http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/05/technology/05phone.html

What do ya'll think? I'm of a seriously mixed opinion. I work at an indirect Verizon retailer, so if this goes through, my main competition in RR (Alltel) goes away. On the flipside, the Alltel direct store will not likely become a Verizon direct store, meaning I am now competing with my own company. And we already have one Alltel indirect store in town, so they would likely switch to Verizon, or go to some other carrier, or just close.

But yea, then all my friends on Alltel and my work phone should be in network, so I can call basically fucking everybody in eastern NC for free. So thats pretty nice. But I might have to go put in for a new part-time job. Great.

6/4/2008 10:30:01 PM

ever since i worked for verizon corporate (internet strategy) when sprint acquired nextel and att bought cingular, I expected VZW to buy somebody to get back on top. since t-mobile is german and competes with vodafone overseas and the GSM vs. CDMA thing, i knew that wouldn't happen. so alltel has gotten big enough and now I don't have to see their shitty commercials - win win

6/5/2008 3:20:16 AM

Yea I would be so happy if they did one final commercial where the little red-shirted Verizon guy came out of the house with a leash on the wizard and Chad and made them his little bitch.

Thread title should have been "All your Alltel All Belong To Verizon!"

6/5/2008 6:21:42 AM

ahaha, that shit'd be funny

6/5/2008 8:15:01 AM

i would be soooooooooo happy if this happened, because i was going to ride it out until january and let my contract expire so i could switch to vz only because alltel's phone selection has gotten worst and worst over time. their service is great, but i need new technologies when i need new technologies, eg moto qc with wm6, or wm6.1. they are so behind in respect to phones in my opinion.

6/5/2008 8:15:28 AM

Which one has the commercial where they replaced the nerdy fat guy with the nerdy wig guy and started including a wizard? What happened to nerdy fat guy? If he was holding out for more $ they wasted a perfectly good opportunity. The first commercial that came out after nerdy fat guy went away was the one where the wizard zapped one of the nerds. They could have written nerdy fat guy out of the commercials by making it him that was zapped. The next commercial would have had nerdy wig guy because nerdy fat guy was "banished".



v.

6/5/2008 8:37:42 AM

i, for one, would not like this to happen - i like alltel the way it is

6/5/2008 9:04:24 AM

I would like this to happen, but mainly just because I have crappy service in my apt that i'll more than likely live in for the next 2 years, and my gf's verizon has great service.

6/5/2008 9:06:57 AM

^^i totally understand your sentiments, but the move will only make it better in my opinion. vz has been rated #1 for customer service, they have a better selection of phones, they have a better service termination fee program, and it would decrease the 'blindspots' in the coverage map. i have been a alltel subscriber since 2002, and i have not had any probs whatsoever, except not being about to get a new technology when i want it with having to pay 200 to end a contract to go elsewhere to get it.

[Edited on June 5, 2008 at 9:08 AM. Reason : asdf]

6/5/2008 9:08:04 AM

Both companies have been rated very well in customer service and Verizon does seem to have a bit better selection in handsets.

For customers of both, this is very good in NC. Eastern NC has full EV-DO with Alltel, and the rest of the state has excellent EV coverage under Verizon. Combine it and you can get full high speed coverage and V-CAST from the mountains to the beach and just about every rural place you can imagine. Thats why I'm interested. The power of both of these networks should make their already good customer satisfaction and call quality that much better.

6/5/2008 9:52:22 AM

would be a good move IMO

6/5/2008 9:57:53 AM

^^ overall they are just probably a 'bit' better with the phone selection, but in the windows mobile arena, vz pummels alltel. thats what i am interested in.

[Edited on June 5, 2008 at 10:44 AM. Reason : aSD]

6/5/2008 10:44:33 AM

It's official.

http://www.engadget.com/2008/06/05/verizon-gets-official-with-28-billion-alltel-acquisition/

6/5/2008 11:00:06 AM

can i now go ahead and end my contract will alltel early without a fee, so i can go ahead and get in with verizon so i can get a new phone?

