Lumen Technologies has completed the sale of its Mass Markets fiber-to-the-home business in 11 states, including Quantum Fiber, to AT&T for $5.75 billion in cash. The sale includes nearly all of the related consumer fiber access network and customer relationships in those states, which serves more than 1 million fiber customers and reaches more than 4 million enabled fiber locations. The sale is part of a strategic shift in focus to digital networking services built for multi-cloud and AI applications, the company said.
“The divestiture of our consumer fiber-to-the-home business marks a pivotal moment for Lumen. We are doubling down on where we are strongest and where the opportunity is greatest for us—powering the digital infrastructure that enterprises and public sector organizations need to win in the AI era,” said Lumen CEO Kate Johnson. “With a stronger balance sheet and a clear path to sustainable growth, we are accelerating our efforts to modernize our network, scale our digital platform and build the connected ecosystem that drives real outcomes for our customers and creates lasting value for shareholders.”
Lumen plans to apply approximately $4.8 billion of the transaction proceeds and cash on hand to pay off “all super priority debt,” reducing the company’s interest expense by approximately $300 million annually and accelerating its transformation strategy. The completed transaction is expected to reduce the company’s debt to less than $13 billion with a net debt to adjusted EBITDA ratio of below 4x, officials said.
As part of the transaction, Lumen will retain assets that will continue to serve as the foundation of its enterprise transformation, including “all national, regional, state and metro level fiber backbone network infrastructure, central offices and associated real estate.” In addition, Lumen will retain its copper-based consumer services. Enterprise and wholesale fiber customers will remain with Lumen in all locations, the company said.
Lumen expressed its appreciation for Wes Gibson, who previously led Lumen’s Mass Markets business and now will lead NetworkCo, as well as for the team of employees that will transition to AT&T and its new subsidiaries.
“We want to thank Wes and every Lumen colleague who is transferring as part of this transaction,” Johnson said. “This team built a strong business and served our customers with dedication and pride. We’re grateful for their contributions to Lumen and confident they will continue to serve the consumer market as part of the AT&T family.”
Moving forward, Lumen’s growth strategy will focus on capabilities built for large enterprises, global hyperscalers and public sector organizations.
With respect to its physical network, the company is building a high-capacity, low-latency fiber network designed to support AI, advanced cloud and edge workloads. At the close of last year, Lumen deployed 17 million intercity fiber miles and is on track to reach 47 million miles by the end of 2028, officials said.
Regarding its digital platform, Lumen is “cloudifying” and “agentifying” its network to allow services through a networking fabric that interconnects data centers and public clouds and software-defined capabilities to offer more agile, automated and consumption-based experiences, the company said.
Lumen is also assembling a growing roster of technology partnerships, including Palantir, Meter, Commvault, QTS and Digital Realty, that extends the company’s commercial reach as “time-to-first-token has become the new measurement of success in the AI economy,” officials said.
Lumen first announced its intention to sell its consumer business to AT&T on May 21, 2025.
