LITTLE ROCK, Ark., Oct. 27, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Uniti Wholesale today announced expanded connectivity at nine data center locations across six states, extending access to 100G and 400G wavelength services. The expansion includes new data center presence and upgrades to existing connectivity, helping customers connect critical infrastructure, broaden their network reach, and accommodate growing bandwidth requirements.
The expanded footprint also simplifies network planning, giving customers more options to link data centers across markets through a single connectivity partner.
Alongside the expansion, Uniti Wholesale is launching a campaign featuring promotional offers on select 100G and 400G wavelength routes.
“Our customers need more than bandwidth—they need connectivity that fits their business,” said Greg Ortyl, executive vice president and president of Strategic Accounts for Uniti Wholesale. “This expansion gives them more locations to connect, greater flexibility in planning their networks, and a team they can trust to help bring it together.”
Data Center ProviderLocationAddressEquinixEl Segundo, California445 N. DouglasH5 Data CentersChandler, Arizona2600 W. Germann RoadVTXLaredo, Texas520 MatamorosH5 Data CentersSan Antonio, Texas100 Taylor StreetFifteenfortysevenMcAllen, Texas200 S. 10th StreetFlexentialFranklin, Tennessee425 Duke DriveDigital RealtyClifton, New Jersey2 Peekay DriveQTSPiscataway, New Jersey101 Possumtown RoadCyrusOneSterling, Virginia21350 Pacific Street
“A key element in the rapid growth of data center supply is a similar growth trajectory of fiber and communications infrastructure across the United States,” said Josh Simms, CEO of H5 Data Centers. “Uniti Wholesale’s expanded connectivity at each of our Chandler, Arizona, and San Antonio, Texas, data centers can provide customers access to 100 and 400G capacity to support bandwidth-intensive applications and connect their operations across key markets.”
Select 100G and 400G Routes
With approximately 150 route options spanning the West Coast to the East Coast, Uniti Wholesale is giving customers more ways to add high-capacity connectivity at promotional rates.
To take advantage of these exclusive promotional offers, customers can explore eligible routes and view real-time pricing through Route Creator in the Uniti Wholesale iconnect customer portal or contact their sales director for additional details.
Meet With Uniti Wholesale at INCOMPAS
Customers can meet the Uniti Wholesale team at INCOMPAS, Nov. 1–3, 2026, to discuss their connectivity needs and available offers, or contact their Uniti Wholesale representative directly.
About Uniti Wholesale
Uniti Wholesale, a business unit of Uniti (NASDAQ: UNIT), builds and delivers customer-driven dark fiber infrastructure and high-capacity wavelengths, ethernet and wireless access leveraging our optical transport network reaching nearly every hyperscale and AI firm, communications services provider, Fortune 500 enterprise and federal government customers in the U.S. and Canada. Additional information about Uniti Wholesale is available at unitiwholesale.com. Engage with us on LinkedIn.
Uniti Solutions uvedla pro zákazníky MSASE službu AI Security od Cato Networks, která má odhalovat neřízené využívání AI a bránit únikům citlivých dat.
LITTLE ROCK, Ark., Oct. 13, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Uniti Solutions, the leading provider of telecom infrastructure solutions, has launched an “AI Security” offering, powered by Cato Networks, to help business customers combat a new landscape of cyber risks created internally by unsecured employee AI use.
AI is rapidly becoming part of everyday business operations, but much of its use remains difficult for organizations to govern. OpenAI reports that more than 2 million* business customers now use its tools, while Microsoft and LinkedIn found that 78%** of AI users bring their own AI tools to work.
While AI use creates opportunities for innovation and efficiency, it can also introduce new security threats that organizations cannot afford to ignore. This includes the practice of “Shadow AI,” which is the use of AI applications, models, or agents that have not been approved or governed by their organization’s IT and security teams. Unsecured activity can lead to employees leaking company data, as well as AI tools inadvertently exposing sensitive company information such as intellectual property (IP), source code, financial records, and customer information.
“Shadow AI is becoming one of the largest unmanaged risks in the modern enterprise. It’s already happening at scale, spreading faster than most IT teams can identify; it leads to new blind spots that traditional cybersecurity solutions can’t solve for,” said Mike Flannery, president of Uniti Solutions. “We’re committed to helping our customers stay ahead of today’s threats and tomorrow’s challenges. With Cato AI Security, we’re giving businesses access to advanced protection to help them embrace AI with greater confidence while strengthening their overall security posture.”
