New Delhi,  (IANS) Bharti Airtel International (Netherlands) has signed a deal with Helios Towers Africa (HTA) for divestment of around 950 telecom towers in Congo, a company statement said here on Thursday.

The divestment also includes towers currently under construction in the central African country.

“The agreement will allow Airtel to focus on its core business and customers, while enabling it to deleverage through debt reduction. The deal will significantly reduce Airtel’s ongoing capital expenditure on passive infrastructure and also mitigate the proliferation of towers through enhanced sharing,” the statement said.

This deal will expand HTA’s tower coverage in Africa to over 6,500 owned towers.

The agreement is subject to statutory and regulatory approvals in the respective countries.