Verizon and Alltel Merger Coming this Week

Verizon's acquisition of Alltel will happen later this week, creating the largest mobile phone provider in the United States.

Under the terms of the agreement, Verizon is going to pay $5.9 billion for its smaller rival, and assume $22.2 billion of Alltel debt.

After the deal closes on Jan. 9, Alltel's 13 million wireless customers will push Verizon up to roughly 78 million subscribers, putting is ahead of the current leader, AT&T.

Via BusinessWeek