Charter Communications Inc (CHTR) 2023 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Hello, and welcome to the Charter Communications Q4 Conference Call. (Operator Instructions) Also as a reminder, this conference is being recorded today. If you have any objections, please disconnect at this time. I would now like to turn the call over to Stefan Anninger.

您好，歡迎參加Charter Communications第四季電話會議。 （操作員提示）另請注意，本次會議正在錄音。如果您有任何異議，請立即斷開連接。現在我將把電話轉交給Stefan Anninger。

Thanks, operator, and welcome, everyone. The presentation that accompanies this call can be found on our website, ir.charter.com. I would like to remind you that there are a number of risk factors and other cautionary statements contained in our SEC filings, which we encourage you to read carefully.

謝謝接線員，歡迎各位。本次電話會議的簡報可在我們的網站 ir.charter.com 上找到。我想提醒各位，我們向美國證券交易委員會提交的文件中包含一些風險因素和其他警示性聲明，我們建議您仔細閱讀。

Various remarks that we make on today's call concerning expectations, predictions, plans and prospects constitute forward-looking statements, which are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ from historical or anticipated results. Any forward-looking statements reflect management's current view only, and Charter undertakes no obligation to revise or update such statements.

我們在今天的電話會議上就預期、預測、計劃和前景所作的各種表述均構成前瞻性陳述，這些陳述受風險和不確定性因素的影響，可能導致實際結果與歷史結果或預期結果存在差異。任何前瞻性陳述僅反映管理層目前的觀點，Charter公司不承擔修訂或更新此類陳述的義務。

On today's call, we have Chris Winfrey, our President and CEO; and Jessica Fischer, our CFO. With that, let's turn the call over to Chris.

今天參加電話會議的還有我們的總裁兼執行長克里斯溫弗瑞，以及我們的財務長傑西卡費雪。那麼，現在讓我們把電話交給克里斯。

Thanks, Stefan. In 2023, we added 155,000 Internet customers, and we added nearly 2.5 million Spectrum Mobile lines for growth of nearly 50%. At the end of 2023, we had more than 7.7 million total mobile lines. Only 13% of our Internet customers now have mobile service. And we expect mobile penetration to meaningfully grow over the next several years as the quality and value of our converged connectivity services gains wider recognition. Revenue was up by 1% in 2023, while EBITDA grew by 1.3% and 2.5% when excluding advertising.

謝謝 Stefan。 2023 年，我們新增了 15.5 萬網路用戶，Spectrum Mobile 行動線路新增近 250 萬條，成長率接近 50%。截至 2023 年底，我們的行動線路總數超過 770 萬條。目前，只有 13% 的網路用戶擁有行動服務。我們預計，隨著融合連接服務的品質和價值獲得更廣泛的認可，未來幾年行動普及率將顯著增長。 2023 年，公司營收成長 1%，EBITDA 成長 1.3%，若不計廣告收入，則成長 2.5%。

While we're executing well on our long-term strategic initiatives, and Spectrum One is working to drive mobile growth, Internet growth in our existing footprint has been challenging, driven by admittedly more persistent competition from fixed wireless and similar levels of wireline overbuild activity. Small changes in gross additions and churn in a low transaction environment have driven outsized impacts to net gains, which was clearly the case as we moved through the last quarter.

儘管我們在長期策略性舉措的執行方面進展順利，Spectrum One 也正致力於推動行動業務成長，但現有覆蓋範圍內的互聯網業務增長卻面臨挑戰，這主要是由於固定無線網絡競爭日益激烈，以及類似的有線網絡擴容活動。在交易量較低的環境下，新增用戶和流失用戶的微小變化都對淨收益產生了顯著影響，這在上個季度尤其明顯。

I own that. So let me start with what we believe on the competitive environment and then what we're doing to drive long-term growth by delivering high-quality products and service at a great price.

我承認這一點。所以，首先讓我談談我們對競爭環境的看法，然後談談我們正在採取哪些措施，透過提供高品質的產品和服務以及優惠的價格來推動長期成長。

Fixed wireless access. While an inferior product with limited capacity in geographic coverage, which is fluid, is often marketed by the phone companies at a perceived lower price to their existing customers. We continue to believe the impact from fixed wireless is temporary. Our Internet product is faster and more reliable. Our pricing is lower when similarly bundled with mobile. Customer bandwidth needs continue to increase, and MNOs will face capacity challenges and will be required to allocate their spectrum and capital to maintain profitable mobile services. While we can't promise when that happens, I believe bandwidth needs to increase and quality and value win.

