Cable One Inc (CABO) 2023 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by. My name is Desiree, and I will be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the Cable One Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2023 Earnings Call. (Operator Instructions) I would now like to turn the conference over to Todd Koetje, Chief Financial Officer. Please go ahead.

女士們先生們，謝謝你們的支持。我叫 Desiree，今天我將擔任你們的會議操作員。此時此刻，我謹歡迎大家參加有線電視第四季和 2023 年全年財報電話會議。 （操作員指示）我現在想將會議轉交給財務長 Todd Koetje。請繼續。

Good afternoon, and welcome to Cable One's Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2023 Earnings Call. We're glad to have you join us as we review our results. Before we proceed, I would like to remind you that today's discussion contains forward-looking statements relating to future events that involve risks and uncertainties. You can find factors that could cause Cable One's actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements discussed during today's call in today's earnings release and in our SEC filings, including our annual report on Form 10-K.

下午好，歡迎參加 Cable One 2023 年第四季和全年財報電話會議。我們很高興您加入我們來審查我們的結果。在我們繼續之前，我想提醒您，今天的討論包含與涉及風險和不確定性的未來事件相關的前瞻性陳述。您可以在今天的收益發布和我們的 SEC 文件（包括我們的 10-K 表格年度報告）中找到可能導致 Cable One 的實際結果與今天電話會議中討論的前瞻性陳述存在重大差異的因素。

Cable One is under no obligation and expressly disclaims any obligation, except as required by law, to update or alter its forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

除法律要求外，第一電纜沒有義務並明確否認有任何義務更新或更改其前瞻性陳述，無論是由於新資訊、未來事件或其他原因。

Additionally, today's remarks will include a discussion of certain financial measures that are not presented in conformity with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles or GAAP. When we refer to free cash flow during today's call, we mean adjusted EBITDA-less capital expenditures as defined in our earnings release. Reconciliations of non-GAAP financial measures discussed on this call to the most directly comparable GAAP measures can be found in our earnings release or on our website at ir.cableone.net.

此外，今天的演講還將討論某些不符合美國公認會計原則或公認會計原則的財務措施。當我們在今天的電話會議中提到自由現金流時，我們指的是我們的收益發布中定義的調整後的扣除 EBITDA 的資本支出。本次電話會議中討論的非 GAAP 財務指標與最直接可比較的 GAAP 指標的對帳可在我們的收益報告或我們的網站 ir.cableone.net 上找到。

During today's call, whenever we refer to our results on an adjusted basis, we are excluding certain noncore assets we divested in the second quarter of 2022, which exclusively provided business services. Joining me on today's call is our President and CEO, Julia Laulis. With that, let me turn the call over to Julia.

在今天的電話會議中，每當我們提及調整後的績效時，我們都會排除我們在 2022 年第二季剝離的某些非核心資產，這些資產專門提供商業服務。我們的總裁兼執行長朱莉婭·勞利斯 (Julia Laulis) 參加了今天的電話會議。接下來，讓我把電話轉給茱莉亞。

Thank you, Todd, and good afternoon, everyone. We appreciate you joining us for today's call. With nearly a decade under our belt as a public company, I'd like to start off today's call with a brief reflection on our contrarian routes and how I believe they contribute to our success today and into the future.

謝謝托德，大家下午好。我們感謝您參加今天的電話會議。作為一家上市公司已有近十年的歷史，我想在今天的電話會議開始時簡要回顧一下我們的逆向路線，以及我相信它們如何為我們今天和未來的成功做出貢獻。

We have always been a different kind of operator. Our safe harbor strategy that concentrated on small cities and large towns, early pivot away from video to broadband and focus on attractive rural broadband acquisitions are just a few examples of how we have set ourselves apart from other providers in the past.

我們一直是不同類型的營運商。我們的安全港策略集中於小城市和大城市，早期從視訊轉向寬頻，並專注於有吸引力的農村寬頻收購，這些只是我們過去如何與其他供應商區分開來的幾個例子。

Today, we continue to lean into those contrarian routes, leveraging our differences and evolving for the future. We have a plan to achieve balanced growth over time, a robust infrastructure to support customers' increasing needs for bandwidth in a diversified rural footprint, where our local operations and a neighborly experience we provide is a meaningful differentiator. We believe this combination will continue to drive high margins and generate significant free cash flow.

今天，我們繼續走這些逆向路線，利用我們的差異並為未來不斷發展。我們計劃隨著時間的推移實現平衡成長，建立強大的基礎設施來支援客戶在多元化的農村地區不斷增長的頻寬需求，我們的本地業務和我們提供的睦鄰體驗是一個有意義的差異化因素。我們相信這一組合將繼續推動高利潤率並產生大量自由現金流。

In the fourth quarter of 2023, Cable One was among the few operators who grew customers, expanding our residential broadband base by more than 1,600 customers. Notably, this growth was driven by both an improvement in new connects year-over-year and sustained low churn rates. We have reengineered our go-to-market approach to strategically target new customer segments with attractive pricing and product offerings, deploy countermeasures to address competition and expand our network footprint.

2023 年第四季度，Cable One 是少數幾家實現客戶成長的營運商之一，我們的住宅寬頻客戶數量增加了 1,600 多名。值得注意的是，這一增長是由新連接同比改善和持續的低流失率所推動的。我們重新設計了進入市場的方法，以具有吸引力的價格和產品供應策略性地瞄準新的客戶群，部署應對競爭的對策並擴大我們的網路覆蓋範圍。

We believe these changes through our tactical plan drove our results. This customer growth momentum began at the end of the third quarter, persisted throughout the fourth and continues to date. Similarly, our unconsolidated investments continue to show strong customer and financial growth. While we are focused on increasing our residential market share, we also understand the importance of achieving balanced growth over time.

我們相信，透過我們的戰術計劃進行的這些改變推動了我們的結果。這種客戶成長動能從第三季末開始，一直持續到第四季度，並持續至今。同樣，我們的未合併投資繼續顯示出強勁的客戶和財務成長。在我們專注於增加住宅市場份額的同時，我們也了解隨著時間的推移實現平衡成長的重要性。

Our ultimate financial objective remains to consistently generate significant free cash flow for our investors, something we accomplished again in 2023, reaching yet another all-time high for full-year adjusted EBITDA-less capital expenditures with a 9.7% growth year-over-year. This underscores our ability to perform financially even amid challenging market conditions.

我們的最終財務目標仍然是持續為投資者創造大量自由現金流，我們在 2023 年再次實現了這一目標，全年調整後扣除 EBITDA 的資本支出再創歷史新高，同比增長 9.7% 。這凸顯了我們即使在充滿挑戰的市場條件下也能實現財務績效的能力。

We generated this free cash flow while continuing to invest in our already-robust network, ensuring we remain ahead of the consumption curve. Nearly 1/4 of our residential Internet customers now use more than a terabyte of data per month, a 17% increase over the same period last year. We have managed this surge effectively as overall network utilization during peak hours remained at approximately 20% for both downstream and upstream traffic.

我們在創造這種自由現金流的同時，繼續投資於我們已經很強大的網絡，確保我們保持在消費曲線的領先地位。我們近 1/4 的住宅網路客戶現在每月使用超過 1 TB 的數據，比去年同期成長了 17%。我們有效地管理了這一激增，高峰時段的下行和上行流量的整體網路利用率均保持在 20% 左右。

Given this available capacity, we are well positioned to moderate our capital spending in support of our efforts to sustain a trajectory of continued free cash flow growth over the long term. As always, we remain steadfast in our commitment to maintain a network so robust that our customers never second guess the reliability of their service.

鑑於這種可用能力，我們完全有能力調節資本支出，以支持我們維持自由現金流長期持續成長軌跡的努力。一如既往，我們堅定不移地致力於維護一個強大的網絡，使我們的客戶永遠不會懷疑他們服務的可靠性。

Beginning in the fourth quarter, we increased efforts to broaden our reach by marketing to value-conscious customers in ways we haven't previously emphasized. We also introduced value-added benefits such as free unlimited data to retain the customers we have served exceptionally well for decades. And we have surgically implemented changes to our pricing and packaging to broaden our appeal among new and existing customers.

