Alltel will buy Midwest Wireless

Rural wireless carrier Alltel is continuing to buy up smaller regional carriers, having just inked a deal to purchase Midwest Wireless following its acquisition of Western Wireless earlier this year. The Midwest deal is much smaller then the $4.5 billion buyout of Western: Alltel will spend a billion and change to pick up Midwest's 400,000 customers. Even after the wave of purchases, Alltel will still be a distant fifth in the US wireless industry, behind Cingular, Verizon, Sprint Nextel, and T-Mobile.