Alltel Wireless, which just agreed to be acquired by private equity investors, posted a strong third quarter as earnings jumped 51 percent to $282.6 million. The carrier also added 205,000 net subscribers in the quarter, about twice as many as a year ago. At the end of Q3, Alltel had 12.1 million subs. Revenue was also up 14 percent to $2.28 billion. Net churn for the carrier came in at 1.31 percent for post-pay and 1.90 percent for total churn. ARPU came in at $55.96, while data ARPU was $6.36. Here's a look at Alltel's last few quarters for net subscribers as compared to the other big carriers in the U.S.:

(click to see it in your browser) [1]

To compare the carrier's ARPU to it previous quarters and its rivals, click here. [2]
To compare Alltel's total churn rates for previous quarters, click here. [3]

For more on Alltel's Q3:
- read the press release [4]

Related stories:
- Private equity firms snag Alltel for $27.5B. Story [5]
- Alltel buyout on track; record-setting postpaid adds. Story [6]