Verizon to buy Alltel for $28.1 Billion

[KyleAndMelissa22]

Originally Posted by ctk74

Yeah. I will be calling on Monday to tell them I support the deal. I look forward to being able to subscribe to a true nationwide cellular plan, not a hodgepodge of roaming agreements.

So you look forward to paying perhaps 50-100% more for your cell phone bill, hmmm.

Roaming agreements keep prices low for consumers, and also,
it literally does make your potential coverage area larger.
Native footprints are good, but native footprints with roaming agreements are alot better.

Even the best native footprint will still have many many weak areas,
this is where roaming agreements will save you in many cases.

[army1]

Originally Posted by NokiaKrazy

If you are not satified with a "hodgepodge of roaming agreements", why don't you go subscribe with Verizon today?

This deal is bad, I feel that competition will be less. This will drive prices higher.

i agree 100% he should have gone to V to start with, but that's ok i'm calling
the fcc monday also , so i'll just kill his vote for support.

[UFO]

It's real easy to forget, but carriers compete in terms of having the best coverage, as well as the best price, until they're satisfied with their customer base or coverage in an area. So less competition will lead to a poorer quality of service. Even in areas where alltel, or Dobson, or SunCom didn't compete. Verizon and at&t having to compete against those providers in other areas led to competetive rates, and standards of service.

And once Verizon and/or At&t does reach the point where they don't need roaming agreements, that may be a huge blow, and perhaps an eventual downfall of Sprint and T-Mobile. But then, maybe we'll see gov't regulation of the industry or even the wireless baby bell breakup. I actually do think that the government would step in with regulation to prevent Verizon or at&t monopolizing one of the other players out of the game.

And it may not happen. This may be a great thing for VZW customers and the industry in general. When you combine the best Verizon networks and the best alltel networks, nobody is going to touch this provider in terms of coverage in many, many markets across the nation. The airwaves probably do only support 4-5 national carriers. I'm sure the people that ran alltel will cash out with millions. In fact, they actually did several months ago by selling to TPG and GS. The main people I feel sorry for, are the ones who had alltel service, or even Dobson or SunCom, and were satisfied with coverage, but will now have to pay more for the same thing. And I'm also just concerned because using history as a guide, consolidation in the wireless industry has not been good for customers or employees, and I fear that Verizon may not show many rural customers the same commitment to coverage and data in the future that alltel did.

But given the fact that alltel was looking for a way out of the game it appeared, and being saddled with 22 billion in debt from the last buyout, a transition to Verizon is probably the best thing. I know that many would be furious with the level of customer support, and coverage in some places given by Sprint. Then there'd be some iPCS lawsuit over it. At&t and T-Mobile would also present far more complications that would probably be worse off for most customers.

[RJB]

Originally Posted by ctk74

Yeah. I will be calling on Monday to tell them I support the deal. I look forward to being able to subscribe to a true nationwide cellular plan, not a hodgepodge of roaming agreements.

Originally Posted by NokiaKrazy

If you are not satified with a "hodgepodge of roaming agreements", why don't you go subscribe with Verizon today?

This deal is bad, I feel that competition will be less. This will drive prices higher.

Originally Posted by KyleAndMelissa22

So you look forward to paying perhaps 50-100% more for your cell phone bill, hmmm.

Roaming agreements keep prices low for consumers, and also,
it literally does make your potential coverage area larger.
Native footprints are good, but native footprints with roaming agreements are alot better.

Even the best native footprint will still have many many weak areas,
this is where roaming agreements will save you in many cases.

Originally Posted by army1

i agree 100% he should have gone to V to start with, but that's ok i'm calling
the fcc monday also , so i'll just kill his vote for support.

Come on now ctk74 was just expressing how he/she feels about this don't pull apart what he/she feels is right just because you disagree.

I just feel if someone is for this then they are getting shot down please have respect.

I think the assumption of higher prices and this and that being taken away are valid although nothing is set in stone until the final t is crossed and i is dotted.

