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US Judge Approves $177 Million Settlement in AT&T 2024 Data Breach Lawsuits

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A U.S. judge granted preliminary approval on Friday to a $177 million settlement resolving class-action lawsuits against telecom giant AT&T (T.N) over data breaches in 2024 that exposed personal information of tens of millions of customers. U.S. District Judge Ada Brown in Dallas ruled that the settlement was fair and reasonable.

The settlement addresses claims stemming from breaches announced by AT&T in May and July of last year. Depending on the breach, customers who suffered losses “fairly traceable” to the incidents can receive payments of up to $2,500 or $5,000. After direct loss claims are paid, remaining funds will be distributed to customers whose personal data was accessed.

AT&T denied responsibility for the criminal acts but agreed to the settlement to avoid prolonged and costly litigation. The company expects final approval by the end of 2025 and plans to begin issuing payments early next year.

One breach involved the illegal download of about 109 million customer accounts from AT&T’s Snowflake cloud platform, exposing six months of call and text logs from 2022 for nearly all its customers. In March 2024, AT&T revealed a related data set released on the dark web, affecting approximately 7.6 million current and 65.4 million former account holders, with data dating back to 2019 or earlier.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is also investigating the incidents. Last September, AT&T agreed to pay $13 million to settle an FCC probe into a 2023 data breach involving a cloud vendor that affected 8.9 million wireless customers. The FCC said the exposed data covered customers from 2015 to 2017 and should have been deleted by 2017 or 2018.

Klarna to Launch $40/Month Unlimited 5G Mobile Plan in U.S. as It Expands Telecom Offerings

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Swedish fintech Klarna announced on Wednesday its entry into the U.S. mobile services market with a $40 per month unlimited mobile plan offering unlimited 5G calls and data. The move marks Klarna’s effort to diversify beyond financial services and follow the trend of fintech companies entering the telecom space, alongside competitors like British firm Revolut.

Klarna will provide its mobile plan using the platform of U.S. startup Gigs, which operates as a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) platform in partnership with AT&T. This enables Klarna to offer mobile services without owning network infrastructure.

With over 25 million U.S. users, Klarna views the mobile plan as a natural extension of its neobank ambitions. CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski told Reuters that the company’s goal is to solve everyday problems, and mobile fits into this strategy.

Unlike most fintechs that launch mobile services in other countries before entering the U.S., Klarna is starting directly in its largest market. The company plans to expand the mobile offering to the UK, Germany, and other countries later this year.

Industry analysts predict significant disruption in the MVNO market over the next two years as more enterprises launch their own mobile services, though increased competition also brings higher risks of failure. The U.S. MVNO market is expected to grow from $14.83 billion in 2025 to $20.84 billion by 2030, according to Mordor Intelligence.

The fintech sector is increasingly seeing telecom services as a growth area, with other fintech firms such as Germany’s N26 and Brazil’s Nubank already offering mobile plans in various countries. Even outside the fintech world, investors like actor Ryan Reynolds and businesses linked to former U.S. President Donald Trump have entered the MVNO market.

AT&T to Acquire Lumen’s Consumer Fiber Business for $5.75 Billion in Cash Deal

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AT&T has agreed to purchase Lumen Technologies’ consumer fiber business for $5.75 billion, the companies announced Wednesday. The acquisition will give AT&T an additional 1 million fiber customers and bolster its national fiber footprint across several key metro areas.

The deal will significantly expand AT&T’s residential fiber coverage in markets including Denver, Las Vegas, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Orlando, Phoenix, Portland, Salt Lake City, and Seattle, according to an AT&T statement.

Lumen’s shares surged 13% in after-hours trading following the announcement.

Strategic Move for Both Companies

The acquisition:

  • Enhances AT&T’s residential broadband scale amid growing demand for high-speed fiber internet.

  • Allows Lumen to streamline its focus on its enterprise fiber business and invest more aggressively in low-latency infrastructure to support AI and multi-cloud environments.

“The customers are asking us to go faster, which is really to deliver their needs in a multi-cloud, AI-first world,” said Lumen CFO Chris Stansbury in an interview with Reuters.

Financial and Operational Impact

Lumen plans to:

  • Use $4.8 billion of the proceeds to reduce its debt burden.

  • Improve annual cash flow by over $300 million, largely by cutting interest expenses.

For AT&T, the newly acquired assets will be placed into a newly formed subsidiary, in which it plans to sell a minority stake, helping manage risk and capital requirements.

The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2026, pending regulatory approvals.

Industry Context

The deal underscores the growing value of fiber internet infrastructure, as demand for high-speed, low-latency connectivity increases—particularly to support remote work, streaming, gaming, and AI-related data loads.

Reuters first reported in December that Lumen was exploring the sale of its consumer fiber business, which had been viewed as non-core to its future growth strategy.