固定無線存取雖然覆蓋範圍有限且不穩定，但其效能卻不如行動網絡，電信公司往往會以看似更低的價格向現有客戶推銷。我們仍然認為固定無線存取的影響是暫時的。我們的網路產品速度更快、更可靠。與行動網路捆綁銷售時，我們的價格更低。客戶的頻寬需求持續成長，行動網路營運商（MNO）將面臨容量挑戰，需要分配頻譜和資金以維持獲利的行動服務。雖然我們無法預測這種情況何時發生，但我相信頻寬必然會成長，品質和價值終將勝出。

On the wireline overbuild front. We continue to compete well. Overbuild impact tends to be limited to a few percentage points of Internet penetration during the first year of a new overbuild vintage coming online. It's painful, but it's tied to the pace of overbuilt. We don't see overbuilders reaching their penetration and ROI goals now -- within our footprint now or in the future. They don't have the same ubiquitous convergence capabilities as we do. The lower-cost passings have likely been built. Some of the planned overbuild was duplicative between operators, meaning less opportunity. And incremental financing costs have increased, putting even more pressure on overbuild returns. We also expect BEAD passings will provide better capital allocation and ROI for many of these operators.

在有線網路擴容方面，我們依然保持著良好的競爭力。擴容的影響通常僅限於新擴容線路上線後第一年網路普及率的幾個百分點。這雖然令人沮喪，但與擴容的速度息息相關。我們認為，無論是在我們目前的覆蓋範圍內還是未來，擴容業者都無法實現其普及率和投資回報率目標。他們不具備我們那樣廣泛的融合能力。低成本的線路可能已經建成。部分業者的擴容計畫存在重複建設，這意味著機會減少。此外，新增融資成本的增加進一步加劇了擴容回報的壓力。我們也預計，BEAD線路的建設將為許多業者提供更優的資本配置和更高的投資報酬率。

Our assumption is that our competitors are rational economic players with shareholders and balance sheets, which require adequate return on investment. That isn't within our control. So we are focused on the key strategic initiatives that enhance long-term competitiveness and growth capabilities, and we expect to return to a more normalized Internet growth over time.

我們假設競爭對手都是理性的經濟參與者，他們擁有股東和資產負債表，需要獲得足夠的投資回報。這並非我們所能控制。因此，我們專注於能夠提升長期競爭力和成長能力的關鍵策略舉措，並期望隨著時間的推移，網路成長能夠回歸正常水平。

Just over a year from when we detailed those initiatives, I wanted to remind everyone of the rationale and update you on their status as laid down on Slide 4. Our footprint expansion is beating our pacing, penetration, ARPU and ROI targets. New construction will help drive Internet customer growth despite the temporary challenges I mentioned within our existing footprint. 2023 subsidized rural customer growth was already over $100,000. Our penetration also continues to grow at a better-than-expected pace and we'll cover more -- we'll activate more subsidies rural passings this year, both of which Jessica will cover.

距離我們詳細闡述這些舉措已過去一年多，我想再次提醒大家這些舉措的初衷，並向大家報告幻燈片4中列出的最新進展。我們的網路覆蓋擴張速度、滲透率、ARPU值和ROI均超過了預期目標。儘管我之前提到現有網路覆蓋範圍內存在一些暫時的挑戰，但新建專案仍將有助於推動網路使用者成長。 2023年，農村補貼用戶增長額已超過10萬美元。我們的網路滲透率也持續以超出預期的速度成長，而且我們將繼續擴大覆蓋範圍——今年我們將啟動更多農村補貼項目，這兩方面都將由Jessica負責。

BEAD will provide additional opportunities, although the potential is uncertain given our concerns regarding how states will apply NTIA guidelines. We'll focus BEAD investments in states where the [rules] are conducive to private investment. Outside of rural, we also have accelerated greenfield, market fill-in and serviceability builds, expanding our existing footprint in both residential and commercial passings. Penetration curves and returns here are similarly strong and predictable with a lower build cost.

