AT&T buys Alltel for $780 million, gains spectrum and 585,000 customers

AT&T has announced today that it will completely acquire the Alltel brand and assets from Atlantic Tele-Network, Inc. for $780 million in cash. This purchase encompasses all of the Alltel assets, from spectrum, network licenses and wireless properties to retail store locations and about 585,000 subscribers. That's a good number of customers that will come under the AT&T umbrella, but what's likely more valuable is the spectrum holdings that AT&T will gain.

Alltel currently operates mostly in rural areas of Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, North Carolina, Ohio and South Carolina -- covering about 4.6 million people. Spectrum gains in these areas are in the 700, 850 and 1900MHz bands, which compliments AT&T's network deployment nicely. It's a cheap, all cash acquisition that will help AT&T continue its LTE rollout into the future.

Source: AT&T