Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Atlantic Tele-Network Review

There was much speculation about what service will be like when Atlantic Tele-Network (ATN) takes over part of the divested Alltel network. We have taken the next step and actually added our review of what service should be like with the new owners. ATN estimates that approvals from the US Department of Justice and the FCC should come in the 4th quarter of 2009. That means around October or November things should begin a slow change from the "old" Alltel, to the "new".

We use "old" and "new" because we think the new network will resemble what Alltel looks like today, and that's good. Their Customer Service might be answering the phone in Little Rock, Arkansas, which will not be served by ATN. There will probably be some confusion as Alltel customers get "The Letter" detailing who goes where. And then there's the Alltel web site that sends you merrily on your way depending on what Zip Code you enter...which may or may not be the right place. Our review will reflect these changes as they happen.

For some of us it will be fun to watch. For a few others, it will cause headaches. But we bet there will be several hundred thousand customers who won't notice any change to their service and won't even think about it unless their phone breaks. The status quo can be wonderful.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

If you will notice where Verizon has sold off Alltel markets to Atlantic Tele-Network (ATN), they are each in rural areas. This was by design, as orchestrated by the FCC. These areas mostly all have a rural telephone cooperatives. The rural telephone cooperatives are protected by the government from monopoly takeovers in their areas. They also can receive gov’t subsidies to promote communications technology if and when needed.
Little does anyone know, but the Alltel stores, at least here, are secretly owned or partly owned by the rural telephone cooperatives. The reason being is that if their customers’ and many do, drop their land lines and go strictly with a cell phone then revenues are lost. The way to make that revenue back up is to have an interest in the cell phone market. Therefore the gov’t (FCC) will protect divested Alltel markets that have gone over to ATN. They will keep them competitive and as good as any national carrier to keep competition thriving. Further, the divested Alltel has better plans at better prices than Verizon or At&T. Their phones may not be quiet as good, but their plans beat anyone’s hands down.
Why else is ATN able to purchase the divested Alltel markets and yet not have enough capital to do so. They are borrowing the rest to make the deal complete pending the Dept. of Justice’s approval.
Part of the hold up on the merger is due to lawsuits. Some filed by the rural coop’s against the parent Alltel, so they can keep an interest, as well as Verizon along with ATN are in the mix. Follow these links for more info:
http://www.fcc.gov/transaction/atn-verizon.html

http://dockets.justia.com/docket/court-gandce/case_no-1:2009cv02186/case_id-160793/

Also, another good link about ATN:
http://www.tribune242.com/business/11172009_BTC_business_Page1-5

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