Alltel adds digital wireless service in southwest Missouri

Alltel announced March 29 it has expanded digital wireless service to 13 areas in southwest Missouri. By year's end the company plans to complete the addition of digital service to all its existing analog transmission sites in the area, according to a company news release.

The sites and coverage areas include Springfield, at Baptist Bible College at 720 E. Kearney; Caulfield, between Gainesville and West Plains on Highway 160; Gainesville, along Highway 160 east of Branson; Hilda, along Highway 160 between Forsyth and Rueter; Osage Beach and along Highway 54 to Linn Creek; Pomona, between West Plains and Willow Springs on Highway 63; Preston, between Cross Timbers and Urbana on Highway 65; Rueter, new digital service and improved coverage along Highway 160 to Theodosia; Simmons, continuous coverage on Highway 63 between Houston and Cabool; Theodosia, new digital service and improved coverage on Highway 160 to Rueter; Warsaw and along Highway 65 to Cross Timbers; and Wasola and Willhoit, between Ava and Gainesville on Highway 5.

"Customers should see an increase in first-time call connections, experience fewer busy and dropped calls and improved call clarity," said John Caver, vice president of retail services for Alltel's Missouri wireless operations.

In other news, Little Rock, Ark.-based Alltel also announced the retirement of Michael T. Flynn, assistant to Alltel President and CEO Scott Ford, after 34 years of leadership in the telecommunications industry.

Flynn joined Alltel as president of the telephone group in 1994. He previously served 24 years with Southwestern Bell, rising through the ranks from outside plant operations management to president of its Arkansas operations in the early 1990s.

Flynn's leadership in strategic long-term planning played a key role in the rapid rise of Alltel from primarily a local telephone company to an integrated wireline and wireless company with nearly 13 million customers in 26 states. While at Alltel, Flynn played a lead role in integrating more than $15 billion in mergers and acquisitions since 1998.

Flynn created the telephone group at Alltel that structured and closed strategic property transactions to cluster company operations. He led major re-engineering projects and redefined management roles to deal with the rapidly changing telecom industry over the last 10 years.