Sprint Nextel Sell Towers For $670M

July 24, 2008 11:55 a.m. EST

New York, NY (AHN) - Sprint Nextel has sold the majority of its cell phone towers for around $670 million and will lease them back from the new owners, TowerCo, based in Cary, NC.

The sell-off of more than 3,300 cell phone towers is the latest effort by the struggling wireless carrier to reduce its $24 billion in debt and improve its position against AT&T and Verizon Wireless.

TowerCo, a private-equity-funded company, is among a number of firms that own towers and lease them back to carriers.

Sprint continues to investigate whether there is interest in buying its Nextel unit, the Wall Street Journal reported.