Verizon Wireless upped the ante in a letter to the Federal Communications Commission this week, offering to divest 15 more markets to move its acquisition of Alltel Corp. forward.
The markets Verizon (NYSE: %%VZ%%) has volunteered for divestiture are in the following states: Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Carolina, South Carolina and Utah.
The company said in the letter that it is "voluntarily committing to divest one of the overlapping properties in each of the 15 markets, together with the spectrum, customers and other assets used by that property."
Verizon now awaits a "final judgment" from the U.S. Department of Justice regarding the 15 divestitures.
The sweetened offer comes several months after Verizon's initial proposal on July 22 to divest spectrum holdings 85 markets across the United States.
Wireless spectrum is the real estate of the wireless business. A provider cannot offer services in a market unless it owns spectrum or roams on another company's network.
Click here to read more about roaming and spectrum conflict caused by the pending merger.
