Verizon has said they will Purchase Alltel for 5.9 billion dollars and take over 22 billion in debt.

When the merger is completed (Verizon hopes before the end of the year), Verizon will overtake the Sprint as the largest Cellular carrier in the US with over 80 million subscribers.

This would also mark the second time Alltel has been sold and bought with in the past year, last year Goldman Sachs purchased Alltel for a cool $27.5 billion.