The Atlantic Tele-Network story is a big deal to us because when the deal is complete they will be the 8th largest cellular carrier in the US. And once they take over the divested Alltel properties, they have the potential of adding thousands of additional customers in their existing Commnet Wireless markets.
What caused our interest most recently is ATN president Michael Prior's latest press release from last Tuesday. "ATN is decidedly not a national carrier and will not be replicating their one size fits all approach. Rather, the plans and differentiated service offerings currently enjoyed by these customers will stay in place." This strongly hints that they intend to keep some or all of Alltel's existing plans.
From their 2007 annual report, "The large carriers are focused on adding subscribers and services and we can enhance the subscriber experience by providing coverage in unexpected areas..." How many of us have been pleasantly surprised to find cellular coverage where we didn't expect it? Here's a company that seeks out these locations and install cell sites there! Gotta love that.
Like a number of vocal Alltel users, we're surprised US Cellular didn't pick up these divested Alltel properties. Now that we are looking at what looks like a completely new cellular provider, we may be getting something even better: competition! What a concept.
No comments:
Post a Comment