The Alltel store located at 1702 E. 17th St. N.W. will have a makeover in the next couple of weeks. It will officially be rebranded as a Verizon Wireless store Oct. 19.

The change in the store’s appearance is the a final act in a merger between the two companies which began in June of last year with Verizon’s purchase of Alltel, according to statement by Verizon.

The management and employees at the store will not change, according Karen Smith, a spokesperson for Verizon.

Current Alltel customers should not notice any change in their service, other than their bills arriving from Verizon. Billing cycles will convert to the Verizon name the weekend of Oct. 17.

Verizon Wireless will continue to support Alltel’s services for existing customers. New customers will be offered only Verizon products.

Fewer than 1 percent of Alltel customers will have to replace their cell phones. This is if they are old enough that they are not able to receive over-the-air software changes needed to work on the Verizon network. These customers will receive a new phone for free or a credit toward a higher priced phone.

All phone numbers and contracts will remain the same.

Customers can purchase Verizon wireless products and use them on their Alltel price plans after the mid-October conversion is complete.

Contracts and prices will change only for customers who wish to switch to a Verizon plan.

Prepaid customers do not need to take any action. Customers will be notified when their account is transferred to Verizon, and they can continue to use their Alltel phones and refill cards. Once their account is transferred, they have the option to do their business on www.verizonwireless.com.

The acquisition has made Verizon the largest cellular telephone provider, with more than 80 million subscribers. Under the terms of the merger, Verizon paid Alltel $5.9 billion for Alltel’s equity and assumed $22 billion in debt.