Uniti Wholesale Expands Dark Fiber and Colocation Footprint in Key Markets
Rhea-AI Summary
Uniti (Nasdaq:UNIT) announced new dark fiber and colocation agreements plus metro builds in Jackson, Birmingham, and Tulsa, targeting hyperscale and neo-cloud customers.
Highlights include 4,313 contracted fiber miles in Jackson, a 69-route-mile Birmingham build, a 50-rack Tulsa colocation deal, and a prior 20-year, $500 million contract supporting a broader 1,100 route-mile ultra-high-capacity expansion in the South-Central U.S.
Positive
- 4,313 contracted fiber miles from new Jackson metro dark fiber agreements
- New 69-route-mile high-count fiber build expanding Birmingham metro network
- 50-rack colocation agreement advancing Tulsa market expansion
- Landmark 20-year, $500 million customer contract, largest in company history
- Strategic build-out of 1,100 route miles of ultra-high-capacity fiber in South-Central U.S.
Negative
- None.
News Market Reaction – UNIT
In the May 18 session, UNIT declined 2.26%, reflecting a moderate negative market reaction.
Data tracked by StockTitan Argus on the day of publication.
Key Figures
Historical Context
| Date | Event | Sentiment | 24h Move | Catalyst |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 13 | Fiber build expansion | Positive | +0.7% | Texas Q1 2026 broadband expansion to 9,000 homes across 100 communities. |
| May 13 | Fiber build expansion | Positive | +0.7% | Kentucky multi-gig fiber rollout adding 12,600 new locations in 70+ communities. |
| May 13 | Fiber build expansion | Positive | +0.7% | North Carolina expansion adding 7,800 homes to Kinetic’s multi-gig fiber network. |
| May 13 | Fiber build expansion | Positive | +0.7% | Georgia build bringing multi-gig fiber to 20,000+ additional homes and businesses. |
| May 13 | Fiber build expansion | Positive | +0.7% | Florida Q1 2026 expansion adding 5,900 homes across 20+ communities. |
24h Move is the share-price change in the day after each event; other market factors may also have contributed.
Recent fiber expansion announcements have coincided with modest positive next-day price moves of about 0.71%, suggesting the market has reacted constructively to network growth news.
In mid-May 2026, UNIT highlighted a series of Kinetic fiber build-outs across Texas, Kentucky, North Carolina, Georgia, and Florida, adding tens of thousands of new multi-gig locations and expanding coverage to hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses. Each release tied back to a broader goal of reaching 3.5 million locations by 2029. Those updates saw consistent, modestly positive reactions (~0.71%), framing today’s wholesale dark fiber and colocation expansion as a continuation of the same network-scaling strategy.
Key Terms
dark fiber technical
colocation technical
hyperscale technical
metro-ring technical
long-haul technical
AI-generated analysis. How Rhea-AI works. Not financial advice.
New customer agreements and infrastructure investments in Mississippi, Alabama, and Oklahoma underscore momentum with hyperscale and neo-cloud providers.
LITTLE ROCK, Ark., May 18, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Uniti Wholesale today announced a series of strategic infrastructure expansions and new customer agreements, further strengthening its position as a premier infrastructure partner for hyperscale and neo-cloud providers. These developments reflect Uniti’s strategy and its commitment to scaling high-capacity fiber and colocation infrastructure in key growth markets.
Strategic Market Highlights:
- Jackson, Miss.: signed new metro dark fiber agreements representing 4,313 contracted fiber miles, including an expanded award from a major hyperscaler and a neo-cloud provider. These agreements demonstrate Uniti’s ability to capture additional demand and drive incremental growth from infrastructure deployed in 2024.
- Birmingham, Ala.: initiated a new 69-route-mile metro build featuring high-count fiber and multiple conduits, further expanding Uniti’s network investments in Alabama alongside existing builds in Huntsville and Montgomery.
- Tulsa, Okla.: secured a new 50-rack colocation agreement, further advancing Uniti’s market expansion and supporting its previously announced ultra-high-capacity routes connecting Tulsa to Dallas and Amarillo. In parallel, Uniti is building a metro-ring between its long-haul POPs to enhance connectivity and support future growth.
These wins build on Uniti Wholesale’s recent momentum, including a landmark 20-year,
“We build where we live, and that creates a different level of commitment,” said Greg Ortyl, executive vice president and president, Strategic Accounts at Uniti Wholesale. “We don’t just build infrastructure and move on — we design, build, operate, and maintain these networks ourselves, so every decision is driven by delivering long-term performance, operational reliability, and the evolving needs of our customers.”
The Owner-Operator Advantage:
Unlike providers that focus solely on construction, Uniti Wholesale builds, operates and maintains the fiber infrastructure and interconnection assets it deploys. That owner-operator model creates a higher level of accountability and allows Uniti Wholesale to engineer for scalability, resilience, and long-term service performance rather than short-term deployment economics.
That distinction is becoming increasingly important as AI and cloud deployments reshape network requirements. Uniti Wholesale emphasized that next-generation infrastructure demands higher fiber counts, scalable facilities, and network architecture built to support sustained growth in Tier 2 and Tier 3 markets. The company’s strategy is to invest ahead of demand by placing high-capacity fiber and colocation infrastructure where customers need it, while managing the engineering complexity behind the scenes.
The deployment of high-count fiber and multiple conduits expands Uniti Wholesale’s metro footprint in markets where customers increasingly need scalable, future-ready connectivity options.
With the scale and financial strength to invest proactively, upgrade infrastructure early, and expand in strategic markets, Uniti Wholesale is focused on being easy to do business with while delivering the transparency, and execution customers expect.
“Customers are looking for more than a contractor — they need an infrastructure partner they can trust to grow with them,” said John Nishimoto, senior vice president, Strategy, Products and Marketing at Uniti Wholesale. “That’s the value of our model: We stay accountable, keep investing, and support our customers long after the network is in service.”
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are based on assumptions and management’s current expectations with respect to the future, involve certain risks and uncertainties, and are not guarantees. These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding Uniti’s strategic fiber expansion. 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. Uniti may not actually achieve the plans, intentions or expectations disclosed in its forward-looking statements, and you should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements. Future results may differ materially from the plans, intentions and expectations disclosed in the forward-looking statements that Uniti makes. 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.
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.
Media Contact:
Scott Morris, 501-748-5342
scott.l.morris@uniti.com
