Alltel tried to buy Sprint, T-Mobile and AT&T as a public company

Unless you've been camped out under a Rhode Island-sized boulder for the past few weeks, you know that Verizon has announced its intentions to acquire Alltel. During a recent interview with CEO Scott Ford, Talk Business host Roby Brock was able to get a few talking points out of the exec that didn't involve the most recent transaction. More specifically, Mr. Ford noted that prior to Alltel becoming a private company, it had "tried to buy Sprint three times, tried to buy AT&T Wireless [and] tried to buy T-Mobile." He continued by saying that "some of those times it went with partners, [while] some of those times it didn't." Essentially, Alltel was "doing everything it could to get to a national platform." Believe it or not, those quotes really are just the tip of the iceberg, but the full spill is entirely too detailed for this space. If you're curious to know what might have been, break out the reading glasses and hit the link below.

[Via mocoNews]

[Gingerbread Man @ Jun 24th 2008 10:45AM]

Wow!

[bohsocks @ Jun 24th 2008 12:36PM]

That makes me think of Alltel as that dog at the dog park who just keeps trying to hump all the other dogs before the biggest dog (Verizon) comes over and humps it.

Chad is such a skank.

And why can't we use some other state as a comparison in size rather than mine..... Rhode Island is such a skank.

Skank.

[Charlie Calhoun @ Jun 24th 2008 3:08PM]

It's because Rhode Island has skanks available. It's the only state besides Nevada where prostitution is legal. And no, I've never been to either of those states.

[Wii60 @ Jun 24th 2008 10:46AM]

Wow, any one of those combinations would have been interesting back in the day, but not now.

I think the only merger I'd care about that has a shot of happening is the oft-rumored T-Mobile/Sprint one for easy 3G deployment.

[From My Cube @ Jun 24th 2008 10:47AM]

alltel, stand'n on the corner trying to make a few extra dollas...and verizon finally rolled up for a good time

[MadMike @ Jun 24th 2008 10:50AM]

CDMA is almost dead, and both Verizon and AllTel are years away from LTE.

Especially with the speeds I've seem with UTMS, 1.4Mbps seems like dialup compared to UTMS.

Then there is WiMax. Which I don't understand why they need two standards YET AGAIN. Why can't they just build 1, nationwide technology. Coast to coast covering every square inch of the country with perfect reception and work together to build an infrastructure akin to the Internet and WiFi.

Oh wait, they want to take advantage of the consumer and rip us off....

[From My Cube @ Jun 24th 2008 11:39AM]

FACT:

Verizon to Launch LTE in 2010

FACT

ATT to Launch LTE in 2010

CDMA, is far from dead...there are a bajillion reasons to fight about both its far from kicking the can.... I for one, like not having my speakers crackel and pick up my phone call everytime someone calls me...

[WITHOUT A NAME @ Jun 24th 2008 11:04AM]

Yay
First comment
I hope they don't have sucky customer service like Rogers...

[Shane @ Jun 24th 2008 11:30AM]

FAIL

[CUBSWILLWIN @ Jun 24th 2008 11:34AM]

how did you not know you were not going to be first?

[Habitual Cheetah @ Jun 24th 2008 11:35AM]

lol wut

[WITHOUT A NAME @ Jun 24th 2008 11:44AM]

my Internet did not refresh fast enough...
TELUS!!!
Y u have to do this to me?

[CUBSWILLWIN @ Jun 24th 2008 11:51AM]

'Cause Canadian companies are untrustworthy people (e:Rogers)

[Grant @ Jun 24th 2008 12:09PM]

It's because of all of weblogs inc commenting systems have sucked recently, and there is a delay on posting and it showing up on the page.
I've certainly noticed an increase in double posts.

[WITHOUT A NAME @ Jun 24th 2008 11:05AM]

Kay
maybe it's not the first comment...
How do you get names????

[Zach @ Jun 24th 2008 2:23PM]

Hit Alt-f4 anytime you start to load engadget. That should fix your problem.

[RC @ Jun 24th 2008 11:13AM]

I'm suprised they didn't try to merge or buy US Cellular. They could had created a national carrier with USCC, and have around 20 million customers.

[applefan @ Jun 24th 2008 11:19AM]

Let me just say in advance - if anyone starts ranting about Apple here - FAIL!

[applefan @ Jun 24th 2008 11:20AM]

Fail. Sigh....

[Colin @ Jun 25th 2008 12:48AM]

PWNED! Epic Fail

[applefan @ Jun 24th 2008 11:21AM]

Stupid comment system! Engadget, please fix your stupid comment system.

[Blacksheep @ Jun 24th 2008 11:41AM]

Once again, my state is utilized as a unit of measure. Why not use Delaware? It's only a few miles bigger than our state!

An iceberg the size of Delaware, a farm the size of Delaware, an asteroid the size of Delaware.

Oh right, Delaware isn't exciting enough to be used for anything lol.

[Grant @ Jun 24th 2008 12:10PM]

trust me, Rhode Island isn't very exciting either.
But it is the smallest, and i guess everyone has to have their badge of honor.

[dagamer34 @ Jun 24th 2008 12:20PM]

Because using cities people know about would imply something large like Houston or Los Angeles.

[Blacksheep @ Jun 24th 2008 1:31PM]

It's more exciting then you think ;)

[Matt E. @ Jun 24th 2008 4:01PM]

@dagamer34: Yeah I know Delaware and Rhode Island are small, but when did they become cities?

[thedesolate1 @ Jun 24th 2008 11:50AM]

If Tmobile buys AllTell I will be stuck with ATT as the only GSM carrier... =(

[michas_pi @ Jun 24th 2008 12:02PM]

TracPhone is the "other" GSM carrier. It's operated by America Movil.

[Cactus @ Jun 24th 2008 12:39PM]

TracFone isn't a carrier... it's an MVNO.

Besides, even if T-Mobile had bought Alltel (or Sprint for that matter), scrapping GSM networks isn't exactly a part of Deutsche Telekom's business plan.

[Grant @ Jun 24th 2008 12:12PM]

With what sort of capital were they planning to buy these companies? At no point was Alltel that big or profitable to buy one of those behemoths.

[Ryan Trevisol @ Jun 24th 2008 2:16PM]

You can try as hard as you like to buy AT&T for $1,500. Doesn't mean it's going to go anywhere.

[Wwhat @ Jun 24th 2008 2:40PM]

I'm glad I shoved that boulder between me and boring cellular telephony buying and selling news, phew.

[engadgetier @ Jun 24th 2008 3:23PM]

It would be crazy if AT&T and T-Mobile merged, that would be like almost a 100 million users!

[teej @ Jun 24th 2008 5:33PM]

what's Alltel?