Alltel

In a brief statement last week, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin announced the FCC will try to complete its review of two major wireless mergers by the end of the year. The goal, Martin said, is to reach a decision before a new president takes office in January.

The deals are Sprint's proposed purchase of a 51 percent stake in a reconstituted Clearwire, and Verizon's planned $28 billion purchase of Alltel. If approved, the Alltel merger would make Verizon the largest U.S. cellular carrier with roughly 80 million subscribers, versus AT&T's 71.4 million.

Prices for phone text messages have risen 100 percent in the last three years, and Congress wants to know why.

In a letter to the top four wireless providers this week, Sen. Herb Kohl (D-Wis.) asked for their answers by Oct. 6.

'Identical Price Increases'

Text-message prices have climbed from 10 cents per message to 20 cents in three years while the carriers' costs for sending and receiving messages has reportedly decreased. The four major carriers, which some analysts say control nearly 90 percent of the market, have raised prices at nearly the same time.

Last year, when Apple unveiled its iPhone and made it available in the U.S. exclusively from AT&T, the debut sent ripples throughout the cell-phone industry. Handset maker Palm suffered as consumers swooned for Apple's phone, according to surveys by consultancy NPD. AT&T benefited by pulling subscribers from rival carriers Alltel and T-Mobile USA.

Unlocking a cell phone is something of a Houdini-esque exercise. Sure, it's possible to tweak a handset so it works on a network other than the one for which it was designed. But it requires following a series of steps that the average consumer may find complicated -- and which could render the device useless.

Sprint Nextel and Verizon are rolling out new, more consumer-friendly calling plans, reflecting the hyper-competitive state of wireless.

Starting Monday, Sprint will begin offering a new "share" plan that offers 3,000 voice minutes and a bounty of add-ons for $169.99 a month for two lines. Additional lines cost $19.99 each.

Verizon Wireless and Alltel are merging in a $28.1 billion deal that analysts said could have a ripple effect through the U.S. wireless industry -- if the integration goes smoothly.

Verizon Wireless' acquisition crowns it king of the carriers in the U.S., dethroning AT&T and possibly signaling an eventual acquisition of Sprint Nextel, analysts said. Verizon will add 13 million clients in 34 states and save about $9 billion from the purchase. Synergies are expected to generate incremental cost savings of $1 billion in the second year after closing.

In a move that will bring fierce competition to AT&T, Verizon Wireless on Thursday agreed to buy Alltel for $28.1 billion in cash and debt. The acquisition will make Verizon Wireless, a joint venture of Verizon Communications and Vodafone, the largest mobile-phone company in the U.S.

Verizon Wireless will add 13 million clients in 34 states and save about $9 billion from the purchase. Synergies are expected to generate incremental cost savings of $1 billion in the second year after closing.

It's tough enough for David to take on Goliath.

Now imagine Goliath countering David's slingshot with a cannon.

That's roughly the challenge facing Alltel, the No.5 cell phone carrier, as it battles its two largest national competitors, AT&T and Verizon Wireless.

In a recent federal auction of wireless airwaves, AT&T and Verizon combined for $16 billion of the record $19.6 billion in winning bids as they stockpiled more spectrum to improve coverage and turbocharge their broadband services.

T-Mobile USA is now joining the 3G club. Earlier this week, the telecommunications company announced that it has begun the commercial rollout of its third-generation wireless network, starting with New York City.

T-Mobile said it will continue to roll out the high-speed data network to major metropolitan markets, and by the end of this year it expects to cover those cities where most of its subscribers use data services.

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