Some Verizon subscribers switching to AT&T involuntarily
May 12, 2009
A deal reached between Verizon Wireless and AT&T to sell each other wireless infrastructure will also mean 1.5 million Verizon Wireless customers are being handed over to AT&T in the coming months.
AT&T said 1.5 million subscribers it will acquire from Verizon Wireless will be shifted from Verizon's network to AT&T's network within 12 months of the deal's completion, according to a report in InformationWeek.
AT&T will pay Verizon $2.35 billion for the network assets, which previously belonged to Alltel. Verizon purchased Alltel earlier in the year.
Verizon Wireless has agreed to pay AT&T $240 million for some of its assets in Louisiana and Mississippi, InformationWeek reported.
An industry expert said the swapping of network infrastructure is not uncommon after large acquisitions because of federal concerns over one carrier becoming too dominant in a certain region.
The Verizon Wireless assets that AT&T is picking up are located in 79 mostly rural areas in several states across the South, Midwest and West.
Subscribers will be able to receive mobile broadband on AT&T smartphones after the transition is completed, AT&T announced on Friday.
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