BEAD 將帶來更多機遇，但鑑於我們對各州如何執行 NTIA 指南的擔憂，其潛力尚不明朗。我們將把 BEAD 投資重點放在那些[規則]有利於私人投資的州。除了農村地區外，我們還加快新建項目、市場填補項目和服務設施建設，擴大我們在住宅和商業通道的現有業務範圍。這些項目的滲透率和回報同樣強勁且可預測，且建造成本更低。

We also remain committed to prioritizing the customer experience via our execution initiative, which is intended to enhance frontline employees' tenure while simultaneously investing in digitization, all to drive better sales yields, higher-quality transactions, lower overall service transactions and higher levels of customer satisfaction. Our targeted investments in employees over the last 2 years resulted in a significant reduction in employee attrition in 2023.

我們始終致力於透過執行相關舉措，優先提升客戶體驗。該措施旨在延長第一線員工的任期，同時增加數位投入，最終目標是提高銷售收益、提升交易品質、降低整體服務交易量並提高客戶滿意度。過去兩年，我們對員工的專案投資已大幅降低了2023年的員工流動率。

Our investments in the digitization of service is also driving efficiencies. In 2024, we have a number of new automated platforms that are launching to facilitate better service for customers and better digital and AI tools for agents to enhance service quality and the quality of their day-to-day jobs.

我們在服務數位化方面的投資也正在提升效率。 2024年，我們將推出多個新的自動化平台，旨在為客戶提供更優質的服務，並為客服人員提供更先進的數位化和人工智慧工具，以提升服務品質和日常工作效率。

And finally, our evolution initiative, which includes our network evolution project, our convergence efforts and our video product development all remain on course. We fully launched symmetrical speed tiers in two markets and currently launching in six more, completing our step one markets. We'll also begin to work in our step two markets with DAA later this year. Excluding the benefit of any savings that result from the project, we continue to expect our network evolution to cost a very low $100 per passing. We expect to complete the project in 2026. So fast, ubiquitous, low-cost upgrade of our capabilities, which our competitors can't replicate.

最後，我們的演進計劃，包括網路演進專案、融合工作和視訊產品開發，均按計劃進行。我們已在兩個市場全面推出對稱速度等級，目前正在另外六個市場推出，完成了第一階段市場。今年晚些時候，我們也將與DAA合作，在第二階段市場展開合作。不計專案帶來的任何成本節約，我們預期網路演進的成本仍然非常低，每次通過只需100美元。我們預計將於2026年完成該專案。如此快速、普及且低成本的升級，是我們的競爭對手無法複製的。

Our -- product offering also continues to evolve and grow. Spectrum One is performing well and offers the fastest connectivity with differentiated features like mobile speed boost and the Spectrum Mobile network. Spectrum One also offers significant savings for customers with market-leading pricing at both promotion and at retail. And Spectrum One customers reaching their first anniversary are performing ahead of our expectations. We'll continue to evolve our converged offering in 2024 with additional features and capabilities.

我們的產品組合也在不斷發展壯大。 Spectrum One 表現出色，提供最快的連線速度，並擁有行動速度提升和 Spectrum Mobile 網路等差異化功能。 Spectrum One 還以極具競爭力的價格（無論是促銷價還是零售價）為客戶節省大量費用。 Spectrum One 用戶在滿一年後的業績也超出了我們的預期。我們將繼續在 2024 年完善我們的融合產品，推出更多功能和功能。

Finally, turning to the evolution of our video product. In October, we launched the Xumo platform across our entire footprint. This industry-leading video platform allows our customers to access their linear and direct-to-consumer video content with unified search and discovery within one easy-to-use interface.

最後，我們來談談視訊產品的演進。 10 月，我們在所有業務覆蓋區域推出了 Xumo 平台。這個業界領先的視訊平台讓我們的客戶能夠在一個易於使用的介面中，透過統一的搜尋和發現功能存取其線性視訊和直接面向消費者的視訊內容。

Combined with our Spectrum TV app, the most viewed linear MVPD streaming service in the U.S., Xumo is our go-to-market platform for new video sales. We're approaching 1 million deployed Xumo boxes since launch and we've been getting great customer feedback, and we can keep improving our attach rates.

Xumo 結合了我們 Spectrum TV 應用程式（美國觀看量最高的線性多頻道視訊節目發行商 (MVPD) 串流服務），是我們以新影片銷售的市場推廣平台。自發布以來，我們已部署近 100 萬台 Xumo 機上盒，並收到了良好的客戶回饋，我們將繼續提高附加率。

In early January, Disney+ became available to all Spectrum TV select customers nationwide at no additional cost. And in the next several months, ESPN+ and VIX, a Spanish language DTC product, will both become available to certain TV select customers at no extra cost. This new hybrid distribution model is good for consumers and we plan to modernize all of our distribution agreements upon renewal. That means packaging flexibility, value and not asking customers or Charter to pay twice for similar DTC and linear programming.

