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AT&T, the No. 2 U.S wireless provider, has been
exploring options to pay down its debt and raise funds for
investments in recent months. The company declined to comment.
The three sources requested anonymity because the matter is not
public.
AT&T and its rival Verizon have been selling non-core assets in
recent months. Verizon is close to announcing divestitures of
wireless towers and wireline markets worth $10 billion, the Wall
Street Journal reported on Monday.
AT&T hired a financial adviser to assist in the sale.
Following spectrum investments and pending acquisitions, AT&T's
debt ratio may rise in the near term, the company said last week
after spending close to half of the total bids in the
record-setting $44.9 billion spectrum sale that concluded last
week.
AT&T emerged the top bidder in the AWS-3 spectrum auction by
bagging 251 licenses worth $18.2 billion.
The company has also been investing to expand its footprint in
Mexico to grow its business, as the U.S. wireless market reaches
saturation. It said last month it would buy bankrupt NII
Holdings Inc's wireless business in Mexico for $1.875 billion.
AT&T also sold its wireline operations in Connecticut to
regional telephone operator Frontier Communications for $2
billion in late 2013 to raise cash for network upgrades.
In 2013, AT&T completed a $4.85 billion sale of some of its
towers to tower operator Crown Castle and preserved its right to
lease and operate them for about 28 years.
The Wall Street Journal first reported AT&T's plans to sell its
data centers on Monday.
(Reporting by Liana B. Baker in New York and Malathi Nayak in
San Francisco; Editing by Richard Chang)
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