[kch50428]

That's what they're reproting - supposedly offering $27billion debt & cash...

Oh my.

[NurseBerry]

i hope not. i love alltel!!!

[bejer]

I hope not too, I like my phone being able to work how its supposed to. Assuming VZW cripples bbs like it does their other phones.

Just have the wizard sic the dog on them lol

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[brothamoveson]

This doesn't sound to good or Alltel subscribers.

[asp13]

Doubtful to happen for too many reasons to list

[asp13]

But you never can be sure these days, Verizon is getting desperate to be the #1 cell carrier in the US again

[daddybear]

here's the link:

Alltel Takeover: Verizon in Talks to Buy Alltel for $27 Billion - Telecom Mobile * Technology * News * Story - MSNBC.com

-db

[huskerberry]

I know that Alltel owns an awful lot of the hardware in my corner of the midwest. They seem to dominate the plains states west of Omaha.

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[daddybear]

verizon has roughly 67 million customers...

at&tickle has 71 million customers...

alltell has 12 million customers...

if verizon buys alltell... would you like a calculator?

-db

[daddybear]

and i did some quick math...

with a calcualtor...

and 12 million customers...paying 35 dollars a month (which is probably very low for their company average phone bill...) is 420 million A MONTH..

OR...

just a hair over 5 BILLION a year...

i have no idea what the average bill for alltell is...but i bet its more than 35 dollars a month...

-db

thats a lot of junior hamburgers baby...

[T-bred]

the horror, the HORROR!

I broke my contract with vzw last fall to go with Alltel. Alltel's cheaper rates paid my early term fees in two months. I couldn't get away from vzw fast enough! Crippled phones! Ma Bell condescension and prices!

[anon(1202961)]

This could be bad.

[toolfan]

Very bad I work for Alltel, in a market that there is only Alltel and VZW so God knows what will happen to us.

[ok4a56]

Well if it happens.


Welcome to Verizon

[mikequist]

If Verizon buys Alltel and I lose my circle, or have to pay a cent more, or have to change to their s*** plans...I better be able to get out of my contract. I just renewed with Alltel becuase I love it, and I know Verizon will ruin it for me. So for the love of god Alltel, don't sell.

[overmydeadberry]

That would be awesome!

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[racergal84]

I hope that deal doesn't go through cause alltel is the only carrier that has good service around here. Most of my friends are always wanting to use my phone cause theirs don't work lol. Verizon is a drug...just say no alltel!

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[Click]

There are a couple reasons that it would be smart for alltel to sell. One of them is that Alltel is in debt....BAD! Something like in the billions. When Alltel was bought last year by the financial firms Alltel was in debt and when the financial firms bought Alltel all most all the debt went away. Also if you look the Firms are selling Alltel for what they bought Alltel for last year. I think it was all part of some kind of plan in the long run to sell Alltel to VZW after the 700mhz action was over just to make sure VZW was on of the highest bidders for the 700mhz. Most knew that VZW would be the one to buy 90%+ of the 700mhz. Now Alltel is getting ready to launch their Rev A data in some of the larger markets which IF VZW does buy....is going to be huge for us VZW subscribers! I STILL don't have EVDO in my market. Also VZW has plenty of money to buy Alltel as the majority of its money is banked from its parent company VodaFone. So in a couple of years your going to have the choice of VZW or at&t...Tho, I don't really see anyone being able to buy tmobile because they are a big player in foreign countries

[daddybear]

dont worry..

it's the network!

-db

[contractorslim]

Just switched to alltel as well didn't want to have to deal with the stupid charges for everything!!!! Since I have switched from sprint I hear a lot of people who went to verizon and have since switched back to alltel!! Either way you have to look at it as having a little better coverage because of more towers just will go through a year of troubleshooting to get it all to work together. I had to deal with the problems from the sprint nextel merge hopefully it will be better than that!!! But 27 billion is a lot lol wouldn't have to twist my arm!!! My plan with alltel is 136$ with 1200 min and mycircle 10 and unlimited textand bis. Anyone want to talk about what will happen message me pin:319fd5aa

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[khippor]

Im an alltel employee and Im not sure what I feel besides shock at the news this morning. I hope my job is ok!

[Outkast21]

At@t here I come!

[BlondeBoyL]

As a verizon customer I know what you Alltel guys are saying regarding the higher prices of VZW. Granted I hate the higher prices but I have tried every carrier available to me with the exception of T-Mo and I have to say so far VZW has topped them all. As the old saying goes "You get what you pay for". Sprint customer service sucked BAD and I always had billing issues, ATT has nice (but not very helpful) customer service as well as spotty coverage in my areas not to mention overloaded cell towers which made it hard to make / receive calls BUT hey I didnt have any billing issues - even though I only kept them for 3 weeks cause of the calling problems . With some luck maybe VZW will adopt the My Circle and roll that into the verizon plans which would be AWSOME but at worst case I am sure VZW would still honor your current plan and grandfather it in. I will admit if alltel was available to me (I am in the DC / Baltimore Metro) I would go with them for sure for their price plans. Also we have to think into the future as well. With the merger of the 2 companies we would be well on our way to the type of coverage that our european counterparts have which would be even better! Also when the 4G rolls out, imagine the coverage that will have not to mention the mount of overall bandwith available to the company. The only people that I can think of that has more bandwidth available to them is sprint. Over all I dont see any major technical issues that with a merger of the two companies because we would not be combining 2 COMPLETELY different technologies like sptint and nextel (CDMA & IDEN). Heck as far as we know it would probably be transparent to all of us except for a name switch. As far as the alltel jobs go, I dont think verizon would cut anyone because an influx of 12 - 13 MILLION subscribers is alot of people for the existing amount of call centers to handle. The logical option here is to simply keep ALL of the alltel people and call centers and conduct business as usual but under the VZW name. Ah well, for both companies involved I wish the best of luck and welcome all the alltel people to the IN network!

By the way what shall become of Chad? I really like watching the alltel commercials with him in them. Will he become the new "Can you hear me now" guy?

[Skormm]

I really, really don't want to see this happen... If it does go through I'm most likely going to just hop on the ATT bandwagon, the only reason I haven't yet is because Alltel was cheaper. But if VZW is absorbing Alltel then the prices are sure to go up, and if price is the same, ATT is my choice because they get the new phones almost as soon as they launch. My step-dad uses ATT and has for a while, he travels all the time for work and he never seems to have any problems with them.

[92 5 oh]

I'm an alltel employee, earlier today we just the official word. it happened last night. they're saying verizon and alltel merged, but it was a purchase. verizon purchased alltel for $27 billion dollars. the 'merge' isn't going to be taking effect until the end of the year. well that's what we're being told so far, it could change and i wouldn't be surprised if it did. here's a quote from the email we got 'Last night, we signed an agreement to merge Alltel into Verizon Wireless. This merger will create the best wireless company in the country with around **80 million customers and over $56 billion in revenue. This combination is the best way -- long-term -- to provide not only for our customers but for the majority of our employees as well.' and 'The merger is expected to close around year-end and we must continue to operate our business independently of Verizon until the closing. We must provide the same great value and service that our customers have come to expect from us and deliver outstanding financial results along the way. We will continue to compete in the market as if nothing were going to change. Over 13 million customers are depending on us.

This kind of change is always difficult – but it is also manageable. It is not a time for panic, it is a time to seek accurate information and make informed decisions. We are committed to getting you the timely information you need to plan.'