Alltel was a Little Rock, AR based wireless communications service provider. They sold out back in the mid-2000's with Verizon acquiring most of their major markets. AT&T has since acquired some of the markets that Verizon did not need. I have a relative that worked on the inside of the Verizon acquisition of Alltel. In all it took two years for the deal to be completed and a n additional two years for the contracts to be fully taken over by Verizon. I was an Alltel customer on a contract phone when this took place. I was happy with my Alltel phone but sadly the phone was damaged in an accident and had to be replaced. When this occurred, not only did I have to buy a Verizon headset (aka phone), my bill also increased to match the Verizon pricing. AT&T was already notorious for having poor coverage in my area so I stuck with Verizon. I was told by my relative that Verizon would be releasing a 4G network before it was officially announced. I am just waiting for the day when Verizon will do away with contracts altogether and allow customers to purchase phones outright and select which plan they want their phone to operate on.
