Kenny Gunderman, Uniti CEO:
“We are extremely excited to bring together two great Arkansas companies to create a national fiber powerhouse. This new company is going to have close to 220,000 route miles of fiber across 46 states. That makes us the largest independent fiber provider in the country. We’ll have 10 million strand miles of fiber. Because of that capacity of that network, and because of the quality of the network and their liability of the network, some of the biggest and most important companies in the world are our customers. Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, Google, Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, and we’re very proud of those customers. We’re most proud of our local schools, hospitals, first responders, our great United States military as a customer and the millions of homes and small businesses around the country.
There’s no fiber network besides Uniti that has a deeper reach into rural America than ours. The pace of innovation is dramatic, and without fiber connectivity, you cannot keep up. For those reasons, plus many others, we’re super excited about this deal. I want to say thank you to the roughly 10,000 employees of this combined company. Representing Windstream today, we’ve got Kristi Moody, the Executive Vice President and General Counsel. Mary Michaels, the head of HR, and David Avery, head of Government Affairs. We’re really excited to be working together as colleagues and friends. With that, Governor Sanders, we look forward to your comments.”
Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Arkansas Governor:
“Like I said, it’s a pleasure and a privilege to be here to celebrate the newest and biggest chapter in Uniti and Windstream’s histories. This is a great day here in Arkansas. We take pride in companies that exist, that provide good paying jobs to hardworking Arkansans all across the state, and I know that we are all excited that one of our biggest is staying right here in Little Rock. The network is invaluable when you’re building a business, and it’s why our city and our state constantly punch above our weight. I want to give a big thank you and a shout-out to you and the entire team that have brought us here together and everyone at the two companies who have helped make this merger successful.
I think there are very big things in store, not just for this business but our entire state because of examples like this. Anybody can look at Arkansas and see what we are capable of and what can be done here, so thank you for your leadership, thank you for this incredible opportunity, and thank you for continuing to commit and investing right here in Arkansas. Thanks for being here with us today.”
Frank Scott Jr., Mayor of Little Rock, Arkansas:
“We’re here today at Uniti, as we just announced the merger between Uniti and Windstream now creating a fiber powerhouse in these United States of America, led by my dear friend Kenny Gunderman. We want to wish you all a great success, but most importantly, thank you for choosing Little Rock. You’re growing here and you’re transforming our city and the state’s capital city, and we’re very grateful for that.”
Leslie Rutledge, Lieutenant Governor of Arkansas:
“I could not be more excited about the Uniti-Windstream merger, great Arkansas companies that now the rest of America is going to get to experience by bringing fiber right into your home, that connectivity that we can’t replace, and in today’s world, it’s imperative to success and to live in the American dream. Just like Kenny Gunderman and the rest of the Uniti-Windstream team we’re excited about through leadership, excited to bring fiber right to you.”
Jennifer Ragsdale, Uniti SVP, Chief Administrator Officer:
“It’s been a fantastic day, we are beyond excited for this merger. Uniti Group has been named a great place to work for seven consecutive years, and we were just named Arkansas Businesses Best Workplace. We’re excited to merge with Windstream and expand everything we’ve learned here and everything they’ve learned there to make this the best company for all of our 10,000 employees.”
Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Arkansas Governor:
“I am so excited about what is happening here at Uniti and the merger of two great companies. We know that this will continue to be another great Arkansas success story, something we’re really proud of, we know what it means, not just to central Arkansas, but our entire state, and excited to see what this will continue to do in the future.”
For more info visit: www.unitireimagined.com
