AT&T will buy substantially all of Lumen's mass markets fiber business for $5.75 billion in a move it said will accelerate high-speed fiber internet access for millions of Americans.

The deal is expected to close in the first half of 2026.

Shares of Lumen Technologies rose 13% to $4.30 in Wednesday's after-hours trading. The stock is down about 28% in the past year through Wednesday's close. AT&T's stock was flat post market.

AT&T said the acquisition will create jobs in metro areas across 11 states and improve critical connectivity infrastructure.

The transaction will allow AT&T to expand in areas including Denver, Las Vegas, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Phoenix, Salt Lake City and Seattle, among others.

The deal includes about 1 million Lumen fiber subscribers across more than 4 million locations, AT&T said. Those subscribers will transition to become AT&T Fiber customers.

AT&T now expects to reach 60 million total fiber locations by the end of 2030, roughly double the number of places it is available now.