AI Security is designed to protect and govern AI interactions, from third-party AI usage and homegrown AI applications to autonomous agents. Cato’s cloud-native solution offers one platform with the complete range of functionality, so businesses can secure the AI they use, protect the AI applications they build, and control their AI agents operating across their network.
AI Security differs from traditional firewalls as it offers visibility into employee AI usage, oversees hundreds of AI tools, understands and inspects prompts and response entered into these tools, enforces real-time guardrails, and identifies and isolates data leaks. For Uniti customers, the service provides visibility into sanctioned and unsanctioned AI usage and enables security teams to apply real-time controls to AI interactions.
Capabilities include:
Discover Shadow AI functions: The tool can automatically inventory every sanctioned and unsanctioned AI app, model, and agent in use across all users and sites, internally.Analyze prompts: The tool can read the intent of prompts, responses, and actions in real time to catch sensitive data and risky behavior, beyond keywords.Enforce real-time guardrails: The tool can block misuse and redact sensitive data inline, so employees keep working and the organization’s data stays where it belongs. To keep up with AI's rapid advancements, AI Security offers businesses a way to reduce the risk of data exposure, improve their compliance posture, protect user IP, and encourage more responsible AI adoption among employees.
“AI adoption is expanding the enterprise attack surface and organizations cannot afford to let security lag behind,” said Lior Cohen, vice president, product management, Security and AI at Cato Networks. “Securing AI requires visibility into how agents and applications access and use enterprise data, control over AI usage, and defenses against AI-targeted threats and data exfiltration. These capabilities are essential to protecting sensitive information, reducing risk, and meeting evolving compliance requirements. Cato AI Security delivers the visibility, control, and protection organizations need today to adopt AI at scale with confidence and strengthen their defenses as threats evolve.”
AI Security is being offered as an add-on service for Uniti Solutions customers who use its Managed Secure Access Service Edge (MSASE) service, powered by the Cato SASE Platform.
Uniti Solutions was just named an “Advanced Partner” by Cato, joining fewer than 2% of Cato’s global partners to achieve this designation. Find more information on Uniti Solutions and AI Security here.
About Uniti Solutions
Uniti Solutions, a business unit of Uniti (NASDAQ: UNIT), delivers customized, cloud-enabled connectivity, communications and a full suite of managed connectivity, collaboration, and network security solutions reaching nearly 95% of business, state and local government and education customer locations in the U.S. Additional information about Uniti Solutions is available at solutions.uniti.com. Engage with us on LinkedIn.
Kinetic spustil partnerství se STL Optical Connectivity a nasazuje technologii QuickConnect, která má zrychlit výstavbu optické sítě a snížit náklady. Firma už překročila 2 miliony domácností s dostupným optickým internetem.
LITTLE ROCK, Ark., Oct. 01, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Kinetic, the insurgent residential and business fiber internet provider, announced its strategic partnership with STL Optical Connectivity NA, LLC, (STLOC), a U.S. subsidiary of STL (Sterlite Technologies Ltd.) [NSE: STLTECH], a leading connectivity solutions provider for AI-ready digital infrastructure, more efficient fiber expansion across Kinetic’s 18-state footprint.
The partnership strengthens Kinetic’s access to international supply chain resources, innovative fiber deployment technology, and a proven global innovation partner to support the company’s U.S. fiber build program. The relationship also underscores Kinetic’s commitment to continuously enhancing its customer experience.
Kinetic is now deploying STL’s future ready fiber cable assembly solution (CONCAT), known internally to Kinetic as 'Kinetic QuickConnect', across its footprint to simplify and speed fiber construction, as well as improve build consistency and quality. The solution’s connectorized, plug-and-play design combines cable assemblies, enclosures, and cassettes into one system to better support faster, more reliable aerial and buried fiber builds.
“Kinetic is focused on building a fiber network that creates a better experience for our customers from day one,” said Manny Sampedro, chief network officer at Kinetic. “By working with STL and leveraging its global supply chain strength and pre-connectorized fiber technology, we can build faster, reduce deployment cost, improve installation quality, and connect more customers sooner. That is good for our customers and good for our long-term growth.”
