WIRELESS BUREAU, PRESSED TO OK ALLTEL TAKEOVER, ASKS MANY QUESTIONS

摘要

The FCC's Wireless Bureau is asking a battery of additional questions about Verizon Wireless's acquisition of Alltel, mainly about the benefits that the companies promised consumers when they announced the deal. The bureau asked for answers by Sept. 22. An official said the companies want the FCC to move quickly. "There's some real pressure to try to do this in the Election Day meeting Nov. 4. The timing is affected by that. It [would mean] a tremendous change in the wireless market." The bureau asks about Verizon's plans for Alltel's GSM network, whether it will be shut down and any timetable to do that. It also asks, "Does Verizon Wireless have plans to maintain, upgrade and expand the GSM network?" In a question important to smaller carriers, the bureau asks Verizon whether it plans to renew GSM roaming contracts when they expire. nnThe bureau notes that Verizon Wireless has promised to upgrade all of Alltel's markets to EV-DO Revision A. The bureau asks the companies to "estimate, if possible, by how many months" the merger would speed up rollout of these advanced networks in Alltel territory. Similarly, the bureau asks for the schedule to roll out LTE, Long-Term Evolution. "How much faster will the deployment increase as a result of the merger?" the bureau asks. Many of the questions concern savings from the merger. The bureau asks the companies to justify claims that the merger will result in $9 billion in savings. "Provide support for the claim that Verizon Wireless's costs are lower than Alltel's," the bureau says. "Explain how the Applicants calculated the savings incurred resulting from elimination of the Alltel call center." The bureau also asks about churn, requesting side by side data on customer retention from the companies.