Verizon and Alltel to join in holy matrimony January 9th
By Chris Ziegler 
posted Jan 4th 2009 10:49PM
posted Jan 4th 2009 10:49PM
[Via Phone Scoop]
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*starts playing "We Are Family"* gahhh I love that song.
does anyone know if they are going to keep the brands seperate?
or will we get a super-verizon out of it?
ps first post :)
More like first post failure.
damn, just missed.
You know, if you didn't take the time to add that first post line, you probably would have been...
Yah, First to FAIL!
Speaking of firsts... I want to see the first TV ads after the "merger." Does this mean we'll see ones with Chad, the Alltel guy, in a gimp suit being the Verizon guy's bitch? "Can ya hear me now? Good!"
@peter
you are probably right. oh well, its all in good fun.
Alltel was the creation of the Y2k GTE and Bell Atlantic Mergers. Where GTE was forced to sell off it's cellular division to an investor. It's very ironic that It now becomes part of Verizon. The very same company that was not allowed to own those networks run by Alltel in the first place.
Actually, Alltel was around long before 2000. I had an Alltel phone when I was 15... that would have been 1995. My dad had one well before that. The company was greatly expanded in their digital capacities when the GTE/Alltel merger happened, but yes, it is interesting that Alltel got the GTE markets and Verizon got the Primeco markets.... guess it worked out for them in the end. It makes you wonder how they really decide who is a monopoly and who isn't. It's also a shame that Alltel just aquired Western Wireless and a few other smaller companies. If you really look at it, Verizon just bought about 4 companies.
I have met several employees of Verizon who worked for GTE. And they all say that things were better when GTE ran the show and that they were very happy. Now they tell me, their new master (Verizon) doen't run the company as well and they cannot wait to finish out their last few years and retire, then put the Verizon misery behind them. This would not be the case if GTE were still around. Sad.
man, those guys in the alltel commercials are all out of Jobs. That Verizon guy is definitely getting a raise. Too bad all he spends his money on is feeding all those people he rolls with everywhere. maybe the guys in the Commercial could roll with him now!!
hahahaha
What was fascinating to me was that in the last one, the Alltel guy made less fun of the VZW guy, who was hanging at the back of the crowd. Curious, but not surprising.
I can imagine the commercial now: The Verizon guy and Chad have a big wedding, and T-Mo, Sprint, and AT&T run in after "speak now, or forever hold your peace."
Doesn't Alltel spend like half their time mocking Verizon in their ads? Weird...
Alltel was playing tough to get.
So I guess it's back to the drawing board for Alltel's ad guys... Or does the Verizon guy just decide to leave his cronies and join the dark side? Or Verizon absorbs them and kills off the Alltel name completely...
if t mobile passes up sprint and alltel
if t mobile passes up sprint and alltel merges with verizon wont t mobile be #2 largest carrier?
wtf? engadget you cut me off right before a greater sign?
im not sure how you totally forgot about ATT.
the greater sign (also known as >) is also the beginning of an HTML tag, and because the guy who wrote the comment system was a talentless PHP monkey, it chops it off instead of just escaping it like a sane system.
Now, if T-Mobile did not pass but BOUGHT Sprint, they'd wouldn't just be two, they'd be the top dog.
... But that won't be happening anytime soon (despite it being totally fun)
Darn, the Alltel guy was cool. =)
Ah, Chad. He was by far the coolest. I mean, the name Chad just reeks with awesomeness.
Ah yes, chad.
He is my friend's brother's wife's cousin.
really.
I've heard that he is a very cool person.
My friend said he rocks at volleyball too.
chadbrochill17
Verizon sucks. I know, I know...this makes them "bigger than AT&T." Except...AT&T is international, as in Europe, South America, China...anyplace except Japan. AT&T has better phones. The list goes on. Honestly, I have always had AT&T and will for as long as they are still around, even they get another new name. (Cellular One, Cingular, AT&T, ????)