The Kinetic QuickConnect solution helps bring internet to customers faster by:
helping crews work fastermaking fiber builds easierhelping crews make fewer mistakes
Kinetic’s new, simplified fiber construction approach can help shorten deployment timelines, allowing more homes across the country to get access to high-speed internet sooner. It can also speed up service activations and provide a better overall experience for customers; from the moment fiber is placed in the neighborhood through ongoing service delivery.
“We think of our customers’ customers first. Our goal is to partner and co-develop advanced solutions with our key customers so that they can contribute to America’s broadband ambitions,” said Rahul Puri, CEO – Optical Networking Business. “The successful deployment of CONCAT fiber build technology marks a significant milestone, showcasing how our next-generation connectivity solutions can empower providers to rapidly expand high-quality bandwidth for FTTx networks. Together, we're enabling the digital infrastructure that drives tomorrow’s innovation.”
According to Sampedro, the QuickConnect fiber cable assembly also gives Kinetic added flexibility to serve business customers by making it easier to route dedicated fibers to commercial locations when needed.
Kinetic successfully tested the solution in multiple North Carolina neighborhoods across both aerial and underground deployments. Those field trials helped refine installation methods to match Kinetic’s preferred deployment approach and demonstrated the potential to improve the speed and reliability of fiber builds.
Kinetic continues to invest in network expansion and recently surpassed 2 million homes passed with fiber internet. The company believes strategic supplier relationships and deployment innovations like this one can support capital efficiency while improving customer experience across its growing footprint.
For more information on the fiber assembly solution, visit (LINK).
About Kinetic: Named the 2026 Telecommunications Company of the Year (Stevie GOLD/American Business Awards), Kinetic is a business unit of Uniti (NASDAQ: UNIT), and is a premier insurgent provider of multi-gigabit fiber internet, whole-home Wi-Fi, internet security, and voice services in 1,400 markets across 18 states in the Southwestern, Southeastern, Midwestern, and Northeastern U.S. Additional information is available at gokinetic.com.
About STLOC - Sterlite Technologies Optical Connectivity, NA, LLC: STLOC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of STL focused on the sales of high-quality optical connectivity products. Strategically positioned in North America and working closely with its partners, STLOC is designed to efficiently serve and provide comprehensive support to our growing customer base in the region. Sterlite Technologies Ltd. (STL) is a leading global optical and digital solutions company providing advanced offerings to build 5G, Rural, FTTx, Enterprise and Data Centre networks. Read more | Contact us | stl.tech | Twitter | LinkedIn | YouTube
Uniti Group uvedla, že ve 2. pololetí se soustředí na rozšiřování optické sítě, poptávku hyperscalerů a strategické alternativy. Zároveň chce během 12 až 36 měsíců zpeněžit neklíčová aktiva za 500 milionů až 1 miliardu USD.
Uniti Group NASDAQ: UNIT is prioritizing execution on its fiber expansion, hyperscaler opportunities and strategic alternatives during the second half of the year, President and CEO Kenny Gunderman said at the TD Cowen conference.
Gunderman said the company recently marked the one-year anniversary of its merger with Windstream and has delivered on several commitments made at the time of the transaction. Those included simplifying the prior corporate structure, pursuing operating synergies, combining wholesale capabilities and accelerating the Kinetic fiber buildout.
“Our priorities for the second half of the year are to just continue with the playbook that we have laid out,” Gunderman said, citing Kinetic construction, additional hyperscaler business and strategic execution.
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Strategic Alternatives and Non-Core Assets Gunderman said Uniti is “very active” in the mergers-and-acquisitions market, though he emphasized that the company does not face a self-imposed timetable to sell itself. He said management is evaluating the company’s intrinsic value, its public-market valuation and potential value that could be realized for shareholders through strategic alternatives.
While Uniti would generally favor a simpler structure over a more complex one, Gunderman said complexity would not rule out potential transactions. He pointed to joint ventures and other structures being used across the data-center and fiber-to-the-home industries. Uniti’s business was organized into Kinetic, Uniti Fiber, Uniti Solutions and Uniti Wholesale to preserve strategic flexibility, he said.
Gunderman also discussed the company’s plan to monetize between $500 million and $1 billion of non-core assets over a 12- to 36-month period. Potential assets include spectrum licenses, unused fiber, certain markets where the company does not expect to deploy fiber in the near term, and other properties.
