Business

Thu Jun 05 02:42:34 PDT 2008

LONDON (Reuters) –
Britain's Vodafone (VOD.L) confirmed on
Thursday that Verizon Wireless, in which it has a 45 percent
stake, is in advanced talks about buying U.S. rural mobile
service provider Alltel Corp.

Verizon Wireless is close to buying Alltel for $27 billion,
including debt, a source familiar with the talks told Reuters
on Wednesday, in a deal that would mean it overtakes AT&T (T.N)
as the top U.S. wireless service.

(Reporting by Chris Wills,; Editing by Erica Billingham )

Source: Reuters