Verizon may be looking to shed its enterprise business for $10 billion

Verizon Communications is considering a sale of its enterprise assets for as much as US$10 billion, according to a Reuters report on Friday. It's still exploring how to structure a sale, and no deal is imminent, the report said.

The enterprise business has its roots in long-distance giant MCI, which Verizon acquired in 2006. It operates a global network and offers services in more than 140 countries. The carrier says 99 percent of Fortune 500 companies are customers. 

The plan also includes selling off the cloud services business that came out of Verizon's $1.4 billion acquisition of Terremark in 2011. That deal hasn't vaulted Verizon into the top tier of cloud providers like Google and Amazon Web Services.

Verizon lately has been shifting its focus to mobile services and connected devices in the Internet of Things. It announced in February it would sell its consumer wireline operations in California, Florida and Texas to Frontier Communications for $10.5 billion. However, its FiOS fiber-to-the-home network still has 6.9 million Internet customers and 5.8 million TV subscribers.

Verizon Wireless serves 110.8 million retail connections, making it one of the two dominant mobile operators in the U.S.