Alltel acquisition rumors heat up
Despite the fact that its fellow carriers play the fool in those sometimes-clever My Circle commercials, Alltel is in talks with at least three of its rivals to see if any are interested in picking up "the nation's largest wireless network," according to the Wall Street Journal. Alltel, with its 12 million subscribers and $22 billion market valuation, claims just one-fifth the amount of subs that either AT&T or Verizon do, but has made it niche serving customers in areas with poor coverage by the majors -- making it an attractive target for anyone looking to quickly expand their network. Since Alltel rocks the CDMA styles, it would obviously make more sense for Sprint or Verizon to take the plunge, and though Little Rock-based Alltel is also said to be chatting it up with the carrier formerly known as Cingular, the recent BellSouth deal could make such purchase a financial and regulatory burden for the new AT&T. Now bear in mind that this is not the first time we've heard such acquisition chatter -- Engadget Mobile reported that Verizon was the front runner as of a few weeks ago (a deal would help it snatch the "largest carrier" crown away from AT&T) -- so either things are heating up or its another slow news day down at the ol' Journal.
Filed under: Alltel, ATT, Sprint, Verizon Wireless, CDMA
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
mroach @ Mar 6th 2007 11:02AM
I'd bet that Alltel is talking to AT&T about buying its GSM network. Though they don't sell service on it, Alltel operates a huge GSM network in the midwest and offer roaming on it to the likes of T-Mobile and AT&T. If you compare their map with AT&T's, it would be a very nice addition to their network
Alltel 850/1900:
http://www.gsmworld.com/cgi-bin/ni_map.pl?cc=us&net=wh
AT&T 850:
http://www.gsmworld.com/cgi-bin/ni_map.pl?cc=us&net=b2
AT&T 1900:
http://www.gsmworld.com/cgi-bin/ni_map.pl?cc=us&net=be
Adam @ Mar 6th 2007 11:19AM
Does anyone know haow many subscribers T-Mobile has? Also, dosn't T-Mobile run on Cingular's network.
Has anyone heard of any rumors of Cingular Acguiring T-Mobile?
It would be sweet if Cingular/A T & T acquired both Alltel and T-Mobile.
Adam @ Mar 6th 2007 11:20AM
Does anyone know haow many subscribers T-Mobile has? Also, dosn't T-Mobile run on Cingular's network.
Has anyone heard of any rumors of Cingular Acguiring T-Mobile?
It would be sweet if Cingular/A T & T acquired both Alltel and T-Mobile.
Mario Mejia @ Mar 6th 2007 11:30AM
good point mroach
... damn. very good point.
Omagus @ Mar 6th 2007 1:14PM
Adam,
T-Mobile has in the neighborhood of 20 million subscribers. AT&T/Cingular will not be buying them anytime soon. There's no way Deutsche Telekom will sell right now. At least not for far more than T-Mobile is actually worth and AT&T is not currently in a position to even consider it.
And it would NOT be sweet if AT&T/Cingular acquired both T-Mobile and Alltel. That would be way too much in one company, meaning we (consumers) would get SCREWED.
jrk @ Mar 6th 2007 1:19PM
t-mobile has roughly 25 million customers... and it runs on its very own network, not on cingular's. and there's no talk about cingular taking over t-mobile. t-mobile is a subsidiary of deutsche telekom, and part of the international t-mobile group, covering 120 million people worldwide. t-mobile uk and t-mobile germany are the largest mobile phone carriers in their respective countries. so unless cingular tries to get the whole t-mobile group, i doubt deutsche telekom will let t-mobile usa go anywhere.
Cactus @ Mar 6th 2007 1:27PM
About the "sometimes clever" commercials -- Chad has already moved on to pitching chicken: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKr_bvd8h2I
Adam -- postpaid T-Mobile and AT&T subscribers can roam for free, and pretty seamlessly, on each others' network in places when only the other carrier is present. But look at their prepaid service maps, and you'll see their networks are very separate.
snow7791 @ Mar 6th 2007 5:04PM
alltel is a nice company who's services i have enjoyed for a while now. I have had verzion and i dislike the way the company was run. i had poor services both in the help departemnt and with the billing department. Ui is something less desired too. Im sure some people in here are going to say oh boo hoo your complaining about the ui. Well yes i am cuz my phone is like a second extention to me so hence i want my phone to be more condusive to my liking. after all we the customers are really their bosses. Its too bad some people dont see it that way and just give in. that is my opinion and mine only. i jsut know that where i live if alltel was bought out by the red army well then i will switch to us celluar. There not quite as fancey as some of the other big carriers, but when i used to have them they treated me well compared to how i was treated with verizon.