從第四季開始，我們加大了力度，以我們之前沒有強調過的方式向注重價值的客戶進行行銷，從而擴大我們的影響力。我們也推出了增值優惠，例如免費無限數據，以留住我們幾十年來一直提供優質服務的客戶。我們對定價和包裝進行了徹底的改變，以擴大我們對新舊客戶的吸引力。

We are pleased with the early results we are seeing, and we will continue making significant investments in our marketing and branding strategies to ensure our message reaches a wide audience.

我們對所看到的早期結果感到滿意，我們將繼續在行銷和品牌策略上進行大量投資，以確保我們的訊息傳達給廣泛的受眾。

Although we faced some [wired] competition, we anticipate that our footprint will remain relatively less competitive than urban markets, providing meaningful opportunities for increasing penetration. However, when a new provider prepares to enter one of our markets, we are ready to respond aggressively with a comprehensive and multidimensional playbook. In targeted situations, we will also compete more aggressively on price.

儘管我們面臨一些[有線]競爭，但我們預計我們的足跡仍將比城市市場的競爭力相對較低，從而為提高滲透率提供有意義的機會。然而，當新的供應商準備進入我們的某個市場時，我們已準備好以全面、多維的策略積極應對。在有針對性的情況下，我們也會更積極地進行價格競爭。

We have a clear understanding of the capital constraints and the return dynamics faced by new entrants to our markets, especially during times of heightened capital and construction costs. We believe that these dynamics, coupled with our responses, have already caused potential newcomers to rethink their entry into some of our markets.

我們清楚了解市場新進業者所面臨的資本限制和回報動態，特別是在資本和建設成本較高的時期。我們相信，這些動態，加上我們的反應，已經導致潛在的新來者重新考慮進入我們的一些市場。

In terms of wireless competitors, it bears repeating that we believe Cable One offers a superior service and our new value-based offers go head-to-head on price. Fixed wireless is known to have capacity limitations, with recent reports indicating usage limits and potential throttling. In contrast, our network effortlessly accommodates customers with high data usage needs.

就無線競爭對手而言，值得重申的是，我們相信 Cable One 提供了卓越的服務，並且我們基於價值的新產品在價格上不相上下。眾所周知，固定無線存在容量限制，最近的報告表明了使用限制和潛在的限制。相較之下，我們的網路可以輕鬆滿足具有高數據使用需求的客戶。

It's worth noting that across our footprint, our new customer offers include unlimited data, underscoring our ongoing commitment to listening to our customers and prioritizing their needs with the services we provide.

值得注意的是，在我們的足跡中，我們的新客戶服務包括無限的數據，這突顯了我們持續致力於傾聽客戶的意見並透過我們提供的服務優先考慮他們的需求。

Our efforts to strategically target value-conscious customers and fiercely compete where necessary resulted in downward pressure on ARPU for our residential data customers during the fourth quarter. We anticipated this and expect that we can continue to effectively manage ARPU, going forward, as we fine-tune our tactics to achieve balanced growth over time.

我們策略性地瞄準具有價值意識的客戶並在必要時進行激烈競爭的努力導致第四季度住宅數據客戶的 ARPU 面臨下行壓力。我們預料到了這一點，並期望我們能夠繼續有效地管理 ARPU，隨著我們不斷調整策略以實現平衡成長。

Although targeting the value segment is expected to pressure ARPU in the near term, we view this as an acceptable trade-off for defending our markets, expanding our customer base and enhancing long-term value. As I said earlier, we understand that achieving balanced growth is essential for our long-term success. And we believe we are currently taking the necessary steps to achieve that.

儘管瞄準價值細分市場預計會在短期內對 ARPU 造成壓力，但我們認為這是捍衛我們的市場、擴大我們的客戶群和提高長期價值的可接受的權衡。正如我之前所說，我們明白實現平衡成長對於我們的長期成功至關重要。我們相信我們目前正在採取必要的步驟來實現這一目標。

Ultimately, our philosophy aligns with the wisdom of the late great Charlie Munger, who consistently sought partnerships with companies that "generate substantial cash flow." In 2023, despite competitive and economic challenges, we achieved our highest level of free cash flow ever. With our focus on subscriber growth in 2024 and discipline over operational and capital expenditures, we are poised to continue growing free cash flow over time.

最終，我們的理念與已故偉大的查理·芒格的智慧相一致，他始終尋求與「產生大量現金流」的公司建立合作夥伴關係。 2023 年，儘管面臨競爭和經濟挑戰，我們仍實現了有史以來最高水準的自由現金流。由於我們專注於 2024 年的用戶成長以及對營運和資本支出的嚴格控制，我們準備好隨著時間的推移繼續增加自由現金流。

Before I turn it over to Tom, I want to emphasize that the heart of our operation is a personal approach to service delivery. This is another differentiated aspect of our business model. It is rooted in the fact that a majority of our associates and a substantial number of leaders are integral members of the communities in which they live and work. Our customers are their friends and family. Their loyalty and trust matters to our associates.

在將其交給湯姆之前，我想強調我們營運的核心是個人化的服務提供方式。這是我們商業模式的另一個差異化面向。它植根於這樣一個事實：我們的大多數員工和大量領導者都是他們生活和工作所在社區的不可或缺的成員。我們的客戶是他們的朋友和家人。他們的忠誠和信任對我們的員工很重要。

I recently heard a story from one of our systems that beautifully illustrates this commitment. One of our Hargray technicians was on a service call to troubleshoot a video problem for an elderly customer. As it turned out, it wasn't an issue with our video service. The customer's TV was broken. Recognizing that customer was not in a financial position to purchase a new one, the technician, unbeknownst to anyone, purchased a brand-new TV out of his own pocket, delivered it and set it up for this customer.

我最近從我們的一個系統中聽到了一個故事，它完美地說明了這個承諾。我們的一位 Hargray 技術人員正在接到服務電話，為一位老年客戶解決視訊問題。事實證明，這不是我們的視訊服務的問題。顧客的電視壞了。在意識到該客戶沒有經濟能力購買新電視後，技術人員在任何人不知情的情況下，自掏腰包購買了一台全新的電視，並將其交付並為該客戶進行安裝。

I could share dozens of similar examples, but I'll simply reiterate, our people truly are the backbone of our company and for our success.

我可以分享幾十個類似的例子，但我只想重申一下，我們的員工確實是我們公司和我們成功的支柱。

And now, Todd, who will provide a full recap of our fourth quarter and full-year financial performance.

現在，托德將全面回顧我們第四季和全年的財務表現。

Thanks, Julie. Before discussing our 2023 full-year results, I'd like to start by touching on some of the key quarterly figures from our fourth quarter financials.

謝謝，朱莉。在討論我們 2023 年全年業績之前，我想先談談我們第四季財務數據中的一些關鍵季度數據。

For the fourth quarter of 2023, our total revenues were $411.8 million, a 3.2% decrease from the fourth quarter of 2022, driven by a 21.3% decrease in residential video revenues. Residential data revenues, however, increased 2.1% year-over-year, with PSUs growing more than 1,600 during the fourth quarter.

2023 年第四季，我們的總營收為 4.118 億美元，比 2022 年第四季下降 3.2%，主要是住宅影片收入下降 21.3%。然而，住宅數據營收年增 2.1%，第四季 PSU 成長超過 1,600 個。

Business services revenues declined 0.5% year-over-year, whereas data services revenue within the business services offerings exceeded the comparable residential data revenue growth rates. Net income was $115.3 million for Q4 2023 compared to a net loss of $77.2 million in Q4 of 2022. Adjusted EBITDA was $226.9 million, a decrease of 2.7% when compared to 2023 as revenue gains in data services were outpaced by revenue attrition rates in the video product. Adjusted EBITDA margin expanded 30 basis points to 55.1% year-over-year.

商業服務收入年減 0.5%，而商業服務產品中的數據服務收入超過了可比較住宅數據收入成長率。 2023 年第四季的淨利潤為1.153 億美元，而2022 年第四季的淨虧損為7,720 萬美元。調整後的EBITDA 為2.269 億美元，與2023 年相比下降2.7%，因為資料服務的收入成長超過了數據服務的收入損耗率。視訊產品。調整後 EBITDA 利潤率年增 30 個基點至 55.1%。

Capital expenditures totaled $115.6 million in Q4. During the quarter, we invested $21.9 million of CapEx for new market expansion and $9.4 million for integration activities. Our fourth quarter capital expenditures were elevated due to timing of strategic projects with the completion of several large initiatives and the launch of new ones. We also capitalized on opportunities for the share of discounted equipment for future network expansion, particularly for enhanced ATM projects, backed by 15 years of government funding.

