AT&T’s CFO says Lumen deal will deepen its fiber and wireless presence

AT&T added fuel to the fiber acquisition fire when it was revealed that it would be the suitor for Lumen’s consumer fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) business. This deal will simultaneously double its fiber reach while enabling it to increase wireless penetration.

By acquiring Lumen’s Mass Markets fiber business, it inches further toward its goal of reaching approximately 60 million fiber locations by the end of 2030.

Earlier this week, AT&T announced it has passed more than 30 million consumer and business locations across the U.S. with its fiber broadband network ahead of plan.

Speaking to investors during the 2025 Mizuho Technology Conference, Pascal Desroches, CFO of AT&T, stated that the Lumen assets are additive to its fiber build-out strategy, as they enable the company to enter several new key markets it does not currently serve.

“We saw an opportunity with the Lumen consumer assets to lean into our strategy and to add to it. We've made no secret of our fondness for fiber. And here, we have a set of assets in 11 states where we currently don't do business and where we also lack broadband infrastructure. So, this gave us a foothold in those states.”

When it closes the Lumen deal, AT&T will gain access to over 4 million fiber passings, with the opportunity to expand its existing footprint beyond what currently exists.

“It's going to come with a build engine that allows us to expand in those states,” Desroches said. Currently, the penetration of the acquired fiber footprint is approximately 25%. We see no reason why, with our distribution network and additional investments, we can't get it to 40%.”

Pascal Desroches, CFO and EVP at AT&T, sees potential to scale its fiber broadband and wireless subscriber base by purchasing Lumen's consumer fiber business.

Unhinging cable’s monopoly

AT&T’s acquisition of Lumen’s FTTH assets also could be seen as a way telcos are leveraging fiber to battle cable’s multi-year comfortable lead in the broadband market.

Telcos, which had long been behind because cable’s service speeds far surpassed those of copper-based DSL services, are making an aggressive move to conduct fiber builds. This is being achieved through a combination of organic network expansions and targeted acquisitions, such as AT&T's acquisition of Lumen’s assets and Verizon’s pending deal for Frontier.

AT&T reported that it added 261,000 fiber subscribers in the first quarter and a total of 137,000 total broadband net additions.

While AT&T’s efforts are ongoing, it’s clear that FTTH is having an impact on cable’s broadband base. It’s not hard to overlook that cable’s lead in broadband has been slipping, a trend that was evident in the first quarter results of the largest cable operators.

Comcast and Charter, which remain the top two U.S. broadband providers in terms of total subscribers, both experienced broadband losses during the quarter. Comcast lost 199,000 subscribers in the first quarter while Charter lost 60,000 broadband subscribers.

Desroches said AT&T’s fiber expansion efforts will enable it to bring a more viable challenge to cable.

“Cable for years, in many cases, has operated as a monopoly,” he said. “There hasn't been competition. There hasn't been a choice. So, competition makes you better. I'm confident that when we bring our fiber product to a new market, we will effectively compete with cable. It's a better product at a lower price point. And there is no doubt in my mind that we can compete, and we will continue to have more and more opportunities to do so.

He added, “I think that what is happening now is for the first time, the cable companies have to compete against others that are providing alternative products.”

Scaling wireless, bundled services

While the focus of the Lumen acquisition is on fiber, it will also enable AT&T to expand its wireless service reach, including the sale of broadband and wireless bundles, in new markets.

Today, in the markets where AT&T offers fiber broadband, it sees about 500 basis points of incremental share.

Desroches noted that AT&T is “well under our average penetration in the Lumen market.”

“We have an enormous wireless opportunity on top of being able to penetrate the existing build more fully,” he said. “And we expect to significantly increase the passings in that footprint over the next several years.”

Besides being able to target existing fiber subscribers in the Lumen market with broadband and wireless bundles, AT&T can further expand this reach as it enters new markets.

“In terms of the wireless opportunity, when we have an opportunity in the Lumen markets to bundle a great fiber product with our wireless, we believe that we will be able to secure a higher share than our fair share,” Desroches said. “We will add incremental distribution beyond what we already have in the market, not only for fiber, but for wireless as well. We believe that these two factors will enable us to increase our penetration in the Lumen markets significantly.”

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