Alltel buyout on track; record-setting postpaid adds

In what will likely be the last earnings call for Alltel, company executives told analysts that the company's anticipated $24.7 billion sale to TPG Capital and GS Capital Partners, a subsidiary of Goldman Sachs, is making progress. Alltel shareholders are expected to approve the transaction at a shareholder meeting Aug. 29 and CEO Scott Ford says that he expects a favorable FCC vote on the deal to happen this year.

The wireless carrier did suffer a 54 percent decrease in second-quarter profits compared to the previous year. The drop was a result of the firm selling its landline phone business.

On the wireless front, however Alltel is prospering. The firm added 181,000 postpaid subscribers bringing its total customer base to more than 12.2 million.

Churn was 1.67 percent, down from 1.9 percent a year ago.  Average revenue per user was $54.10, an increase of 3 percent year over year. Data revenue was $5.63, an increase of 73 percent year over year. Data revenue now accounts for 12 percent of the firm's retail revenue.  

For more on Alltel's 2Q results:
- see this press release
- also read this WSJ article (sub. req.) 

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Record low churn for Alltel