He said the company is making “really solid progress” but stressed that the expected timeline is longer-term and that Uniti is pursuing transactions opportunistically.
Regarding Elliott Investment Management, which Gunderman said owns 20% of Uniti shares and holds a board seat, he described the firm as a constructive shareholder focused on maximizing shareholder value. He said Elliott views its investment more like a private-equity investment than a trading position.
Kinetic Buildout, Pricing and Customer Retention Gunderman said Uniti increased its fiber build pace during the second quarter and raised the number of homes it expects to reach this year. The company built more than 50,000 homes in July, he said, adding that the current build engine could support an annualized pace of roughly 550,000 to 600,000 homes if the board elects to commit the associated capital.
He said roughly 25% to 30% of the recent capital-expenditure increase was tied to building more homes, while the remainder related to pulling forward pre-engineering and preparation for a potentially higher 2027 build level. He said higher customer-premises equipment and fiber costs have been incorporated into the company’s 2026 and 2027 planning assumptions.
On consumer fiber pricing, Gunderman said the company remains confident in its previously discussed expectation for 2% to 3% broadband average revenue per user growth in 2026 relative to 2025 and beyond. Consumer fiber ARPU declined 2.6% in the second quarter amid heightened promotional activity from wireless and cable competitors.
He said Uniti used some pricing flexibility to retain customers in the first half, while its customer-care and retention organization was still being established. The company has since implemented AI tools to monitor inbound calls, refine customer scripts and tailor offers based on competitor activity, Gunderman said.
Uniti also sees opportunities from value-added services, including Always On Wi-Fi and YouTube TV, as well as from upgrading customers to higher speeds. Less than half of the Kinetic base currently takes service of 1 gigabit or more, according to Gunderman.
Copper Strategy and Competitive Landscape Gunderman said the company is actively migrating customers from copper-based DSL to fiber and has stopped selling DSL at roughly 800,000 locations as part of its copper-decommissioning strategy. While DSL churn may remain elevated as a result, he said Kinetic’s DSL ARPU rose 10% to 11% as the company increased prices for those customers.
The company is targeting fiber deployment toward markets with the greatest perceived competitive threat from overbuilders and cable operators. Gunderman ranked overbuilders as the primary threat, followed by cable, with fixed wireless and low-earth-orbit satellite services a distant third.
He said low-earth-orbit providers represent more of an opportunity than a threat for Uniti because the company supplies fiber for ground stations, data centers and backhaul. Uniti believes it can regain market share from fixed wireless and satellite providers as it extends fiber into more rural markets over the next several years, he said.
Gunderman said newer Kinetic construction cohorts are producing stronger penetration than earlier cohorts, supported by more targeted market clustering, local marketing and improved systems. If the company were to revisit its terminal-penetration expectations, he said the level would be higher rather than lower, though he did not change guidance.
Commercial Fiber and AI-Related Demand Uniti reported record infrastructure bookings during the quarter, according to Gunderman, with demand coming from hyperscalers, neo-cloud providers and what he termed “superscalers,” or high-bandwidth customers such as SpaceX, Akamai, Anthropic, Uber and Netflix.
He said bookings reflected a healthy mix of lit and dark-fiber services, demonstrating the benefit of combining Uniti’s dark-fiber network with Windstream’s lit-fiber capabilities. The company is also seeing growing demand for wave services connecting data centers it has served through fiber construction in recent years.
Uniti does not intend to compete broadly on major nationwide routes, Gunderman said. Instead, its wave strategy focuses on differentiated Tier 2 and Tier 3 routes, unique data-center connections, network quality and customer service. He said pricing for 400G wave services generally ranges from $4,000 to $5,000, though it can vary materially based on route, customer and capacity needs.
For financing, Gunderman said asset-backed securities have performed better than expected and could be used for one or two deals annually. Uniti has previously discussed $5 billion of ABS capacity, which he said remains sufficient to fund the company’s plans.
About Uniti Group (NASDAQ:UNIT)Uniti Group Inc is a real estate investment trust that owns, operates and acquires communications infrastructure assets across the United States. Established in September 2015 through a spin-off from Windstream Holdings, Uniti Group focuses on leasing fiber, small cell networks, cell towers and related infrastructure to service providers, wireless carriers and other enterprises requiring high-capacity connectivity. The company's assets are designed to support the growing data demands of residential, business and governmental customers, with an emphasis on long-term contractual lease arrangements.