1月初，Disney+已免費開放全美所有Spectrum TV精選用戶。未來幾個月，ESPN+和西班牙文DTC產品VIX也將陸續免費開放給部分Spectrum TV精選用戶。這種全新的混合分發模式對消費者有利，我們計劃在續約時對所有分發協議進行現代化改造。這意味著更靈活的套餐組合、更高的性價比，以及避免客戶或Charter為類似的DTC和線性節目支付雙重費用。

Our new hybrid distribution model combined with Xumo's content forward interface, provides a clear path to solve key customer issues of choice, value and utility, with seamless linear DTC and SVOD integration and advanced search and discovery functionality.

我們全新的混合分發模式與 Xumo 的內容前向介面相結合，為解決客戶在選擇、價值和實用性方面的關鍵問題提供了一條清晰的途徑，實現了無縫的線性 DTC 和 SVOD 整合以及高級搜尋和發現功能。

When we reflect on our key initiatives and what we believe are the short-term market challenges, we're acting as long-term Charter shareholders to maximize value. So we have a posture of expectancy and excitement for the opportunity to execute on initiatives that enhance our long-term growth rate and value for Charter shareholders.

當我們審視我們的關鍵舉措以及我們認為的短期市場挑戰時，我們始終以Charter長期股東的身份行事，力求實現價值最大化。因此，我們滿懷期待且興奮地掌握機遇，執行各項舉措，以提升Charter的長期成長率和股東價值。

In the short term, we are leaving no stone unturned as it relates to our go-to-market approach. Ultimately, the speed at which we can return to a more normalized broadband growth rate hinges on the assumption that our competitors capital is not limitless for poor ROI projects and, frankly, our execution on our strategic initiatives.

短期內，我們在市場推廣策略上將不遺餘力。最終，我們能否盡快恢復到較正常的寬頻成長速度，取決於我們能否確保競爭對手的資金不會無限用於投資報酬率低的項目，以及我們能否有效執行各項策略性舉措。

So we're keeping our heads down and executing on a clear strategy to ensure we can offer customers the best products and services across our entire footprint, all while saving customers' money, not only now, but in the future.

因此，我們埋頭苦幹，執行明確的策略，以確保我們能夠在我們所有的業務範圍內為客戶提供最好的產品和服務，同時不僅現在，而且將來也能為客戶省錢。

And with that, I'll turn the call over to Jessica.

接下來，我將把電話交給潔西卡。

Thanks, Chris. Let's turn to our customer results on Slide 6. Including residential and SMB, we lost 61,000 Internet customers in the fourth quarter, while video customers declined by 257,000. In mobile, we added 546,000 mobile lines and wireline voice customers declined by 251,000.

謝謝，克里斯。我們來看幻燈片6上的客戶業績。包括住宅用戶和中小企業用戶在內，第四季我們流失了6.1萬網路用戶，視訊用戶減少了25.7萬。行動用戶方面，我們新增了54.6萬條行動線路，而固話用戶減少了25.1萬。

Our Spectrum One product continued to perform well. Customers that signed up for our Spectrum One product in the fourth quarter of 2022 reached their 12-month anniversary this past quarter. Those promotional roll-offs didn't drive incremental Internet churn.

我們的Spectrum One產品表現持續良好。 2022年第四季簽約Spectrum One產品的客戶，上季已滿12個月。促銷活動的結束並未導致網路使用者流失。

In the quarter, we had slightly lower mobile line gross adds year-over-year tied to Internet gross additions, with a lower churn rate year-over-year and flat sequentially. We continue to see healthy data usage at our Spectrum One promotional lines and remain confident that these lines will perform well as long-term customers.

本季度，行動線路新增用戶數較去年同期略有下降，與網路新增用戶數基本一致；用戶流失率較去年同期下降，較上季持平。我們持續看到Spectrum One促銷線路的數據使用情況良好，並相信這些線路用戶未來會成為長期客戶。

Turning to rural. We ended the year with 420,000 subsidized rural passings and grew those passings by 295,000 in 2023, in line with our target and by 105,000 in the fourth quarter alone, an acceleration from this 78,000 we activated during the third quarter. Customer growth in our subsidized rural footprint also accelerated with 34,000 net customer additions in the quarter.

