Pocket PC Thoughts - Daily News, Views, Rants and Raves

"Verizon Wireless has agreed to acquire Alltel from the private equity firms that currently own the nation's fifth-largest national wireless provider. Verizon Wireless will acquire Alltel's assets, including 13 million customers and coverage in 57 markets where it has no presence, as well as Alltel's debt. The merged companies will surpass AT&T's 71 million customers to become the nation's largest provider of wireless goods and services with 80 million customers. The move will greatly expand the regions where Alltel's customers can roam without incurring fees, and also gives Verizon's customers greater freedoms in the rural markets where Verizon previously had no coverage. The merger should be completed by the end of 2008, depending on the required regulatory approvals."



I have used Verizon's network for several years. One of it's real strengths when I travel, is coverage in major cities. However, when I visit family in more rural locations, the coverage can be pretty poor, or even non-existent. Hopefully the merger with Alltel will provide greater saturation for the combined company. As always, your mileage may vary, especially since Alltel seems to have a reputation for very "hopeful" coverage area maps. According to a BetaNews story, one natural fit between the two companies, besides the CMDA standard, is that both are already working on LTE "fourth generation services".

"Reports wafting over the Atlantic Ocean suggest that Deutsche Telekom -- parent company of T-Mobile USA -- is considering Sprint Nextel as a take-over target. And why not? Sprint's share price is below $10, and the euro continues to dominate the dollar. Sprint's spectrum alone is worth it. That would make T-Mobile + Sprint the largest wireless operator in the United States. But could it work without falling to pieces?"

There is further speculation that Sprint is ready to ditch Nextel, the "push to talk" provider it purchased in 2005, which could make Sprint an even sweeter target for a T-Mobile buyout as Nextel's value and subscriber base has been on a steady decline since 2005. The big question is, if it happens, is how do you meld the two networks based on different technologies, T-Mobile being GSM and Sprint being CDMA. In order for the deal to make long term sense, there would have to be one surviving network.