Uniti's portfolio encompasses an extensive fiber network that spans metropolitan and rural markets, as well as a portfolio of wireless towers and small cell nodes that facilitate mobile network densification and help carriers deploy 5G services.
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Kinetic ve 2. čtvrtletí přidala v Texasu 13 000 domácností s multi-gigabitovým optickým internetem ve více než 100 komunitách. Celkem má v Lone Star State přístup k její síti už přes 238 000 domácností a firem.
August 05, 2026 09:30 ET | Source: Uniti Group Inc.
Rapid Q2 2026 expansion benefits communities and customers by enabling remote work, gaming, streaming, agriculture and telehealth141,000 total fiber locations added across Kinetic’s 18-state footprint in Q2
SUGAR LAND, Texas, Aug. 05, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Kinetic today announced a major broadband expansion in Texas, delivering multi-gig fiber internet to an additional 13,000 homes across more than 100 communities in the second quarter of 2026. The expansion highlights Kinetic’s commitment to delivering better technology, at a better value for customers.
According to Ookla’s 2026 H1 Speedtest data, Kinetic delivers the “fastest upload speeds” in Andrews County, Bowie County, Dumas/Moore County, Kerrville/Kerr County, New Boston/Bowie County, Pecos, Reeves County, Wake Village/Bowie County, and Winkler County.*
In the second quarter of 2026, Kinetic added fiber locations in Sugar Land, Texarkana, Whitney, Cresson, Trinity, Crockett, Grapeland, Hooks, and more.
“Kinetic has excellent quality internet service and at a very good price,” said John Venable, a Kinetic customer in Lone Star, Texas.
To date, more than 238,000 homes and businesses across the Lone Star State have access to Kinetic’s high-speed, next-generation connectivity.
Research shows that fiber-connected communities experience 213% higher business growth, 10% higher self-employment and a 14-17% increase in home values. Fiber is also significantly more sustainable than copper cables and uses up to 95% less energy per gigabit. It requires less maintenance over time, which reduces environmental impacts and community disruptions.
“Fast, reliable fiber internet is more important than ever; it can change the way people live, work and learn in today’s digital world. Better connectivity can create new opportunities in communities of every size, and we’re committed to delivering it,” said Stacy Hale, Kinetic’s state operations president. “Our focus is on building strong, future-ready infrastructure that helps residents, businesses and families stay connected and succeed for years to come.”
Kinetic fiber customers can benefit from seamless 4K+ streaming across multiple devices with no data caps and no usage charges. Multi-gigabit connections support remote work, online learning and low-latency gaming and, through partnerships with YouTube TV, AT&T for wireless bundles, and eero, an Amazon company, households and businesses receive a unified high-performance connectivity experience.
More Texas residents and businesses now have access to:
Wi-Fi 7 – The newest, most advanced secure connection with equipment from manufacturers like eero, an Amazon company. Wi-Fi 7 delivers faster speeds and lower latency and supports up to 200+ connected devices at the same time, creating a better internet experience with wall-to-wall coverage and less tech stress.Whole-Home Wi-Fi Set-Up – Professional new fiber installs coupled with the Kinetic Promise™, which is a pledge that technicians will not leave the home until Wi-Fi works in every area and on every device where needed.YouTube TV Bundle – New bundle gives eligible Kinetic customers a $10 per month discount for up to 12 months** when they pair YouTube TV with their high-speed internet packages.
Kinetic, recently named CNET’s Best Rural Fiber Internet Provider in 2026, has approximately 11.7 million fiber strand miles and approximately 2.1 million homes passed to date across its 18-state footprint.
“As we invest in communities and grow our fiber-optic network, we’re reaching more areas faster with award-winning technology to help people stay connected to what matters most, build businesses, work online and access new opportunities,” said Hale.
Residents interested in Kinetic Fiber Internet can check service availability and construction updates at www.gokinetic.com or call 1- 877-90-FIBER (877-903-4237).
About Kinetic: Named the Telecommunications Company of the Year in 2026 (Stevie GOLD/American Business Awards), Kinetic is a business unit of Uniti (NASDAQ: UNIT), and is a premier insurgent provider of multi-gigabit fiber internet, whole-home Wi-Fi, internet security, and voice services in 1,400 markets across 18 states in the Southwestern, Southeastern, Midwestern, and Northeastern U.S. Additional information is available at gokinetic.com.
