Financial Data and Key Metrics Changes - Uniti reported consolidated revenues of $300 million and adjusted EBITDA of $243 million for Q2 2025, with AFFO attributed to common shareholders at $96 million and AFFO per diluted common share at $0.36, all exceeding expectations [30][32] - Total fiber revenue for Uniti and Windstream increased by 10% year-over-year during Q2, with Kinetic consumer fiber revenue growing by 27% [29][30] - The pro forma view of new Uniti consolidated performance showed a revenue decline of approximately 6% year-over-year, primarily due to the decline in legacy TDM services [32] Business Line Data and Key Metrics Changes - Kinetic expanded its fiber network to pass an additional 52,000 homes, ending the quarter with 1.7 million homes passed and adding 19,000 fiber subscribers, a 15% increase year-over-year [29] - Fiber penetration increased by 20 basis points sequentially and 120 basis points year-over-year, while fiber ARPU rose by 6% sequentially and 11% year-over-year [30][32] - Uniti Fiber reported revenues of $74 million and adjusted EBITDA of $29 million during Q2, resulting in an adjusted EBITDA margin of 39% [31] Market Data and Key Metrics Changes - The hyperscaler deals have increased as a percentage of the total sales funnel from less than 15% a year ago to now 40%, with a total contract value of approximately $1.5 billion [17][56] - Kinetic's consumer segment represents about 60% of total revenue and is expected to grow to about 75%, with fiber-based revenue projected to reach about 85% by 2029 [18][30] Company Strategy and Development Direction - The company plans to accelerate its investment in fiber, expecting to pass 3.5 million homes with fiber within the Kinetic footprint by 2029, with 75% of total revenue anticipated to be fiber-based by that time [8][10] - The strategy focuses on being an insurgent share taker with industry-leading NPS scores and a commitment to network quality and customer satisfaction [9][12] - The company aims to transition the majority of Kinetic's footprint to fiber, which is expected to result in lower churn and predictable revenue and EBITDA growth [18][22] Management's Comments on Operating Environment and Future Outlook - Management expressed optimism about the regulatory environment for fiber providers, noting a more favorable stance from the FCC regarding copper retirement and communications regulations [7] - The company anticipates a significant increase in demand for fiber services as the AI inference phase approaches, with expectations for higher margin, lower capital intensity deals from hyperscalers [49][51] - The outlook for 2025 includes consolidated revenue and adjusted EBITDA of $2.2 billion and $1.1 billion, respectively, with a focus on expanding fiber infrastructure [37][38] Other Important Information - The company has successfully collapsed legacy Unity and Windstream debt silos into one unified structure, simplifying its capital structure and unlocking opportunities for asset-backed securities [40] - The company expects to achieve a blended cost of $750 to $850 per passing over the life of the fiber build program, with a historical cost of approximately $650 per passing [38][58] Q&A Session Summary Question: How did the deal constructs change with the inference phase? - Management indicated that the inference phase is expected to bring more lease-up deals with better margins and lower upfront costs, while also acknowledging potential increased competition [42][49] Question: What is the timeframe for the $1.5 billion funnel? - Management noted that deals in the funnel typically take 12 to 18 months to materialize, with expectations that most of the current funnel will work its way through in the next 6 to 18 months [54][56] Question: How much of the Kinetic build-out is economical? - Management stated that a significant portion of the footprint without cable competition is economical to build, with expectations to reach 75% to 80% of the footprint with direct fiber to the home [58][60]