Summary Bullets:
• There can be no denying that the Trump presidency will have a lasting impact on many aspects of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) strategies.
• Regional variations will extend, and service providers will need to accept, a level of pragmatism in their approach even when still committed to the principles.
On April 1, 2025, T-Mobile and EQT announced the successful close of their joint venture to acquire fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) provider Lumos. The deal has been positioned as marking “a major milestone in T-Mobile’s broadband growth” and builds on the Un-carrier’s success in delivering best-in-class connectivity.
Lumos operates a 7,500-mile fiber network offering broadband to 475,000 premises across the US mid-Atlantic, and the company is aiming to cover 3.5 million premises by the end of 2028. Within this context, T-Mobile has invested $950 million into the joint venture, with an additional $500 million planned between 2027 and 2028 to support further expansion.
Unfortunately coinciding with April Fool’s Day, reports have surfaced that T-Mobile “modified, changed, and ended” some of its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts “in its bid to receive regulatory approval for its deal with EQT for the acquisition.” This move was underlined by a letter to the Chairman of the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) highlighting changes by the US Supreme Court’s approach to DEI and President Trump’s Executive Orders “on ending illegal discrimination.” T-Mobile did, however, claim that it remains “committed to the principle that we can best serve our customers, employees, and shareholders through a diversely talented workforce.”
As highlighted in the report GlobalData Enterprise Predictions: ESG in Tech at the beginning of 2025, President Trump’s election is having an impact on ESG initiatives. Activities such as DEI will continue to be challenged and move at a different pace from region to region, and country to country (Prediction 5: Different Geographies, Different Priorities, Different Speeds). GlobalData’s overall conclusion was that ESG would continue to “move from faith to facts.”
There is a valid argument that ESG was becoming a ‘tick-box’ exercise much like CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility), its generic predecessor. So, a shake-up has been overdue (even if the current shake-up is somewhat more turbulent and less fact-based than would be ideal).
T-Mobile’s move was pragmatic. The events of recent days demonstrate that a level of flexibility will be required as global economic measures evolve. It may not chime with parent Deutsche Telekom’s commitment to high ESG standards, but the company also has a fiduciary duty to its shareholders – and if the success of the Lumos acquisition depended on some ESG agility, one must adjust to market circumstances. While reporting standards and organizations’ DEI operations may be under attack, the commercial logic of DEI is hard to deny – even if it must be hidden in corporate culture and leadership, and no longer emblazoned in reporting and communications in certain markets.