Verizon Wireless recently announced it would buy Alltel Corp. for $5.9 billion, making it the largest cell-phone operator in the United States.
Alltel has 13.2 million subscribers and Verizon Wireless has 67.2 million. The new combination will total over 80 million subscribers, surpassing AT&T’s previous record of 71.4 million. (Washington Examiner, June 5)
This trend is not restricted to the United States. Carriers worldwide are probing markets in Africa, the Middle East and Asia. France’s Télécom recently offered to buy Swedish-Finnish TeliaSonera, a company that serves mostly former Soviet states. If the deal goes through, it will create the world’s fourth-largest mobile operator, with 168 million subscribers. (New York Times, June 6)
In the monopoly stage of capitalism, competition gives way to the consolidation of capital. This phenomenon can be found in all industries, from the merger of Exxon and Mobil to the still-looming acquisition of Yahoo by Microsoft.
