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AllTel Likely to Buy Meteor

JTMan · 2005-01-06 23:15:43

Major US mobile operator Alltel is likely to buy Western Wireless who own Meteor. Anyone know what (if any) international networks AllTel own??? WWI were finally starting to put money into Meteor ... I wonder if Alltel take over WW will they plunge as much money into Meteor ... From ENN:

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07-01-2005 12:15am

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JTMan

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Major US mobile operator Alltel is likely to buy Western Wireless who own Meteor.

Anyone know what (if any) international networks AllTel own???

WWI were finally starting to put money into Meteor ... I wonder if Alltel take over WW will they plunge as much money into Meteor ...

From ENN:

Mobile operator Meteor may soon have a new owner following reports that Alltel is in advanced negotiations about buying its parent company, Western Wireless.

According to a report in the New York Times, Alltel is hoping to finalise a deal within the next week to purchase Western Wireless for an estimated USD4 billion. Alltel is America's sixth-largest wireless carrier with more than 12 million customers and nearly USD8 billion in annual revenues.

If the deal goes through, the combination of Alltel and Western Wireless would create a company with around USD10 billion in revenue and 9.8 million subscribers -- about six percent of the total US wireless market.

Western Wireless' revenues were up 24 percent year-on-year to USD497 million during the third quarter of 2004, while revenues for Western Wireless International grew 57 percent to USD221 million. However, the firm does have debts of around USD2 billion which Alltel is expected to assume should the purchase be agreed.

The proposed deal marks the latest consolidation in the wireless phone service industry in the US and follows hot on the heels of December's purchase of Nextel by Sprint to make it the third largest wireless service provider behind Cingular Wireless and Verizon Wireless.

Western Wireless' Irish subsidiary, Meteor, has recently gained market share following the signing of a roaming agreement with O2 during 2004, and it currently has approximately eight percent of the mobile market in Ireland.

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