第四季資本支出總計 1.156 億美元。本季度，我們投資了 2,190 萬美元的資本支出用於新市場擴張，並投資了 940 萬美元用於整合活動。由於戰略項目的時機、幾項大型措施的完成和新措施的啟動，我們第四季度的資本支出有所增加。我們也利用了未來網路擴展的折扣設備份額機會，特別是在 15 年政府資金支持下的增強型 ATM 項目。

Additionally, we accelerated the deployment of our wall-to-wall WiFi product, which has significantly enhanced the customer experience and bolstered retention rates. These investments reflect our commitment to long-term growth and operational excellence.

此外，我們還加快了覆蓋範圍 WiFi 產品的部署，顯著增強了客戶體驗並提高了保留率。這些投資體現了我們對長期成長和卓越營運的承諾。

Adjusted EBITDA-less capital expenditures decreased from $126.4 million in the fourth quarter of 2022 to $111.3 million in the fourth quarter of 2023. This decrease was primarily driven by the higher capital expenditures incurred in the fourth quarter of 2023, as previously mentioned.

調整後扣除EBITDA 的資本支出從2022 年第四季的1.264 億美元減少至2023 年第四季的1.113 億美元。如前所述，這一下降主要是由於2023 年第四季資本支出增加所致。

Now turning to our full-year results. Starting off with revenue. Total revenues for 2023 were approximately $1.7 billion, a decrease of $28 million or 1.6% from 2022. On an adjusted basis, after taking into account the divestiture of certain noncore assets in the second quarter of 2022, total revenues declined 1.4%.

現在轉向我們的全年業績。從收入開始。 2023年總收入約為17億美元，比2022年減少2,800萬美元，降幅為1.6%。在調整後的基礎上，考慮到2022年第二季剝離某些非核心資產後，總收入下降了1.4 %。

The decrease was driven largely by the continued decline in revenues from our lower-margin, deemphasized residential and business video product lines, including a $67.2 million decrease in residential video revenues.

這一下降主要是由於我們利潤率較低、不再強調住宅和商業視訊產品線的收入持續下降，其中住宅視訊收入減少了 6,720 萬美元。

The growth of our most profitable residential and commercial broadband product lines continues to drive our business forward. As the demand for reliable high-speed broadband expands across all customer groups, so does the confidence in our continued success and ability to strike the right long-term balance between subscriber growth and ARPU.

我們最賺錢的住宅和商業寬頻產品線的成長繼續推動我們的業務向前發展。隨著所有客戶群對可靠高速寬頻的需求不斷擴大，我們對持續成功以及在用戶成長和 ARPU 之間實現長期平衡的能力的信心也隨之增強。

For 2023, our residential data revenues grew by $44.7 million or 4.8% when compared to 2022. Year-over-year, business services revenues declined 0.2%, but grew approximately 1% on an adjusted basis. And as mentioned earlier, data services within our business services offerings experienced healthy growth during the year.

2023 年，我們的住宅數據收入與 2022 年相比增長了 4,470 萬美元，即 4.8%。商業服務收入年減 0.2%，但調整後增長約 1%。如前所述，我們的商業服務產品中的數據服務在這一年中經歷了健康成長。

Operating expenses were $440.9 million or 26.3% of revenues in 2023 compared to $470.9 million or 27.6% of revenues in the prior year, a 130 basis point improvement, driven largely by a $49.9 million decrease in video programming costs.

2023 年營運支出為 4.409 億美元，佔收入的 26.3%，而前一年為 4.709 億美元，佔收入的 27.6%，提高了 130 個基點，這主要是由於視頻節目成本減少了 4990 萬美元。

Our focus on innovation and investment has led to significant efficiency gains, including a 25% decrease in average monthly truck rolls per 1,000 customers and a 16% drop in contacts per customer since 2020. These advancements, along with our disciplined approach to cost management, demonstrate our proactive strategy and aligning with decreasing video revenues.

我們對創新和投資的關注帶來了顯著的效率提升，包括自2020 年以來每1,000 名客戶的平均每月上門次數減少了25%，每位客戶的聯繫次數減少了16%。這些進步以及我們嚴格的成本管理方法，展示我們的積極主動的策略並與不斷下降的視訊收入保持一致。

Selling, general and administrative expenses were $354.7 million for 2023 compared to $350.3 million in the prior year. SG&A as a percentage of revenue was 21.1% for 2023 compared to 20.5% for 2022, with the increase driven by marketing and branding initiatives, higher labor costs, and meaningful investments that we are making in software and service platforms. These are driving ongoing digital transformation initiatives in the areas of enhanced customer and associate experience.

2023 年的銷售、一般和管理費用為 3.547 億美元，而前一年為 3.503 億美元。 2023 年，SG&A 佔收入的百分比為 21.1%，而 2022 年為 20.5%，成長的推動因素包括行銷和品牌計劃、勞動力成本上升以及我們在軟體和服務平台方面進行的有意義的投資。這些正在推動增強客戶和員工體驗領域持續的數位轉型措施。

Adjusted EBITDA was $916.9 million for 2023 compared to $911.9 million for 2022, an increase of 0.6%. Our adjusted EBITDA margin for 2023 was 54.6%, representing a 120 basis point improvement compared to the prior year.

2023 年調整後 EBITDA 為 9.169 億美元，較 2022 年的 9.119 億美元成長 0.6%。 2023 年調整後 EBITDA 利潤率為 54.6%，比前一年提高 120 個基點。

Capital expenditure totaled $371 million for 2023, which equates to 40.5% of adjusted EBITDA compared to $414 million and 45.4% in the prior year. Our capital expenditures have trended downward over the past 2 years, thanks to the meaningful investments we've already made in our network, specifically with the DOCSIS 4.0 network architecture. The significant excess capacity generated by these investments provides us with the confidence to manage our total capital expenditures towards the low 300s for 2024.

2023 年資本支出總額為 3.71 億美元，相當於調整後 EBITDA 的 40.5%，而前一年為 4.14 億美元，佔調整後 EBITDA 的 45.4%。過去兩年，我們的資本支出呈下降趨勢，這要歸功於我們對網路（特別是 DOCSIS 4.0 網路架構）進行的有意義的投資。這些投資產生的大量過剩產能使我們有信心將我們的總資本支出控制在 2024 年的 300 左右。

Adjusted EBITDA-less capital expenditures was $545.9 million for 2023 compared to $497.8 million for the prior year, a nearly 10% increase. We will continue to evaluate application of the meaningful cash flow that this business generates and stay rooted in our philosophy of long-term-oriented investments and conservative balance sheet management.

2023 年調整後扣除 EBITDA 的資本支出為 5.459 億美元，而前一年為 4.978 億美元，成長近 10%。我們將繼續評估該業務產生的有意義的現金流的應用，並始終紮根於我們的長期投資和保守的資產負債表管理理念。

We will remain balanced across network investments, digitally-oriented platform investments, organic and inorganic growth opportunities and continue a diversified return of capital strategy consisting of disciplined debt repayment, consistent dividends and opportunistic share repurchases.

我們將在網路投資、數位化平台投資、有機和無機成長機會方面保持平衡，並繼續實行多元化的資本回報策略，包括嚴格的債務償還、持續的股息和機會性的股票回購。

In 2023, we distributed $66.3 million in dividends to shareholders, bought back over 141,000 shares for $99.6 million and repaid $163.7 million of debt, of which $150 million represent volunteer repayments of our outstanding revolver balance.

2023 年，我們向股東派發了 6,630 萬美元的股息，以 9,960 萬美元回購了超過 141,000 股股票，並償還了 1.637 億美元的債務，其中 1.5 億美元是我們未償左輪餘額的自願償還。

As of December 31, we had approximately $190 million of cash and cash equivalents on hand. Our debt balance was approximately $3.7 billion, consisting of approximately $1.8 billion in term loans, $920 million in convertible notes, $650 million in unsecured notes, $338 million of revolver borrowings and $5 million of finance lease liabilities.

