AT&T finally coming to Vermont, not just here to eat all your Ben & Jerry's

In the wake of Verizon's acquisition of Rural Cellular, something very interesting, unexpected, and delightful happened: AT&T finally found itself a way into Vermont. Long an AT&T-free zone, the merger of Verizon and Rural networks there stands to leave much of the state without any wireless competition, so the FCC's concession requirements demanded that the combined CDMA behemoth spin off a little bandwidth for AT&T's use. Of course, it's going to take a little time to get everything set up, but rest easy, Vermonters: that BlackJack II you've been desperately craving is nearly within reach.

[Via TUAW]

[compboss17 Posted Aug 6th 2008 11:06AM]

Damnit now I want some Half Baked or something.

[(Unverified) Posted Aug 6th 2008 12:32PM]

This story just made my dad. Good bye Verizon, hello AT&T and Iphone, or maybe Sprint, because the HTC Diamond is sweet.

[(Unverified) Posted Aug 6th 2008 5:32PM]

"Combined CDMA behemoth"? While RCC (Unicel) is CDMA in Minnesota, the entirety of its Vermont (and Northern New York/New England) network is GSM.

AT&T is getting much more than just bandwidth -- they're getting an established infrastructure and the state's largest user base.

[(Unverified) Posted Aug 6th 2008 10:14PM]

Oh please let this mean that my shiny new iPhone, which works just fine from Putney to Ascutney, can inherit the Nokia's Vermont phone number when the Verizon contract runs out in 2 weeks. Changing phone numbers is hard enough; imagine presidential politics with a New Hampshire phone number. ARGHHHH!!!

[(Unverified) Posted Aug 7th 2008 3:08PM]

This has been rumored for some time now... glad to hear it's true. AT&T's prices are FAR better than Verizon's, plus I can keep using my Nokia N73 and later down the line finally pick up an N82!

(Or, in none specific terms, thank god for Vermonters now being able to pick their unlocked GSM phones rather than being tied down by what Verizon forces them to pick from!)