Bloomberg reports the pair have held talks, with AT&T making efforts to expand its fibre network, with plans to extend to more than 50 million locations by 2029.
Any potential deal is yet to be finalised, with Lumen operating around 400 consumer fibre assets across its over 1,700 wire centres in the US.
Lumen began looking for a buyer for its consumer fibre unit back in December, with banking giant Goldman Sachs brought in to support the process as the firm looks to instead double down on its enterprise AI efforts.
Reuters reported last year that Lumen might not sell the consumer fibre entirely, instead either selling a stake or offering a joint-venture deal.
During the company’s earnings call earlier this year, AT&T CFO Pascal Desroches confirmed the fibre expansion, saying the telco giant had adjusted its budget to scale back wireless spending to allow more of its budget to “focus on fibre deployment”.
“These efforts will drive continued growth for our company,” Desroches said.
The telco has enlisted Nokia to support its fibre upgrades and expansions, leveraging the Finnish firm’s Lightspan MF and Altiplano platforms to support what is already one of the largest fibre networks in the world.
Capacity has contacted both AT&T and Lumen for comment.
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