截至 12 月 31 日，我們手頭上持有約 1.9 億美元的現金和現金等價物。我們的債務餘額約為 37 億美元，包括約 18 億美元的定期貸款、9.2 億美元的可轉換票據、6.5 億美元的無擔保票據、3.38 億美元的循環借款和 500 萬美元的融資租賃負債。

We also had $662 million available for additional borrowings under our $1 billion committed revolving credit facility. Earlier this week, we repaid an additional $50 million of revolver borrowings further reducing our go-forward debt service costs, our floating rate debt balance and expanding our unfunded committing revolving credit capacity. Our weighted average cost of debt for 2023 was 4.22%.

我們還根據 10 億美元的承諾循環信貸安排提供了 6.62 億美元的額外借款。本週早些時候，我們額外償還了 5000 萬美元的循環借款，進一步降低了我們的遠期償債成本、浮動利率債務餘額，並擴大了我們無資金支持的承諾循環信貸能力。 2023 年我們的加權平均債務成本為 4.22%。

Our net leverage ratio, on a last quarter annualized basis, was 3.85x. And the vast majority of our borrowings are either fixed issuance or have been synthetically fixed under long-term contracts, considerably mitigating our exposure to the prevailing rate environment. Additionally, the nearest final maturity for any of our debt instruments does not incur until 2026.

以上一季年化計算，我們的淨槓桿率為 3.85 倍。我們的絕大多數借款要么是固定發行的，要么是根據長期合約綜合固定的，這大大減輕了我們對現行利率環境的風險。此外，我們的任何債務工具最近的最終到期日要到 2026 年才會到期。

In addition to the other investment activity previously discussed during the year, during the fourth quarter, we invested the remaining $13.9 million under our subscription agreement with Ziply Fiber, bringing our total investment in this growing fiber provider to $50 million.

除了之前討論過的其他投資活動外，在第四季度，我們根據與 Ziply Fiber 的認購協議投資了剩餘的 1,390 萬美元，使我們對這家不斷增長的光纖提供商的總投資達到 5,000 萬美元。

Looking at our unconsolidated investments. In total, residential and business data customers grew by approximately 9,800 or 1.2% on a sequential basis in the fourth quarter and more than 83,600 customers for the full year 2023. This does not include the operations of Metronet, where we have a less significant investment. The ongoing expansion of these businesses reinforces our enduring strategy of collaborating with experienced management teams and partnering with the most reputable financial entities in the sector.

看看我們的未合併投資。總體而言，第四季度住宅和商業數據客戶數量環比增長約 9,800 名，即 1.2%，2023 年全年客戶數量超過 83,600 名。這不包括 Metronet 的運營，我們在這方面的投資規模較小。這些業務的持續擴張強化了我們與經驗豐富的管理團隊合作以及與業內最有信譽的金融實體合作的持久策略。

Before we turn to Q&A, I'd like to address the Affordable Connectivity Program, also referred to as ACP, for our broadband customers.

在我們進行問答之前，我想先談談針對寬頻客戶的經濟實惠的連接計劃（也稱為 ACP）。

While it is still possible Congress might provide funding to continue the program, we are prepared for the likelihood that funding for the program will be [completed] by April. We've initiated communications and are taking proactive steps to prepare for the potential impact on our approximately 50,000 ACP subscribers.

雖然國會仍有可能提供資金來繼續該計劃，但我們已做好準備，該計劃的資金可能會在四月[完成]。我們已發起溝通，並正在採取積極措施，為我們約 50,000 名 ACP 用戶的潛在影響做好準備。

It is important to note that less than 20% of these customers have a plan fully funded by the ACP, while our other ACP customers are subscribers who pay for a portion of their current plan. We understand that the end of the program could be disruptive for many. However, we've carefully mapped out the most appropriate landing places, based on our customers' financial and usage needs. And we are committed to ensuring the smoothest-possible transition.

值得注意的是，這些客戶中不到 20% 的計劃完全由 ACP 資助，而我們的其他 ACP 客戶是支付部分當前計劃費用的訂戶。我們知道該計劃的結束可能會對許多人造成破壞。但是，我們根據客戶的財務和使用需求仔細規劃了最合適的著陸地點。我們致力於確保盡可能順利的過渡。

Additionally, we see this as a potential opportunity to gain new customers as the lapse in funding might prompt those not satisfied with their existing provider to explore alternative Internet service providers.

此外，我們認為這是一個獲得新客戶的潛在機會，因為資金的流失可能會促使那些對現有供應商不滿意的人去尋找替代的網路服務供應商。

With that, we are now ready for questions.

至此，我們現在準備好提問了。

(Operator Instructions) Your first question comes from the line of Nikhil Aluru with JPMorgan.

（操作員說明）您的第一個問題來自摩根大通的 Nikhil Aluru 線。

First, on the broadband ARPU deceleration. Thanks for the discussion on the low-end offers pressuring ARPU here. But I'm curious what the impact may have been from the existing sub base, like the retention offers you mentioned, or if there's been any down-tiering or anything that you've noticed?

首先，關於寬頻ARPU減速。感謝您在這裡討論低階產品給 ARPU 帶來的壓力。但我很好奇現有的基地可能會產生什麼影響，例如你提到的保留優惠，或者是否有任何降級或你注意到的任何事情？

And then second, Todd, on the balance sheet. You mentioned net leverage at 3.85x now. How do you view the target leverage for the company here? And then as we look out 2 years, given potential funding for MBI and having to take on that balance sheet, how do you think about how MBI could impact your target leverage range?

然後是資產負債表上的第二位托德。您提到現在淨槓桿率為 3.85 倍。您如何看待公司的目標槓桿率？然後，當我們展望 2 年時，考慮到 MBI 的潛在資金以及必須承擔的資產負債表，您如何看待 MBI 將如何影響您的目標槓桿範圍？

I'll start out, Nik, it's Julie. So yes, we have had some -- we've been more willing to do promotional and discounted offers, especially targeted at the value-conscious segment. And that is a change or an evolution from our past, where you are more specifically concentrating on the higher-end LTV customers. We've also done some pricing and packaging changes and some, what I would call, pretty strong competitive response actions in just a few markets, and we've seen really good results from that. .

我先開始了，尼克，我是茱莉。所以，是的，我們有一些 - 我們更願意提供促銷和折扣優惠，特別是針對注重價值的細分市場。這與我們過去相比是一個變化或演變，過去您更專注於高端 LTV 客戶。我們還進行了一些定價和包裝更改，以及一些我所說的在少數市場中相當強大的競爭響應行動，我們從中看到了非常好的結果。 。

What do I call good results? Well, I'd say, if an overbuilder pulls a contractor, that's a good result. If an overbuilder stops building in our area, that's a good result. If we are actually growing in that hypercompetitive market, that's a good result. And those are all things that we have seen from that type of response.

什麼叫好的結果？好吧，我想說，如果過度建設者拉了承包商，那是一個很好的結果。如果過度建設者停止在我們地區建造，那是一個很好的結果。如果我們確實在競爭異常激烈的市場中實現成長，那就是一個很好的結果。這些都是我們從這種類型的反應中看到的。

In terms of cannibalization, if I look at something as simple as sell-in, about 80% of our new customers are coming in at the 300 meg level or above. So I still think we're doing well in the majority of our markets, but we have taken some strong responses to ensure that we are defending our marketplace and growing our data penetration rates.

就蠶食而言，如果我看一下像銷售這樣簡單的東西，我們大約 80% 的新客戶都在 300 兆或以上的水平。因此，我仍然認為我們在大多數市場都表現良好，但我們採取了一些強大的應對措施，以確保我們捍衛我們的市場並提高我們的數據滲透率。

And then Nik, Todd, on the balance sheet side of the equation, Julie nailed most key points on ARPU. As you know, Cable One has always maintained a philosophy of a very conservative balance sheet. We don't have a target leverage profile per se, but we've operated the business throughout various economic environments in that kind of 2.5 to 4.5x leverage range.

然後尼克、托德、在等式的資產負債表方面，朱莉指出了 ARPU 的大多數關鍵點。如您所知，第一電纜一直保持著非常保守的資產負債表概念。我們本身沒有目標槓桿狀況，但我們在各種經濟環境中以 2.5 至 4.5 倍的槓桿範圍經營業務。

We were comfortable taking the leverage up to that 4.5 or near that with the Hargray transaction. We also were issuing capital at near 0% interest rate. So it's not only just about the multiple, but it's also the cost of capital that we view as an important factor in managing that balance sheet.

