Alltel intros 1-year contracts, same phone prices
updated 11:55 am EDT, Thu June 4, 2009
Alltel one year contracts
Alltel Wireless has announced that it will soon offer one-year service contracts for new or renewing subscribers in certain areas. The company claims the phone prices will remain level with the two-year pricing. If true, the carrier would diverge from many of its peers that typically place considerably higher price tags on handsets that are acquired with a shorter contract.
Early this year, Verizon completed the initial stage of its Alltel acquisition. As part of the deal, the FCC and Department of Justice require Verizon to divest approximately 2.1 million customers to avoid monopolizing certain cellular market areas (CMAs).
The one-year contract option through Alltel will only be available to customers in the 91 CMAs that Verizon has been required to divest. The carriers, including Verizon, Alltel and Rural Cellular, entered an agreement to sell properties in 79 CMAs to AT&T, while the other areas remain unsold.
The one-year service contracts will be available beginning June 5th. A list of the divested CMAs is available on the Alltel website.
