Uniti Wholesale Adds 1,100 Miles to Its South-Central U.S. Fiber Network to Meet AI Demand

Infrastructure Expansion Backed by the Largest Customer Contract in Uniti's History

LITTLE ROCK, Ark., Jan. 13, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Uniti Wholesale today announced a landmark expansion initiative of its dark fiber network across the South-Central United States, anchored by a 20-year customer contract with a total contract value of over $500 million. The deployment adds 1,100 route miles of ultra high‑capacity fiber and upgrades space and power at over 20 colocation sites to link Tier‑1 markets with fast‑growing AI hubs, creating a robust backbone for the next wave of artificial intelligence and hyperscale data center growth.

As AI applications rapidly move from lab environments to large-scale, real-world deployment, the need for low-latency, massively scalable infrastructure has never been more critical. Uniti's investment addresses this head on—interconnecting key AI deployments in Amarillo and Haskell, Texas, plus a previously announced approximately 480-mile fiber route with locations in Muskogee, Okla.; Little Rock, Ark., and Memphis, Tenn. The initiative underscores Uniti's role as a trusted infrastructure partner—delivering scale, resiliency, diversity, and speed for hyperscalers and AI innovators.

"We are building the backbone for the future of AI—right here at home," said Kenny Gunderman, Uniti president and CEO. "This expansion gives our customers the resilient, high-capacity infrastructure to scale mission-critical workloads with confidence—today and tomorrow. Anchored by a leading hyperscaler, this initiative is proof that our network is ready for AI at scale."

Phase One is scheduled for delivery in January 2026, with a 337‑mile fiber build from Tulsa to Little Rock and a 145‑mile route connecting Little Rock to Memphis laying the first segments of a broader AI‑ready network across the region. Subsequent phases of this AI infrastructure will be delivered throughout 2026 and 2027.

Strategic Expansion

The build-out is focused on the industry growth—engineered to deliver massive scalable capacity and resilient performance for hyperscalers and AI innovators:

• Massive Capacity Infusion: The addition of 1,100 route miles of high-count fiber to support multi-terabit growth and future-proof network expansion.
• AI Backbone Buildout: New routes will connect Dallas to fast-growing AI data center markets including Memphis, Little Rock, Muskogee, Haskell, and Amarillo.
• Amarillo-Claude Metro Expansion: More than 106 route miles of new, high-count, diverse fiber delivering multiple fiber paths connecting Amarillo to AI campuses in Claude, Texas.
• Expanded Colocation Scale-Up: Space and power upgrades across more than 20 in-line amplification (ILA) colocation sites to accelerate turn-ups and enable rapid capacity augments.

"This is a game-changer for our customers," said Greg Ortyl, Uniti Wholesale executive vice president and president of sales. "We are focused on delivering innovative, reliable, and scalable solutions to meet the dynamic needs of our customers—and we are investing in our infrastructure to scale with the accelerating AI-driven demand reshaping the fiber industry."

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 customer in the U.S. and Canada. Additional information about Uniti Wholesale is available at unitiwholesale.com. Engage with us on LinkedIn.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

Certain statements in this press release may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended from time to time. Forward-looking statements are based on assumptions with respect to the future and Uniti management's current expectations, involve certain risks and uncertainties, and are not guarantees. These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the strategic expansion of dark fiber anchored by a significant customer contract.  The words "anticipates," "believes," "could," "estimates," "expects," "intends," "may," "plans," "projects," "will," "would," "predicts" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. These statements are based on management's current expectations and beliefs and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could lead to actual results differing materially from those projected, forecasted or expected. Although we believe that the assumptions underlying the forward-looking statements are reasonable, we can give no assurance that our expectations will be attained. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, known and unknown, that could cause events and results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements, including, without limitation: unanticipated difficulties or expenditures relating to the merger of Uniti and Windstream; competition and overbuilding in consumer service areas and general competition in business markets; risks related to the Company's indebtedness, which could reduce funds available for business purposes and operational flexibility; rapid changes in technology, which could affect its ability to compete; risks relating to information technology system failures, network disruptions, and failure to protect, loss of, or unauthorized access to, or release of, data; risks related to various forms of regulation from the Federal Communications Commission, state regulatory commissions and other government entities and effects of unfavorable legal proceedings, government investigations, and complex and changing laws; risks inherent in the communications industry and associated with general economic conditions; and additional risks set forth in the "Risk Factors" and "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" sections of the Company's most recently filed periodic reports on Form 10-K and Form 10-Q and subsequent filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission as well as the Company's predecessor's registration statement on Form S-4 dated February 12, 2025. The discussion of such risks is not an indication that any such risks have occurred at the time of this filing. Uniti does not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statements.

Media Contact:

Scott Morris, 501-748-5342

[email protected]