在 Hargray 交易中，我們很樂意將槓桿率提高到 4.5 或接近該水平。我們也以接近 0% 的利率發行資本。因此，這不僅涉及倍數，而且還涉及我們認為管理資產負債表的重要因素的資本成本。

The [3.85] debt we're at right now, as you can see from the disciplined repayment that we've been enacting here in the last few quarters, and we'll continue as we're moving that debt balance down that reduces our highest tranche of capital, which is our floating rate debt under the revolver. It also enhances our unfunded committed revolving capacity under that $1 billion committed revolver that we extended earlier last year with a syndicate of our relationship banks.

我們現在的債務 [3.85]，正如您從過去幾季我們在這裡制定的嚴格還款中看到的那樣，我們將繼續減少債務餘額，從而減少我們的債務餘額。最高部分的資本，這是我們左輪手槍下的浮動利率債務。它還增強了我們去年稍早與關係銀行銀團擴展的 10 億美元承諾循環資金下的無資金承諾循環能力。

And all of that was very intentional as we think out to your other question of the prospects of preparing that balance sheet for events like an MBI. And we feel like that transaction and the timing associated with that transaction will align with that leverage range that I outlined previously to you.

當我們考慮你的另一個問題時，所有這些都是有意為之的，即為 MBI 等事件準備資產負債表的前景。我們認為該交易以及與該交易相關的時間將與我之前向您概述的槓桿範圍一致。

Our next question comes from the line of Greg Williams with TD Cowen.

我們的下一個問題來自 Greg Williams 和 TD Cowen 的對話。

Julie, you mentioned the need for balanced growth, and you'll see some pressures on ARPU in the near term. And yes, it could be an acceptable trade-off. I'm just wondering what does near term mean? How do we think about the ARPU pressures over the next few quarters and through the year as you sort of target the low end and play some defense?

Julie，您提到了平衡成長的必要性，您會在短期內看到 ARPU 面臨一些壓力。是的，這可能是一個可以接受的權衡。我只是想知道近期是什麼意思？當您瞄準低端並採取一些防禦措施時，我們如何看待未來幾季和全年的 ARPU 壓力？

And also, just second question is, buybacks, you seem to be on the back burner. Todd just mentioned shoring up the balance sheet. So is it sort of safe to figure while the stock is down at these levels, the balance sheet repair is prioritization here?

另外，第二個問題是，回購，你似乎處於次要地位。托德剛剛提到支撐資產負債表。那麼，當庫存下降到這些水準時，是否可以安全地計算出修復資產負債表是這裡的優先事項？

Great. So yes, pressure in the near term. We are -- we've operated in these small cities, large towns. And just because we're in communities that are not urban, doesn't mean that these folks are getting a substandard network. And in fact, the opposite is true. We were one of the first operators, if not the first, to offer a gig service, for example, back in [2015]. We have symmetrical multi-gig service across our HFC plant, although the majority of that plant is fiber now. And we have been operating in these markets for decades. .

偉大的。所以，是的，短期內會面臨壓力。我們在這些小城市、大城市開展業務。僅僅因為我們位於非城市社區，並不意味著這些人的網路不合格。事實上，事實恰恰相反。例如，早在 [2015 年]，我們就是最早提供零工服務的業者之一（即使不是第一家）。我們的 HFC 工廠擁有對稱的多千兆服務，儘管該工廠現在大部分都是光纖。我們已經在這些市場運作了數十年。 。

And I give that to you, Greg, is context that we are going to defend our markets and we are going to grow market share. So I do see a near-term pressure as we defend some markets. It's nice that we're dispersed across 24 states, remembering that our average market size is 20,000 customers. So an impact of a competitor anywhere is not an impact to us overall.

格雷格，我向您提供的背景是，我們將捍衛我們的市場，我們將擴大市場份額。因此，當我們捍衛某些市場時，我確實看到了近期的壓力。很高興我們分佈在 24 個州，記住我們的平均市場規模是 20,000 名客戶。因此，任何地方的競爭對手的影響不會對我們整體產生影響。

But we're going to have to take you on this journey with us. We're experimenting and learning, and we're being really methodical. We're trying to be incredibly segmenting the marketplace very targeted so that we can balance ARPU in different types of markets overall.

但我們必須帶您一起踏上這段旅程。我們正在嘗試和學習，而且我們非常有條理。我們正在努力非常有針對性地細分市場，以便我們能夠平衡不同類型市場的整體 ARPU。

Over a multiyear period, I think we are going to show nice growth overall. But it is going to be a journey. As always, our focus is on taking care of our associates, our customers and generating significant free cash flow. So I'm not really concerned about revenue in the short term.

在多年的時間裡，我認為我們將整體呈現良好的成長。但這將是一段旅程。一如既往，我們的重點是照顧我們的員工、客戶並產生大量的自由現金流。所以我並不真正擔心短期內的收入。

And Greg, one thing I'll just add on that. I mean, we talk about ARPU a lot. It's a very key factor, from an economic perspective, but we have a multidimensional playbook in terms of the behaviors at which we're both looking at customer acquisition as well as customer retention. And we're big believers in that acquisition and that retention of those customers is key to our long-term value creation for our owners.

格雷格，我要補充一件事。我的意思是，我們經常談論 ARPU。從經濟角度來看，這是一個非常關鍵的因素，但我們在關注客戶獲取和客戶保留的行為方面有一個多維的劇本。我們堅信這次收購，並且保留這些客戶是我們為所有者創造長期價值的關鍵。

And we've talked about where our penetration rates have been extensively in the past, and we feel we can continue to demonstrate to our shareholders, our associates, our communities that we can be the leading provider in these markets and expand that penetration. And that's what we're doing.

我們已經討論了過去我們的滲透率廣泛存在的地方，我們認為我們可以繼續向我們的股東、我們的同事、我們的社區證明我們可以成為這些市場的領先供應商並擴大滲透率。這就是我們正在做的事情。

As it relates to the balance sheet, I wouldn't call it, repair it, I think, was the term you used because we've always been very balanced in how we've utilized the balance sheet both from debt issuance and the cost and the term of that. So we feel like it's very long term, highly fixed and puts us in a great spot to be in a good position to grow.

由於它與資產負債表相關，我不會稱之為“修復”，我認為這是您使用的術語，因為我們在如何利用債務發行和成本來利用資產負債表方面一直非常平衡以及那個術語。所以我們覺得這是一個非常長期、高度固定的項目，讓我們處於有利的發展位置。

We did pull back on the buybacks in the last few quarters. You saw -- I'll remind the audience that we did issue in 2020, we issued equity, and we bought back almost 150% of the number of shares that we issued in 2020 at a nearly 50% discount to the price that we issued at. And as we think about investing in ourselves, it's always investing in the network, investing in our people, it's investing in ourselves, in many cases, through the buyback of shares.

過去幾季我們確實減少了回購。你看到了——我要提醒觀眾，我們在2020年確實發行了股票，我們發行了股票，我們以比發行價格近50%的折扣回購了2020年發行的股票數量的近150%。當我們考慮投資自己時，它總是投資於網絡，投資於我們的員工，投資於我們自己，在很多情況下，是透過股票回購來投資。

But we also very much do believe in the return of capital to shareholders and running a long-term business is the discipline around borrowing and repaying debt. And that's credibility with our creditor partners, and I think that's credibility with our shareholders as well. So we will be maintaining a balance there.

但我們也非常相信向股東返還資本，經營長期業務是藉貸和償還債務的紀律。這就是我們債權人合作夥伴的信譽，我認為這也是我們股東的信譽。所以我們將在那裡保持平衡。

But as we prepare the balance sheet for future events and want to continue to maintain that conservative philosophy, you will see us be a little bit more focused on debt repayment. We're not big believers in the perpetually leveraged business model.

但當我們為未來事件準備資產負債表並希望繼續保持這種保守理念時，你會發現我們更加關注債務償還。我們不太相信永久槓桿商業模式。

Next question comes from the line of Frank Louthan with Raymond James.

下一個問題來自弗蘭克·勞森（Frank Louthan）和雷蒙德·詹姆斯（Raymond James）的對話。

So you've built quite a bit. I mean, you passed about 70,000 homes for the year, yet still kind of losing subs. What's sort of the take rate on the new homes passed? And when can we start to see that begin to add to the level of subs that you see growing? And at what point do you think it's -- you can kind of call a win there and see positive broadband subs for a full year?

