Alltel Wireless today said it lost $55.2 million for Q3 2008, a huge drop from the $282.6 million profit it made in the same quarter last year. Revenue was $2.5 billion, up slightly from $2.28 billion last year.

Officials trace the majority of the drop to amortization, depreciation and interest from Alltel’s merger with GS Capital Partners and TPG Capital last fall.

However, the news probably won’t affect an FCC vote today, in which the commission is expected to approve Alltel’s acquisition by Verizon Wireless. That deal was approved by the Justice Department last week.

Alltel said it gained 335,152 new customers in the quarter, bringing the total to nearly 14 million. Churn was 2.02%, average revenue per user (ARPU) was $55.62 and data ARPU was $8.99, officials said.