Southerners desperate for a Droid or HTC or BlackBerry smartphone can upgrade now that, a few months later than expected, Verizon Communications Inc. and AT&T Inc. have completed an assets-swap.
Verizon now owns some of Centennial Communications Corp.’s wireless properties. AT&T and Verizon originally projected to close the $235 million sale in the first quarter. But rival Cellular South objected to the deal, holding up regulatory approvals.
AT&T and Verizon announced the transaction in November 2008. AT&T had purchased Centennial Wireless but government officials said the company needed to divest some of its holdings as a condition for closing. Verizon stepped up as the buyer, and, at the same time, agreed to sell some of its Alltel assets to AT&T.
Verizon is taking on 117,000 more subscribers in Louisiana and Mississippi.
Both AT&T and Verizon are fixated on wireless growth. Verizon surpassed AT&T as the largest mobile service provider in the United States after it bought Alltel, but AT&T has done its part by maintaining its stranglehold on the insanely popular Apple iPhone. Verizon has been fighting that dominance with gadgets such as the Motorola Droid, although rumor has it the carrier could land the iPhone by the end of this year.