所以你已經建立了相當多的東西。我的意思是，這一年你經過了大約 70,000 個家庭，但仍然有一些潛艇的流失。新房通過率是多少？我們什麼時候可以開始看到您看到的潛水艇數量開始增加？你認為在什麼時候——你可以稱之為勝利，並看到全年寬頻用戶的積極成長？

Frank, I'll start with that one. Todd, feel free to jump in. But the home stuff that you see came on in the last half, really the last quarter of the year, which actually makes me think about how we approach, how we build. But those will become homes. I mean those will become customers. A lot of that is still in -- some of that is building a new plant for new developments, but a lot of it is filling in a home that has just popped in where we already have planned. .

弗蘭克，我就從那個開始吧。托德，請隨意插話。但是你看到的家居用品是在下半年出現的，實際上是今年的最後一個季度，這實際上讓我思考我們如何處理、如何構建。但那些將成為家園。我的意思是那些將成為客戶。其中許多工作仍在進行中——其中一些正在為新的開發項目建造新工廠，但許多工作正在填充我們已經規劃好的地方剛剛出現的房屋。 。

And I actually went through every single one of those that we've built. And the penetration rates there match the penetration of their systems if the tenure is longer than a quarter. And in the majority of the cases here, it is not. So these represent opportunities for us in 2024. I'm not going to comment on what I think about 2024s growth. What I will say is we are concentrating on growing in 2024 and leave the guidance out of it.

事實上，我仔細檢查了我們建造的每一個項目。如果任期超過四分之一，那麼那裡的滲透率就與系統的滲透率相符。而在大多數情況下，事實並非如此。因此，這些對我們來說是 2024 年的機會。我不會評論我對 2024 年成長的看法。我要說的是，我們將專注於 2024 年的成長，而將指導排除在外。

Yes. And Frank, as you saw for the quarter, CapEx was considerably higher than where it was in Q2 and Q3. And we talked about -- it's hard to be super predictable on what a quarter-to-quarter CapEx is, even though the full-year CapEx came in below where we've run in the past. And as I've outlined in my remarks, we'll be lower in 2024 as we manage expectations to that kind of low 300s or what I would call the low end of that 35% to 38% as a percentage of EBITDA that we've talked about in previous quarters.

是的。弗蘭克，正如您在本季度看到的那樣，資本支出比第二季和第三季要高得多。我們談到——儘管全年資本支出低於我們過去的水平，但很難對季度至季度資本支出進行超級預測。正如我在演講中概述的那樣，我們在 2024 年的利率將會更低，因為我們將預期控制在 300 左右，或者我所說的佔 EBITDA 百分比的 35% 到 38% 的低端。我們在前幾個季度談過。

But you can see also that, that CapEx moving up in the fourth quarter does correlate to many of those projects that were being completed, had some timing elements associated with them, but also even a few that we initiated as new ones that came with long-term support from the enhanced [ACAM] regulatory programs. So there will be opportunities, for sure, for us to prosecute in 2024.

但您也可以看到，第四季度資本支出的上升確實與許多正在完成的項目相關，有一些與之相關的時間因素，甚至還有一些我們作為新項目啟動的長期項目。- 增強的 [ACAM ] 監管計劃的長期支持。因此，我們肯定有機會在 2024 年進行起訴。

Okay. And just to be clear, so you're saying you most of these areas that you build after 1 quarter, you're at mid-30% penetration on those homes?

好的。需要澄清的是，您是說您在 1 季後建造的大部分區域中，這些房屋的滲透率達到了 30% 左右？

No. I'm saying if there've been homes for a period of time, so we watch them every single week, to tell you the truth. But these are -- these only have a week, a month, 3 months in the barn. So their penetration rates are not going to be as high as the system that they exist in. But over time, those newbuild areas will match the average system penetration or be higher.

不。我是說，如果有房屋已經有一段時間了，那麼我們每週都會觀察它們，說實話。但這些——它們只在穀倉待了一周、一個月、三個月。因此，它們的滲透率不會像它們所在的系統那麼高。但隨著時間的推移，這些新建區域將與平均係統滲透率相符或更高。

So how long does that take for them to match the existing system?

那麼他們需要多長時間才能與現有系統相符？

It really -- Frank, it would depend on what system we're talking about. Is that a system like -- well, I won't say the name because I also know competitors listen, is that a system that doesn't have a competitor other than [ALEC], we're going to get there pretty fast. Is that a system with 2 fiber overbuilders and ALEC ? It's going to take us longer.

這確實是——弗蘭克，這取決於我們談論的是什麼系統。這個系統是不是——嗯，我不會說這個名字，因為我也知道競爭對手在聽，是一個除了[ALEC]之外沒有競爭對手的系統，我們很快就會到達那裡。這是一個具有 2 個光纖過度構建器和 ALEC 的系統嗎？我們需要更長的時間。

Our next question comes from the line of Craig Moffett with MoffettNathanson.

我們的下一個問題來自 Craig Moffett 和 MoffettNathanson。

Julie and Todd, I wonder if you could just add a little bit more color to the kinds of offers that you're using when you talk about competing with -- it sounds like you're mostly talking about offers to compete with new fiber entrants. But are you also doing offers that are aimed at competing with fixed wireless broadband? And if so, how do those look different than what you're doing in specific geographic markets, where you're facing a fiber competitor?

朱莉和托德，我想知道你們在談論競爭時是否可以為你們所使用的報價類型添加更多的色彩——聽起來你們主要是在談論與新的光纖進入者競爭的報價。但您是否也提供旨在與固定無線寬頻競爭的產品？如果是這樣，這些看起來與您在特定地理市場（您面臨光纖競爭對手）所做的事情有何不同？

Yes, Craig. Julie can jump in as well. But one of the things we talked about in our Q3 call was where we had rolled out initially focused on both that value segment but also to go head-to-head with that fixed wireless mobile-ly architected broadband product, was that 100 meg service at $25 as a promotional price.

是的，克雷格。朱莉也可以加入。但我們在第三季電話會議中討論的一件事是，我們最初推出的重點是該價值細分市場，同時也與固定無線行動架構寬頻產品進行正面交鋒，那就是 100 兆服務促銷價為25美元。

And with that, it was really more of a -- called out the flash sale in late Q3, of which we piloted different types of offerings in Q4; we saw the sell-in of those initial offers come in meaningfully higher than the tier that was being offered with that promo, if that makes sense.

有了這個，它實際上更多的是——在第三季度末進行了閃購，我們在第四季度試行了不同類型的產品；我們看到這些初始報價的銷售量明顯高於該促銷活動提供的等級（如果這有意義的話）。

So in Q3, it was well over 2/3 of the customers that are called in for that offer or came in for that offer. Our great sales team was able to convert them, [hire] based on their needs and listening to their needs and what their average monthly utilization and capacity requirements were, and we see that continuing here in the fourth quarter and to date.

因此，在第三季度，超過 2/3 的客戶被要求提供該優惠或前來購買該優惠。我們優秀的銷售團隊能夠根據他們的需求進行轉換、[僱用]他們，並傾聽他們的需求以及他們的平均每月利用率和容量要求，我們看到這種情況在第四季度和迄今為止仍在繼續。

But we feel it's both. We feel it's like making sure we go to all cohorts in all segments in these towns and communities that we serve. But ensuring with a better and more reliable product, we can compete head-to-head with that fixed wireless offering.

但我們覺得兩者兼具。我們覺得這就像確保我們去到我們所服務的這些城鎮和社區的所有部門的所有群體。但確保擁有更好、更可靠的產品，我們可以與固定無線產品進行正面競爭。

And you have to also be mindful, in many of our markets, we've talked about this in the past, a fixed wireless offering is based on the mobile network infrastructure in these markets. And while it's not to say that some of our markets don't have good service, many of them do not, and not being able to offer a wireless product in our markets definitely doesn't [behest] the opportunity to provide a reliable home broadband on a mobile-ly architected infrastructure either.

