Even though Verizon Wireless closed on its acquisition of Alltel Wireless last month, you’re still going to see Chad and his advertising cohorts for a while.
That’s because Alltel Wireless still operates in 105 U.S. markets, and it’s business as usual, including remaining competitive, says Paul Bowersock, senior sales and operations leader at Alltel.
The 105 markets were placed in trust and assigned to trustee Stephen Cannon, the same trustee who was involved in AT&T’s acquisition of Dobson Communications and Verizon’s acquisition of Rural Cellular Corporation. But this time, the deal involves 2.2 million customers and markets in 22 states nationwide – a much bigger lot to handle.
The trustee is charged with making sure the markets where Alltel still exists remain competitive until a buyer is found. In many markets, the two main players before the acquisition were Verizon Wireless and Alltel.
Last week, The Wall Street Journal reported that AT&T is one potential bidder in the sale of the assets, valued at $3 billion in total. Verizon did not confirm that but told Bloomberg that more than 30 parties have expressed interest in bidding.
Bowersock says what remains of Alltel represents the eighth largest U.S. carrier. About 2,500 people are still employed by Alltel. “Our goal, on top of maintaining competitiveness, is making sure the customer understands we’re still Alltel,” he says.
The customers in the divested markets still have access to the My Circle calling plan and other features from Alltel, which will continue to introduce new handsets and pricing that goes head-to-head with the competition, Bowersock says. And they can expect to see new commercials featuring the Alltel frontman, Chad.