V8 Beast Posted June 6, 2008 Report Share Posted June 6, 2008 http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080606/ap_on_hi_te/verizon_wireless_alltel_24 By PETER SVENSSON, AP Business Writer Fri Jun 6, 1:36 AM ET "NEW YORK - Verizon Wireless has agreed to buy Alltel Corp. for $5.9 billion, which would make it by far the largest cellular carrier in the U.S. Verizon Wireless would also assume $22.2 billion in debt in the deal, bringing the total value to $28.1 billion, the parties said Thursday. The deal comes just seven months after Alltel was taken private by TPG Capital and a unit of Goldman Sachs Group. They paid $24.7 billion for the stock and took on $2.7 billion in debt, bringing the value of that deal to $27.4 billion. Alltel has 13.2 million subscribers in 34 states, mainly in rural areas away from the coasts. Added to Verizon Wireless 67.2 million subscribers, the size of the combined company would surpass the current U.S. cellular leader AT&T Inc., with 71.4 million subscribers. The parties expect the deal to close by the end of the year, pending regulatory approvals. The deal is likely to face scrutiny by the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission, but analysts expect it to pass. Shares of New York-based Verizon Communications Inc., the controlling parent of Verizon Wireless, rose $2.16, or 5.8 percent, to $39.14 by late morning. Verizon Wireless' other parent is Vodafone Group PLC of Britain, with a 45 percent share of the joint venture. Verizon Wireless expects that the deal to add immediately to earnings, excluding transaction and integration costs. It expects the deal to generate "synergies" of more than $9 billion due to reduced capital and operating spending. Analysts believe Verizon Wireless pays Alltel hundreds of millions of dollars a year in roaming fees, since Alltel provides coverage in many areas where Verizon Wireless does not. In a statement, Verizon Communications Chairman and Chief Executive Ivan Seidenberg said Alltel is a "a perfect fit," given its valuable customer base and solid financials. He also pointed to the fact that the carriers share the same network technology. AT&T and another wireless carrier T-Mobile USA use an incompatible technology. The $28.1 billion Verizon Wireless is paying, including debt, points to a small profit for the private-equity firms. The buyout happened at a difficult time in the credit markets, and the banks who financed the deal reportedly ended up holding some of the debt on their books, rather than selling it. That put pressure on the buyout group to cash out. Talks between Verizon Wireless and Alltel were reported Wednesday by CNBC and The Wall Street Journal. Based on those reports, analyst Craig Moffett at Sanford Bernstein said the deal could yield significant economies of scale. "The consolidation of Alltel takes another step towards rationalizing and consolidating the U.S. wireless industry, something that must be viewed as a positive" from an investor perspective, he said. He said regulatory approval was likely, since the industry is already viewed as consisting of four players: the national carriers Verizon Wireless, AT&T, Sprint Nextel Corp. and T-Mobile USA. The deal signals that "the days for a mid-sized, regional stand-alone wireless operator are numbered," he wrote." Shares are looking great, and my 2nd bonus this year is looking to be huge!!!! :bangbang: :bangbang: :bangbang: :bangbang: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpaceGhost Posted June 6, 2008 Report Share Posted June 6, 2008 Monday might be bad for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orion Posted June 6, 2008 Report Share Posted June 6, 2008 like i always said, customer service is a good ting, as are great rates and cool phones, but when it comes down to it, whoever has the best coverage is going to be the winner of this game. and verizon has always had the best coverage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpaceGhost Posted June 6, 2008 Report Share Posted June 6, 2008 like i always said, customer service is a good ting, as are great rates and cool phones, but when it comes down to it, whoever has the best coverage is going to be the winner of this game. and verizon has always had the best coverage. Joe Campbell and his wife can't complete a phone call from his house off of Central College Rd between Ulry Rd and Hamilton Rd. I have all 5 bars in his house and have no issues, Joe=Verizon, Me=well you know.... He has called to complain, Verizon said "tough". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orion Posted June 6, 2008 Report Share Posted June 6, 2008 ghost, i cant complete a call in our little office building in the back of csc. cingular customers have no issues. i cant explain it, but honestly, im okay with it, because i get coverage in lots of places that cingular customers cant. point is, im not saying that verizon doesnt have holes, all the companies do. just in my experience, they have less of them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest tbutera2112 Posted June 6, 2008 Report Share Posted June 6, 2008 only place ive been that my verizon didnt work at all is Warsaw, OH...went up there for the weekend and the only thing that worked was the walkie talkie feature on the nextel phones...they couldnt call each other, but the walkie talkies worked and all the guys i was with had them so we could all talk while we were up there....we were within a 20mi radius of each other the whole weekend.....theres 3 or 4 guys who lives up there it was a pretty big group so we were spread out all over Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sol740 Posted June 6, 2008 Report Share Posted June 6, 2008 I suppose we've (att) been #1 long enough. I'm just happy verizon is testing LTE. Kind of weird to turn their back on UMB. Its good though, 4g wireless data may be standardized and pave the way for a specific set of spectrums we can all benefit from. I know att and verizon recently made huge bids for the 700mhz spec. Anyways ... have a nice bonus. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clifford Automotive Posted June 6, 2008 Report Share Posted June 6, 2008 I know a guy named Joe Campbell... I didnt know he was married though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpaceGhost Posted June 6, 2008 Report Share Posted June 6, 2008 Joe was one of the first members. He doesn't post much anymore. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V8 Beast Posted June 6, 2008 Author Report Share Posted June 6, 2008 Verizon Wireless was number one until Cingular and ATT merged. Also from a coverage standpoint ATT actually has more towers, but Verizon Wireless customer satisfaction rate and network tests have always been better. Now that we have Alltel (which litterally uses the same phones and network) its a smart easy transition, and instant money in the bank. If they allow this to go through it will be nice for everyone involved... except maybe Sprint and Att Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V8 Beast Posted June 6, 2008 Author Report Share Posted June 6, 2008 Monday might be bad for you. Mondays are always bad... Thats when the telephone warriors (that think everything is closed on the weekends) come out Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpaceGhost Posted June 6, 2008 Report Share Posted June 6, 2008 I block your trippple.... Not the reason I was thinking. *cough*broadband, GPS enabled iPhone, new software and app store launching*cough* Monday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V8 Beast Posted June 6, 2008 Author Report Share Posted June 6, 2008 Triple!!! (I think Ben might demand a recount though lol) Edit: You undeleted my delete! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpaceGhost Posted June 6, 2008 Report Share Posted June 6, 2008 I block your deleted post. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V8 Beast Posted June 6, 2008 Author Report Share Posted June 6, 2008 LOL! Now I'm going to ban you using my verizon wireless cell phone! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V8 Beast Posted June 6, 2008 Author Report Share Posted June 6, 2008 I block your trippple.... Not the reason I was thinking. *cough*broadband, GPS enabled iPhone, new software and app store launching*cough* Monday. The iphone pretty much has already took the majority of the people that wanted it. When it came out vzw still added a lot of customers (not as many as they wanted but it was still a positive number) and with the new release it may convince a few people to go, but at the same time people will come back to replace them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phil Posted June 6, 2008 Report Share Posted June 6, 2008 congrats, you'll still suck at driving Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sol740 Posted June 6, 2008 Report Share Posted June 6, 2008 Verizon Wireless was number one until Cingular and ATT merged. Actually "Cingular Wireless" was a joint venture for SBC (now ATT) and Bellsouth (now ... ummmm ... ATT). SBC owned a controlling percentage of "Cingular Wireless" around 60%, after ATT bought Bellsouth, the name change took place. With Sprint failing so hard, I keep wondering if (when) Verizon will buy out Sprint. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V8 Beast Posted June 7, 2008 Author Report Share Posted June 7, 2008 Actually "Cingular Wireless" was a joint venture for SBC (now ATT) and Bellsouth (now ... ummmm ... ATT). SBC owned a controlling percentage of "Cingular Wireless" around 60%, after ATT bought Bellsouth, the name change took place. With Sprint failing so hard, I keep wondering if (when) Verizon will buy out Sprint. Cingular purchased ATT because they were having some issues. Regardles of what companies made up Cingular, it was the Cingular brand used publicly in the AT&T acquisition (just as Verizon Wireless is actually owned by Verizon and Vodaphone, but the news will say Verizon Wireless acquired Alltel). If you look a few years back there were 7 major brands... Verizon Wireless (number 1 at the time), Cingular (number 2), At&t, Nextel, Sprint, T-Mobile, and Alltel. Verizon Wireless had a strong hold on the everyday customer and Cingular had a strong hold on the business customers. ATT ended up getting purchased and losing its name in the cellular world for a little while. Then like you said ATT bought Bell South and put there name back on the map. Nextel/Sprint joined up but kept both names, and Alltell might be changed to Verizon Wireless soon. From 7 major carriers we are down to 4. Not to mention that with the way Sprint/Nextel looks it will probably be 3 in the next few years. I know the history goes back further than 8 years. Anyone who had Cellular One, or Airtouch knows that the analog side had its share of mergers. One of which made Verizon Wireless the number one carrier before Cingular even formed in 2000 to take the number 2 spot.. One thing I do know is cell phone business BTW, Phil your just mad because my M.T's didnt help you get another fluke 12 second pass :gtfo: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Z06G Posted June 7, 2008 Report Share Posted June 7, 2008 i have had nothing but great celluar service from verizon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sol740 Posted June 8, 2008 Report Share Posted June 8, 2008 Cingular purchased ATT because they were having some issues. Regardles of what companies made up Cingular, it was the Cingular brand used publicly in the AT&T acquisition (just as Verizon Wireless is actually owned by Verizon and Vodaphone, but the news will say Verizon Wireless acquired Alltel). If you look a few years back there were 7 major brands... Verizon Wireless (number 1 at the time), Cingular (number 2), At&t, Nextel, Sprint, T-Mobile, and Alltel. Verizon Wireless had a strong hold on the everyday customer and Cingular had a strong hold on the business customers. ATT ended up getting purchased and losing its name in the cellular world for a little while. Then like you said ATT bought Bell South and put there name back on the map. Nextel/Sprint joined up but kept both names, and Alltell might be changed to Verizon Wireless soon. From 7 major carriers we are down to 4. Not to mention that with the way Sprint/Nextel looks it will probably be 3 in the next few years. I know the history goes back further than 8 years. Anyone who had Cellular One, or Airtouch knows that the analog side had its share of mergers. One of which made Verizon Wireless the number one carrier before Cingular even formed in 2000 to take the number 2 spot.. One thing I do know is cell phone business BTW, Phil your just mad because my M.T's didnt help you get another fluke 12 second pass :gtfo: Its funnier than that though. Cingular (SBC AND BELLSOUTH) bought "ATT wireless" which was owned and dropped by Legacy ATT (ma-bell, the big-one, the OG) and "ATT wireless" was absorbed into the CINGULAR brand. A year or so later, SBC, without bellsouth, bought Legacy ATT (mabell) to aquire their landline business customers. So SBC now owned all of ATT but not all of the wireless brand. Whats funny is that after changing the name from ATT wireless to Cingular, we buyout Bellsouth and change the name back to ATT. Hilarious. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V8 Beast Posted June 8, 2008 Author Report Share Posted June 8, 2008 Its funnier than that though. Cingular (SBC AND BELLSOUTH) bought "ATT wireless" which was owned and dropped by Legacy ATT (ma-bell, the big-one, the OG) and "ATT wireless" was absorbed into the CINGULAR brand. A year or so later, SBC, without bellsouth, bought Legacy ATT (mabell) to aquire their landline business customers. So SBC now owned all of ATT but not all of the wireless brand. Whats funny is that after changing the name from ATT wireless to Cingular, we buyout Bellsouth and change the name back to ATT. Hilarious. LOL. Imagine how much money they could have saved if they would have just left the name as ATT in the beginning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2 Sweet Posted June 8, 2008 Report Share Posted June 8, 2008 I have T-Mobile, and they actually have good service around here. I'm wondering hoiw long it'll take before they are bought out..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sol740 Posted June 8, 2008 Report Share Posted June 8, 2008 I have T-Mobile, and they actually have good service around here. I'm wondering hoiw long it'll take before they are bought out..... It wouldn't surprise me with this move from verizon, if att bought tmobile. They're both GSM, so theres almost 0 headaches, unlike the original "att wireless" which was still tdma. Forcing migrations is annoying for customers when they have to switch phones, and a pain for the service reps that have to deal with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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