Verizon Wireless has completed its $5.9 billion acquisition of Alltel, making it the largest cell phone company in the U.S., according to the Associated Press. Verizon said that it will also take on $22.2 billion in debt from the company (which explains the original $28.1 billion acquisition figure announced last June).

Much of Alltel's executive staff will be axed—probably on the order of 3,000 employees—but everyone below that level will be retained in the merger. "Alltel employees below executive level will continue in their present jobs as Verizon Wireless assesses staffing needs required to best serve customers and achieve synergies," Verizon said in a statement.

As part of the deal, Verizon also gets Alltel's 12.9 million customers, bringing its U.S. total to 83.7 million (after about 2.1 million get sold off in territory that will be sold later). That puts it significantly above AT&T's current 75 million-ish total, which has been bolstered recently by the runaway success of the iPhone. Verizon plans to change out the Alltel name in stores over the second and third quarters of this year.