Verizon Alltel merger to close today
the transaction in June, but today marks the closing of the Verizon Alltel merger. We know of a number of maneuvers Verizon had to make to get the deal done, including a number of divestitures in areas where Alltel and Verizon overlapped. It also included some asset swaps in areas where Verizon and Alltel were the primary services. So yes, as of today Verizon Wireless is the largest wireless carrier in America with 78 million subscribers. Our question: what does this mean for prepaid? We’ve been asking this for a while, and no answer has become apparent. If Verizon reveals plans, we’ll clearly update to reflect that. As of the early a.m., though, we only know that Verizon plans to close Alltel’s Little Rock, Arkansas headquarters and move the entire operation to Verizon’s own HQ in Basking Ridge, NJ. Losing Alltel’s prepaid plans would be a shame, but that’s what probably will happen. Gone are the 75 cents per day plans which give you unlimited mobile to mobile and unlimited text messaging (among other options). Hello are the dollar a day, 10 cents a minute rates. This cannot make Alltel U prepaid subscribers happy.]]>
Verizon prepaid is very limited and pales in comparison to Regional Unlimited providers like Cricket, Metro and Mvno prepaid carriers like Net10 and Virgin Mobile. With the economy the way it is, there may be a rethinking on VZ’s part. Yes, they do have the strongest network, but right now, cost is an overriding concern and prepaid users want more options. Boost Mobile will be rolling out their Unlimited Nationwide plan and effectively declaring war on Regional Unlimiteds and prepaid MVNOs but avoiding conflict with the others in the Big 4 (Tmo, Att and VZ.) Verizon’s always been a bit pricey. We’ll see if their current prepaid strategy holds on. Frankly, I don’t think it will. They need to adjust their options to the realities of the market. The churn rate will decide that. And if the economy worsens. Which it probably will.
I hope they stick with the Alltel prepaid 75 cents a day. There is nothing on the market that is even close to that value.