FCC approves sale of Alltel to private equity

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. communications regulators gave approval on Friday for private equity investors to acquire wireless provider Alltel Corp AT.N.

The Federal Communications Commission voted to give its consent to the deal after concluding it would not be anti-competitive.

Alltel, which has about 12 million subscribers, agreed in May to be bought for about $25 billion. The company said in a statement it expects the deal with TPG Capital and GS Capital Partners to close before Thanksgiving Day, November 22.

In a statement, the FCC said the acquisition of Alltel "will not reduce the number of wireless service providers in the markets where Alltel operates."

The agency also said the deal would give the company an infusion of capital that would allow it to roll out more advanced services to rural wireless customers.

The FCC said Alltel and the private equity investors had committed to continue entering into agreements to provide roaming to other carriers on its network in response to concerns that Deutsche Telekom AG (DTEGn.DE: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) unit T-Mobile USA had expressed to the agency.

(Reporting by Peter Kaplan)