AT&T stands firm on DEI after announcing $5.75bn Lumen fibre deal 

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The company insists it will not follow rivals like Verizon in scrapping DEI policies to gain regulatory approval for deals 

Following AT&T’s $5.75 billion deal to acquire Lumen Technologies’ fibre assets, CEO John Stankey has emphasised the company’s commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), even as political and regulatory hurdles have pushed rivals in the opposite direction. 

“We don’t have to roll back anything,” Stankey said, speaking to Yahoo Finance. “Our policies and our approach at AT&T have always been that we progress people on merit. That any employee that comes to work here should have an opportunity to grow their career, work on building their skills, have an opportunity to succeed and earn a living.”  

His comments contrast with moves made by competitors to forego DEI frameworks in order to appease regulators.  

Earlier this month, Verizon received FCC approval for its $20 billion acquisition of Frontier Communications, but only after agreeing to dismantle its DEI programme. In a letter to FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr, Verizon said it would remove diversity targets from hiring plans and strip DEI language from training and public messaging. 

 These changes that will also apply to Frontier once the deal closes. 

The move reflects a wider crackdown on corporate DEI initiatives in the US, with firms like Meta, Amazon, and Google also scaling back internal efforts to align with the Trump administration. 

Stankey acknowledged the political backdrop, but said he remains confident AT&T’s inclusive approach will stand up to regulatory scrutiny. “We run the business in a really responsible manner,” he said. 

The Lumen acquisition is expected to close early next year 2026, pending regulatory approval. 

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Author: Ernestro Casas -

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