[Mobile Mike]

Why is everyone surprised that this "private equity group" sold out so quickly?. I'm betting a deal like this was planned from the start. I wouldn't be surprised if they were secretly looking for a buyout suitor as soon as the ink was dry on their deal for Alltel.

Why is it also a surprise that this deal happened? Alltel certainly holds more worthy cards than US Cellular or any other smaller carrier. I bet if Sprint wasn't in the morass they are right now, they probably would have made a play for Alltel themselves. Would everyone be complaining the same way if this had happened? I wonder...

I agree with everyone that the loss of competition is not a good thing, but sadly mergers of this type are common business these days. I have little faith things will change any time soon.

I shouldn't be surprise how much rancor I've read here and on HoFo from people who dislike Verizon, but they aren't the devil incarnate for everybody. For all of the complaining people do about them, they continually grow with subscriber additions, they have a low churn rate, etc.

Verizon is not perfect by any means, but they work for many people, myself included. Though I'm not always thrilled with the things they do, I can't complain after more than a decade of solid service.

Frankly AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, Sprint, Alltel, USCellular, MetroPCS, Cricket, and every other MVNO/Cell company out there SUCK!! NO carrier is perfect.

So Verizon has just bought Alltel. Deal with it. Unless you can come up with some major billions to buy them out, there isn't much anyone can do about it now.

[AnthroMatt]

I think that is well said Mike.

[cheddar]

The only real solution to competition in the US is a realistic system for managing spectrum. The FCC pretends that it wants competition but than encourages massive consolidation. If we want real competition than the FCC needs to setup five (or so) national licenses and include a rule limiting you to just one of them. This would acknowledge the way the market is really going and ensure that there'd still be a realistic level of competition and less spectrum hoarding.

It'll never happen though.

[cb6000]

I'm not surprised that this happened at all. VZW has had its eyes on Alltel for a long time. For me, I would finally get to be on "The Network" and talk to those that have VZW (many of my buddies are using them). I currently cannot get a local number with Verizon, but if the merger is approved (which is expected to go through), that should change in the future. So, I kinda look forward to that. I know it's not going to be positive news for everyone, and hopefully, the negative impact will be minimal.

50-100% increase in the bills? I seriously doubt that much. We'll see.

[ctk74]

Originally Posted by RJB

Come on now ctk74 was just expressing how he/she feels about this don't pull apart what he/she feels is right just because you disagree.

I just feel if someone is for this then they are getting shot down please have respect.

I think the assumption of higher prices and this and that being taken away are valid although nothing is set in stone until the final t is crossed and i is dotted.

Thanks RJB. As a proponent of a free market I don't subscribe to the sky is falling mantra that many on this board automatically assume with any merger talk. The fact of the matter is that Verizon and Alltell really were not major competitors. The U.S. wireless landscape will still remain very competitive with 4 nationwide carriers (Verizon, ATT, Sprint and T-Mobile). It is obvious by the rates of mergers that this country is not able to support 5+ nationwide carriers considering the massive investment that will be required to advance in technology. If the prices are too high with Verizon after the merger, the consumer will make the choice and switch. It seems that cell prices have actually been coming down recently, esepecially with the introduction of unlimited plans.

[ctk74]

Originally Posted by army1

i agree 100% he should have gone to V to start with, but that's ok i'm calling
the fcc monday also , so i'll just kill his vote for support.

Do you really think that the FCC cares what any of us have to say anyway? This deal will be approved with some divestitures but there is no way in this econmic climate it will be killed. Aside from the ramifications from cellular users, the assumption of $27 billlion debt by a high quality company like Verizon will aid the credit markets and is certainly another factor that may be considered.

[strunke]

Originally Posted by ctk74

Yeah. I will be calling on Monday to tell them I support the deal. I look forward to being able to subscribe to a true nationwide cellular plan, not a hodgepodge of roaming agreements.

This is a ridiculous statement.

The merger in the end is good for coverage. Good for vzw customers. Bad for Alltel customers money wise most likley. But there is a potential for Verizon to implement some of Alltel's good aspects.

It's free market and capitalism and I love that. I just hate the fact that my prices will be going up and my circle most likely disappearing.

