AT&T, the country's second-biggest wireless phone company, agreed Friday to pay $2.35 billion in cash to buy assets put up for auction by Verizon Wireless. The network assets and mobile licenses are for 79 service regions in 18 states, mostly rural areas. AT&T will be 1.5 million customers closer to closing the service gap with Verizon. Verizon surpassed AT&T to become the largest wireless carrier after it acquired the Alltel Corporation in January. Verizon's dominance in more than 20 markets led the Federal Communications Commission to demand the asset sale. AT&T will buy mostly Alltel assets but will include some assets from Verizon Wireless and the former Rural Cellular Corp.
