Verizon to close Alltel acquistion January 9

Nows the time to renew your Alltel plan and get new phones.

 

The divested markets still need to be sold, this could take months, or more.
Wonder what'll happen if they can't find a buyer in these markets...

 

I'm sure there will be a buyer, but if not, probably another government auction (as a last resort, I'm guessing).

 

I'm so excited for this to happen. Verizon will now be able to cover the entire state of Michigan with cellular coverage except in the divested areas of western Michigan as well as the Thumb. (I'm still hoping Verizon buys Thumb Cellular.) I hope that it's a CDMA company that gets the divested Alltel and Verizon areas because it would be horrible to see them go to GSM especially in the rural areas. I'm hoping US Cellular gets the majority of the areas. That way if one has Verizon, they can still roam freely on them.

 

Too bad for us!! we just got our plan in September of 08 LOL would they still let us renew?? =)

 

Actually they will still be in those divested areas. They just are divesting the verizon network in a couple areas where there is already an Alltel network, and vice versa for other areas. The thumb is the last area left, and there they will just roam on thumb....

Here is the map-

https://agents.alltel.com/documents/FinalDivMap0108.pdf

The red areas Verizon is selling there network and keeping Alltel's.

Dark blue areas they are selling alltel and keeping verizon's. (muskegon, i believe)

They will still have a network in those locations they just can't have both the alltel system and verizon system.

 

Well, I understand the Muskegon market, because Alltel and Verizon have the two cellular networks there. However, the two markets adjacent to the Muskegon market, I don't understand. Alltel owns both of those markets on the B-Side and AT&T and Centennial own the other two respectively on the A-Side, not Verizon. So how is it that Verizon has to divest markets that aren't even theirs? That's why I'm thinking that the map is wrong and it should instead say that those are Alltel divested areas, not Verizon.

Here's the map of the cellular carriers for the Midwest: http://people.ku.edu/~cinema/wireless/great_lakes.html

 

It will be interesting to see who takes the divested areas. AT&T? US Cellular? Metro PCS? Cricket? Obviously AT&T would be the favorite here as they want to stay as close to Verizon in size as possible.

 

They did it to appease the FCC. That is the only reason for it. A or B side of the 800 was not relevant in those areas because of the competition. Either way they will have a network in those areas. The red area where verizon is divesting is PCS 1900 only. They are keeping Alltel's cellular band and network. As they should, verizon's is a pos in that area.

 

Oh, ok. I get it now. So it's not actually a cellular market that they're divesting, it's PCS spectrum. And you're right, Verizon's network is not that great in that area. Alltel, however, is pretty dang good. I was really hoping Verizon would keep that because I go to the Alma/Mt. Pleasant area sometimes and it would be great for Verizon to get Alltel's network there. Verizon only runs up the major highways and that's it.

 

I think some of Verizons decisions could be based on how upgraded the network is in a market (Rev O, Rev A etc.) of course knowing Verizon some are based on ego.

 

I live in Montana where they will be divesting the alltel market (according to the maps). I'm hoping that AT&T comes up here soon. I'm currently with alltel and my contract is up with them now. Is it a long shot/long wait for me to see if AT&T comes, or should I renew my contract now?

I just don't know how long this is going to take and I could use a new phone.

Any thoughts would be great.

 

I would not wait around for AT&T to come to town because I personally don't think it's going to happen...atleast not right now. I do not forsee AT&T buying the divested markets at this time. As technology progresses and LTE likely becomes the platform of choice for the carrier that does takeover the divested markets, I do see AT&T having interest in the future. However I could be wrong, but I just do not see a GSM carrier such as AT&T or T-Mobile buying these markets at this time.

 

LOL... some of the markets (esp. those where Alltel and Unicel overlap) Verizon is keeping are GSM only. In Alabama, for instance, some areas Verizon gets to keep Alltel and Unicel markets. In Dothan, the Alltel properties are being dumped... in Troy, Verizon is keeping the Unicel GSM and dumping Alltel (there is no other VZW presence there). So in some areas, they are working to get CDMA going.

I am waiting to see what will happen to my Alltel prepay account... maybe I can milk another phone from VZW when the time comes:biggrin: I only kept the ancient Alltel going because my account never had an expiration date... it was easier to feed the thing than to call CS and cancel it