Comments on: Special Report: The Rise and Fall (And Rise Again) of Alltel http://stopthecap.com/2010/07/14/special-report-the-rise-and-fall-and-rise-again-of-alltel/ Promoting Better Broadband, Fighting Data Caps, Usage-Based Billing, & Other Internet Overcharging Schemes Fri, 25 May 2012 11:58:56 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 By: Alltel switching to AT&T timeline - The RadioReference.com Forums http://stopthecap.com/2010/07/14/special-report-the-rise-and-fall-and-rise-again-of-alltel/#comment-11792 Alltel switching to AT&T timeline - The RadioReference.com Forums Wed, 18 Aug 2010 07:59:25 +0000 http://stopthecap.com/?p=11332#comment-11792 [...] [...] [...] [...]

]]> By: Ian L http://stopthecap.com/2010/07/14/special-report-the-rise-and-fall-and-rise-again-of-alltel/#comment-11204 Ian L Sat, 17 Jul 2010 04:23:30 +0000 http://stopthecap.com/?p=11332#comment-11204 Okay, so here's some balance: 1. Windstream cares about copper, rather than selling it off. They aren't doing FTTH overbuilds but they *are* expanding DSL service and speeds, because that's their bread and butter. 2. Sometimes mergers eliminate redundancies in staff that were actually there (shocker!). That means more money or lower prices for someone...if you don't like your bill getting higher then pad it with some Windstream stock. 3. Verizon has some dubious practices to them, to be sure, however it's hard to find areas these days that *aren't* covered by their network. Also, Verizon's huge buying power allows the carrier to get companies like Motorola to make phones like the Droid and Droid X. The old Alltel wouldn't be able to get those phones for months; regional provider Cellular South *just* got the Motorola Milestone, better known as the Droid (original). 4. If you don't mind sticking with a non-smartphone, prepaid providers offer great deals on the Verizon network, better even than Alltel's admittedly awesome U Prepaid. Two come to mind: Tracfone's Straight Talk and Page Plus Cellular. Verizon's own prepaid program is admittedly crappy, though on the other hand Verizon's unlimited voice plan is now $70, versus the $100 that Alltel charged for their plan pre-merger. 5. To balance my pro-Verizon comments, any bill cramming or other shady practices that Verizon perpetrates on its customers should be called out loud and clear so the company isn't able to get idly by with them. Just like the bashing AT&T gets for their subpar 3G network (Verizon on the other hand has an excellent 3G network...and their smartphone data plans are still unlimited). 6. Alltel customers transitioning to Verizon do lose unlimited data on their mobile broadband cards, but they gain a carrier who will invest a ton of money into 3G and 4G service. SOme Alltel sites were backhauled by 512K DSL, leading to 3G speeds inferior to other operators. With the buyout, that should get fixed in short order, because VZW actually *does* care about rural customers. 7. I'm sure AT&T will forge a temporary roaming agreement with Verizon for CDMA Alltel customers. They wouldn't leave that loose end out there. Are there downsides to the buyout? Sure, however there are plenty of upsides as well, and I'm not just talking about golden parachutes and stock prices. Okay, so here’s some balance:

1. Windstream cares about copper, rather than selling it off. They aren’t doing FTTH overbuilds but they *are* expanding DSL service and speeds, because that’s their bread and butter.
2. Sometimes mergers eliminate redundancies in staff that were actually there (shocker!). That means more money or lower prices for someone…if you don’t like your bill getting higher then pad it with some Windstream stock.
3. Verizon has some dubious practices to them, to be sure, however it’s hard to find areas these days that *aren’t* covered by their network. Also, Verizon’s huge buying power allows the carrier to get companies like Motorola to make phones like the Droid and Droid X. The old Alltel wouldn’t be able to get those phones for months; regional provider Cellular South *just* got the Motorola Milestone, better known as the Droid (original).
4. If you don’t mind sticking with a non-smartphone, prepaid providers offer great deals on the Verizon network, better even than Alltel’s admittedly awesome U Prepaid. Two come to mind: Tracfone’s Straight Talk and Page Plus Cellular. Verizon’s own prepaid program is admittedly crappy, though on the other hand Verizon’s unlimited voice plan is now $70, versus the $100 that Alltel charged for their plan pre-merger.
5. To balance my pro-Verizon comments, any bill cramming or other shady practices that Verizon perpetrates on its customers should be called out loud and clear so the company isn’t able to get idly by with them. Just like the bashing AT&T gets for their subpar 3G network (Verizon on the other hand has an excellent 3G network…and their smartphone data plans are still unlimited).
6. Alltel customers transitioning to Verizon do lose unlimited data on their mobile broadband cards, but they gain a carrier who will invest a ton of money into 3G and 4G service. SOme Alltel sites were backhauled by 512K DSL, leading to 3G speeds inferior to other operators. With the buyout, that should get fixed in short order, because VZW actually *does* care about rural customers.
7. I’m sure AT&T will forge a temporary roaming agreement with Verizon for CDMA Alltel customers. They wouldn’t leave that loose end out there.

Are there downsides to the buyout? Sure, however there are plenty of upsides as well, and I’m not just talking about golden parachutes and stock prices.

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