轉向農村市場。我們在年底實現了42萬次農村補貼通行，並預計2023年將通行量增加29.5萬次，符合我們的目標；僅第四季度就新增了10.5萬次，較第三季度的7.8萬次有所加速。我們在農村補貼通行服務覆蓋範圍內的客戶成長也加快了，本季淨增客戶3.4萬人。

As Slide 13 shows, we're generating customer penetrations of close to 50% in cohorts that have reached or passed the 12-month mark. In 2024, we expect to activate approximately 450,000 new subsidized rural passings, about 50% more than in 2023 with seasonality in the first quarter tied to the winter weather.

如投影片 13 所示，在已達到或超過 12 個月的客戶群中，我們的客戶滲透率接近 50%。 2024 年，我們預計將啟動約 45 萬張新的農村補貼通行證，比 2023 年增長約 50%，其中第一季的增長受冬季天氣影響，呈現季節性波動。

Slide 12 shows that so far, with additional state bids that we expect, we will have committed to build approximately 1.75 million subsidized rural passings. We also expect our RDOF build to be completed by end of 2026, 2 years ahead of schedule.

第12張投影片顯示，截至目前，加上我們預期收到的其他州政府的投標，我們將承諾建造約175萬個受補貼的農村通道。我們也預計，我們的農村發展機會區（RDOF）建設將於2026年底完成，比原計劃提前兩年。

Moving to financial results, starting on Slide 7. Over the last year, residential customers declined by 0.3%, with video-only customer churn, partly offset by new customer growth driven by Internet. Residential revenue per customer relationship was up 0.1% year-over-year, given promotional rate step-ups, rate adjustments and the growth of Spectrum Mobile, mostly offset by a higher mix of nonvideo customers and growth of lower-priced video packages within our base.

接下來是財務績效部分，從第7頁開始。過去一年，住宅用戶數量下降了0.3%，主要原因是僅使用視訊服務的用戶流失，但部分被網路帶來的新用戶成長所抵消。由於促銷價格上調、價格調整以及Spectrum Mobile業務的成長，住宅用戶每客戶關係收入同比增長了0.1%，但大部分增長被非視頻用戶佔比上升以及低價視頻套餐用戶群增長所抵消。

As Slide 7 shows, in total, residential revenue was flat year-over-year. Residential Internet ARPU grew by 2.2% year-over-year, but by 3.4% when excluding the impact of Spectrum One GAAP revenue allocation out of Internet into mobile.

如投影片 7 所示，整體而言，住宅收入與去年持平。住宅網路 ARPU 年比成長 2.2%，但如果排除 Spectrum One GAAP 收入從網路分配到行動業務的影響，則年增 3.4%。

Turning to commercial. SMB revenues declined by 0.9% year-over-year, reflecting lower monthly SMB revenue per SMB customer, primarily due to a higher mix of lower-priced video packages and a lower number of voice lines per SMB customer. These factors were partly offset by SMB customer growth of 0.7% year-over-year. Enterprise revenue grew 3.8% year-over-year, driven by enterprise PSU growth of 6.5% year-over-year. Excluding all wholesale revenue, enterprise revenue grew by 6.1%.

轉至商業業務。中小企業收入較去年同期下降0.9%，主要原因是每位中小企業客戶的月度收入減少，而這主要是由於低價視訊套餐佔比增加以及每位中小企業客戶的語音線路數量減少所致。中小企業客戶數量年增0.7%，部分抵銷了上述影響。企業營收年增3.8%，主要得益於企業級付費用戶較去年同期成長6.5%。剔除所有批發收入後，企業收入成長6.1%。

Fourth quarter advertising revenue declined by 23.4% or $130 million year-over-year due to less political revenue. Core ad revenue was 0.7% year-over-year due to a more challenged advertising market, partly offset by our growing advanced advertising capabilities. Other revenue grew by 24.4% year-over-year, driven by higher mobile device sales. And in total, consolidated fourth quarter revenue was up $0.03 year-over-year and up 1.3% year-over-year when excluding advertising.

