Verizon Communications selling their business in three New England states

US based mobile service provider Verizon Communications has said that they are selling off its residential telephone business in three New England states for $2.72 billion.

Analysts believe that the company is aiming to get rid of their non-core assets as they are investing in upgrading its wired and wireless networks for next-generation services.

Verizon’s operations in the region serve around 1.5 million homes. These operations are being acquired by the FairPoint Communications Inc. of North Carolina.

FairPoint already owns local phone networks in 31 mostly rural markets in 18 states in the country.

The two companies made it clear that this deal would result in no layoffs and that FairPoint would invest heavily in the region to expand broadband availability to more homes. FairPoint added that they expect to hire 600 more employees in the three-state region.

The deal would see Verizon shareholders receiving about $1.02 billion in FairPoint stock.