AT&T has struck a deal to purchase CenturyLink’s client fiber broadband division for $5.75 billion, giving the Web supplier one other 1.1 million fiber clients in 11 states.
The all-cash deal is anticipated to shut in the course of the first half of 2026 assuming the businesses receive regulatory approval. AT&T will achieve new clients in Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, and Washington.
The deal will give AT&T room to develop its person base by greater than the 1.1 million present CenturyLink clients, as AT&T stated the community areas being bought embrace over 4 million fiber-enabled areas. “The transaction will allow AT&T to considerably develop entry to AT&T Fiber in main metro areas like Denver, Las Vegas, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Orlando, Phoenix, Portland, Salt Lake Metropolis and Seattle, in addition to further geographies,” AT&T stated.
The corporate, beforehand referred to as CenturyLink, is formally named Lumen now however nonetheless makes use of the CenturyLink model identify for dwelling Web service. AT&T, which has 9.6 million fiber clients and 14.1 million broadband clients total, stated the infrastructure it’s buying will assist it develop fiber development to new areas as effectively.
“AT&T will achieve entry to Lumen’s substantial fiber development capabilities inside its incumbent native alternate service (ILEC) footprint and plans to speed up the tempo at which fiber is being in-built these territories,” AT&T stated. “AT&T now expects to succeed in roughly 60 million whole fiber areas by the tip of 2030—roughly doubling the place AT&T Fiber is on the market at this time.”
CenturyLink copper customers ignored of deal
The deal can also be notable for what it does not embrace: Lumen’s enterprise fiber clients and the outdated copper DSL strains that had been by no means upgraded to fiber. CenturyLink’s DSL clients have suffered from unhealthy customer support and multi-month outages, as we have detailed in quite a few articles over the previous few years.
The deal appears unlikely to enhance issues for CenturyLink copper customers. Lumen has appeared bored with sustaining the copper community, and lengthy outages typically aren’t mounted till a buyer asks Ars Technica for assist. Customers are caught with gradual Web service that continuously does not work.
