Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Joy in Rural America

While we are nearly in tears about the loss of Alltel Wireless, there is a segment of America that is drooling at the coming of AT&T. Yes, the loss of Alltel means less competition, but if you live in Big Horn, Wyoming, the only thing you see is the name of the local cellular store getting changed from Alltel to AT&T. Many of these users don't see the reduction in the number of cellular carriers. They see a whole new set of cool phones, especially the Apple iPhone, coming to their town. And that makes them happy.

In larger cities like Cleveland, Phoenix, and even Pueblo, Colorado, the Alltel store just disappears, and people in those towns may notice there's less competition. But in Big Horn, whether or not they are Alltel customers, they'll be excited about the coming of AT&T, and GSM, and the iPhone, and a new cellular choice.

At Mountain Wireless, we're adapting, too. As Alltel gets split up into several pieces, we have adjusted our Ratings and Reviews, and will update them as necessary. This includes updating reviews of AT&T which will make some huge gains in the rural west. This is a good thing, except if it propels us into a 3- or 2-carrier dominated cellular market. And the feds will make sure our prices won't skyrocket, right?

5 comments:

lborgen said...

How about North Dakota, namely Grand Forks and Fargo? Are we included in the 75%?

Oz Andrews said...

AT&T has not released a list of specific counties. However, at this time it appears AT&T will take over all Alltel towers and customers in North Dakota.

Unknown said...

What about in Nebraska? From what I see, it is the VZW chunk from Lincoln to Omaha that they were going to divest, but in an article I read, it looked like they were getting the Alltel part?? It'd be good to know... my dad has been drooling over the iPhone!

Anonymous said...

How about montana?

Oz Andrews said...

The area being sold to AT&T in Nebraska is the old Verizon area in the following counties: Boone, Butler, Colfax, Dodge, Merrick, Nance, Platte, Polk, Saunders, Washington.

Until a detailed list is released, the areas in Montana most likely will include the Alltel areas in the entire state except Garfield, Phillips, and Valley Counties, which are being kept by Verizon.