Verizon Communications says it will make almost $15 billion from selling part of its landline business and leasing thousands of wireless towers, mostly in rural areas.
The nation's largest cellphone carrier plans to sell its California, Florida and Texas landline businesses, which serve voice, video and Internet customers, to Frontier Communications Corp.
The deal is for $9.9 billion in cash. Frontier is also taking on $600 million in debt.
Landlines are also called wirelines. They are the opposite of wireless, referring to actual copper wires strung or laid from point to point to carry voice, video and Internet.
Verizon wants to concentrate on the East Coast wireline business, the company said.
American Tower Corp. will pay $5.06 billion to lease 11,300 wireless towers and buy 165 towers.
Verizon Communications Inc. says it plans to return some of the cash to shareholders by spending $5 billion on buying back its stock.
Consumer groups have argued that Verizon is trying to get rid of its rural landline business because it is expensive to keep up and not as profitable as wireless--but its loss could leave them without an inexpensive carrier of last resort.
In a 2012 call with investors, Verizon Chief Executive Lowell McAdam said "it is not sustainable to keep having copper plant out there. You really can't invest in it; it is difficult to maintain."
Contributing: Associated Press