riderbing @ Mar 6th 2007 5:33PM
why do people bitch about the ui? seriously. when you buy a computer do you bitch about the way microsoft has it look? you can change the background picture just like you can on the phone. its funny how many people decide to go with another company because of the ui. nextel has the worst user interface in the land and personally im glad verizon has theirs. everyone else has one too its just people bitch about verizon the most because it is the best and easy to use. seriously. get a life
cinenaut @ Mar 6th 2007 5:34PM
IMO, it would be very strange for Alltel to sell their GSM network to AT&T/Cingular after spending $6.5B to acquire Western Wireless and expand their 850Mhz offering. Providing roaming services to other carriers is a very lucrative business and generates a lot of cash flow.
And one must assume that if Alltel was interested in divesting its GSM customers, it would do so at a significant profit -- which makes it that much more unlikely that AT&T is in any position to spend that kind of money. Right now, AT&T/Cingular is in the first steps of integrating, along with the former BellSouth, into the new AT&T company.
snow7791 @ Mar 6th 2007 5:58PM
one of my reasons for not like verzion is the ui. You might think that the ui is ok but it seems that alot of people do not care for it. That reason alone should say something. but let me state that is not the main reason. The main reason is service. let me state that again service. They way i was treated when i was with verzion was horrible. period. it seems to me that people are slowly giving up their rights when it comes to their products and really dont care about it. and that is just sad.
elgee02 @ Mar 6th 2007 6:27PM
snow7791 I am sorry to hear about your service, but do not label the company as a whole for bad service. VZW is ranked very high by JD Power and Consumer Reports. And you can go on and on about our UI but the truth is that is not a big deal. The vast majority of our customers like it or have no complaints about it.
The proof is in the Churn:
VZW 1.1%
ATT 1.8%
Alltel 1.92%
Sprint 2.3%
T-Mobile 2.9%
snow7791 @ Mar 6th 2007 6:51PM
well when it comes to reports about this or that i dont care. Everyone loves to give out statisics. It comes down to personal experience. just becasue a report rants and raves about a company dosnet mean i should go to someone based on someone elses opinion. My personal experience with the company dictates on who i go with. Fool me once shame on you. fool me twice well shame on me. I dont not go on living by making the same mistake twice. And as far as the ui thing well like i said its a personal opinion. You might not think that its a big deal but to others it is. Others wise people wouldnt complain. Im sure that some people love verzion and hey thats ok. But this is merley my opinion i for one do not.
Bob King @ Mar 6th 2007 7:52PM
snow7791
I understand where your coming from yes VZW customer service has its speed bumps when it comes to helping you out, but how long ago were you a VZW customer I would say that it had to improve a little since you were a customer. I've had issue with in all area's from car dears, to cable company's to cell phone providers.
Just because I had an issue with my car dealership doesn't mean I'm just going to go and sell my car. It mean's I wont do business at that dealership anymore. My cable company has the worst phone customer service in the world, but when I go into a store they are very nice and are willing to help me out. Heck the store rep even gave me a credit because the DVR they gave me died three times in 2 days. I didn't even ask the rep for it.
The issue that you and everyone else under the sun has about VZW UI is stupid. Look at your cable box in most cases its UI stinks but people still use it. Or even Tivo some people like the UI and other hate it but in the end they all still use it. Lets set at any give point VZW has something like 15 different phone out on the market this does not take into account handsets that are no longer carried because of newer models. So you're telling me that you want VZW to support a different UI for each handset they sell thats just nuts. At some point all service providers this is including your ALLTEL are going to be switching to a standard UI because it cost too much money to train a rep to support all this different UI's.
