Little Rock, Arkansas-based Alltel is currently in the process of spinning off its traditional phone business and merging it with Valor Communications of Texas in a $4.9bn deal. The carrier is looking to move away from its fixed-line heritage and concentrate on the fast-growing and more lucrative wireless sector.
Alltel has more than 15 million customers in 36 states, with nearly $10bn in annual revenue. It is currently ranked as the fifth largest US mobile operator, and derives most of its revenue from wireless because like many other carriers, its local telephone business is declining as consumers use mobile phones more often than home telephones.
Alltel now has renewed an existing reciprocal roaming agreement. The new 10-year agreement takes effect on July 1 and covers high-speed wireless services as well as phone calls. Alltel also said it has expanded a roaming agreement with Cingular Wireless until 2012.
Roaming agreements are common in the US due to its huge geographical mass. Agreements such as these allow mobile phone customers to use rival networks when their own provider does not have a network in a particular region.
