Alltel suit dismissed after settlement with tribe

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) – A federal lawsuit has been dismissed this week after Alltel and the Oglala Sioux Tribe ironed out a dispute over the communications company's divested assets on the reservation.

The tribe sued Alltel in tribal court in 2009, using a sovereignty argument in an attempt to take the company's divested assets within its reservation borders. That prompted Alltel to sue the tribe in U.S. District Court in South Dakota in 2010 to prohibit the tribal suit.

Under the June settlement that agreed to dismiss both lawsuits, the company will pay the tribe $1 million and forgive and waive past-due balances owed by tribal customers.

AT&T bought Alltel's customer base when it acquired former Alltel assets from Verizon last June. Verizon bought Alltel in 2008.