U.S. telecom giant Verizon is close to selling a package of assets including mobile towers and parts of its wireline business. The deals could be worth more than US $15 billion, people familiar with the matter told the Wall Street Journal. The deals will involve different buyers and could be announced as soon as this week. CEO Lowell McAdam said in January that the company was open to selling assets that would reduce its wireline footprint.

Tarifica’s Take

Here we have what appears to be another vote in favor of mobile service in a developed market. This divestment would allow Verizon to focus on its core wireless business, which accounts for 70 percent of its revenue. The deal would also give the company cash to help pay off the debt it incurred in buying out Vodafone’s stake in Verizon Wireless (the deal closed in February 2014) and to defray the US $10.4 billion cost of the wireless licenses it received in the U.S. federal spectrum auction that ended last week.