Verizon divestiture to impact 38 counties in Minnesota

As a result of federal anti-trust regulations, cellular telephone provider Verizon Wireless will divest operations to AT&T in 38 Minnesota counties including Freeborn, Steele and Faribault counties : http://is.gd/3tbra

AT&T announced the acquisition earlier this week.

It means that the Unicel office in Northbridge Mall in Albert Lea is slated to become an AT&T office next year. AT&T is the provider for the latest version Apple’s iPhone. The changeover could impact choices for smartphones across much of outstate Minnesota. Blackberry phones — iPhone’s main competitor — typically are not provider-specific.

Meanwhile, the Alltel stores across southern Minnesota remain on track to adopt the Verizon brand by September, according to Verizon spokeswoman Robin Nicol.

When Verizon purchased Alltel in January, it already had possession of Rural Cellular Corp. from a purchase in 2008. Rural Cellular Corp., which operates with the Unicel brand, in southern Minnesota is managed by a trust company during the regulatory process of Verizon’s Alltel purchase.

Nicol said federal regulators required Verizon to sell off Unicel service in areas where the company offered Alltel or Verizon brands and required it to sell off Alltel service in areas where there already was Verizon service.

“That was something we had anticipated back when we closed the Unicel purchase back in 2008,” Nicol said.

The divestiture is part of a nationwide, $2.35 billion agreement with Verizon. Under terms of the agreement, AT&T will acquire wireless properties, including licenses, network assets and 1.5 million current subscribers in 79 service areas, primarily in rural areas across 18 states.......

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