Verizon to buy US$1 billion of spectrum assets from US Cellular

VERIZON Communications, the biggest wireless carrier in the US, will buy some of US Cellular’s spectrum licences for US$1 billion as the tower operator sheds parts of its portfolio. 

The transaction, and agreements with two other mobile network operators, are contingent on closing a deal announced in May to sell wireless operations and some of its spectrum assets to T-Mobile US, US Cellular said in a statement on Friday (Oct 18). 

The announcement came amid a push for US wireless companies to focus more on their core business. Verizon last month sold the right to lease thousands of towers in a deal that allowed it to lease back capacity. US Cellular’s May T-Mobile deal was for US$4.4 billion, including cash and debt. 

Privately-held US Cellular controls one of the largest tower businesses in the US. It will still hold some spectrum if the deals close, and is continuing to “opportunistically monetise these retained assets,” according to the statement. BLOOMBERG