Speaking about UI's I just love buying a new phone and taking a few days to find all the hidden little secrets that it might hold for me because I dont want to read the 300 page book to find out how to use some feature. The last 3 phones i've had from VZW all had the new UI and for small changes such as adding a new feature like VCast, or VCast Music the UI has been the same, and that going from LG, to Samsung back to LG. I like the fact that I already know where everything is and I dont have to read anything to learn where all the feature are now on the new phone.
snow7791 @ Mar 6th 2007 8:21PM
well im glad to hear that you think that mine and other peoples opinions on the ui are stupid. Nice to know that. I gave my opinion just stating what i felt and have experienced in a civil way but i guess that is waht i get for trying to be civil But like i stated the ui was only a small percentage of my problem. Maybe like 2 % of it. But when i did have the horrible service not once did they offer to help me in any way. You stated that your cable compamny helped you out when it came to your dvr but at least they helped you out. And that would have been nice. It wasnt a one time thing either. It was a on going thing.
and your quote was "Just because I had an issue with my car dealership doesn't mean I'm just going to go and sell my car. It mean's I wont do business at that dealership anymore." well exactly its not the phones i had the problem with its the service. Based on my experiences with verzion i wont deal with them any more.
DPV @ Mar 6th 2007 10:23PM
Wouldn't it also make sense for US Cellular and Alltel to merge given the US Cellular markets would mostly just add to Alltel's network?
Granted, some would be "double-markets" and have to be sold, but it would mostly just be a nice addition.
Coasterjob @ Mar 7th 2007 8:43AM
elgee02,
In response to the churn statement.
Also look at the flip side to churn. The companies with the steapest contracts will typically carry lower churn numbers becuase the subs can't afford to switch due to penalty costs or equipment charges.
I personally love my carrier because they do not *require* a 24 month contract and still offer services at the best rates in the marketplace.
I have churned many times in the last 8 years but still end up where I am now. I have had every national carrier at some point and none stack up in customer service, products, flexibilty, and plan value as this carrier.
I hope for my own selfishness they keep on trucking and do not acquire or be acquired. They are in a great place for me. As far as Alltel, they do not operate where I am located but if they did, I'd give a shot at earning and keeping my business.
To stay on topic, Alltel's best bet is merging with a *like* carrier someone like Cricket or Metro PCS.
Treo Cell Phone Fan @ Mar 7th 2007 9:48AM
I think Verizon is a more suitable bidder in this case. Sprint already had some difficult time integrating Nextel's network and customer base.
todd @ Mar 7th 2007 10:28AM
CelliGuy, Suckgular will not buy T-Mobile. Deutsche Telekom will not sell it, it's their biggest moneymaker.
And if Suckgular did buy them (which, they won't), I'd pay my ETF with T-Mobile and run. I suffered for 2 years on Suckgular and refuse to do so again, those worthless bastards aren't getting another dime from me.
elgee02 @ Mar 7th 2007 4:59PM
@ coasterjob
In my churn comment all those companies listed sign most of their customers up on 2 yr agreements, so it's just as easy/hard to churn from VZW as it is all the other's I listed.
Iknow everything @ Mar 7th 2007 7:05PM
@ elgee02
If your statment about companies with higher early termination fees will have lower churn would hold true..then they would rank somewhat as followed:
Sprint $200
Alltel $200
Verizon $175
Cingular $175
So obviously churn has nothing to do with the amount of the early termination fee.
Bob King @ Mar 7th 2007 7:40PM
snow7791
Thank you for your feed back but you some how miss my question to you. How long ago were a VZW customer? My quote about the car dealership was applied to your comment all wrong but thats ok. I was implying that I just went to another Mazda dealership and kept my car. If you had an issue with a VZW store why didn't you just go to another store? I have been with VZW for 11 years and yes I know they haven't been VZW for that whole time but I can tell you that I have seen 100% improvement with a. there service, and b. the customer service.
Dont get me wrong I'm not trying to say that everyone should go out and get VZW service. I like feature from each service provider out on the market today. Alltel has podcast support, Sprint has Nextel PTT, and EVDO REV A service, Cingular / AT&T has nice calling options such as calling from your cell phone to your land line as long as it an AT&T customer. T-Mobile has the best roaming coverage for world travels, and the option to use WiFi to make voice calls and not the network. Verizon has good data feature such as VCast, VCast Music, and VCast TV even if with its limited.
Each company has some type of Pro or Con to them, but everyone is killing me with the whole Verizon Wireless UI BS, or that the Bluetooth is disable. Have you used some of the new LG's or Samsungs they are supporting a lot more BT profiles now so its improving but its not 100%. I do understand that the contract they signed with Qualcomm to use BREW does not support the transfer of programs, or services download using the Brew serview AKA Get it Now. But in the end a consumer makes up his / her mind on 1 bad event and not the other 99 good ones they had.
elgee02 @ Mar 7th 2007 9:08PM
"So obviously churn has nothing to do with the amount of the early termination fee."
