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If you are like me and have been left scratching your head over the whereabouts of the HTC Merge once slated for Verizon, we may finally have an answer. Admittedly it wasn’t specced out to be the best VZW Android as of late, and while it’s keyboard looks awesome and the phone could surely hold its own, it most likely would have been lost to other devices during a crowded holiday release schedule. Now the still sexy Merge is back on the scene with an unexpected twist. It appears the handset will be heading to Alltell.
It will be missed on Verizon’s airwaves, but perhaps it is for the better. In the meantime, Alltell’s Android lineup looks to be beefing up with an impending launch of their own version of the Motorola Droid X, as well. Guess it doesn’t hurt to be a Verizon subsidy when it comes to scoring some hot releases.
[via DroidLife]
EDIT***** it’s Alltel not Alltell
Alltel – One “L” not two. C’mon it’s even in the picture!
LoL@ Alltell! KEVIN!
lol i love the people here! lol@tim242 ^^
Wait, if VZW owns Alltel, why not just distribute the merge to both carriers?
And I know some people that really, really want a physical keyboard with their 4G.
Alltel isn’t a Verizon subsidiary. It is wholly owned by Allied Wireless Communications Corporation (http://www.awcc.com/). Alltel still piggy-backs on VZW’s towers in areas where VZW was not permitted to buy due to monopoly concerns. That’s their only affiliation.
http://news.vzw.com/news/2009/01/pr2009-01-09.html
– Subsidiary, not subsidy.
– And Alltel is not a subsidiary of Verizon.
– Its keyboard, not it’s.
Alltel is still a thing? I was completely unaware
Ace: As pointed out above, a small portion of alltel is not a part of Verizon. A small company called allied wireless has about 1million of those customers.
FYI: Alltel’s name came from Allied
Allied became Alltel, which is why the investors renamed the remaining portion back to Allied. Alltel = ALLied TELecommunications. Alltel’s former headquarters in Little Rock is now a regional headquarters for Verizon. It is located at One Allied Drive.
Wiki sums it nicely
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alltel
I’ve been waiting on the X since mention of it coming to Alltel since last Oct. I’m kinda curious about what “Alltel’s own version of the Droid X” means? A 1.2Ghz overclocked version went to China, which would be nice if Alltel got the same.
http://www.droid-life.com/2011/01/17/motorola-droid-x-me811-heading-to-china-with-1-2ghz-processor/