Alltel tried to buy Sprint, AT&T and T-Mobile
By Will Park on Tuesday, June 24th, 2008 at 1:14 PM PST In AT&T, Alltel, Announcements, Sprint, T-Mobile, Verizon
What’s this? A recent interview with Alltel CEO Scott Ford has revealed that prior to getting prepped as Verizon’s $28 billion meal, Alltel tried to buy one of the Big Three US wireless carriers.
Apparently, Alltel made a bid to takeover Sprint (NYSE: S) not once, but three times. Talk about gung-ho dedication. AT&T (NYSE: T) and T-Mobile (NYSE: DT) were even targeted as a possible Alltel acquisitions. Alltel was making these moves prior to being taken private.
Alas, Alltel’s nationwide carrier gobble-up didn’t pan out. Verizon (NYSE: VZ) ended up swallowing the CDMA carrier for a whopping $28 billion without so much as a bat of an eyelid. But, the revelation is something of an eye-opener, proving once again, that we never quite know what happens behind closed board-room doors.
[Via: TalkBusiness]
well thats too bad! now the alltel customers will pay a higher prices with verizon.
No kidding! It’s a great selling point though – when people come in the store and say “I don’t know….you’re going to be Verizon in a few months and they’re high..” or “I don’t like them” or “their customer service sucks”, I can reply with “Yes, I understand, I feel the same way, but at least if you sign up with Alltel now whatever rate plan you’re on at the time of the actual merger, you will keep that through the end of your contract. After that, you’re free to go to any other carrier.”