The U.S. will have a new largest wireless carrier. It’s not AT&T. It’s not Sprint. It’s not T-Mobile.
It’ll be Verizon Wireless as of Jan. 9, 2009, the carrier said on Jan. 2, 2009 in a regulatory filing as it makes official its acquisition of “come and get your love” cell phone carrier Alltel Wireless.
The deal, which is valued at a whopping $5.9 billion, has been rumored for 1.5 years and was announced in June 2008. Bringing Alltel into the Verizon Wireless family will mean the wireless juggernaut will have 78 million paying subscribers.
Even with the Alltel customer base, the 78 million figure only puts Verizon Wireless 3 million customers ahead of AT&T, which is its top rival.
Verizon Wireless, though, will have to wrangle with $22.2 billion in Alltel debt. The carrier is getting loans from eight different institutions in the amount of $17 billion to be able to swallow it.
Alltel was the fifth-largest carrier in the U.S.
Its coverage map mostly spans the interior of the U.S. Reports this week indicate that the merger will likely mean some Alltel jobs will be cut in its Little Rock, Ark. headquarters.