Shentel has further positioned itself to pursue high-capacity fiber and lit service opportunities with hyperscalers, signing a master service agreement (MSA) with an unnamed hyperscaler data center operator.
About 20 data centers are being built or are near its fiber in the eight states it operates in today.
Edward McKay, CEO of Shentel, told investors during its second-quarter earnings call that, aside from signing the hyperscaler MSA, it could not yet share details about customers or plans.
“We don't have anything specific to report currently,” he said. “I will say that we're making progress there. We do have a master service agreement in place with a major hyperscaler that will allow them to purchase services in the future.”
Fiber network advantage
While not currently working with hyperscalers, Shentel believes its fiber routes position it well to serve new data center developments in its operating states.
The service provider’s fiber network, with over 19,000 route miles, connects key data center hubs and offers unique routes from Chicago to D.C. and into other strategic markets.
Shentel enhanced its fiber network reach by purchasing the former Horizon Telecom. Besides giving it new Glo Fiber expansion markets in Ohio, the acquisition doubled the size of its commercial fiber business.
One of Shentel's advantages is that it has built out facilities near some of the data centers in the markets it operates in today.
“We have existing fiber and existing conduit in proximity to some of these data centers, which gives us an advantage where we can provide the service without having to make as significant a capital investment as other providers may,” McKay said. “Our operating footprint also provides a strategic advantage with proximity to major data center hubs in Ashburn, Virginia and Columbus, Ohio.”
Business opportunities ramp
Shentel continues to see gains in its commercial business segment.
Driven by strong demand across commercial and enterprise customers, including wireless carriers, wholesale customers, and school systems, Shentel’s second quarter incremental monthly sales bookings exceeded 180,000.
Its service delivery team installed 209,000 locations in new monthly revenue. Also, its sales and network operations teams helped reduce average monthly compression and disconnect churn to 0.4%.
To support new growth opportunities, McKay said Shentel has “added additional resources on the commercial side, particularly on the SMB side.”
Shentel’s commercial fiber revenue grew 1.9 million, or 9.8% year over year.
“This growth was driven by a combination of recurring revenue growth in the enterprise and carrier verticals, a non-cash sales-type lease of customer equipment in the second quarter of 26, and a negative non-cash deferred revenue adjustment for one of our national wireless carrier customers in the second quarter of 2025,” said James Volk, CFO of Shentel.
Likewise, Shentel saw fiber revenue, which is a combination of its consumer Glo and commercial fiber segments, growing 21.4% to 51% of total revenue in the second quarter.
Volk noted that the second quarter of 2026 was “the first time fiber revenue exceeded incumbent broadband markets and RLEC revenue.”
