UPDATED: Verizon to buy Alltel for $28.1 billion

UPDATE: Immediately after writing this post, Verizon and Alltel announced an acquisition deal, for $28.1 billion.

I've written enough about cell phone carriers to know that semi-regional/mostly-national player Alltel is beloved by many of this blog's readers. The company, based in Little Rock, Arkansas and serving 13 million customers, has rapidly grown to become the fifth largest carrier in the country.

Now, Verizon, which slipped to the #2 spot after AT&T and Cingular merged, wants to drink Alltel's milkshake and gobble up its market share for its own to reclaim the top spot. Alltel licenses much of its network from Verizon (and Sprint, which uses a compatible technology) already, so integrating Alltel's customers into the Verizon machine should present no problem.

The value of the deal is reportedly $27 billion, which is hefty considering Cingular paid AT&T $41 billion for its 22 million customers (before then taking the AT&T name). That's over $2,000 per customer for Alltel vs. a "mere" $1,860 for each AT&T customer. Bet you didn't know how valuable you were, did you?

Though so many details of the deal have been made public, both Verizon and Alltel have declined comment. Ironically, Verizon had a chance to buy Alltel last year, but didn't bid at its auction because it thought the company was too expensive. A private equity firm ended up buying the Alltel at the time and would be reselling it only six months after closing that deal.

So, with a combined Verizon-Alltel, who'd be the new #5 U.S. cellular carrier? Good old U.S. Cellular, with about 6 million customers. 

LINK: Alltel Takeover: Verizon in Talks to Buy Alltel for $27 Billion