A bit of industry news to lead off today. Way back when, in May, TPG Capital and Goldman Sachs Capital Partners agreed to buy Alltel for $24.7 billion. Yesterday, the company’s shareholders agreed to the deal, with over 97 percent voting in favor of the deal. The acquisition now moves to the FCC for a final approval which, according to Alltel, should happen by the end of the year. So what does this mean for Alltel subscribers and consumers in general? We follow the industry, but we’re not in it, so when we speculate, we’re really thinking out loud. This deal did cause a series of through to flow through our mind. Once the deal is finalized, Alltel is essentially, at least according to our broker friend, in limbo. TPG and Goldman Sachs have but one goal with the company: make money. Whether that’s with the service itself or the sale of its assets, we do not know. Sale of its assets? That one kinda scares us. Being on a CDMA network, Verizon is probably frothing at the mouth. Imagine the power they would wield if they could acquire a portion or all of Alltel’s network. That’s something we’re just not prepared to think too deeply about. We’re feeling a bit nauseous as it is. We’re really not sure what will happen ultimately with Alltel. And no matter what experts say, they don’t either. But when one group is looking to make money, and another is looking to spend money, well, we have a match. Could this be — and there goes that speculation again — a better answer for Verizon and AT&T than the 700 MHz spectrum auction? We really have to stop thinking about these things. [Forbes]]]>
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