Home / Lumen News: AT&T Deal, Earnings, & Leadership Changes

Lumen News: AT&T Deal, Earnings, & Leadership Changes

By: Jasmin Espinas
May 23, 2025

Lumen Technologies Inc., once known as CenturyLink, is repositioning itself in the competitive segment of the global communications services market. Long challenged by declining legacy revenues, the company has recently shifted its focus toward infrastructure and enterprise networking. In recent Lumen news, AT&T agreed to acquire Lumen’s fiber business for over $5 billion.

This article also covers Lumen’s Q1 2025 earnings, executive changes, and what these updates suggest about the company’s next steps.

Latest Lumen News: AT&T Acquires Lumen’s Fiber Business for $5.75B

On May 21, 2025, Lumen Technologies signed a definitive agreement to sell its Mass Markets fiber business, including Quantum Fiber operations in 11 states, to AT&T for $5.75 billion in cash.

This deal, still subject to standard purchase price adjustments, reflects Lumen’s continued pivot toward enterprise services.

According to CEO Kate Johnson, the sale aligns with Lumen’s goal of refocusing on enterprise networking, adding financial room to scale services across cloud and AI-driven environments.

AT&T will take on roughly 95% of Quantum Fiber’s footprint, which includes about four million enablements and nearly one million subscribers.

Based on first-quarter figures, those subscribers bring in over $750 million in annualized revenue. Lumen, meanwhile, plans to maintain its current fiber buildout pace through the end of 2025.

The company will retain its core fiber infrastructure, which includes national and metro-level networks, central offices, and real estate holdings.

Additionally, Lumen will continue to serve enterprise and wholesale clients across all regions and maintain its legacy copper network for existing consumer services.

Meanwhile, building on its recent $8.5 billion in AI-networking contracts with hyperscalers, Lumen aims to reach 47 million intercity fiber miles by 2028.

The company is also expanding its digital platform to support faster, more secure enterprise networking with new frameworks like Direct Fiber Access, Multicloud Gateways, and Cloud On-ramps.

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Lumen Q1 News and 2025 Earnings: Net Loss, Revenue Shifts, and Enterprise Focus

Lumen posted a net loss of $201 million for Q1 2025, a sharp decline from the $57 million in net income during the same period last year.

Diluted loss per share came in at $0.20, compared to $0.06 in Q1 2024. After adjusting for special items, the loss per share narrowed slightly to $0.13.

Adjusted EBITDA for the quarter reached $929 million, down from $977 million year-over-year. These figures exclude special item impacts of $99 million in Q1 2025 and $170 million in Q1 2024.

Furthermore, the company generated $1.095 billion in operating cash flow. Free cash flow totaled $354 million, down from $518 million the year prior, reflecting lower adjusted earnings and a $50 million payment related to special items.

CEO Kate Johnson attributed the results to increased network utilization and early progress on the Lumen Digital platform.

The earnings reflect the ongoing costs of repositioning the business, as Lumen transitions away from consumer fiber services to concentrate on enterprise connectivity.

Lumen Appoints New Executives to Accelerate Digital and Cloud Strategy

Following its annual shareholder meeting on May 15, 2025, Lumen announced two new Board of Directors: Michelle J. Goldberg and Steve McMillan. Both provide deep operational and strategic experience relevant to Lumen’s current direction.

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Goldberg offers over two decades in early-stage tech and finance. As a former partner at Ignition Partners and a current board member at Bakkt Holdings and Ally Financial, she brings a background in scaling growth-stage companies.

Her past board work includes roles at Legg Mason (acquired by Franklin Templeton), Plum Creek Timber (merged with Weyerhaeuser), and Taubman Centers.

On the other hand, McMillan currently leads Teradata Corporation as CEO. He’s worked across enterprise platforms at Oracle, IBM, and F5, with an emphasis on security, cloud infrastructure, and data analytics.

His international background in tech strategy aligns with Lumen’s ongoing platform overhaul.

CEO Kate Johnson pointed to both executives’ experience in cloud and enterprise transformation as directly relevant to Lumen’s shift toward AI-centric services.

Separately, Lumen named Mark Hacker as its new Executive Vice President and Chief Legal Officer, effective May 12. Hacker was previously General Counsel and Chief Administrative Officer at Motorola Solutions, where he oversaw legal, regulatory, and corporate governance functions.

His appointment adds more legal depth as the company transitions its operational structure.

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Conclusion

According to the latest Lumen news, the company is narrowing its focus and reallocating resources to scale its enterprise network and digital infrastructure. With AT&T’s acquisition, leadership updates, and ongoing investments in AI-driven architecture, the company is pushing to reposition itself within the enterprise connectivity space.

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