Essential tech resources for working from home

Uniti insights - working from home

Written by Tanja Jameson

February 9, 2022

What the world is facing right now is unlike anything any of us could’ve ever imagined. Industries have been halted. Students’ kitchen tables are now doubling as their classrooms. Concerts, events, and gatherings of all sorts have been put on pause. And the majority of the working world has moved their operations entirely virtual for the time being while the world continues to battle the coronavirus pandemic.

We at Uniti Fiber, understand that working and educating our students online brings its own set of challenges but having the right tech tools and resources on hand can help you stay productive. To help you stay productive, safe, and secure while working from home, we’ve rounded up a list of the essential tech resources you need to know about.

ROBUST AND RELIABLE WI-FI

We’re all relying heavily on Wi-Fi connection during these times, so it’s imperative to ensure that you and your family are set up with the best coverage possible.

If your existing Wi-Fi coverage is less than reliable, make it a point to invest in a reliable and higher megabits-per-second (Mbps) streaming system. This way you can provide a rock-solid internet connection for your home office.

SECURITY SOLUTIONS

At Uniti Fiber, our disaster recovery solutions are designed to work with your business continuity plan and protect your applications and data against downtime. Uniti Fiber offers proactive solutions to help identify front-end vulnerabilities and help keep your organization progressing with confidence. We continue to work with our partners and their devices to ensure the utmost safety and security while they continue to operate from home.

Whether enacting a virtual protected network (VPN) or promoting at home IT risk management, cybersecurity solutions and compliance training, staying technologically safe is of the utmost importance during these times.

BANDWIDTH AND INTERNET CONNECTION

Working from home you are likely to burn through your internet bandwidth, even more so if you are using video conferencing platforms like Zoom, Google Hangouts, or Microsoft Teams.

If you are currently on a limited-bandwidth internet plan, we suggest you discuss with your provider any upgrades or offers they might have during these unprecedented times. If you are experiencing lags or internet access difficulties, it could be because of connection and/or bandwidth issues. You don’t want limits or extra charges to start kicking in when you least expect them, and now might be the perfect time to upgrade your services.

BACKUP CONNECTION

If your internet connection fails, your productivity is likely going to slow down. We suggest opting for backup connection. While turning your smartphone into a mobile hotspot works as a short-term solution, we at Uniti Fiber much prefer to have a stand-alone hotspot device.

There are a number of secure and reliable products on the market that have adequate battery life, simplistic interfaces, and Wi-Fi signals that can be tuned from low power to high-power when an extra boost is needed. Contact Uniti Fiber for more information on such devices and a solution that will work best for your at-home setup.

WEBCAM/VIDEO CONFERENCING CAPABILITIES

Unless your laptop or computer has a high-quality camera, we suggest investing in a webcam, conference speaker, and potentially audio equipment — especially if you will be participating in virtual meetings or conferences, or serving as a speaker, panelist, or keynote at a virtual event.

Uniti Fiber video conferencing services allow your team to do more via face-to-face interaction without time and expense associated with travel. Video communication presents a better way to interconnect across companies and evolve your business. The possibilities are endless!

EXTRA SUPPORT

Whether physically together or apart, it is our mission and passion at Uniti Fiber to always be there for our clients and partners. It is our passion and goal to help our partners create the right infrastructure for their unique needs and implement the proper technologies to build a safe environment, enhance administrative efficiency, and create digital platforms that will help them succeed. Uniti Fiber is here for you now and will be here for you through the recovery of COVID-19. Reach out to us today and let us know how we can best help you.

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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
Treasurer - Chief Financial Officer
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
EVP - Chief Technology Officer
Michael Friloux

Michael Friloux is an executive vice president and the chief technology officer of Uniti. He has over 30 years of telecommunications and information systems technology experience and is focused on future proofing Uniti’s information technology systems.

Friloux previously was chief executive officer and president of PEG Bandwidth where he led the wireless backhaul provider through a time of rapid expansion serving 2,400 cell towers over a 15,000 route mile network through 16 states.