您還必須注意，在我們的許多市場中，我們過去已經討論過這一點，固定無線產品基於這些市場的行動網路基礎設施。雖然這並不是說我們的一些市場沒有良好的服務，但很多市場都沒有，並且無法在我們的市場上提供無線產品肯定不會[要求]有機會提供可靠的家庭移動架構基礎設施上的寬頻。

I guess I would just add that this is a pretty big shift for us and that we are not operating our systems in a one-size-fits-all way. We are innovating. We are testing. We are learning. We are trying things. We are measuring to see what drives the needle. We're talking to our customers.

我想我只想補充一點，這對我們來說是一個相當大的轉變，我們並沒有以一刀切的方式操作系統。我們正在創新。我們正在測試。我們在學習。我們正在嘗試一些事情。我們正在測量看看是什麼驅動了針。我們正在與我們的客戶交談。

And it's not just about price, Craig. It's the whole customer journey that we're taking a look at, anything from what's their WiFi experience is like and making sure that we're measuring their experience to the device, not just to the node, but every device in their home, for example, and just having a maniacal focus on reliability and using the tools of this [centric] machine learning and AI to grab the data points that we have and take care of issues before they even become noticeable by customers.

克雷格，這不僅僅是價格的問題。我們正在關注的是整個客戶旅程，從他們的 WiFi 體驗來看，並確保我們正在衡量他們對設備的體驗，而不僅僅是節點，而是他們家中的每台設備，例如，瘋狂地關注可靠性，並使用這種以[為中心]的機器學習和人工智慧工具來獲取我們擁有的數據點，並在問題被客戶注意到之前就解決它們。

So it's a pretty multidimensional look at how we approach the customer segments.

因此，這是我們如何接觸客戶群的多維視角。

Can you say anything about -- are these offers primarily first-year discount, stepping up to a regular price as a 2-year discount? Or as they develop...

您能說一下嗎？這些優惠主要是第一年折扣，還是作為兩年折扣逐步提高到正常價格？或隨著他們的發展...

It's all over the board. It's all over the board. There's some of that. There's some that are shorter term. There are some that are longer term. There are -- some of that are multistep-up over years. We're testing all of it and learning what the whole picture looks like, not just the take rates, meaning customers coming in the door, not just the sell-in rates of what packages they take when we market that, but what are the retention rates on the back side and the satisfaction as well.

一切都在棋盤上。一切都在棋盤上。有一些這樣的。有一些是短期的。有一些是長期的。其中一些是多年來不斷進步的。我們正在測試所有這些並了解整個情況，不僅僅是採取率，這意味著顧客進來，不僅僅是他們在我們行銷時採取的包裹的銷售率，而是什麼是背面的保留率和滿意度也是如此。

But it's very tactical, Craig, to the market and to the competitor. And I think our knowledge of who these competitors are, how they're capitalized, where they are in their -- in some cases, financially backed investment cycles can determine many of the different strategies that we approach, and we'll continue to use. But in some cases, we're already seeing people raise price in those markets. And so we also have to be very mindful of the tenor of those so that you can also respond in that way. And so it's, as Julie said, it is across the board, but it's very tactical.

但克雷格，這對市場和競爭對手來說都是非常有策略的。我認為，我們對這些競爭對手是誰、他們的資本化方式、他們所處的位置（在某些情況下，有財務支持的投資週期）的了解可以決定我們採取的許多不同策略，並且我們將繼續使用。但在某些情況下，我們已經看到人們在這些市場上提高價格。因此，我們也必須非常注意這些內容的基調，以便您也能以這種方式回應。因此，正如朱莉所說，這是全面的，但非常具有策略性。

Our next question comes from the line of Steven Cahall with Wells Fargo.

我們的下一個問題來自富國銀行的史蒂文·卡霍爾 (Steven Cahall)。

I was wondering if we could just tie all this all together to talk about EBITDA growth a little bit. So I certainly appreciate that you're experimenting and not doing the one-size-fits-all approach anymore. And it sounds like Julie, you said there's going to be a bit of a journey here. So there might be a little more pressure on revenue growth than there has in the past. EBITDA was a little weaker in Q4. So I would just love to hear how we should think about EBITDA growth in 2024.

我想知道我們是否可以將所有這些結合在一起來討論一下 EBITDA 成長。因此，我當然很感激您正在嘗試，而不是再採用一刀切的方法。聽起來朱莉，你說過這裡會有一段旅程。因此，收入成長的壓力可能比過去更大一些。第四季 EBITDA 略有疲軟。所以我很想聽聽我們應該如何考慮 2024 年 EBITDA 的成長。

And the second part of the question is with the more moderate capital spending in 2024 that you talked about, Todd, I think there was some pull-forward of like scalable infrastructure spend in '23. But is any of the moderation in capital spending just a response to a tougher competitive environment that may slow EBITDA growth, and so that will just help you kind of keep the balance sheet conservative? I know that's a lot.

問題的第二部分是，托德，您談到的 2024 年資本支出將更加溫和，我認為 23 年可擴展的基礎設施支出有所提前。但資本支出的放緩是否只是對可能減緩 EBITDA 成長的更激烈競爭環境的反應，從而有助於保持資產負債表保守？我知道很多。

Yes. I'll hit on a few things there, Steve. Thanks for the question. On the EBITDA growth side, I mean, right now, as you guys know, while we're at 5% penetration on video, that continues to be an accelerated decline, and it still does have some margin in it, although it's also a declining margin. And that is one of the primary contributors to that EBITDA this quarter-over-quarter being slightly down, as you saw. I think it was like 120% of our revenue declines were video as our core products were up.

是的。史蒂夫，我會談到一些事情。謝謝你的提問。在 EBITDA 成長方面，我的意思是，現在，正如你們所知，雖然我們的視訊滲透率為 5%，但這仍然是加速下降，而且它仍然有一定的利潤，儘管它也是一個利潤率下降。正如您所看到的，這是導致本季 EBITDA 略有下降的主要因素之一。我認為我們 120% 的收入下降來自於視頻，而我們的核心產品卻在增長。

As we continue to focus on long-term customer growth, acquisition of new customers, retention of existing customers and that long-term reliable experience for them, it's going to be that factor that we have to continue to learn from, right? And we have to continue to focus on how can we expand that penetration.

當我們繼續專注於長期客戶成長、獲取新客戶、保留現有客戶以及為他們提供長期可靠的體驗時，這將是我們必須繼續學習的因素，對吧？我們必須繼續關注如何擴大滲透率。

And as Julie was outlining, it's not just about price, but price will be a tool in certain areas, where we feel it's most appropriate. But the video decline is your core contributor to where the EBITDA weakness is. But again, as you see margins increasing this quarter, our highest-margin products continue to be the healthiest.

正如朱莉所概述的，這不僅僅是價格的問題，而且價格將成為我們認為最合適的某些領域的工具。但影片的下降是 EBITDA 弱點的核心原因。但同樣，當您看到本季利潤率增加時，我們利潤率最高的產品仍然是最健康的。

As it relates to the spending, I wouldn't say it's in a response to a tougher environment. It's really as a result of how proactive we've been in investing in these markets. 4.0 architecture is basically complete until the actives are generally available, but we've been spending considerably in that.

由於它與支出有關，我不會說這是為了應對更嚴峻的環境。這實際上是我們在這些市場上積極投資的結果。在活動普遍可用之前，4.0 架構已基本完成，但我們在這方面投入了大量資金。

We did bring forward some discounted equipment. We did accelerate some projects related to the government programs that we're going to be funding those for the next 15 years. So that was in, for the most part, some of the incremental investments. And throughout 2023, even 2022, when you think about the proactive network investments but then some of the, I'll call it, pull-forward into Q4. But the go-forward is because of how proactive we've been in investing in the network.

我們確實提前帶來了一些打折的設備。我們確實加快了一些與政府計劃相關的項目，我們將在未來 15 年為這些計劃提供資金。因此，這在很大程度上是一些增量投資。在整個 2023 年，甚至 2022 年，當你考慮主動的網路投資時，我將其中一些投資提前到第四季。但前進是因為我們在網路投資方面非常積極主動。

And I might add, capital expenditures have been going down for 2 years. So in 2024, that will just make year 3. So it's not something new that is being introduced. This is a trend. This is where we've been going. I would also note that we're pretty well known amongst our peers for being pretty good at continuous improvement as it relates to being cost effective. I think you see that in part by our margins. And that is going to continue and ramp up.

