12:14 PM EDT, 10/18/2024 (MT Newswires) -- US Cellular (USM) said Friday it has agreed to sell some of its spectrum licenses to telecommunications giant Verizon Communications ( VZ ) for $1 billion in cash, subject to potential adjustments.

The tower operator is also selling certain spectrum licenses to two other mobile network operators. US Cellular said the deals are part of its target to monetize the spectrum that was excluded from its May deal with T-Mobile US ( TMUS ) . Under the terms of that deal, T-Mobile agreed to acquire US Cellular's wireless operations and select spectrum assets for $4.4 billion.

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

US Cellular said it has obtained approval for the Verizon deal from its 82% shareholder, Telephone and Data Systems ( TDS/PV ) .

US Cellular shares were up 10% in Friday trade, while Telephone and Data Systems ( TDS/PV ) jumped nearly 17%. Verizon, up 0.4%, didn't respond to MT Newswires' request for comment.

US Cellular's deal with Verizon covers 663 million MHz POPs of its cellular spectrum licenses, as well as 11 million MHz POPs of AWS and 19 million MHz POPs of PCS licenses. The transaction is subject to regulatory approvals.

US Cellular said the deals with the two other mobile network operators cover 12 million MHz POPs of spectrum licenses across the CBRS, C-Band, and 700 MHz B/C Block bands. Buyers and terms weren't disclosed.

All the deals are contingent upon the completion of US Cellular's transaction with T-Mobile. Following the deals, US Cellular's spectrum portfolio will represent 3.4 billion MHz POPs of low- and mid-band spectrum, as well as 17.2 billion MHz POPs of mmWave spectrum.

Last month, Verizon agreed to a $3.3 billion deal to give Vertical Bridge exclusive rights to lease, operate and manage thousands of its wireless communications towers across the US. Earlier in September, Verizon agreed to acquire Frontier Communications Parent (FYBR) in an all-cash deal worth about $20 billion.

Verizon is scheduled to report third-quarter financial results Tuesday.

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