Prior to joining PEG Bandwidth, Friloux served as president and chief operations officer for Citynet Fiber Networks where he developed the company into a leading regional wholesale carrier network spanning 13 states and 8,000 route miles.

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
Jennifer Ragsdale

Jennifer Ragsdale is senior vice president and chief administrative officer at Uniti, a Certified Great Places to Work company. Ragsdale oversees Uniti’s customer experience management, human resource efforts, diversity and inclusion programs, and leads execution strategy to create a culture of high performance.

Prior to joining Uniti, Ragsdale spent more than a decade in the human resources field, building and executing programs to drive operation strategies and organizational transformation.

Ragsdale is a certified professional in Human Resources (PHR), a SHRM certified Human Resources Professional (SHRM-CP) and is certified in Diversity and Inclusion in HR Management. Ragsdale previously served as the president of the Central Arkansas Human Resources Association. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Central Arkansas.

Ric Chura
SVP - Chief Information Officer
Ric Chura

Ric Chura is the senior vice president and chief information officer for Uniti. He previously served as Vice President of Information Technology at PEG Bandwidth, which was acquired by Uniti in 2016. He is responsible for setting Uniti’s cybersecurity strategy, technology governance and compliance and has led the integration of the multitude of companies acquired by Uniti.

Chura has over 20 years of experience in telecommunications industry working at Cap Gemini Ernst & Young, Predictive Systems, Callisma and FiberTower, a startup telecommunications backhaul provider. He has completed the Program on Negotiation from Harvard University and holds a Bachelor of Science, Mechanical Engineering degree from Iowa State University.

Ronald J. Mudry
SVP - Chief Revenue Officer
Ronald J. Mudry

Ron Mudry is Chief Revenue Officer of Uniti Group Inc. and President of Uniti Leasing. In this role, Mudry is responsible for Uniti’s growth opportunities across its fiber and wireless infrastructure segments. He is also responsible for Strategy and Corporate Development.

Mudry leads Uniti’s sales and business development initiatives which include providing fiber based services to wireless carriers, wireline carriers, hyperscalers, content companies, cable MSOs and other wholesale customers. Mudry previously served as President of Sales and Business Development at Uniti Fiber.

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.

Mudry serves on the Board of Directors and Executive Committee of INCOMPAS, a telecommunications industry association.

Mudry holds a Bachelor of Science degree with a major in finance from the University of Michigan and an MBA from the University of Tampa.

Travis Black
VP - Chief Accounting Officer
Travis Black

Travis Black is the chief accounting officer of Uniti Group Inc. In his current role, Travis leads a team of over 40 employees and is responsible for the company’s financial accounting, external reporting and financial compliance activities. Additionally, Travis oversees the company’s technical accounting matters, including merger and acquisition transactions and critical accounting estimates.

Travis has been with Uniti Group since 2015, and previously served as the Director of Financial Reporting. He began his career at FedEx, and he has over 18 years of experience in financial accounting and reporting for public companies. Travis holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from the University of Tennessee and an MBA from the University of Memphis. He is also a Certified Public Accountant.

Andy Newton
President—Uniti Fiber
Andy Newton

Andy Newton is president of Uniti Fiber where he stewards Uniti’s efforts to design, build and operate its fiber network infrastructure.

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.

Newton received an Economics degree from Birmingham Southern College and enjoys providing leadership to non-profits that focus on education and community planning and development.

Bill DiTullio
Vice President - Investor Relations
Bill DiTullio

Bill DiTullio has over 10 years of investor relations experience, joining Uniti’s investor relations team in 2017. Bill was promoted to Vice President of Investor Relations and Finance in August of 2019. Bill originally joined Uniti through the acquisition of PEG Bandwidth in 2016, and has held several various finance roles within the organization. Prior to joining the Company, Bill served as Sr. Investor Relations Analyst at Comcast Corporation. Before that, Bill worked as an associate equity analyst at Boenning & Scattergood. Bill began his early career working for Prudential Financial in several accounting and finance roles.

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