Kinetic Promise™ relies on reasonable effort to confirm Wi‑Fi works in living spaces where customer grants technician access. Wi‑Fi coverage & performance vary by layout, building materials, interference, & device capability. Not a guarantee of uniform coverage, speed, or error‑free service. Add. equipment or wiring may be required & incur charges; certain areas/devices (e.g., detached structures or outdoor spaces) may be excluded. Customer may cancel any time.
*Based on Ookla® Speedtest Intelligence® data, 1H 2026. All rights reserved. Technology agnostic.
**New and existing Kinetic users new to YouTube TV main plan. If eligible, user receives a free trial then, $10/mo off current price for 12 months. After 12 months, you will be charged the full subscription price, currently $82.99/mo but subject to change. Cancel anytime.
Uniti Group Inc. (UNIT) Q2 2026 Earnings Call July 30, 2026 8:30 AM EDT
Company Participants
Bill DiTullio
Kenneth Gunderman - President, CEO & Director
Paul Bullington - Senior EVP, CFO & Treasurer
John Harrobin - Senior EVP & President of Kinetic
Conference Call Participants
Gregory Williams - TD Cowen, Research Division
Richard Choe - JPMorgan Chase & Co, Research Division
Frank Louthan - Raymond James & Associates, Inc., Research Division
Matthew Griffiths - BofA Securities, Research Division
Presentation
Operator
Good morning, and welcome to today's conference call to discuss Uniti's Second Quarter 2026 Earnings Results. My name is Jonathan, and I will be your operator for today. Today's call is being recorded, and a webcast will be available on the company's Investor Relations website, investor.unity.com, beginning today and will remain available for 365 days. [Operator Instructions] It is now my pleasure to introduce Bill DiTullio, Uniti's Senior Vice President of Investor Relations and Treasury. Please begin.
Bill DiTullio
Thanks, Jonathan. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining today's conference call to discuss Uniti's second quarter 2026 results. Speaking on the call today will be Kenny Gunderman, our CEO; and Paul Bullington, Uniti's CFO. John Harrobin, President of Kinetics, will also be joining us this morning during Q&A.
Before we get started, I'd like to quickly cover our safe harbor statement. Please note that today's remarks may contain forward-looking statements. These statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding Uniti's fiber build strategy, the business' growth potential, our 2026 outlook and other statements that are not historical facts. Numerous factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements. For more information on those factors, please see the section titled Safe Harbor Statement in the accompanying presentation in the Risk Factors sections in our filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. With that, I would now like
Uniti Group oznámila rekordní objednávky optické infrastruktury, které byly téměř o 30 % nad dosavadním maximem, a těží z rostoucí poptávky po konektivitě pro AI. Tržby z optické infrastruktury vzrostly meziročně o 6 %.
Uniti Group NASDAQ: UNIT reported record fiber infrastructure bookings and accelerated fiber construction in the second quarter of 2026, as management pointed to rising demand from hyperscalers, neocloud providers and other customers deploying artificial intelligence-related infrastructure.
Chief Executive Officer Kenny Gunderman said total fiber revenue increased 10% from a year earlier, while fiber infrastructure revenue rose 6%, in line with company expectations. He described the quarter as a record for new fiber infrastructure bookings, exceeding the prior record by nearly 30%.
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Management said demand was broad-based across its wholesale customer base. During the quarter, approximately 20% of fiber infrastructure bookings came from neocloud customers, 18% from superscalers, 10% from hyperscalers and 6% from fiber-to-the-home providers.
AI Demand Drives Wholesale Activity Gunderman said AI adoption is expanding the need for high-bandwidth, low-latency connectivity, with near-term applications including customer-service automation, cybersecurity and corporate-function automation. He said future uses such as robotics, autonomous driving and scientific research could require still greater network capacity.
Uniti is seeing increased demand for both dark fiber and lit wave services. More than half of second-quarter fiber infrastructure bookings were for waves, or lit capacity, rather than dark fiber. Gunderman said wave services were the largest individual product contributor to the company’s record booking level.
