US telecom giant AT&T has agreed to purchase Lumen Technologies’ consumer fibre business for $5.75bn in an all-cash deal.

The transaction includes approximately one million fibre subscribers across more than four million fibre locations, which will transition to AT&T Fiber customers over time.

The acquisition encompasses last-mile Mass Markets fibre assets and associated network elements in central offices.

This will aid AT&T to deliver fibre services in areas, including Denver, Las Vegas, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Orlando, Phoenix, Portland, Salt Lake City, and Seattle, among others.

Following the deal closing, AT&T will establish a new, wholly owned subsidiary, NetworkCo, to hold the acquired fibre network assets and certain fibre network deployment capabilities.

Some Lumen employees are expected to transfer to AT&T or NetworkCo as part of the deal.

Lumen’s enterprise fibre customers and Mass Markets copper-based customers, along with their supporting assets, are excluded from the agreement.

Post-closing, Lumen will provide AT&T with transitional services, including field operations, network deployment, IT systems, billing, and customer support, for approximately two years.

AT&T will also gain long-term access to certain Lumen central offices, poles, and conduits.

The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2026, pending regulatory approval from the US Department of Justice and other customary conditions.

AT&T chairman and CEO John Stankey said: “We’re leading the race to connect more Americans with fibre, the best broadband connectivity technology available.

“This deal with Lumen represents a significant investment in US connectivity infrastructure that will create jobs and spur economic activity in numerous regions and major metro areas across 11 states. As we advance our fibre 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.”

In November 2024, Lumen Technologies entered into a partnership with Google Cloud to accelerate its digital transformation and foster AI innovation.