Alltel Wireless

Verizon Wireless launches Samsung Omnia

Phil Goldstein — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 11:20:30 -0500

Verizon Wireless added another smartphone to its lineup just ahead of the official start of the holiday shopping season.

The carrier launched the CMDA Samsung Omnia, a touchscreen phone running on Windows Mobile with a five-megapixel camera. The phone uses Samsung's Touchwiz user interface and has haptic feedback that provides a little vibration when a selection is made. The phone has an on-screen QWERTY keyboard, runs on Windows Mobile 6.1, the Opera 9.5 web browser and is Wi-Fi capable. The phone is similar in may ways to the Samsung Delve being offered by Alltel, but the five-megapixel camera puts in on par with the Motorola Zn5 being offered by T-Mobile USA.

The Omnia will be available for sale online Nov. 26 and in stores beginning Dec. 8 for $250 after a $70 mail-in rebate and with a two-year contract.

For more:
- see this release

Related Articles:
Samsung passes Motorola as top U.S. handset maker
Verizon, AT&T launch new Samsung phones

T-Mobile, AT&T offer Black Friday discounts

Phil Goldstein — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 11:05:05 -0500

In the midst of widespread economic unrest, some of the carriers are launching Black Friday deals and products to try to lure in customers.

T-Mobile USA announced today that for the weekend of Nov. 28 to Nov. 30 it will offer the Motorola ZN5 for free after a $100 mail-in rebate and with a two-year contract. AT&T Mobility will offer two of its quick messaging phones, the Pantech Matrix and the Samsung Propel, on a buy-one-get-one-free basis after a mail-in rebate. The phones normally sell for $79.99 after a mail-in rebate and with a two-year contract. Alltel is also launching a phone on Black Friday, the Motorola Hint, a vertical slider phone with a QWERTY keyboard. The phone is selling for $99.99 after a $50 mail-in rebate and with a two-year contract.

"Black Friday has traditionally been a big day for retailers," said analyst Avi Greengart of Current Analysis in an interview with FierceWireless. "And we tend to forget that carriers are retailers." What they are selling these days, and this season especially, he added, is convergence devices. "Some people are buying advanced cell phones in lieu of other gadgets," he said, so it is not surprising that the carriers are offering discounts similar to what a retailer such as Best Buy would do on Black Friday.

Greengart said T-Mobile was making a strategic move in highlighting the ZN5, which, with five-megapixel camera, is one of the top camera phones on the market, and something the other carriers cannot really compete with. He also said the AT&T decision was smart because quick-messaging phones are a growing market segment.

For more:
- see this AT&T release

Related Articles:
AT&T launches new quick-texting phones
T-Mobile launches Samsung Gravity

More details on Verizon-Alltel deal emerge

Phil Goldstein — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 10:58:24 -0500

The FCC has provided more details on Verizon Wireless' $28.1 billion acquisition of Alltel, which will create the largest wireless operator in the country. Verizon has to divest from five additional markets in Lyon, Iowa; Muskegon, Manistee and Newaygo, Mich.; and Johnson, Tenn. The company will have 120 days following the close of the deal to divest those markets. Article

FierceWireless details Q3 carrier metrics

Phil Goldstein — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 11:41:29 -0500

Now that all of the major U.S. carriers have reported their third quarter earnings, FierceWireless has compiled all of the top metrics--ARPU, churn, net additions and total subscribers--for a fuller view at where the operators stand. Metrics charts

AT&T buys Centennial for $944M

Phil Goldstein — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 09:37:03 -0500

AT&T announced over the weekend that it had purchased wireless provider Centennial Communications for $944 million, further boosting its wireless coverage in rural areas, especially in the Midwest and along the Gulf Coast.

The deal--which, including the assumption of Centennial's debt--is worth about $2.8 billion and comes on the heels of AT&T's $275 million purchase of WiFi service provider Wayport.

The purchase still has to gain regulatory approval, but it should net AT&T 1.1 million of Centennial's customers in Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, the Great Lakes region and in the Gulf Coast. The move also comes less than a week after the Federal Communications Commission approved Verizon Wireless' $28.1 billion acquisition of Alltel, which will propel Verizon past AT&T as the country's largest wireless operator. AT&T currently has close to 75 million subscribers; the new Verizon entity will have about 83 million.

For more:
- see this article
- see this WSJ article (sub. req.)

Related Article:
AT&T acquires Wayport, boosts WiFi presence
Verizon's Alltel acquisition: What are the ramifications?

