Alltel Corp gets approval to acquire Midwest Wireless Holdings

Alltel Corp gets approval to acquire Midwest Wireless Holdings

The U.S. antitrust authorities have finally given their approval to rural telephone operator Alltel to acquire Midwest Wireless Holdings. The deal is worth around USD 1 billion.

The justice department said in a statement that they are not opposed to the acquisition, which would help Alltel to expand their network. They also would get around 400,000 customers in markets next to its existing operations.

Department antitrust chief Thomas Barnett said in a statement: “The required divestitures preserve competition in rural areas where consumers often have fewer choices for wireless telephone services.”

The mobile network operators in the US market are increasingly consolidating as they are finding it hard to survive in the increasingly competitive mobile market in the country.