Alltel Still Alive & Kicking, Expands My Circle
Verizon Wireless may have completed its purchase of Alltel, but that doesn’t mean the two companies are completely operating as one yet. In fact, as you’ll recall, Verizon had to agree to sell assets in 91 overlapping markets in order to gain federal approval for its acquisition. Customers in these 91 areas will continue to receive Alltel branded service until another carrier buys the assets. In the meantime, the Alltel brand is alive and kicking in 22 states.
In fact, Alltel is continuing to compete against Verizon in
the 91 overlapping markets. To this end, Alltel announced an upgrade to its My
Circle feature that will give customers up to five additional numbers for
unlimited calling. My Circle lets customers make and receive unlimited calls to
and from any number in America on 
any network without deducting from their
monthly allotted minutes. As an Alltel spokesperson put it, "Many people may have thought that Alltel went away
after the Verizon deal…. But as you can see with this announcement, that is not
that case and Alltel is continuing to aggressively compete in the
marketplace."
Starting tomorrow, Alltel’s My Circle 10 plan will expand to My Circle 15 and the My Circle 20 plan will expand to My Circle 25. My Circle 15 plans start at $59.99 per month and includes 900 anytime minutes. My Circle 25 plans start at $99.99 per month and come with 2,100 anytime minutes. Other plan features including price will not change. In addition, customers will continue to receive an additional number when they celebrate their 2-year anniversary with Alltel. The upgrade doesn’t apply to My Circle 1 or My Circle 5 plans.
Verizon Wireless customers have a similar, though more expensive free calling plan called Friends & Family. Alltel customers that will be migrated to Verizon will be able to keep their plans and My Circle features for the time being.
