U.S. Cellular Sells Spectrum Licenses to Verizon for $1 Billion

(Reuters) – United States Cellular (NYSE:USM) announced on Friday it has reached an agreement to sell some of its spectrum licenses to Verizon (NYSE:VZ) in a transaction valued at $1 billion.

U.S. Cellular's shares increased by 3.9% in pre-market trading.

The company is divesting a portion of its spectrum licenses that are utilized for mobile phone signals and high-speed data services to Verizon.

Why It's Important

This transaction is a key part of U.S. Cellular's strategy to monetize its spectrum assets and will assist Verizon in enhancing its network capacity and coverage.

Furthermore, U.S. Cellular indicated it has also made agreements to sell parts of its spectrum licenses to two other mobile network operators, although specifics were not disclosed.

Key Quotes

"We are pleased that significant value for a portion of the remaining licenses will be realized," stated U.S. Cellular CEO Laurent Therivel.
"We are continuing the process to opportunistically monetize the remaining spectrum assets not included in today's announcement."

Context

In May, U.S. Cellular entered into an agreement with T-Mobile to sell nearly all of its wireless operations including customers, stores, and 30% of its spectrum assets in a deal worth $4.4 billion.