Release Date: January 13, 2026

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.

Media Contact:
Scott Morris, 501-748-5342
[email protected]