Tribune is reporting that as part of the Verizon Alltel merger Verizon will sell major portions of its system in several states including North and South Dakota, much of Colorado. and much of Utah. Does anyone have any information on what this really means for Verizon customers in those areas? Is Verizon going to have to abandon the Utah market, for example? Will Verizon customers be moved over to Sprint or Cricket? I am presently with Qwest Wireless using the Sprint network. There is little or no Sprint signal at my house or at my son's house. My son recently switched to Verizon and I was thinking of doing so in a week or two (we both get strong signals at our houses from Verizon) but if Verizon is simply going to dump me back onto a signal-free system I will probably opt for AT&T or T-Mobile instead.

Rcallen,
The Verizon Wireless network (including Verizon Wireless customers) will not be divested, nor will anything in your coverage change. Verizon will sell the ALLTEL side of the network, which will have no impact on your current service. The legacy Verizon Wireless network will stay the exact same.

In other words, the same coverage you are experiencing today is what you will experience after the ALLTEL merger. Also, Northern Utah does not have ALLTEL service, so nothing is going to change.

[foufymaus]

Hey there Andy,
do you know anything about the Alltel side? Our local store said that we would be part of the sale that Verizon will be selling.

[rcallen7]

I went ahead and signed up with Verizon. Assuming the comments are correct and I can stay with Verizon for a while I am pleased so far. The Sprint system has a huge hole from about 75th South to past 90th South on 7th East which shows on their coverage map. The Nextel map shows good coverage there and one would have assumed that Sprint would simply put an antenna on a Nextel tower to beef up coverage. But in 3-1/2 years they never did, so 4 of us in my family have jumped ship to Verizon, and I have friends here who have done the same. My signal is much stronger all the way down 7th East going south and especially in my house. I enquired a time or two to Sprint and was told to switch to Nextel -- that was their solution. And when they found out I accessed their system via Qwest their interest went totally negative.

Funny way to run a business.

Thanks for your comments. I appreciated them.

[Andy]

I went ahead and signed up with Verizon. Assuming the comments are correct and I can stay with Verizon for a while I am pleased so far. The Sprint system has a huge hole from about 75th South to past 90th South on 7th East which shows on their coverage map. The Nextel map shows good coverage there and one would have assumed that Sprint would simply put an antenna on a Nextel tower to beef up coverage. But in 3-1/2 years they never did, so 4 of us in my family have jumped ship to Verizon, and I have friends here who have done the same. My signal is much stronger all the way down 7th East going south and especially in my house. I enquired a time or two to Sprint and was told to switch to Nextel -- that was their solution. And when they found out I accessed their system via Qwest their interest went totally negative.

Funny way to run a business.

Thanks for your comments. I appreciated them.

Yup that area is just one of the many in the Salt Lake valley where Sprint needs help. You will be very pleased with the Verizon network in this area, coming from Sprint. Verizon has cell sites on top of Hillcrest High, 8400 S. 700 E, 9400 S 800 E, 9400 S State, 8000 South State, Flat Iron Mesa just to name a few so coverage there is solid! Also, like I said, you will continue to be a Verizon customer as the merger with Alltel will not impact anything in SL.

Hey there Andy,
do you know anything about the Alltel side? Our local store said that we would be part of the sale that Verizon will be selling.

Hi there!
Unfortunately the Alltel side in Utah will have to be divested- sold to another company. Who? I can't tell you but you will soon be a part of another company ( and may be required to get new handsets) so enjoy Alltel while you can.