Just a few days behind schedule, Alltel has launched one of the more exciting handsets that will become available to its customers this month — the LG Tritan. Spec highlights include a 3-inch QVGA touchscreen, full QWERTY keyboard, full HTML browser, music player, G sensor, Bluetooth and a 3 megapixel camera. Oh yeah, and an “advanced UI”. As far as pricing goes, Alltel’s press release states the Tritan is available for $99.99 online and in stores after a $100 rebate but, oddly, it appears to have shot high. The site clearly shows a retail price of $449.99, an online discount of $270 and a $100 mail-in rebate. Let’s see: Carry the 4… Drop the 1… Multiply by pi… Take the square root of… Yep we get $79.99, just like the site says. Our advice: If you want one, hurry up and snatch it online now in case the site is low and the release is correct. Oh, and the site also says the Tritan is BOGOed up (buy one, get one free) so family plan-holders, rejoice.
Pending regulatory approval, Verizon Wireless has agreed to sell the remaining 26 divested Alltel markets to Massachusetts-based Atlantic Tele-Network, Inc. The companies have entered into a definitive agreement for Alltel properties located in Idaho, Illinois, Ohio, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia, and approximately 800,000 Alltel customers will be affected should the sale be approved. The big side story here — following the recent agreement with AT&T, each of the 105 divested markets now has a potential buyer. Hit the jump for the full text of a memo sent to all Alltel employees in divested markets from the Management Trust currently operating said markets.
If you live in Canada and are currently tied to a 3-year contract we suggest averting your eyes immediately. Beginning tomorrow, Chad’s crew will slice it’s top contract term in half from the standard two year deal to just one year. Subsidized handset prices however, will remain as they are now. Yep, 1-year contract, same handset subsidies. Awesome. The change will apply to each of the 91 divested markets — sorry, new Verizon customers — and will include markets to be gobbled up by AT&T. Paul Bowersock, Senior Sales & Operations Leader for the Alltel Divestiture Trust, had this to say:
Back when Verizon acquired Alltel, the FCC would only give the nod under certain conditions. One of those conditions was that Verizon divest some of Alltel’s assets after the acquisition so the market didn’t look like a Big Red monopoly. As was expected, AT&T is going to pick up a good chunk of those assets for about $2.5 billion. A bargain. Of the 85 divested markets spanning 18 states, AT&T will scoop up about 24 markets and we’re sure the company is being pretty selective as a good chunk of those markets are in less than desirable areas in terms of profitability. Expect the transactions, including those assets left to be divested after AT&T’s transaction, to be concluded by early July.
Alltel has just announced the latest addition to its handset arsenal and it’s a familiar face indeed: RIM’s CDMA varient of the Pearl Flip. In terms of specs it’s not the most ground-shaking Berry of the bunch but for $79.99 after a $70 mail-in rebate, it is most definitely a solid option for bargain-seeking BlackBerry addicts. There are two caveats to the $80 price point however — first, the obvious two-year contract. Secondly, users must select from among Alltel’s Smart Choice Packs starting at $69.99 per month. All Smart Choice Packs include unlimited data, Internet and email however, so it’s hardly a deal breaker. If $80 for a shiny new Pearl Flip 8230 isn’t low enough for you but you’re in dire need of a Berry, the Curve 8330 is now $50 after a $100 mail-in rebate and the Pearl 8130 is free after a $100 mail-in rebate. Yeah, we’d definitely go for the Pearl Flip. Despite the fact that it hasn’t yet popped up on the website, Alltel’s 8230 is available immediately in all 91 markets. Hit the jump for the full press release.
Great news for Alltel customers this morning as the company announced some changes to its MyCircle calling feature. Customers in 91 divested markets across 22 states will wake up tomorrow with the option to add five more numbers to their MyCircle plans for free. The change applies to those of you with a MyCircle 10 or MyCircle 20 plan and the five additional unlimited numbers will become available automatically. Just in case you haven’t heard of this feature before and Chad doesn’t haunt your dreams like he does ours, MyCircle allows users to make and receive calls for free to any out-of-network numbers in the US. The number of MyCircle numbers available is determined by the plan Alltel customers choose. Here are the new plans (MyCircle 5 will remain unchanged):
Here we go again. On the one hand, rumorsville is buzzing with speculation surrounding the Evoke QA4, a rather intriguing touchscreen slider reportedly headed to US Cellular, MetroPCS and/or Cricket. On the other hand, you’ve got the VE465.
Right on time as we predicted, the Palm Treo Pro is now available on Alltel’s website and will set you back $199 with a 2-year contract after a $195 online discount and a $125 mail-in rebate. The one caveat is that the phone is apparently only available in divested markets. If you are a current or prospective Alltel customer and you try to buy from a zip code within a “soon to be acquired by Verizon Wireless” area, you will get re-directed to the Verizon Wireless site. Sorry folks, that’s life. Those of you in the sellable regions however, can get your Pro on right now.
A little blue bird landed on our window sill this morning to let us in on a little secret – Alltel is all set to launch the Palm Treo Pro this Thursday March 5th. After a $125 rebate, the Treo Pro will set Alltel subscribers back $199 on a 2-year contract. The price isn’t all that bad for a new smartphone, especially considering it has the golden trifecta known as 3G, Wi-Fi and GPS, but when we see an American carrier charge more than a Canadian carrier we do start to panic just a little. Just one word of caution before anyone gets too excited — this might just be for divested customers only. C’est la vie, no?
