Uniti Group (NASDAQ:UNIT) executives said the company started 2026 with stronger fiber growth, record Kinetic customer activity and continued demand from hyperscale customers tied to artificial intelligence infrastructure, while maintaining its full-year outlook because of the…
ming variability of large dark fiber deals. President and CEO Kenny Gunderman said Uniti is executing on its strategy as an “insurgent fiber provider,” with growth coming from two main areas: fiber-to-the-home expansion at Kinetic and hyperscaler AI-related builds in its Fiber Infrastructure segment. “Fiber is clearly viewed as a mission-critical asset in a way that has never been before,” Gunderman said, adding that Uniti’s footprint is located in or near markets with power and land availability, which he said creates opportunities tied to AI-related infrastructure demand
Fiber Revenue and Kinetic Subscriber Growth Accelerate Uniti reported that total fiber revenue grew 15% year over year in the first quarter. Fiber Infrastructure revenue rose 13%, and the segment posted consolidated bookings monthly recurring revenue of approximately $1.6 million, which Senior EVP and CFO Paul Bullington said was the third-highest level on record. At Kinetic, the company expanded its fiber network to pass an additional 88,000 homes during the quarter, its highest level of new passings in nearly four years.
Kinetic ended the quarter with approximately 1.94 million homes passed with fiber. The business also added 30,000 net new fiber subscribers, ending the quarter with 564,000 total fiber subscribers. Bullington said total Kinetic fiber subscribers grew 22% from the prior-year period, while Kinetic consumer fiber revenue increased 26% year over year.