FCC approves Verizon's acquisition of Alltel

Sue Marek — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 17:43:56 -0500

WASHINGTON--After a long delayed Election Day meeting, the FCC approved Verizon Wireless's $28.1 billion acquisition of Alltel, making it the largest wireless carrier in the U.S., with a combined 83.8 million subscribers.

The U.S. Department of Justice approved the acquisition last week on the condition that Verizon divest 100 markets in 22 states where the companies overlapped. The FCC is requesting that Verizon also agree to divest five additional markets where it found that there would be competitive harm.

The open meeting, which was scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. EST, did not start until nearly 4 p.m. A backroom disagreement among the commissioners as to whether to allow Verizon and Alltel's current roaming agreements to extend for four years was the cause of the delay. Verizon will be honoring all of Alltel's roaming agreements for either the the term of the agreement or for four years, depending upon which expires first.

Alltel has long been a roaming partner with Verizon and operates in nearly 60 markets where Verizon does not. Both carriers use CDMA air interface technology and Qualcomm's BREW platform for content delivery. Similar to Verizon, Alltel plans to migrate to Long Term Evolution (LTE) technology for 4G.

Consumer advocates have argued that the new company would stifle competition. Commissioners Michael Copps and Jonathan Adelstein cited these concerns, and dissented in part on the vote. Copps called the new company "the only game in town" for rural roaming. "Reductions in competition will translate into lower quality service and higher prices for American consumers," he said. "That's not the direction we should be heading."

Commissioner Deborah Taylor Tate said that the deal is "a transaction that would result in an expanded footprint and upgraded services, especially in rural America, and may provide real public benefits immediately."

Related Articles:
Verizon snaps up Alltel for $28.1B
Justice Department approves Verizon-Alltel deal
Groups protest Verizon-Alltel deal before FCC vote

Alltel reports 335K net adds

Sue Marek — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 12:09:53 -0500

Alltel revealed some if its third-quarter metrics today. The carrier, which is awaiting final approval of its planned acquisition by Verizon Wireless, said that it added 1 million gross customers and 335,152 net customers bringing its total customer base to 13.8 million, up from 12.4 million in the year-ago quarter. Here is a rundown of the other key metrics:

Revenues: Revenues were $2.5 billion, a 10 percent increase over the year-ago quarter. However, the company had a $55.2 million in losses due to an increase in costs following the completion of its November 2007 merger with an affiliate of TPG Capital and GS Capital Partners.

Churn: Post-pay churn was 1.33 percent and total churn was 2.02 percent

ARPU: Average revenue per user was $55.62. Data revenue was $8.99, up 42 percent over the previous year's quarter.

For more:
- read this press release

Related articles:
Verizon says Alltel deal on track for end of year
Justice Department approves Verizon-Alltel deal

Justice Department approves Verizon-Alltel deal

Phil Goldstein — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 10:00:24 -0400

The U.S. Department of Justice has approved Verizon's proposed $28.1 billion acquisition of Alltel that the FCC is set to vote on on Nov. 4.

Antitrust regulators at the Justice Department gave their assent to the deal--which, if approved, will create the nation's largest wireless operator--on the condition that Verizon divest 100 markets in 22 states where the two carriers now overlap. The Federal Communications Commission has to give final regulatory approval to the acquisition, which was first announced in June.

"It was a very long and thorough merger evaluation," said John Thorne, general counsel for Verizon. The Justice Department "did it with terrific speed and thoroughness."

Consumer advocates have argued that the new company, with a combined 83.8 million subscribers, would stifle competition.

For more:
- see this article

Related Articles:
Verizon says Alltel deal on track for end of year
Groups protest Verizon-Alltel deal before FCC vote

Groups protest Verizon-Alltel deal before FCC vote

Phil Goldstein — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 11:23:08 -0400

A partnership of public interest groups has stepped forward to protest the proposed $28.1 billion Verizon Wireless-Alltel merger that the FCC is expected to vote on Nov. 4.

The Public Interest Spectrum Trust represents six organizations and will meet with the FCC commissioners this week to urge them to consider rules that would prevent the newly merged company from violating open access rules that apply to wireline ISPs.

In a separate report in The Wall Street Journal, Verizon said that despite Wall Street concerns over Alltel's debt, it was still planning to push ahead with the deal.

The deal, which Verizon hopes to finalize before the end of the year, is also being reviewed by the U.S. Department of Justice's antitrust division.

For more:
- see this article
- see this WSJ article (sub. req.)

Related Articles:
FCC to vote on Verizon-Alltel, Sprint-Clearwire mergers
Verizon says Alltel deal on track for end of year

Alltel launches LG Rhythm music phone

Phil Goldstein — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 11:41:51 -0400

Alltel can dance to the music.

