USDOJ and plaintiff states filed suit to stop the acquisition of Alltel Corp. by Verizon Communications Corp. Verizon agreed to divest assets in 100 areas in 22 states in order to proceed with the acquisition. The complaint alleged that the transaction as originally proposed would substantially lessen competition to the detriment of consumers of mobile wireless telecommunications services in those areas, and likely would result in higher prices, lower quality and reduced network investments. The divestitures cover the entire states of North Dakota and South Dakota; large portions of the states of Colorado, Georgia, Kansas, Montana, South Carolina, Utah and Wyoming; and portions of the states of Alabama, Arizona, California, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio and Virginia. According to the complaint, Verizon and Alltel are significant competitors and each is the other’s closest competitor for a significant set of customers in 94 Cellular Marketing Areas (CMAs), as defined by the FCC. The complaint alleges that the proposed transaction would substantially reduce competition for mobile wireless telecommunications services in each of these areas. The proposed settlement requires divestitures in these 94 areas to eliminate the competitive concerns. Modifications to two existing consent decrees required Verizon to divest wireless businesses in six additional CMAs. One of those consent decrees was entered in 2006, when USDOJ and Minnesota challenged Alltel’s acquisition of Midwest Wireless Holdings, LLC. The consent decree in that matter, entered in U.S. District Court in Minnesota, required the divestiture of mobile wireless businesses in four CMAs where Rural Cellular Corporation (RCC), which was later acquired by Verizon, purchased the divested businesses. One of these CMAs is covered by both the Alltel/Midwest consent decree and the Alltel/Verizon consent decree. The Department, along with the parties to the Alltel/Midwest consent decree, today filed to modify the consent decree to allow Verizon to provisionally acquire those assets, subject to prompt redivestiture to a buyer approved by the Department. (see U.S. and Minnesota v. Alltel)