Dallas-based AT&T has agreed to purchase Lumen’s Mass Markets fiber-to-the-home business in a multi-billion-dollar deal.
AT&T will acquire the Monroe, Louisiana-based telecom’s consumer fiber operations for $5.75 billion in cash. The division currently boasts around one million fiber customers and reaches over four million fiber locations in nearly a dozen U.S. states.
AT&T says the acquisition will help it expand investment in critical U.S. connectivity infrastructure, generate new middle-class jobs, and accelerate millions of Americans’ access to high-speed fiber internet.
“We’re leading the race to connect more Americans with fiber, the best broadband connectivity technology available,” said John Stankey, chairman and CEO of AT&T, in a May 21 press release.
“This deal with Lumen represents a significant investment in U.S. connectivity infrastructure that will create jobs and spur economic activity in numerous regions and major metro areas across 11 states. As we advance our fiber build, we’ll serve more communities with world-class connectivity and expect to roughly double where AT&T Fiber is available by the end of 2030.”
If forecasts are correct, the telecom giant, which is headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, will reach roughly 60 million total fiber locations by the end of the decade.
“We are sharpening our focus on enterprise customers, and this transaction enhances our financial flexibility, enabling us to reimagine networking for enterprises in a multi-cloud, AI-first world,” Kate Johnson, president and CEO of Lumen, said in a separate press release.
“The fiber-to-the-home business being sold is tremendously valuable thanks to the incredible work by the team and will now have even greater opportunity to grow with AT&T’s scale, consumer-focus, and investment.”
Last month, The Dallas Express reported on the ongoing challenges AT&T has faced across Dallas. The company’s Vice President of External Affairs, Michael Peterson, highlighted copper thefts that have even disrupted phone and internet services to residents in the city. The issue has become so severe that AT&T even offered rewards for information about the growing number of thefts.
Even the area where the telecom leader is headquartered, along Commerce Street, has seen a growth in crime. Just in the past three years alone, violent crime in the area has surged by over 40%.