6/5/2008 11:05:51 AM

hell yeah
i love this idea.
i have alltel my entire life but the service where i live fucking sucks
and

Quote :

"I would like this to happen, but mainly just because I have crappy service in my apt that i'll more than likely live in for the next 2 years, and my gf's verizon has great service."

is true for me too

6/5/2008 11:06:46 AM

holy crap this is why walnut creek changed it's name again

durrrrr

6/5/2008 11:58:40 AM

Quote :

"i, for one, would not like this to happen - i like alltel the way it is"

agreed...my ONLY complaint about alltel is that they are dead last for new tech and their selection isn't as good as some of the others

but in everything else - customer service, plan options, reception, etc - they beat the crap out of any other CDMA carrier

for $80/month, i get two lines with 1000 anytime minutes, unlimited night/weekends/mobile-to-mobile, 10 mycircle numbers, unlimited text/video, and i really like celltop (which only uses airtime minutes)

add to that the fact that i got the z6m rokr for $80 (non-crippled with the microSD slot, stereo bluetooth, an mp3 player program that doesn't suck donkey balls, and the last motorola with the "standard" USB charging/data connector) and free number transfer (yes, i realize you just swap out SIM cards on GSM) and i can't find a single company that can beat them...maybe sprint's SERO, but then you're stuck with SPRINT

[Edited on June 5, 2008 at 12:12 PM. Reason : .]

6/5/2008 12:11:43 PM

shit. i switched FROM verizon to alltel.

6/5/2008 1:11:15 PM

i gt my alltel phone from back home, and while alltel is in raleigh, i never NOT roam unless i am back where i got my original service from... does this qualify me to get a 'free' cancellation of service? need verizon now! they got exactly what i need.

also does constantly roaming make your battery die quicker? just trying to think of anything to get out of this contract

[Edited on June 5, 2008 at 1:14 PM. Reason : sdf]

6/5/2008 1:12:04 PM

it says "roaming" on my phone when i'm not in raleigh, but it isn't actually roaming.

your battery runs out when the signal is poor, not necessarily when it's roaming.

6/5/2008 1:17:56 PM

man, i just want a new moto q with wm6, and i'll be damned if alltel isn't just making this so difficult.

[Edited on June 5, 2008 at 1:20 PM. Reason : asdfg]

6/5/2008 1:20:02 PM

If it roams then it is probably searching for an Alltel tower and only finding VZ towers. As it tries to search and jump it can theoretically burn up more power.

The places that it eats it up the most though is where you are on the fringe of both. Then it keeps jumping from Alltel to VZ and back. That is what can get you. If it gets on one and stays there, then its okay.

6/5/2008 1:30:39 PM

^^you dont want a moto q. trust me

6/5/2008 3:10:54 PM

man i am a proud moto q owner. i understand those phones...

6/5/2008 3:11:42 PM

Quote :

"for $80/month, i get two lines with 1000 anytime minutes, unlimited night/weekends/mobile-to-mobile, 10 mycircle numbers, unlimited text/video, and i really like celltop (which only uses airtime minutes)"

yeah i basically don't want my rates and stuff to change either - two lines sharing 700 anytime(which we barely use 200 month to month b/c most of mobile-to-mobile or the 1 "free" number each phone gets - the plan was before the "my circle" stuff) for like $64/mo (including tax)

our reception is great too (which i know shouldn't change)

[Edited on June 5, 2008 at 3:34 PM. Reason : quote]

6/5/2008 3:34:32 PM

Quote :

"^^you dont want a moto q. trust me "

yea, the fucking blow.. do not get one.

6/5/2008 7:54:31 PM

^^^the Q has nothing to do with "understanding it." the processors are slow as hell, the browser sucks, and the only good PDA interface w/o touchscreen is BB.

6/5/2008 8:40:37 PM

verizon sucks. they better not fuck up my service

6/5/2008 10:18:13 PM

I am only looking forward to this for better phones. I am otherwise happy with Alltel.

6/5/2008 11:47:20 PM

I love my Q, great for games and videos. I don't think an NES emulator on a BB would have the same decent controls. :p The browser works just find for me since 90% of the use is via google: looking up directions, phone #'s, or a trivial fact that a friend and I are arguing over.

I will wait another 2 years or so before getting a new phone.

6/6/2008 10:50:20 AM

i wish we could either lock this thread or the other, but i guess i'll post in both

so is it a good idea for people to sign up with alltel now? i mean, i don't think anyone's arguing the fact that alltel's plans (features and minutes versus price) are better than verizon's...and i'm pretty sure alltel is ranked higher in customer service (my experience is that they bend over backwards to make me happy)...so if you get in on a plan now, then you'll either:

1.) get to keep your features, minutes, and price even when verizon takes over and begins raping consumers...so sure, you get crappy customer service, but your actual cellular service is the same and you at least get to maintain some shred of dignity by pointing out what a great plan you have or

2.) verizon lets you out of your contract and you at least have a relatively new phone with no strings attached

6/6/2008 11:49:07 AM