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Just when rumors were beginning to circulate that Verizon is planning to acquire Alltel, comes the official announcement that both companies have already reached an agreement. And surely the acquisition numbers involve a big sum of money, totaling to an aggregate transaction value of $28.1 billion which includes Alltel’s equity of approximately $5.9 billion and a projected net debt of $22.2 billion at closing.

So, what does this mean for customers of both companies once the transaction is completed by the end of the year? The range of products and services that customers of both companies have access to will expand to include basic and advanced devices and expanded IN network calling community. Additionally, Alltel customers will have access to advanced services from Verizon that include over-the-air downloadable music from Verizon’s three million song library plus a nationwide network that can provide coast-to-coast experience for customers and industry-leading consumer policies such as Test Drive and Worry Free Guarantees. All of which are being provided by Verizon to its existing customers.

As for Verizon’s stake on the merger, it expects to realize synergies that would generate incremental cost savings of around $1 billion in the second year after closing of the deal. Likewise it expects to realize synergies with a net present value of more than $9 billion after integration cost. This will be brought about by reduced capital and operating expense savings.

“The combination of our two companies will continue and improve upon that heritage as, together, we can more quickly deliver an expanded range of innovative products and services to our customers,” said Alltel President and CEO Scott Ford.

Read [Yahoo! Finance]