NEW YORK CITY—Verizon Communications Inc. is exploring the sale of a data center portfolio that could bring more than $2.5 billion, Reuters reported Tuesday evening. A Verizon spokesman tells GlobeSt.com the company declines to comment on the Reuters report, which cited unnamed sources said to be familiar with the matter.

If a sale of Verizon's 48 owned data centers occurs, it would reverse the wireless carrier's expansion into hosting and co-location services after its $1.4-billion acquisition of data center operator Terremark Worldwide Inc. in 2011. This past November, CFO Fran Shammo said that reports of up to $10 billion in asset sales, including a sell-off of Terremark, were "speculative."

Citigroup is advising Verizon on a possible sale, which would further the company's drive to focus on its core businesses, Reuters reported. This past February, Verizon announced that it would sell 11,448 cell phone towers to wireless REIT American Tower Corp. for $5.1 billion, a deal that closed last March.

Separately, Verizon announced in February 2015 that it would sell its local wireline operations in California, Florida and Texas to Frontier Communications Corp. for approximately $10.54 billion, including the assumption of $600 million in debt. The sale is expected to close in the first half of this year.