Actually AT&T doesn't operate anywhere but the US. Yes there phones have roaming agreements worldwide, but so does Verizon with select phones as does T-Mobile. In fact T-Mobile is larger overall than AT&T if you consider its global subscribers.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mobile_network_operators
Half of Verizon Wireless is owned by Vodafone. I guess they are kind of international too.... Vodafone only the largest cell phone provider in the world......
@p3t3
vodafone is actually the second largest, and they only own 45% of VZW
Actually, Vodafone is number 2. Check out the wiki link above. :D
Funny how brand loyalty is now covering not only PMPs, cellphones, game consoles, computer hardware manufacturer's... but also cell phone providers! Hmmmm...
Personally I switched to Verizon after 5 years with AT&T because AT&T signal was really bad in my new house (though it's in the middle of AT&T's best covered 3G area), and also because I want a signal in metro. I got it all with Verizon (and a 1 year contract too).
So I guess, Verizon may not suck at least for some...
so what will happen with all the alltel exclusives like the delve and touch pro uncrippled? will they be part of verizons lineup now? hope so!
i hope so, i hope Verizon doesnt "cripple" the phones i hope that the CEO's will get together to come up with the best plans for people of types!
i hope they get rid of that tiresome interface.
little rock and atlanta are not close actually. at all.
Exactly! And say what now?
"so Verizon's headcount loss could ultimately be AT&T's gain"
Please, keep those CDMA Luddites far, far away...
According to the Alltel people I talked to, this merger unfortunately means that both Verizon and Alltel will be pulling out of some areas. Including the city that I live in. Supposedly someone is going to come in and scoop up their customer bases. I just hope that whomever it is will either support the current CDMA networks, or at least reimburse those of us with rather expensive phones. (I've already been burned once with AT&T)
that doesn't even make sense...
I was told a couple weeks ago that if the location has only alltel, the store becomes a Verizon wireless store. If both exist, the alltel reps better start looking for a job. I just renewed my Alltel contract so I'll have myCircle for 2 more years. After that, its let Verizon cripple my blackberry time :'(
Some Alltel (and some Verizon) customers must be divested to a trustee (and then eventually to some buyer supposedly) in order to avoid formation of a monopoly in areas where Alltel and VZ are the only current (or completely dominant, as a combination) choice.
You will keep all of your functionality per your contract. What happens after your contract runs out is anyone's guess at this point -- depending on the buyer you may have to get a new phone, etc.
@Consultor
That makes sense. Alltel and Verizon are indeed the only full services out here in Elko County. T-Mobile only does the pre-paid phones.
Fortunately I have about another seven months on the contract.
A match made in HELL!
Thank God for Sprint. I hope Sprint can move upward this year and stop the bleeding. Otherwise I will be really screwed. I love my plan and I love my network. I'd hate to switch to AT&T or even worse Verizon..
oh no. i hope this doesnt kill the iphone.,now verizon will have all those cool alltel phones.,should apple iphone be worried.,?
shutup.
What a dee dee deeee.......
Wow. That's totally awesome. Wow for an article about Verizon, the words "AT&T" sure appear a lot. More so than "Verizon" even. What's up with that?
Obviously it is a part of the Engadget team's eloborate scheme to one day relate every news story somehow to Apple as the result of a sick and twisted game of Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon (Steve Jobs edition).
Verizon - AT&T is another phone company - AT&T sells the iPhone - Yay! we got to Apple!
Seriously though, AT&T has always given me great service. I have never dropped a call, I have always have at least 2 bars, even on cross country road trips from Indiana to CA, right in up PCH to Oregon, and all the way to DC. Unless they do something really radical - like sell out to Verizon - I will stick with AT&T.
first verizon buys out quest, now alltel.
does does that mean that verizon customers will get better service in places where alltel was operating?
i'm not entirely in the know about the goings-on of the "verizon gods"
You think if i walk into an alltel store they'll tell me what exactly all this merger stuff means for my service?
