Good morning. I'm Kenny Gunderman, President and CEO of Uniti Group. On behalf of the company's board of directors and management, I'd like to welcome you to the 2026 Annual Meeting of the Stockholders. I will act as chairman of the annual meeting. I now call today's meeting to order and ask Daniel Heard, our corporate secretary, to record the minutes. We will address the business of this meeting in accordance with the agenda set out in the proxy statement. The voting polls were opened on April 21st, 2026. Please note that we will close the polls momentarily, so if you've not voted, you should do so now via the annual meeting web portal. Stockholders who have previously voted and who do not wish to change their vote are not required to take further action.
Before I introduce the members of our board of directors who are along with me standing for re-election today, I'd like to take a moment to recognize and thank departing directors Randy Dunbar and Paul Sunu. We acknowledge with gratitude each director's service on the board and their contributions to Uniti and its management team. At this time, I'd like to introduce the members of our board of directors, each of whom is standing for re-election today. I will now ask each director to announce his or her presence after being introduced. First, Skip Frantz, Chairman of the Board of Uniti.
Present.
Scott Bruce.
Present.
Mary McLaughlin.
Present.
Joseph Natale.
Present.
Carmen Perez-Carlton.
Present.
Thank you all. Jarrett Appleby and Johannes Weber are in attendance as well as they are standing for election today. Also in attendance from PricewaterhouseCoopers, our independent auditor, is Thomas Leonard. With American Election Services, the Inspector of Election for our meeting today is Paul Ramirez. We will now turn to the business of today's meeting. I will ask the Inspector of Election to state whether a quorum is present. Paul, I think you're on mute.
Mr. Chairman, we have 189,550,548 shares present at this meeting in person or by proxy, which represents over 78% of the shares outstanding and entitled to vote. Accordingly, under Uniti's bylaws, a quorum is present.
The Corporate Secretary will now certify that all voting stockholders were notified of the meeting today.
Mr. Chairman, I certify that a written notice of this meeting, as well as Uniti's 2025 Annual Report and Proxy Statement, was distributed beginning on April 21st, 2026 to all stockholders entitled to vote. The notice and proxy materials will be entered into the minutes of the meeting.
Thanks, Daniel. I'll now turn to the voting items on today's agenda. We have five company proposals up for voting. Now that all stockholders of record have had an opportunity to vote, the polls are closed, and voting is completed. I requested that the Inspector of Election tally any additional votes submitted during the meeting today to include in his report on the voting results. The first item of business is the election of directors. Would the Inspector of Election please announce the results of the voting?
Mr. Chairman, each of the nominees for director has received the affirmative vote of over 99% of the votes cast at the meeting.
Thank you. All of the nominees have been elected as directors of Uniti to serve until the 2027 annual stockholders meeting or until their successors are elected and qualified. The next item is a vote to approve an increase in the number of shares available for issuance under the Uniti Group 2025 Equity Incentive Plan. Will the Inspector of Election now announce the results of the vote on this proposal?
The proposal to approve an increase in number of shares available for issuance under the Uniti Group 2025 Equity Incentive Plan received the affirmative vote of over 97% of the votes cast at the meeting.
Thank you. The proposal passed. The next item is a vote on a non-binding resolution to approve Uniti's executive compensation, commonly referred to as say on pay. Will the Inspector of Election now announce the results of the vote on this proposal?
The resolution to approve Uniti's executive compensation received the affirmative vote of over 98% of the votes cast at the meeting.
Thank you. The resolution has passed. The next item is a vote regarding the frequency of future advisory votes to approve Uniti's executive compensation, commonly referred to as say on frequency. Pursuant to this voting item, stockholders were provided an opportunity to express on a non-binding basis their preference as to whether future advisory votes on executive compensation should occur every one year, every two years, or every three years. Would the Inspector of Election please announce the results of this voting?
Mr. Chairman, 99% of the votes cast were for a frequency of every year. A combined total of less than 1% were cast for two years, three years, and abstain.
Thank you. Having received a majority of the votes cast, every year will be considered the frequency of future advisory votes on executive compensation recommended by the company's stockholders. The last item of business is the ratification of the selection of PwC as independent auditors for the current fiscal year. Will the Inspector of Election now announce the results of this vote?
The ratification of the selection of PwC as independent auditors for the current fiscal year received the affirmative vote of over 99% of the votes cast during the meeting.
Thank you. The appointment of PwC as independent auditors for the current fiscal year has been ratified by the stockholders. This concludes all the business to be addressed at today's meeting. We will file a Form 8-K within four business days that will include the certified results for the inspector. I ask the Inspector of Election to present to the Corporate Secretary following this meeting a certification of the number of shares represented at the meeting and the count of all votes and ballots, and that this certificate be filed with the minutes of this meeting. I will now ask the Corporate Secretary if there are any questions from stockholders that we or PwC should address at this time.
Mr. Chairman, there are no questions that should be addressed at this time.
Thank you. There being no questions, I'd like to take a moment to express appreciation, both personally and on behalf of the entire organization, for the trust you've placed in Uniti, particularly as we work to complete the merger with Windstream last August and continue integration efforts to combine company operations. We value that trust and take that responsibility very seriously. I encourage stockholders to reach out to our investor relations team if you have any questions. Contact information for the team is listed on the investor relations tab of our website. We are certainly happy to address any questions you may have. There's no further business to come before the meeting, and we are adjourned. Thank you for attending.
The conference is now concluded. Thank you for attending today's presentation. You may now disconnect.