第四季廣告收入年減23.4%，即1.3億美元，主因是政治廣告收入減少。核心廣告收入年增0.7%，主要受廣告市場挑戰的影響，但部分被我們不斷增強的高級廣告能力所抵銷。其他營收年增24.4%，主要得益於行動裝置銷量的成長。第四季合併總收入年增0.03美元，若不計入廣告收入，則較去年同期成長1.3%。

Moving to operating expenses and adjusted EBITDA on Slide 8. In the fourth quarter, total operating expenses declined by 0.7% year-over-year. Programming costs declined by 10.6% year-over-year due to a decline in video customers of 6.8% year-over-year and a higher mix of lighter video packages. These factors were partly offset by higher programming rates. For the full year 2024, we expect programming cost per video customer to grow in the 1% to 2% range year-over-year with our video package mix being the largest variable.

請參閱第 8 頁投影片，以了解營運費用和調整後 EBITDA。第四季度，總營運費用年減 0.7%。由於視訊用戶年減 6.8% 以及輕量級視訊套餐佔比增加，節目製作成本較去年同期下降 10.6%。這些因素被較高的節目製作費率部分抵消。我們預計 2024 年全年，每位視訊用戶的節目製作成本將年增 1% 至 2%，其中視訊套餐組合將是影響成本成長的最大變數。

Other cost to revenue increased by 15%, primarily driven by higher mobile device sales and other mobile direct costs, partly offset by lower ad sales costs. Cost to service customers increased by 2.1% year-over-year, driven by additional activity to support the growth of Spectrum Mobile, partly offset by productivity improvements, including some 10-year investments and lower service transactions per customer.

其他成本佔收入的比例增加了15%，主要原因是行動裝置銷售額和其他行動直接成本增加，部分被廣告銷售成本下降所抵銷。客戶服務成本年增2.1%，主要原因是為支援Spectrum Mobile的成長而進行的額外活動，部分被生產力提升所抵消，其中包括一些十年期投資和每位客戶的服務交易次數減少。

Looking forward, I would note that our previous investments related to job structure, pay and benefits to build a more skilled and longer tenured workforce are now largely complete and service transaction trends are back on trajectory after the programming dispute in September. Sales and marketing costs declined by 1.6%, primarily driven by lower labor costs. Finally, other expenses grew by 1.5%, driven by labor costs. Adjusted EBITDA grew by 1.6% year-over-year in the quarter, and by 3.6% when excluding advertising.

展望未來，我想指出，我們之前為打造一支技能更精湛、服務更穩定的員工隊伍而對崗位結構、薪酬和福利方面的投資已基本完成，9月份的節目製作糾紛後，服務交易趨勢也已重回正軌。銷售和行銷成本下降了1.6%，主要得益於勞動成本的降低。此外，其他費用增加了1.5%，也受到勞動成本上漲的影響。經調整後的EBITDA在本季年增1.6%，若不計入廣告費用，則較去年同期成長3.6%。

Turning to net income on Slide 9. We generated $1.1 billion of net income attributable to Charter shareholders in the fourth quarter, down from $1.2 billion last year, driven by a pension remeasurement loss and higher interest expense, partly offset by a gain on the sale of towers and higher adjusted EBITDA.

請參閱第 9 頁的淨收入。第四季歸屬於 Charter 股東的淨收入為 11 億美元，低於去年的 12 億美元，主要原因是退休金重新計量損失和利息支出增加，部分被出售鐵塔的收益和調整後 EBITDA 增加所抵消。

Turning to Slide 10. Capital expenditures totaled $2.9 billion in the fourth quarter, just below last year's fourth quarter spend. Line extension spend totaled $978 million, $50 million higher than last year, driven by our subsidized rural construction initiative and increased residential and commercial greenfields and market sell-in opportunities. Fourth quarter capital expenditures, excluding line extensions totaled $1.9 billion compared to $2 billion in the fourth quarter of 2022, driven by lower spend on scalable infrastructure and lower spend on CPE due to purchase timing, partly offset by higher spend on upgrade rebuild, primarily network evolution. For the full year 2023, we spent $11.1 billion. Looking ahead at full year 2024. We expect capital expenditures to total between $12.2 billion and $12.4 billion, including line extensions of approximately $4.5 billion and network evolution spend of approximately $1.6 billion.

