Pending federal approval of the sale, AT&Tcould move in to North Dakota by 2010.

The nationwide wireless carrier is in the process of acquiring the Alltel network from Verizon Wireless, which completed is purchase of Alltel in the first quarter of this year. Verizon, which has to sell off its Alltel assets due to federal competition laws, agreed to a $2.35 billion sale to AT&T of some of its Alltel assets in 18 states.

That means AT&T will take over licenses, properties and customers, possibly by the end of this year or the beginning of next year. Alltel customers will have to honor their service agreements.

The move from Alltel to AT&T will require a statewide upgrade of the network that will take about 12 months, Grundman said.

"During that time, customers will remain on their existing contracts,"said Amy Grundman, AT&Tspokesperson.

She said it's too early to know if the company will have stores in the state.

Alltel customers will have the option to either switch to AT&T once their contracts are up, or move to another carrier. Both options require purchasing new phones.

"There is no change to Verizon Wireless service in North Dakota as a result of the AT&T announcement,"said Karen Smith, spokesperson with Verizon. "We will continue to operate the Verizon Wireless network in North Dakota."

The deal has not closed, so there are no immediate changes for Alltel customers.

(Reach reporter Crystal R. Reid at 250-8261 or crystal.reid@;bismarcktribune.com.)