FRANKLIN, Tenn. (February 17, 2026)—United Communications, Middle Tennessee’s leading fiber internet provider, today announced it has closed a $230 million credit facility with CoBank to further accelerate the company’s ongoing fiber broadband expansion across the region.
The new financing builds on United’s long-standing partnership with CoBank, one of the largest private providers of credit to the U.S. rural economy. The new facility will enhance the company’s ability to fund large-scale fiber infrastructure projects and strategic acquisitions as United expands its network to reach over 250,000 homes and businesses by 2027.
Additionally, as part of Project UNITE, United expects to receive a significant amount of federal BEAD grant funding. The new credit facility will support United’s required matching fund obligations, enabling the company to serve the remaining unserved locations across its communities.
“Middle Tennessee’s growth depends on internet infrastructure that can keep up—at home, at work, in classrooms, and in the field,” said William Bradford, president and CEO of United Communications. “This new CoBank financing gives us additional strength and flexibility to keep building at speed, especially in high-demand communities across our Middle Tennessee service area.”
Expansion Momentum Continues
In the near future, United plans to invest more than $100 million to expand fiber infrastructure in Brentwood, Franklin, Murfreesboro, and Lebanon, extending internet access to thousands of additional Middle Tennessee Electric members and positioning the network to meet future demand.
This expansion is also complemented by the growth of United’s Communities Division, which is scaling fiber access to more than 20,000 homes and apartments across Middle Tennessee.
United’s fiber network is being built to support next-generation capabilities, including multi-gigabit speeds and emerging quantum-ready technologies, ensuring Middle Tennessee remains competitive in a rapidly evolving digital economy.
“CoBank has been an important partner as we scale our fiber network and keep pace with Middle Tennessee’s growth,” said Kristin Jackson, CFO at United Communications. “With this new financing, we’re accelerating work in communities that need more bandwidth, more reliability, and a local provider that’s here for the long haul.”
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About United Communications
United Communications is a leading provider of internet and phone services for residential customers, small and mid-sized businesses, and enterprise-level organizations across Middle Tennessee. United has been nationally and regionally recognized, winning the 2024 and 2023 Best Places to Work award from the Nashville Business Journal, the 2024 and 2025 Gold Stevie® Award from the American Business Awards®, a 2025 BBC Mag Top 100 Fiber-to-the-Home Leader designation, and a 2023 Torch Award from the BBB. United was also honored by the NCTA in their 2025 Smart Rural Community Showcase Awards.
United operates more than 6,100 route miles of fiber covering portions of Bedford, Davidson, Franklin, Giles, Lincoln, Marshall, Maury, Moore, Rutherford, Williamson, and Wilson counties. United Communications is a service of Middle Tennessee Electric.
About CoBank
CoBank is a cooperative bank serving vital industries across rural America. The bank provides loans, leases, export financing and other financial services to agribusinesses and rural power, water and communications providers in all 50 states. The bank also provides wholesale loans and other financial services to affiliated Farm Credit associations serving more than 79,000 farmers, ranchers and other rural borrowers in 23 states around the country. CoBank is a member of the Farm Credit System, a nationwide network of banks and retail lending associations chartered to support the borrowing needs of U.S. agriculture, rural infrastructure and rural communities. Headquartered outside Denver, Colorado, CoBank serves customers from regional banking centers across the U.S. and also maintains an international representative office in Singapore. To learn more, please visit CoBank.com.