The wireless carrier launched a new phone specifically geared around music playing today, the LG Rhythm. The phone has a graphic equalizer and an FM transmitter that lets users stream songs from up to 10 feet away. It also has a 3.5mm stereo headset and a microphone that allows users to switch between listening to music and taking calls. If users have favorite songs they want to access, the phones comes with a 1-inch circular touch screen that acts as a hot key.

The CDMA EV-DO Rev A phone also has a 1.3 megapixel camera and a camcorder, Bluetooth 2.0 capabilities, 120MB of internal memory and a microSD slot capable of holding 16GB. The phone will retail for $120 after a $50 mail-in-rebate with a two-year service contract.

For more:
- see these pictures of the LG Rhythm
- see this release
- see the full specs here

Related Articles:
Alltel intros mobile access to iTunes playlists
Alltel, mSpot duet on over-the-air music service

Verizon divests 15 more markets before Alltel deal

Phil Goldstein — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 10:13:42 -0400

Verizon Wireless confirmed that it was divesting spectrum in 15 markets ahead of its planned merger with Alltel, which is still awaiting approval by the U.S. Department of Justice.

The $28.1 billion deal, which, if approved, will create the country's largest wireless operator, has drawn scrutiny because of anti-trust concerns. To calm some of those worries, Verizon has already divested spectrum in 85 markets. The Alltel deal is expected to go through before the end of the year.

In a letter sent Tuesday to the FCC, Verizon said it would divest in 15 additional markets, which included markets in Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Carolina, South Carolina and Utah.

For more:
- see this article

Related Articles:
Economy could sink Verizon-Alltel deal
Verizon says Alltel deal on track for end of year

Sprint confirms there are potential iDEN bidders

Sue Marek — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 10:32:30 -0400

Sprint Nextel CEO Dan Hesse confirmed that there has been significant interest from companies wishing to bid on the Nextel iDEN business but said that the current economic climate may make it tough for a bidder to raise capital. He added that selling that asset wasn't the only option for Sprint.

Alltel's previous owners TPG Capital and GS Capital Partners have been named as possible bidders, however it's likely the venture capital firms would have to wait until their proposed sale of Alltel to Verizon Wireless is complete, which is expected to occur by year-end.

For more:
- see this article

Related articles:
Is Sprint selling its iDEN business?
Sprint CEO looks to improve Nextel unit

Economy could sink Verizon-Alltel deal

Jim Barthold — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 09:28:09 -0400

Financial analysts are increasingly worried that, despite protestations to the contrary earlier this week, Verizon Wireless may not be so hot to trot to acquire Alltel in the face of an increasingly ugly economy and Alltel's somewhat precarious debt situation.

The biggest concern, in money talk, is that the cost of protecting Alltel's bonds from default has doubled. Credit-default swaps are now 226.8 basis points compared to 113.4 points Sept. 25 and 91.6 points when Verizon agreed to buy the carrier June 6. Credit-default swaps are financial speculation on whether a company can repay its debt. Alltel has about $7.7 billion in bank loans due this year that it has to pay or refinance in a credit market that shows no signs of being able to do so even with a $700 billion government bailout.

On a positive note, Verizon still has enough cash to complete the transaction, according to Chris Diceman, a credit analyst with Dominion Bonding Rating Service in Toronto.

For more:
- see this article:

Related articles:
Verizon says Alltel deal on track for end of year
Verizon snaps up Alltel for $28.1B

Verizon says Alltel deal on track for end of year

Jim Barthold — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 10:03:04 -0400

It would be a non-news news story to say that Verizon is on track to spend $28.1 billion to acquire Alltel by the end of the year if it weren't for a tanking economy and a less-than-sureshot regulatory environment. That painful combination makes the carrier's announcement that it's going ahead with the deal newsworthy. Verizon spokeswoman Robin Nicol says the deal remains on schedule.

Verizon Wireless announced the deal during a somewhat friendlier economic climate in June and has been under an analytical microscope as financial markets worsened and the size of the deal became riskier.

When closed--both financially and via federal regulatory approval--the acquisition would make Verizon the nation's largest wireless carrier. When the deal was announced, analysts speculated about its impact on Sprint Nextel, which will drop to a distant third and AT&T, which might need to do some acquiring of its own to keep pace. The market conditions, and Verizon Wireless' apparently bold intent to plow ahead, has quelled that speculation--at least as much as that type of speculation is ever quelled.

