FCC wants your help to decide if T-Mobile should be allowed to buy fiber internet provider

T-Mobile will team up with global investment organization EQT to buy Lumos, with the former investing $950 million initially for a 50 percent stake. The two will form a joint venture to bring fiber access to underserved Americans.T-Mobile already offers 5G home internet and also offers fiber optic home internet in limited markets. The company says it can’t satisfy current broadband demand “through its fallow capacity fixed wireless product alone,” and many customers desire speed and reliability that is only possible through fiber.

Lumos provides fiber internet services to approximately 320,000 households and businesses in Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. T-Mobile and EQT expect their investments to allow the network to serve more than 3.5 million homes by the end of 2028.

T-Mobile offers fiber services by partnering with companies that operate networks and sell wholesale access to other entities. It’s likely that the company will follow this same open-access model after acquiring Lumos.

T-Mobile is currently America’s fifth largest internet service provider with a customer base of around 5 million. The company hopes to close the Lumos deal by late 2024 or early 2025.

Like other deals, it’s subject to regulatory approval. T-Mobile and Lumos are trying to convince the FCC to approve the deal by saying it’s not anti-competitive and will help them provide broadband services to communities that currently don’t have fiber.