Hurricane Helene Disaster Recovery

Written by Uniti Fiber

October 30, 2024

Wrenn Landers:

I’m here today to talk about our [Uniti Fiber] storm response. Recently, Hurricane Helene, a Category 4 storm, swept through the Big Bend area. The southeastern corner of Georgia took the brunt of the damage, and we quickly mobilized our Georgia team to develop a plan to rebuild the network—which we are actively doing. We’re about five days into the restoration process, and things are progressing smoothly. We are approximately 85% restored, and I couldn’t be prouder of the professionalism and dedication our team brings to these efforts. They set the standard for excellence in the industry, and we’re not just looking for quick fixes.

We’re making strategic moves while the restoration is underway—not only to repair the circuit and get customers back online but also to reinforce and harden the affected communities. This ensures that the next time a Category 4 storm strikes these smaller rural areas—without the robust infrastructure of large metropolitan cities—they’ll be better prepared. This storm is a prime example of our approach. Recently, we completed a fiber path through the Big Bend area, exactly where Hurricane Helene made landfall. Our network remained operational throughout the storm.

One of the key lessons we’ve learned is the importance of how we build and protect critical infrastructure. At Uniti, we’ve taken the initiative to construct these facilities ourselves. Over the past four years, we’ve built seven critical facilities along this path. This continuity—from construction to operations and maintenance—creates exceptional value and yields a highly resilient infrastructure and circuit.

That’s the same approach we’re bringing to Georgia. We’re committed to building hardened facilities for our equipment, ensuring that we deliver the same high level of service. We act quickly to identify challenges and integrate solutions into our daily operations and network designs. I believe this ability to respond and adapt swiftly is a key differentiator. I don’t know of any other company in the industry that can respond and implement changes as efficiently as we do.

While we’ve discussed the technical side—how these events affect our network and teams—it’s essential to highlight the human aspect. These storms profoundly impact not just our operations but also our people. However, they also present an opportunity to connect with our employees, customers, and the communities we serve. At the end of the day, it’s about the people.

In addition to fortifying our network, we walk away from these experiences with a stronger sense of community. We understand the network and the environment it operates in, especially during crises like these. That knowledge drives us to come to work every day with a focus on setting ourselves apart as the premier network provider that these communities—particularly along the Gulf Coast—deserve in challenging times.

*The testimonial transcript has been edited from the original video content to provide an improved reading experience.

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Kenny Gunderman
President - Chief Executive Officer
Kenny Gunderman

Kenny Gunderman is president and chief executive officer of Uniti Group Inc. He has 20 years of experience in the telecommunications industry and is focused on growing Uniti’s real estate portfolio of mission critical communications infrastructure. He has prior experience at Stephens, Lehman Brothers and KPMG. He currently serves on the board of the Arkansas Game and Fish Foundation, the Hendrix College Board of Trustees, and the NAREIT Board of Governors. Gunderman holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Hendrix College and an MBA from Yale.

Paul Bullington
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Paul Bullington

Paul Bullington is the chief financial officer and treasurer of Uniti Group Inc., previously serving as senior vice president of Strategic Operations for Uniti Fiber. Until its acquisition by Uniti in 2017, he served as the CFO of Southern Light, a position he held since the company began operating in 2001. During his time as CFO, the company was named one of the “5,000 Fastest Growing Companies in America” by Inc. Magazine for nine consecutive years.

Bullington also has prior experience at Accenture and Royal Cup Coffee. He currently serves on the board of Eastern Shore Repertory Theatre and is a former director of First Community Bank in Alabama. Bullington holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Birmingham-Southern College and an MBA from The University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

Daniel Heard
EVP - General Counsel and Secretary
Daniel Heard

Daniel Heard is an executive vice president, general counsel and secretary for Uniti. Heard is responsible for the company’s legal affairs and corporate governance.

Heard previously was a partner in the law offices of Kutak Rock LLP in Little Rock, Arkansas.

At Kutak Rock, Heard represented public companies in corporate, securities and merger and acquisition transactions. His clients comprised a wide range of industries, including telecommunications, information technology and food processing. He has extensive experience in negotiating, structuring and consummating mergers and acquisitions, public offerings of debt and equity securities and other corporate finance transactions.

Heard graduated from the William H. Bowen School of Law at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and has a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Central Arkansas.

Michael Friloux
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Friloux started his career as a software engineer for Sabre Computer Services (American Airlines.)

He holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Oklahoma State University.

Jennifer Ragsdale
SVP - Chief Administrative Officer
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Ric Chura
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Ronald J. Mudry
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Mudry has over 30 years of experience in the telecommunications industry and was the founder of two start-up fiber operating companies that grew to become leaders in their industry segment. He joined Uniti in 2016 following the acquisition of Tower Cloud, a company he founded in 2006, that was a leader in fiber, small cell and cell site backhaul services in the Southeast, U.S. Earlier in his career, he founded Progress Telecom (formed in 1998) and before that spent 15 years with GTE Corporation (now Verizon) where he held key management positions in finance, sales and marketing, international operations, treasury, strategic planning, and mergers and acquisitions.

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Travis Black
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Andy Newton
President—Uniti Fiber
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Newton was the co-founder of Southern Light, and for the previous 19 years served as its president and chief executive officer where he led the overall operations, strategic guidance and culture of the company. Under his direction, Southern Light grew to become one of the top 10 largest pure fiber optic providers in the country.

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Bill holds a Master of Business Administration degree from Temple University and a Bachelor of Science degree in finance and accounting from Villanova University.