請參閱第10頁投影片。第四季資本支出總額為29億美元，略低於去年同期水準。線路延伸支出總額為9.78億美元，比去年同期增加5000萬美元，主要得益於我們對農村地區建設項目的補貼，以及住宅和商業新建項目和市場銷售機會的增加。第四季資本支出（不包括線路延伸）總額為19億美元，而2022年第四季為20億美元，主要原因是可擴展基礎設施支出減少，以及由於採購時間安排，用戶終端設備（CPE）支出減少，部分被升級重建支出增加所抵消，其中網路升級支出佔比更高。 2023年全年，我們的支出為111億美元。展望2024年全年，我們預計資本支出總額將在122億美元至124億美元之間，其中包括約45億美元的線路延伸支出和約16億美元的網路升級支出。

On Slide 11, we've provided our current expectations for capital spending through the year 2027, excluding any possible line extension spend associated with the BEAD program. The slide divides our spending into three categories: Line extensions, network evolution and core CapEx spend. As the slide shows, we expect CapEx spend of just over $12 billion in 2024 to fall to approximately $8 billion by 2027. Our line extension CapEx includes spending for greenfield, market sell-in and serviceability builds from our legacy footprint, driving continued expansion of residential and commercial passings. In turn, our nonrural passings growth should continue to be robust and similar to 2023 growth, subject to the pace of [overall] rural housing growth. These passings are natural extensions or pocket fill-ins to our network and have a long track record of low cost per passing and reliable penetration trends that contribute to growth at attractive ROI.

在第11張幻燈片中，我們列出了截至2027年的資本支出預期，其中不包括與BEAD項目相關的任何可能的線路延伸支出。這張投影片將我們的支出分為三類：線路延伸、網路升級和核心資本支出。如幻燈片所示，我們預計2024年的資本支出略高於120億美元，到2027年將降至約80億美元。我們的線路延伸資本支出包括新建項目、市場推廣以及現有線路的維護能力提升，從而推動住宅和商業線路的持續擴張。同時，我們的非農村線路成長預計將保持強勁，與2023年的成長水準相近，這取決於農村住房的整體成長速度。這些線路是我們現有網路的自然延伸或補充，長期以來保持著較低的單次線路成本和可靠的市場滲透率，從而實現了可觀的投資回報率。

We've not included the potential impact of BEAD in the passing figures on Slide 12 or in our CapEx outlook on Slide 11, given the regulatory and bidding uncertainty associated with the program. We don't expect any potential BEAD build subject to acceptable guidelines as Chris mentioned to begin until 2025. And similar to our peers and competitors, our success in BEAD will be an overlay to our capital expenditure outlook.

鑑於BEAD項目相關的監管和招標方面的不確定性，我們並未將BEAD項目的潛在影響計入第12頁幻燈片中的通過數據或第11頁幻燈片中的資本支出展望。正如克里斯所提到的，我們預計在符合可接受準則的情況下，任何潛在的BEAD項目建設最早也要到2025年才會啟動。就像我們的同業和競爭對手一樣，我們在BEAD專案中的成功與否將對我們的資本支出展望產生影響。

Turning to network evolution, where our long-term capital expenditures outlook remains essentially unchanged. We continue to expect to spend approximately $100 per passing to evolve our network to offer multi-gigabit speeds. Finally, core capital expenditures, which excludes line extensions and network evolution, has remained consistent as a percentage of revenue since 2021. And following the completion of our network evolution initiative, capital expenditures, excluding line extensions as a percentage of revenue should decline below 2022 level, which has important long-term cash flow implications.

關於網路升級，我們的長期資本支出預期基本保持不變。我們預計每條線路升級成本約為 100 美元，以提供多千兆位元的傳輸速度。此外，核心資本支出（不包括線路擴容和網路升級）佔收入的比例自 2021 年以來一直保持穩定。隨著網路升級計畫的完成，不包括線路擴容的資本支出佔收入的比例預計將低於 2022 年的水平，這將對長期現金流產生重要影響。

Turning to free cash flow on Slide 14. Free cash flow in the fourth quarter totaled $1.1 billion, a decrease of $75 million compared to last year. The decline was primarily driven by less favorable change in accrued expenses related to capital expenditures, partly offset by an increase in net cash flows from operating activities and a decrease in capital expenditures. Just a brief comment on cash taxes for 2024 before turning to the balance sheet. We currently expect our calendar year 2024 cash tax payments under current legislation to land between $1.5 billion and $1.9 billion, depending on a number of factors.

