AT&T (News - Alert) Inc. has completed acquisition of Dobson Communications Corporation, a provider of rural and suburban wireless communications services under the Cellular One brand.

AT&T says the combination of the two companies' wireless networks will allow AT&T to deliver broader wireless coverage to customers, including service to nearly 1.7 million Dobson subscribers.

The acquisition will enable AT&T to expand its coverage and services into a number of rural and suburban areas in Alaska, Arizona, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia and Wisconsin.

AT&T officials inform that with the addition of Dobson, AT&T's fully integrated GSM network now covers more than 290 million people in 13,000 U.S. cities and towns. In addition, the Dobson's 850 MHz spectrum will help AT&T to expand the third generation (3G) GSM technology throughout the U.S.

“This transaction will produce substantial benefits for customers of both AT&T and Dobson. AT&T's customers will enjoy deeper coverage in rural and suburban areas. Dobson's customers will have access to AT&T's full portfolio of innovative products and services,” said Randall L. Stephenson, chairman and CEO at AT&T, in a press release.

Stephenson also added, “This transaction also creates value for AT&T stockholders,” and said that his company expects to realize significant synergies and believes that Dobson's customer base will provide considerable opportunities for continued growth.

Stephenson also pointed out that both the companies have a long standing relationship as roaming partners. He also indicated that AT&T will immediately begin to implement a carefully planned process to integrate the Dobson and AT&T wireless networks, combine product portfolios and merge customer care initiatives.

As per the merger deal, Dobson stockholders are going to receive $13.00 per share. AT&T is also expected to divest Dobson operations in four primarily rural areas, one in western Oklahoma, one in Texas and two in Kentucky.

In addition, AT&T will divest the Cellular One name to a buyer that will continue to make it available for use by wireless carriers and will exit from its minority interests in Mid-Tex Cellular Ltd. and Northwest Missouri Cellular Limited Partnership. At present, AT&T owns 1 percent or less in each of these entities.

The completion of the Dobson acquisition comes after an extensive review process, which included approval by or filings with two states, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC (News - Alert)).

---------

Anshu Shrivastava is a contributing editor for TMCnet. To see more of her articles, please visit her columnist page.