Earlier today, it was announced that AT&T would buy up Alltel’s U.S. wireless service for $780 million, leading many to wonder how AT&T is buying a company that was already purchased by Verizon a few years back. [More]
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Will Customers Shafted In Verizon/Alltel Deal Get Shafted Again By AT&T/T-Mobile Merger?
By 5.6.11
While most of the country wasn’t directly affected by Verizon’s purchase of Alltel, a handful of both companies’ former customers have now ended up — through no choice of their own — as AT&T subscribers. Many of these people are peeved about being stuck with a company they never signed up with. They also want to know if AT&T’s pending purchase of T-Mobile means in terms of their already slim pickings. [More]
FCC Commissioner Michael Copps Talks Mergers With Consumerist
By 4.22.11
Of the commissioners on the FCC, Michael Copps is easily the most outspoken in his opinion on media consolidation. In January, he was the only commissioner to vote against the sale of NBC to Comcast, saying that the deal “grievously fails the public interest.” More recently, he’s expressed his skepticism about how smoothly the AT&T purchase of T-Mobile USA will go. And he’s also a cool enough guy to sit down for a chat with Consumerist. [More]
I Don't Want To Give Up My Droid X For Forced Switch To AT&T
By 10.22.10
Nick is one of the current Verizon customers whose contract has been transferred to AT&T due to Verizon’s acquisition of Alltel. He writes that he would be okay with this if AT&T actually offered a phone comparable to his current Droid X, and if he didn’t have to pay $200 for the sort-of-comparable phone they’re offering, the Samsung Captivate. [More]
Alltel Merger Forces Verizon Customer To Have AT&T… What?
By 7.9.10
If you’re an Alltel or Verizon customer you may have read that the companies are merging. In order for Verizon to acquire Alltel it had to agree to sell some of its assets to AT&T. That means that reader Scott now has a contract with AT&T. He hates AT&T. [More]
Alltel Customers Nervous About Verizon Switchover
By 7.31.09
Julia and her husband are former unhappy Verizon customers who thought they had escaped by signing on with Alltel, only to be sucked back in when Verizon’s took over the company.
Alltel Requires Data Plan For Blackberry Owners Who Don't Use Any Data
By 6.2.09
Dan likes the interface and ease of texting on his Blackberry, but doesn’t need mobile Internet or e-mail. He asked his service provider, Alltel, to switch his service to a Blackberry he already owned, but without a data plan. An employee said that was possible and set it up for him, and Dan texted away happily…until he received his bill, which now contains a hefty data plan charge. Alltel now insists that Dan can’t have a Blackberry on their network without a data plan.
By 11.5.08
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The FCC has given the green light to the Verizon/Alltel merger. Alltel brings 13 million new subscribers to Verizon, dethroning AT&T as the number one wireless carrier. [WaPo]
By 6.5.08
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Verizon confirms that it is buying Alltel. “This move will create an enhanced platform of network coverage, spectrum and customer care to better serve the growing needs of both Alltel and Verizon Wireless customers for reliable basic and advanced broadband wireless services,” said Lowell McAdam, Verizon Wireless president and chief executive officer. [Yahoo!]
Verizon Close To Buying Alltel For $27 Billion
By 6.4.08
CNBC is reporting that Verizon Wireless is deeply involved in talks to buy rural cellphone giant Alltel Wireless for an estimated $27 billion. Alltel was recently taken private TPG and Goldman Sachs Capital Partners.
Alltel Service Down For All Of Minnesota?
By 1.28.08
According to two frustrating calls to Alltel I made yesterday and today, service is down for all Minnesotans. When I called yesterday and spoke to technical support, the representative was unable to tell me if I would receive any compensation for the time their service was down (she suggested I call customer service and ask them. “Aren’t I speaking to customer service?” I asked. “No, this is technical support.” Helpful.)
By 12.18.07
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Alltel has magical feature that will let you read voicemail messages. Expensive, but should please people who violently hate voicemail. (Like, me, for example.) [NYT]
Consumers Grow Unhappier With Buying Cellphones
By 10.30.07
Customer satisfaction with buying cellphones at stores fell this year, reports J.D. Power and Associates in the recently released 2007 Wireless Retail Sales Satisfaction StudySM-Volume 2.
Sprint Is The Suckiest Cellphone Company
By 10.2.07
According to Google, Sprint is the suckiest cellphone company. When you query “____ sucks,” filling in the name of different providers, Sprint returns the most results. Here’s how all the providers stacked up:
UPDATE: Verizon And Helio Are The Coolest Cellphone Company!
By 10.1.07
According to Google, Verizon is the coolest cellphone company. When you query “____ is cool,” filling in the name of different providers, Verizon is tits. Here’s how many results were returned for each company:
Even If You Manage To Unlock iPhone, It Will Only Work With T-Mobile
By 7.6.07
In case you’re wondering why Consumerist isn’t writing a bunch of posts on how to hack your iPhone to get it to work on “any network,” here is why:
Let's All Learn Some Cellphone Acronyms
By 5.25.07
Let’s face it. Cellphones are here to stay and you need to know a little something about how they work if you’re going to know which one is right for you. Over at Yahoo! they’ve got a list of some cell phone acronyms that you could learn, thereby increasing your knowledge of the world around you. We know most of our readers are pretty well versed in everything cellphone, but its still worth taking a look.
