Alltel expands My Circle
Alltel announced on Thursday an upgrade to its My Circle feature that will let customers add up to five additional members for unlimited calling. The upgrade, which will be free, will be available only in the Alltel markets that are not part of the merger with Verizon Wireless.
Starting Friday, the My Circle 10 plan will expand to My Circle 15 and the My Circle 20 plan will expand to My Circle 25. Other plan features, including the monthly price, will not change. The upgrade will not apply to My Circle 1 or My Circle 5 plans.
To gain federal approval for its acquisition of Alltel, Verizon agreed to sell assets in 91 markets where service overlapped. Customers in those areas will continue to get service under the Alltel brand until another wireless carrier buys the assets.
Alltel customers migrating to Verizon will be able to keep their plans and My Circle features for the time being. Verizon customers have a similar, though more expensive, option with Verizon's "Friends & Family" plan.
Kent German is a senior editor for cell phone reviews at CNET. When he's not testing the newest handsets on the market, he's blogging about cell phone news for Crave. In his On Call column, he answers reader questions and gives his take on the rapidly changing mobile industry. E-mail Kent. 
- by steve499 March 26, 2009 9:37 AM PDT
- I'm going to be sticking with Alltel at least until someone buys them out and changes my plan. I have one of the cheaper national plans they used to have, and over time they've added 100 bonus peak minutes and more recently a "Circle of One."
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(3 Comments)I put my parents' land phone number as my Circle number. I check in on my mother about every day, and now none of that counts against my minutes. The result is a cheap unlimited calling plan for me, in effect. I always have a couple hundred minutes left at the end of the month. They don't roll over, but why should I care.
If someone buys them out and changes the plan, then I'll be seriously looking at getting an iPhone.