For more:
- see this article

Related articles:
Verizon CEO predicts layoffs for Alltel employees
Leap and others asks FCC to deny Verizon/Alltel merger

FCC to review wireless mergers by year-end

Sue Marek — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 11:16:46 -0400

FCC Chairman Kevin Martin said yesterday that the agency will try to finish its review of Verizon's pending acquisition of Alltel as well as Sprint Nextel's joint venture with Clearwire by year-end.

This is good news for all parties involved since they have been preparing for a year-end close and telling investors that things are on track. Just last month Clearwire CFO John Butler told investors that things were on track for a fourth-quarter close and that buildout of its first four mobile WiMAX markets was moving smoothly.

Meanwhile, Verizon reportedly is preparing for the finalization of the Alltel deal and has retained Morgan Stanley to sell the overlapping assets it will have in 85 cellular markets as a result of its proposed acquisition. Morgan Stanley has reportedly valued the assets, which are spread throughout the U.S., to be between $3 billion and $4 billion.

Related articles:
Clearwire says Sprint deal will close soon
Verizon hires Morgan Stanley to divest overlapping markets

Alltel helps employers track workers

Sue Marek — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 10:40:12 -0400

Catering to its enterprise business, Alltel introduced a new tool designed to help small businesses monitor their mobile workforce in real time. The solution, called the Workforce Locator, was designed by Autodesk and will be available in BREW devices that have LBS such as the Samsung R430, Samsung U520, LG AX260 and the LG AX300.

Workforce Locator lets businesses view Web-based maps that track their workers and provides streamlined routing and fleet management so they can save on fuel costs. Employers can use the service to direct workers to a job site and then communicate with them via text message.

The software is available for $15 per month and a one-time charge per line of $19.99.

For more:
- see this press release

Related article:
Navigation apps drive LBS success

Alltel adds new RAZR to mix

Sue Marek — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 12:16:13 -0400

Alltel added the latest rendition of the popular Motorola RAZR to its mix. The carrier will offer the MotoRAZR VE20 to customers online beginning today for $99.99 after a $50 mail-in rebate. The phone will be available in stores starting Sept. 25. The phone features a large external screen with touch-sensitive controls and easy access to calls, music and messaging. Release; See this picture of the new phone

Alltel debuts avatars for messaging service

Phil Goldstein — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 09:50:28 -0400

Alltel Wireless is launching an animated MMS service that allows users to send messages using 3D avatars, photos and their own voices.

The service, called Alltel Avatars, is powered by Vidiator, a 3G multimedia platform, and looks to bring a higher level of personalization to messaging, going beyond the usual emoticons.

For more:
- see this article

Related Article:
AT&T to energize its mobile branding

Alltel lets customers bundle their apps

Sue Marek — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 10:38:14 -0400

Alltel is letting customers pick and choose from a variety of five application bundles giving them the chance to customize their phone and control their monthly bill. The Connect Pack bundles are available to all customers with postpaid rate plans of $39.99 or higher.

The five application bundles are:

Connect Pack 1, which provides Alltel mobile Web along with unlimited data minutes and costs $9.99 per month;
Connect Pack 2, which includes Alltel Radio with 10 channels and a subscription to the ringback service for $14.99 per month;
Connect Pack 3, which includes everything in Connect Pack 1 plus unlimited messaging for $19.99;
Connect Pack 4, which provides everything in Connect Pack 2 plus unlimited messaging and email for $24.99 per month; and
Connect Pack 5, which includes everything offered by Connect Pack 4 plus unlimited access to MyCast Weather, RealTone Jukebox membership and three new Realtones each month plus unlimited navigation for $34.99.

For more:
- See this press release

Related articles:
Verizon snaps up Alltel for $28.1B
Alltel plagued by acquisition expenses

Alltel settles class action suit

Sue Marek — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 10:48:22 -0400

Alltel has settled a class action lawsuit involving sixteen shareholders who accused the company of breaching its fiduciary duties when it agreed in November 2007 to a private equity buyout deal worth $24.7 billion, plus the assumption of $2.7 billion in debt.

The settlement required Alltel officials to disclose information about other bids, according to Pulaski County Circuit Court Judge Chris Piazza. Piazza said that this was the best course of action for dissatisfied investors who believed the company was worth more than the $71.50 per share offered by the equity investors.

Alltel has suffered losses because of the equity buyout. In the second quarter, the company reported a loss of $69.9 million, due primarily to interest costs as well as depreciation and amortization expenses from the deal. Alltel, however, is now in the process of being acquired by Verizon Wireless. The deal, which was announced June 5, is expected to close by year-end.

For more:
- see this article

Related articles:
Alltel plagued by acquisition expenses
Verizon snaps up Alltel for $28.1B