[danny boi]

Originally Posted by strunke

This is a ridiculous statement.

The merger in the end is good for coverage. Good for vzw customers. Bad for Alltel customers money wise most likley. But there is a potential for Verizon to implement some of Alltel's good aspects.

It's free market and capitalism and I love that. I just hate the fact that my prices will be going up and my circle most likely disappearing.

You should probably wait for more details. Verizon has surprised us quite a bit as of late. You just never know.

Besides, you'll be able to keep your current plan most likely since it'll be grandfathered.

[spleck]

I haven't been able to get Alltel service anywhere I've ever lived, so I've never considered them competition. This is just more native coverage for me like all the other mergers and acquisitions. Through them all, my service has gone from $35 for 250 minutes regional coverage with no roaming, no M2M to $40 for 450 minutes national coverage with roaming and M2M. So not only has my service greatly improved, but the cost has risen slower than inflation.

If you had Alltel and are now faced with higher costs, then consider the idea that those low costs are why your carrier couldn't stand on its own and was sold off.

To everyone calling the FCC: its not American Idol--you don't get a "vote". You can express your concerns, but unless they have some legal basis, your carrier preference is not going to sway the FCC.

This merger will reduce costs for VZW more than it will decrease competition. Towers are EXPENSIVE--and they're not free to maintain once you put them up. When AT&T wants to buy T-Mobile, or VZW thinks they can buy a nationwide competitor like Sprint, then I'll take issue.

[spleck]

What plan are most of you Alltel subscribers on that your prices will go up? I understand that anyone extensively using My Circle will probably face a larger usage of anytime minutes, I'm just curious. I glanced at the Alltel rates and it seems like My Circle wasn't available on the $40 plan. I don't talk on the phone a lot and neither does anyone I know, but I also know that we're all lower than the ARPU.

[army1]

Originally Posted by spleck

What plan are most of you Alltel subscribers on that your prices will go up? I understand that anyone extensively using My Circle will probably face a larger usage of anytime minutes, I'm just curious. I glanced at the Alltel rates and it seems like My Circle wasn't available on the $40 plan. I don't talk on the phone a lot and neither does anyone I know, but I also know that we're all lower than the ARPU.

i'm on the 79.99 nationwide family plan, 1000 shared min..1000 text/pic's message's
per line (2) 10 my circle,kb;s are paid for by min. not $, i just entered a 2 yr. contract
2 month's ago, vzw WILL honor this contract as is,or i'll cancel and pay no etf.

[KyleAndMelissa22]

Originally Posted by spleck

What plan are most of you Alltel subscribers on that your prices will go up?

I have 2 Alltel accounts each shared by two different people.
One is the Nat'l Freedom 900 and the other is Nat'l Freedom 1400, each one has a line added for $10.
(total of 4 people on the 2 accounts)

Each account gets 10 My Circle numbers, and one line on the 1400 gets unlimited text/pix/video for $20 more.

My Nat'l 900 plan on one account, advertised at $69.98 totals an average of about $82.00 per month,
and my other account, the Nat'l 1400, advertised at $89.98 totals an average of about $115.00 per month.

So I pay about $50 per person, per month, or about $200 per month,
which isn't that bad per person.

My contract expires in mid-September of this year, so hopefully I'll renew it
(and get 2 My Circle Bonus Numbers) before this deal closes.

[cheddar]

Originally Posted by spleck

If you had Alltel and are now faced with higher costs, then consider the idea that those low costs are why your carrier couldn't stand on its own and was sold off.

Alltel was doing well when it was taken private. It not a matter of being unable to compete. The shareholders decided they wanted their money quickly rather than over the long haul. The private equity firms who took it private couldn't afford the purchase price and had to sell.

[cheddar]

I just hope my prepaid plan is kept. I use my phone very little. I pay less than a dollar some months. I'd hate to lose that.

[bobolito]

One thing I see happening is that FCC will require divestiture of one of the 850Mhz blocks in rural markets where Verizon would own both 850Mhz blocks. The same thing was required of AT&T/Cingular merger in a few areas.