On Thursday Verizon Communications agreed to buy Alltel for approximately $28.1 billion, which now makes Verizon the largest cellular phone provider in the U.S. Here's a snipet from the NY Times:
The deal catapults Verizon’s wireless business ahead of AT&T Wireless, which falls to No. 2, followed by Sprint Nextel and Deutsche Telekom’s T-Mobile. The combination of Verizon, based in New York, and Alltel, based in Little Rock, Ark., will create a company with more than 80 million subscribers. Verizon adds coverage in Midwest and the South.