The company highlighted two large wave packages sold during the quarter: a 20-terabit package connecting a neocloud customer from a Tier 2 market data center to a large metro area, and an 18-terabit package sold to a superscaler from another Tier 2 market data center. Together, those transactions represented 96 400-gigabit waves, according to management.
Gunderman said Uniti’s current waves sales funnel represents roughly 1.3 petabytes of traffic, with most of that opportunity involving relatively new customers. He also said nearly 80% of the company’s hyperscaler business uses all or part of Uniti’s preexisting network, contributing to blended anchor lease-up cash yields of 37%, the company’s highest level to date.
During the question-and-answer session, Gunderman said hyperscaler projects generally involve new fiber construction, route interconnections or overbuilds and tend to emphasize dark fiber. By contrast, neocloud and superscaler customers are increasingly using lit capacity for inference workloads and compute services.
He said large dark-fiber agreements generally run for 10 to 20 years, while lit and wave contracts are typically shorter, often in the three- to five-year range and closer to three years in many cases. The company is focused on customer credit quality as it pursues these newer categories of customers, he said.
Kinetic Expands Fiber Footprint At Kinetic, Uniti’s consumer fiber business, the company passed an additional 141,000 homes with fiber during the quarter, its highest quarterly level on record. Kinetic ended the period with about 2.1 million homes passed with fiber, representing 46% of its consumer footprint.
Kinetic added 38,000 net fiber subscribers in the quarter, also a record, ending with 603,000 fiber subscribers. Total fiber subscribers increased 25% from the prior-year period, while consumer fiber revenue rose 19% year over year.
Fiber penetration reached 29%, up 90 basis points from a year earlier. Chief Financial Officer Paul Bullington said newer customer cohorts are achieving stronger penetration rates than earlier cohorts did at comparable stages, supporting management’s view that its 40% terminal penetration target is achievable and potentially conservative.
Uniti raised its 2026 target for incremental fiber homes passed by 25,000 and now expects to construct 475,000 to 525,000 new fiber homes during the year. The company expects to end 2026 with 2.33 million to 2.38 million homes passed with fiber, or more than 50% of the Kinetic footprint, and with 675,000 to 700,000 fiber subscribers.
Management expects Kinetic consumer fiber revenue of $635 million to $655 million for 2026, representing growth of roughly 25% to 30% from the prior year.
ARPU Pressure and Capital Spending Consumer fiber average revenue per user was affected during the quarter by new-customer volume, the timing of rate-plan adjustments and retention efforts, Bullington said. Uniti expects fiber ARPU to decline by low single digits year over year in the third quarter before stabilizing and rising by low single digits in the fourth quarter.
Kinetic President John Harrobin said the company’s longer-term forecast still calls for 2% to 3% annual ARPU growth beginning in 2027. He said Kinetic faces large cable competitors in less than 60% of its fiber territory, compared with a mid-80% to low-90% exposure cited for certain peers. The company is using different pricing tiers and customer cohorts to respond to competitive promotions while maintaining subscriber growth, he said.
Uniti increased its Kinetic net capital expenditure outlook by $100 million to approximately $1.27 billion at the midpoint. Bullington said the higher spending does not solely reflect the 25,000 additional homes in the 2026 construction target, as a substantial portion is being pulled forward to support 2027 expansion.
Harrobin said the company expects a modest increase in fiber-material costs beginning around mid-2027, which could place its cost per passing toward the upper end of its previously communicated range. However, he said Uniti does not expect to be affected by customer-premises-equipment memory-chip constraints because of long-term supply contracts, scale and flexibility across equipment models.
Outlook and Capital Structure On a pro forma basis, Uniti said second-quarter consolidated revenue declined 5% year over year and adjusted EBITDA fell 10%, primarily because of declines in Uniti Solutions and legacy copper and TDM services. Kinetic fiber-based revenue, including consumer and wholesale services, grew 12%, while fiber infrastructure revenue and adjusted EBITDA increased 10% and 20%, respectively.
For 2026, Uniti maintained midpoint expectations for Kinetic revenue of $2.145 billion and contribution margin of $905 million. It raised fiber infrastructure midpoint guidance to $1 billion of revenue and $575 million of contribution margin, citing strong hyperscale and AI-related activity.
