US telecom giant AT&T (T) announced that it will complete the impending sale of specific wireless assets of recently acquired Centennial Communications to its archrival Verizon (VZ) in first-quarter 2010.

Moreover, AT&T reported that it expects to conclude the acquisition of certain wireless assets related to Alltel Wireless (acquired by Verizon in early 2009) in first-quarter 2010. These transactions are subject to the approvals of the US Department of Justice and US telecom regulator Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”).

AT&T completed its acquisition of Centennial Communications in Nov 2009. As per the demand of the US regulators, AT&T has to divest certain Centennial assets in eight markets across Louisiana (central and southern) and southwestern Mississippi as the acquisition may potentially hurt consumer interest in these regions. As part of this requirement, AT&T agreed to sell wireless assets in five of the eight markets to Verizon.

Pursuant to the approval of the FCC, Verizon closed its acquisition of Alltel in Jan 2009. The acquisition has enabled Verizon to dethrone AT&T as the largest wireless carrier in North America by subscriber base.

However, Verizon has to divest various Alltel markets as mandated by the US regulators while approving the acquisition. Verizon is required to sell wireless spectrum and network assets in specific markets since they overlap with Alltel’s network.

AT&T and Verizon had entered into an asset swap pact in May 2009 under which Verizon agreed to acquire Centennial’s network assets and licenses as well as 120,000 customers in five service areas in Louisiana and Mississippi for $240 million. On the other hand, Verizon agreed to dispose a sizable portion of the Alltel assets (involving 1.5 million customers in 79 markets in 18 states) to AT&T for $2.35 billion.

The successful completion of the impending asset divestiture transactions will thus enable the companies to fulfill the respective regulatory obligations.

Zacks Investment Research

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