Bharti Airtel has completed the sale of about 8,300 telecom towers in seven African countries for $1.7 billion. The move follows the operator’s decision to exit the tower business in Africa. It had announced the deal in July 2015.

Prior to the sale, Bharti Airtel had around 14,000 towers across the continent. The operator has stated that sale and lease back of towers shall continue to remain a strategic priority for it in all its operating countries across Africa, and accordingly the balance towers will also be disposed over a period of time.

The proceeds from the recent sale of the towers will be used for reducing the company’s debt, which stood at 681.34 billion at the end of June 2015.