Verizon must divest assets in 22 states, says DOJ

The U.S. Department of Justice said today that Verizon will have to divest assets in 100 areas covering 22 states as a precondition to acquiring Alltel Wireless.

The Department of Justice said the divestitures were necessary to preserve wireless voice service competition in areas where Verizon and Alltel both already have significant footprints. In addition to divesting its assets throughout the whole of North Dakota and South Dakota, Verizon must also divest wireless businesses in areas of Midwestern states such as Ohio, Minnesota and Kansas; western states such as Arizona, Colorado and California; and Southern states such as Alabama, Georgia and North Carolina.

"The divestitures required are necessary to protect wireless consumers and are among the most extensive required by the department in a wireless case," said Thomas O. Barnett, the assistant attorney general in charge of the Department of Justice's antitrust division.

The FCC is scheduled to vote on whether to approve Verizon's proposed $28 billion acquisition of Alltel next week during its Nov. 4 meeting. If the FCC approves the deal, it would create a super-carrier that will have an estimated 80 million wireless subscribers, and would also help Verizon expand its network coverage into more rural areas. As a wireless carrier in Little Rock, Ark., Alltel has a network footprint in 34 states, with most of its coverage concentrated in Southeastern, Midwestern and Southwestern states, where Verizon's coverage is spotty in some places. (Watch a slideshow of the hottest mergers and acquisitions.)