Verizon is following AT&T’s lead and looking to move its wireless towers, according to a report from Bloomberg.
Bloomberg says the sale of the towers could raise as much as $6 billion for upcoming spectrum auctions. That number is based on the price per tower that AT&T got back in December when it finalized a deal to lease the rights to approximately 9,000 of its towers to Crown Castle for $4.83 billion. As part of that deal, Crown Castle bought outright 600 of AT&T’s towers as well.
Wednesday’s Bloomberg report follows on comments that CFO Fran Shammo made at an investment conference recently, when he confirmed that Verizon was looking into its options with regards to its towers. At that conference, Shammo said the AT&T deal “opened our eyes” to the benefits of selling its towers.
Verizon has apparently hired TAP Advisors LLC, which also advised AT&T in its sale.
Verizon would be looking to unload 12,000 towers and may announce the deal within the next 30 to 60 days.