Cause as of right now, verizon has no service in my area..
bomb my buddy's cabin has alltel and will now have verizon :]
So is this gonna be a Sprint-Nextel kinda togetherness
or a AT&T-takeover cingular kinda togetherness?
I thought the reason Sprint and Nextel remained separate was do to incompatible wireless services?
Hopefully a Sprint Nextel togetherness...
Verizon will make so many switching customers mad that i don't see a 3 million subscriber lead staying that high. I am not sure what they will do about the plans. i am assuming they will keep the "my circle" plans to keep customers. Soon as you break a phone they will force you to a Verizon plan and that customer may leave. Taking on 28 billion in debt and a customer base of angry soon to leave people is not the brightest thing in a bad economy. Good luck!
Sprint will likely take the markets that Verizon must vacate because they are already CDMA, if you live in one of those areas im sorry.
I hope not. I hope VZW will tell Alltel customers to either switch to a nation plan, or piss off. It's bad enough dealing with the minute amount of legacy ATT Wireless customers that still exist. I do NOT want to deal with legacy Alltel customers:
Customer: "Sew if I git a new sull phune, do I git ta keep mah alltill cirkill plan?
Me: "No, Verizon doesn't support the Alltell My Circle plans. You have to switch to a Nation plan.
Customer: "Wut? Do ya mean I can't cull peepull fah free?"
Me: "Verizon has 78 million people in their network, so if you call someone there's a 33% chance they'll have Verizon."
Customer: "Sew ya mean al have mah cirkill plan?"
Me: "Just cancel your service. You shouldn't be talking to people."
Verizon right now has 70.8 million customers and Alltel has 14.8 million (I think!!!) How is that 78 million? it's more like ~85 million.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alltel
Remember Alltel and Verizon were requested to divest over 100 markets to make this deal happen, I assume thats where some of the numbers get skewed.
Stone's throw? Little Rock and Atlanta are separated by 522 miles.
Also, any word on whether Verizon will incorporate Alltel's MyCircle? I highly doubt it considering it's IS VZW, but I dude can dream.
Last I heard they would not be keeping the My Circle plan after the contract periods ran out BUT who knows, it's all rumors and speculation at this point. Verizon is a huge unpredictable entity and they have a lot to digest with this merger.
oooh -- will I get to have a favorite 20 now?? and will I be able to date Chad?
That sucks... Alltel tends to be a relatively nice company to deal with, and they don't dictate to the phone manufacturers a specific UI and stupid restrictions that make it so people can't use their phone the way they want.
maybe this will be the end of douchebag chad on the commercials
new video: "will it blend - alltel chad"
Okay, So my families' current contract with Alltel ended in July. Since we are not binned to the current plan, Does the Grandfather thing still apply? And what will happen to the Cellphone selection? Do the Alltel phones go away and we just choose from Verizon, or Will they be combined so we can choose from both. We are holding off on getting a new, better plan till this is finished. We could use new phones but do not know what would get us the best phone i guess. Should we get a new plan now with new alltel phones or wait?
That depends roughly where you are located. Assuming you are in a area where there are no divested markets you have a couple choices available to you. One would be to renew your contracts now, get Alltel pricing but not have the selection of Verizon phones available. That would probably save you some money in the long run because once you are locked into a contract term they can only do so much with your rate.
Or you could wait and sign up with Verizon next week. You would have their selection of phones but you would only be able to renew with one of their rate plans.
If you just continue going month to month with your service I don't know fully what they can do to your rate plan, you would have to ask an Alltel retail sales manager and even then they might not have that answer just yet. Having gone through a couple mergers, since there are no contractual obligations (on eithers behalf) if Verizon terminated the rate plan you are on currently I would ASSUME you would be forced to renew with one of their current plan offerings.
Recently over the last couple weeks I have a number of problems with my Alltel phone (glimmer). I have no bars if any and calls have been getting dropped. My family also have experienced these same problems. Is there any reason for this?
I really like my phone but lately it has become a real pain.
I live in the south Tampa area (Riverview). Anyone else experiencing these problems?
I will be glad when we get to use versions towlers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1