我想補充一點，資本支出已經連續兩年下降。因此，到 2024 年，這將成為第三年。因此，這並不是什麼新鮮事。這是一個趨勢。這就是我們一直要去的地方。我還要指出的是，我們在同行中非常擅長持續改進，因為這與成本效益有關。我認為您在一定程度上透過我們的利潤看到了這一點。這種情況將會持續下去並不斷加劇。

And we are having a [full-court] press on integrations in '24 as well, so bringing all the family of brands that are not yet Sparklight into the Sparklight brand and getting them on our platforms and just a tremendous amount of operational work going on by amazing teams in '24 that will help us on that side of the business as well. And since I've been with the company, which is almost 25 years now, our focus has been on free cash flow, and it's going to continue to be.

我們也在 24 年對整合進行了[全場]壓力，因此將所有尚未成為 Sparklight 的品牌系列納入 Sparklight 品牌，並將它們放在我們的平台上，並且正在進行大量的運營工作24 年，出色的團隊為我們提供了支持，這也將為我們在業務方面提供幫助。自從我在公司工作已近 25 年以來，我們的重點一直是自由現金流，而且將繼續如此。

And we do have our last question from Brandon Nispel with KeyBanc Capital Markets.

我們確實收到了 KeyBanc Capital Markets 的布蘭登·尼斯佩爾 (Brandon Nispel) 提出的最後一個問題。

Most of mine have been addressed. But I was wondering if -- on ARPU, I was wondering if you could quantify onetime impacts this quarter. I think you mentioned two things: removing data caps and providing unlimited data. So I was hoping if you could quantify in terms of the impact on HSD ARPU?

我的大部分問題都已解決。但我想知道，在 ARPU 方面，我想知道您是否可以量化本季的一次性影響。我認為您提到了兩件事：取消數據上限和提供無限數據。所以我希望您能量化對 HSD ARPU 的影響嗎？

And then, on your website, on the Sparklight page, there's a 1 gig service for 39.95 for 18 months. And historically, you guys have not been as promotional on the front book and especially not for that period of time. So I was hoping you could talk about, one, what the reception has been; and two, the decision behind putting that as sort of the lead product?

然後，在您的網站 Sparklight 頁面上，有 1 場演出的服務，價格為 39.95 美元，為期 18 個月。從歷史上看，你們並沒有在封面上進行宣傳，尤其是在那段時間。所以我希望你能談談，第一，接待情況如何；第二，將其作為主導產品的決定是什麼？

Okay. Let's see, ARPU -- so breaking down what happened to ARPU in the fourth quarter, which is what I think you're asking for Brandon?

好的。讓我們看看，ARPU——那麼詳細分析第四季度 ARPU 的情況，我想這就是你對 Brandon 的要求？

Yes.

是的。

Yes. Okay. So the majority of the decrease came from promos and discounts, with a piece of it coming from rate and the sort of shifting back of data, if you will. So new customers that come on in certain markets get data, unlimited data included in their package rates. Package rates have stayed the same in those markets. But they're getting unlimited as sort of a perk, if you will, where we used to have [data] guidelines, and that would result in [feed] to us. So if you're a new customer in those markets, you don't have that anymore.

是的。好的。因此，大部分下降來自促銷和折扣，其中一部分來自費率和數據回移（如果你願意的話）。因此，某些市場的新客戶可以獲得數據，套餐費率包含無限數據。這些市場的套餐費率維持不變。但如果你願意的話，它們將作為一種福利而不受限制，我們過去有[數據]指南，這將導致我們[飼料]。因此，如果您是這些市場的新客戶，您就不再擁有這些了。

The $39.95, I'm trying to look and see what marks, it is literally one size fits all. Every -- almost every market or every segment within a market has some element of variable pricing. So if our normal rates are still 70, 80 and 90 for 300, 600 gig, you could see promos in the marketplace. But generally speaking, a promo for a gig would be $69.95 or $70. So if you're looking at a rate of $39, you're looking at a market that is trying to find a -- let's see. Do you know what market you looked at because that...

39.95 美元，我想看看有什麼標記，它確實是一刀切。每個－幾乎每個市場或市場中的每個細分市場都有一些可變定價的因素。因此，如果我們的正常價格仍然是 300、600 場演出的 70、80 和 90，您就可以在市場上看到促銷活動。但一般來說，一場演出的促銷費用為 69.95 美元或 70 美元。因此，如果您考慮的是 39 美元的價格，那麼您正在考慮的市場正在努力尋找——讓我們看看。你知道你關注的是哪個市場嗎，因為......

I -- just sparklight.com.

我——只是sparklight.com。

You would have had to had a market Zip code, I think. But there are markets where we are offering that, and those are hypercompetitive marketplaces. And we're driving gig selling, and we believe that in the future, we'll be able to monetize that more. But the other piece of that is the sell-in, that in part is to get the phone to ring, right? In those markets, we might actually have a multi-gig product that we could upsell on.

我想，你必須有一個市場郵遞區號。但我們在某些​​市場提供這種服務，而且這些市場競爭非常激烈。我們正在推動零工銷售，我們相信在未來，我們將能夠更多地貨幣化。但另一部分是推銷，部分是為了讓電話響起，對嗎？在這些市場中，我們實際上可能擁有可以追加銷售的多演出產品。

If I could follow up, you mentioned 80% of your customers you're selling is that 300 megs or above, what type of intake ARPUs are you seeing with the service? And then I wanted to ask about ACP, since you mentioned. I think it grew quite a bit sequentially. I think last quarter, you mentioned you had 35,000 customers on ACP. Now it's 50,000. So that implies sort of the base core customers was down quite a bit this quarter. So hoping you can unpack that a little bit.

如果我可以跟進的話，您提到您所銷售的 80% 的客戶的體重為 300 兆或以上，您透過該服務看到的 ARPU 是什麼類型？然後我想問 ACP，因為你提到了。我認為它連續增長了很多。我記得上個季度，您提到 ACP 上有 35,000 名客戶。現在是5萬了。因此，這意味著本季基本核心客戶大幅下降。所以希望你能稍微解開它。

Yes. Brandon, on the ACP side, it's a little bit north of 35, that [once was] a little bit south of 50. I think important to note that it's less than 10,000 that are in the fully funded category there, where they're in that kind of baseline pricing and packaging that effectively provides them with free Internet. And that's providing more, I would call it, susceptible customer base, but we're already working with all of those customers in terms of what that transition will look like, assuming that the program does go away.

是的。布蘭登，在 ACP 方面，它比 35 稍靠北一點，[曾經]比 50 稍靠南一點。我認為重要的是要注意，那裡的全額資助類別中只有不到 10,000 人，他們在那裡那種有效地為他們提供免費網路的基準定價和包裝。這提供了更多，我稱之為易受影響的客戶群，但我們已經在與所有這些客戶就過渡的情況進行合作，假設該計劃確實消失了。

Yes, the majority of the customers were our customers before they signed up for ACP. They used ACP to increase the tier of service that they received. And so again, we can go and look at what they're paying now and what their usage is now and make sure that we position them nicely into something that they can afford. And I'm going to have to get back with you, Brandon. I don't think I know the ARPU of our selling for the fourth quarter off the top of my head.

是的，大多數客戶在註冊 ACP 之前都是我們的客戶。他們使用 ACP 來提高他們獲得的服務等級。同樣，我們可以去看看他們現在支付的費用以及他們現在的使用情況，並確保我們將他們很好地定位在他們可以負擔得起的東西上。我得和你一起回去，布蘭登。我想我不知道我們第四季銷售的 ARPU 值是多少。

Well, we don't disclose that anyway.

好吧，無論如何我們不會透露這一點。

There you go.

就這樣吧。

There are no further questions at this time. Ms. Laulis, I turn the call back over to you.

目前沒有其他問題。 Laulis 女士，我將電話轉回給您。

Thank you, Desiree. So before closing, I would like to again thank our associates for their insights, ideas and efforts, which make the difference in our pursuit of market share growth. Thank you, everyone, for your time and attention today. We appreciate your continued support and interest in Cable One.

謝謝你，德西麗。因此，在結束之前，我要再次感謝我們的員工的見解、想法和努力，而正是他們為我們追求市場份額的成長做出了貢獻。謝謝大家今天的時間和關注。我們感謝您對第一電纜的持續支持和關注。

Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes today's conference call. You may now disconnect.

女士們、先生們，今天的電話會議到此結束。您現在可以斷開連線。