US mobile operator Sprint Nextel has announced it is to sell approximately 3,300 mobile towers to privately-held TowerCo for approximately US$670 million in cash and enter into a long-term leasing agreement with the company to support its CDMA, iDEN and WiMAX networks. In a statement, Sprint Nextel said the deal will provide it with “additional liquidity” and enable it to focus on its core business of mobile service provision.

Sprint said the specific number of towers and the final purchase price would be determined at the close, which it expects will be in 90 days. The “additional liquidity” offered by the deal comes at a time when the operator has been struggling to stem customer losses. Sprint Nextel’s share price has dropped significantly this year amid reports that it is losing customers to larger rivals Verizon Wireless and AT&T. The operator has been the subject of takeover speculation in recent weeks, with SK Telecom and Deutsche Telekom touted as potential purchasers. Sprint Nextel, the third-largest operator in the US by subscribers, reported in May a net loss of US$505 million for the first-quarter this year, more than double a year-earlier net loss of US$211 million. The widening loss was partly attributed to a 1.1 million decline in lucrative postpaid subscriber numbers, which pushed total subscribership down 1.5 percent from a year earlier to 52.8 million. First-quarter revenue fell 8 percent to US$9.33 billion. At the time, according to a New York Times report, CEO Dan Hesse said the operator was considering selling non-core operations.