NEW YORK (AP) – Verizon Communications Inc. said Wednesday it reached a deal to shed its traditional telephone line business in Michigan and 13 other states in a deal valued at $8.6 billion.

Frontier Communications Corp., based in Stamford, Conn., will buy the Verizon assets for $5.3 billion in common stock, the companies said. Frontier will also assume about $3.3 billion in debt as part of the deal, which is expected to close within 12 months. Frontier operates offices in Norwich and Sherburne in Chenango County.

The agreement gives Frontier 4.8 million access lines to residential and small business customers and narrows Verizon’s focus on faster-growing wireless, broadband and Internet services. The deal will triple Frontier’s size and make it the nation’s largest communications provider focused on providing voice, broadband and video services to rural and smaller city markets.