AT&T and Verizon Wireless Agree to Sale and Further Asset Swap

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posted May 8, 2009, 3:19 PM   by Eric M. Zeman
updated May 9, 2009, 11:21 AM

Updated: Added details about markets.

AT&T formally announced its intent to purchase certain former Alltel assets (as well as Verizon and Rural Cellular assets) from Verizon Wireless for the sum of $2.35 billion. As part of the deal, AT&T will acquire Verizon's licenses, network assets and 1.5 million subscribers in 79 regions, including rural areas of the following states: Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia and Wyoming. In addition to that purchase, AT&T is going to sell certain Centennial Communication assets to Verizon for $240 million. AT&T had announced its intent to buy Centennial in 2008, and that deal is still pending regulatory approval. The sale to Verizon includes 120,000 subscribers spread across Louisiana and Mississippi. This second transaction is meant to prevent overlap in some regions. AT&T said it will offer its new subscribers access to all its devices, 3G services and Wi-Fi hotspots. The former Alltel assets are all CDMA-based, however, and AT&T uses GSM technology. AT&T didn't provide details nor a time frame on how or when it would transition those 1.5 million CDMA customers to GSM-compatible equipment.

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