The company expects Uniti Solutions to generate $700 million in revenue and $320 million in contribution margin at the midpoint. Consolidated guidance calls for approximately $3.655 billion of revenue, $1.475 billion of adjusted EBITDA and $1.525 billion of net capital expenditures.
Bullington cautioned that large dark-fiber sales can be uneven between quarters. Uniti expects limited large-deal contribution in the third quarter, with a significant portion anticipated in the fourth quarter, though some transactions could shift into early 2027 due to the timing of major construction projects.
Separately, Bullington said Uniti recently completed its second Kinetic asset-backed securities transaction, which is intended to help fund fiber construction over the next year and could support repayment of up to $500 million of secured debt through ongoing asset sale offers. The company also said it sees potential to monetize $500 million to $1 billion of non-core assets over the next 12 to 36 months, with minimal expected impact on adjusted EBITDA because many of those assets are underutilized or generate little cash flow.
About Uniti Group (NASDAQ:UNIT)Uniti Group Inc is a real estate investment trust that owns, operates and acquires communications infrastructure assets across the United States. Established in September 2015 through a spin-off from Windstream Holdings, Uniti Group focuses on leasing fiber, small cell networks, cell towers and related infrastructure to service providers, wireless carriers and other enterprises requiring high-capacity connectivity. The company's assets are designed to support the growing data demands of residential, business and governmental customers, with an emphasis on long-term contractual lease arrangements.
Uniti's portfolio encompasses an extensive fiber network that spans metropolitan and rural markets, as well as a portfolio of wireless towers and small cell nodes that facilitate mobile network densification and help carriers deploy 5G services.
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Uniti Group (UNIT - Free Report) came out with a quarterly loss of $0.68 per share versus the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of $0.43. This compares to a loss of $0.04 per share a year ago. These figures are adjusted for non-recurring items.
This quarterly report represents an earnings surprise of -58.14%. A quarter ago, it was expected that this real estate investment trust would post a loss of $0.42 per share when it actually produced a loss of $0.34, delivering a surprise of +19.05%.
Over the last four quarters, the company has surpassed consensus EPS estimates two times.
Uniti, which belongs to the Zacks Wireless National industry, posted revenues of $909.7 million for the quarter ended June 2026, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 2.97%. This compares to year-ago revenues of $300.73 million. The company has topped consensus revenue estimates three times over the last four quarters.
The sustainability of the stock's immediate price movement based on the recently-released numbers and future earnings expectations will mostly depend on management's commentary on the earnings call.
Uniti shares have added about 47.9% since the beginning of the year versus the S&P 500's gain of 6.9%.
What's Next for Uniti?While Uniti has outperformed the market so far this year, the question that comes to investors' minds is: what's next for the stock?
There are no easy answers to this key question, but one reliable measure that can help investors address this is the company's earnings outlook. Not only does this include current consensus earnings expectations for the coming quarter(s), but also how these expectations have changed lately.
Empirical research shows a strong correlation between near-term stock movements and trends in earnings estimate revisions. Investors can track such revisions by themselves or rely on a tried-and-tested rating tool like the Zacks Rank, which has an impressive track record of harnessing the power of earnings estimate revisions.
Ahead of this earnings release, the estimate revisions trend for Uniti was mixed. While the magnitude and direction of estimate revisions could change following the company's just-released earnings report, the current status translates into a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) for the stock. So, the shares are expected to perform in line with the market in the near future. You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
It will be interesting to see how estimates for the coming quarters and the current fiscal year change in the days ahead. The current consensus EPS estimate is -$0.46 on $859.77 million in revenues for the coming quarter and -$1.56 on $3.63 billion in revenues for the current fiscal year.
Investors should be mindful of the fact that the outlook for the industry can have a material impact on the performance of the stock as well. In terms of the Zacks Industry Rank, Wireless National is currently in the top 38% of the 250 plus Zacks industries. Our research shows that the top 50% of the Zacks-ranked industries outperform the bottom 50% by a factor of more than 2 to 1.
Ondas Holdings Inc. (ONDS - Free Report) , another stock in the same industry, has yet to report results for the quarter ended June 2026.
This company is expected to post quarterly loss of $0.07 per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of +12.5%. The consensus EPS estimate for the quarter has been revised 25% lower over the last 30 days to the current level.
Ondas Holdings Inc.'s revenues are expected to be $66.68 million, up 963.5% from the year-ago quarter.