I never said it did either. I say churn has a lot more to do with the overall level of customer satisfaction that customers have with a cell provider. So that being said, VZW's lowest churn does say quite a bit about how happy their subscribers are.
Phuc Vu @ Mar 7th 2007 9:48PM
You can forget about VZW buying Alltel because Strigl will drop the ball again. The most famous ball drop? The iPhone. I would guess either Sprint or AT&T. Alltel's customer base is something you overlook.
The UI shouldn't be an issue to leave a company. The signal strength, cost and types of phones should be the only be the reasons. But people are different. If you are going to leave a company, then at least make the excuse "the features are locked and I can't remove programs I don't like".
VZW does have extremely bad customer service. I dealt with them about 2-3 per week for 5 months straight over their "computer glitch". I've been a customer way before digital... and car phones ruled.
I am with VZW because they have the best cellular-service in my area. T-Mobile is 2nd to VZW and MAY jump there in 2 months. (contract is up)
Phuc Vu @ Mar 7th 2007 9:50PM
I meant to say:
"Alltel's customer base is something you DON'T overlook"
elgee02 @ Mar 7th 2007 10:28PM
"You can forget about VZW buying Alltel because Strigl will drop the ball again."
Nope. Strigl isn't in charge at VZW anymore, Lowell McAdams is the man in charge now, and this Alltel acquisition just might be a good first big move in his charge.
elgee02 @ Mar 8th 2007 12:14AM
"VZW does have extremely bad customer service."
Listen, I am not gonna say that VZW has the world's best customer service and is perfect, because it isn't. But as a customer of them for 6 years and now an employee it certainly isn't terrible.
It seems to me most people who bitch about ANY carrier's customer service are upset because they wanted something outside of the carrier's policy and the carrier stood by their rules and said no.
Phuc Vu @ Mar 8th 2007 10:42AM
"It seems to me most people who bitch about ANY carrier's customer service are upset because they wanted something outside of the carrier's policy and the carrier stood by their rules and said no."
Explain why I should change my mind when it was a computer glitch on your side which took 5 months and multiple calls? I also contacted the VZW board and high ranking managers. The total bill was $2500.00!! They knew they had the glitch. They knew the time frame of the glitch. But they kept charging me and shutting off my phone AFTER I told them of the over charge.
The stores (in my area) rush the customer because they are short handed.
Simply bad customer service. Sorry. They are the best in my area (for calls) but absolutely the worst to talk too.
elgee02 @ Mar 8th 2007 11:35AM
That's crazy they wouldn't waive those fees if it was a known glitch on VZW's part... I've seen customers get fees waived for a lot less.
And yeah, I am aware many stores are busy as hell sometimes, but that's a problem retailers don't mind because that means there is business. I don't know what area you had your experience, but I can say for sure in my area VZW is hiring like mad and building new locations left and right.
ariel @ Mar 10th 2007 4:39PM
who cares about any of this anymore...
eventually all the cell companies will be one big company..
so there's rumors that alltel will be buying us cellular and tmobile and probably all the other little companies eventually and theres rumors that verizon will be buying alltel and then comcast buying sprint and that might be bad so sprint will either go away or be bought out by at/t or verizon and then u have 2 companies verizon (lowest churn and highest in rate) and at&t (highest churn lowest in rate) and service will probably end up being similar between the 2 then itll just be between the customer service and the pricing.. well at&t sucks with customer service but pricing with verizon isn't the hottest... so stop worrying about all the other companies because it's mostly between the number 1 and number 2 carriers and that's it...
get over the UI blah blah its a phone! nobody even cares what your phone looks like geezz.. they're gonna pick up the phone look at it from the outside maybe flip it open be all thats cool and they're done they aren't going to go into extent looking at every little thing and if u care so much then there's obviously other things ur trying to do with your phone and you should just stop being cheap because if you cant afford the things that you want to make your cell phone wayyy more awesome then you shouldnt have a cell phone or get used to the basics
T @ Mar 19th 2007 8:06PM
I must respond to the Churn postings.
Churn has NOTHING to do with the cost of termination fees. In fact, Verizon has proved this by its variable ETF policy. You only pay $5 for every month remaining on your contract.
CelliGuy @ Jan 9th 2008 9:44AM
I hope Sprint would be the one in the running...expand there customer base and CDMA coverage....
Also give Verizon and Cingular a run for there money!
T-Mobile will eventually be bought by Cingular!