請參閱第14頁投影片，以了解自由現金流狀況。第四季自由現金流總計11億美元，較去年同期減少7,500萬美元。下降的主要原因是與資本支出相關的應計費用變動不利，部分被經營活動產生的淨現金流增加和資本支出減少所抵銷。在查看資產負債表之前，先簡單說明一下2024年的現金稅。根據現行法律，我們目前預計2024日曆年的現金稅支出將在15億美元至19億美元之間，具體金額取決於多種因素。

We finished the quarter with $97.6 billion in debt principle. In the first weeks of 2024, we redeemed all of our outstanding 2024 senior secured floating rate notes and paid in full all of our outstanding 2024 senior secured notes. So we no longer have any significant debt maturities due in 2024.

本季末，我們的債務本金為976億美元。在2024年初的幾週內，我們贖回了所有未償還的2024年到期優先擔保浮動利率票據，並全額償還了所有未償還的2024年到期優先擔保票據。因此，我們在2024年不再有任何重大債務到期。

Our current run rate annualized cash interest is $5.2 billion. Given our long-dated and 86% fixed rate debt structure, our sensitivity to higher rates is relatively low. If we refinanced all of our debt due in the next 3 years at current rates, the impact to our run rate interest expense would be less than $90 million or 2% of that run rate interest expense. As of the end of the fourth quarter, our ratio of net debt to last 12-month adjusted EBITDA was 4.42x and we intend to stay at or just below the high end of our 4x to 4.5x target leverage range. During the quarter, we repurchased 3.2 million Charter shares and Charter Holdings common units totaling $1.3 billion at an average price of $419 per share.

我們目前的年化現金利息支出為52億美元。鑑於我們長期且86%的債務為固定利率，我們對利率上升的敏感度相對較低。如果我們以當前利率對未來三年內到期的所有債務進行再融資，對年化利息支出的影響將不到9,000萬美元，僅佔年化利息支出的2%。截至第四季末，我們的淨負債與過去12個月調整後EBITDA的比率為4.42倍，我們計劃將槓桿率維持在4倍至4.5倍的目標區間上限或略低。本季度，我們以每股419美元的平均價格回購了320萬股Charter股票和Charter Holdings普通股單位，總計13億美元。

Before turning the call over to Q&A, I want to make a few comments regarding the affordable connectivity program for Internet and mobile customers. While we still hope the ACP program will be allocated additional funding, we're well aware that the program could end this spring, and we're designing programs to assist those that are on the HCP program. There is no doubt that the end of the program would be disruptive for many. Nonetheless, we will have the full benefit of our high-quality sales and retention force as well as our mobile product, which saves customers hundreds of dollars to preserve connections.

在將電話轉入問答環節之前，我想先就面向網路和行動用戶的平價網路連線計畫談幾點看法。我們仍然希望平價網路連線計劃（ACP）能夠獲得額外資金，但我們也清楚地意識到該計劃可能在今年春季結束，因此我們正在製定方案來幫助那些參與平價網路連線計劃（HCP）的用戶。毫無疑問，該計劃的結束會對許多用戶造成影響。然而，我們將充分利用我們高素質的銷售和客戶維繫團隊以及我們的行動產品，該產品能夠幫助客戶節省數百美元以維持網路連線。

With the continued temporary impact from fixed wireless and the potential end of ACP, we may continue to face short-term customer growth headwinds as we enter 2024. Despite those short-term challenges, we are competing well and are focused on driving healthy EBITDA growth in 2024. A component of that has been to reflect inflation in our pricing while preserving value to our customers. We're also actively managing expenses, and we believe we can do so without impacting our sales, service and broader growth initiatives.

由於固定無線網路持續帶來的暫時性影響以及ACP計畫可能終止，我們進入2024年後可能仍將面臨短期顧客成長的阻力。儘管有這些短期挑戰，我們仍保持著良好的競爭力，並專注於2024年實現穩健的EBITDA成長。為此，我們已在定價中反映通膨因素，同時努力為客戶創造價值。此外，我們也在積極控製成本，並相信我們能夠在不影響銷售、服務和整體成長計畫的前提下做到這一點。

But most importantly, we remain focused on the long term and a return to more normalized Internet growth. We have what we believe are the best products at the best prices in our industry, and we remain underpenetrated relative to our long-term potential. Taking advantage of that opportunity is what will ultimately create the most shareholder value.

但最重要的是，我們始終著眼於長遠發展，並期待網路成長回歸正常水平。我們相信，我們擁有業內性價比最高的產品，而且相對於我們的長期潛力而言，市場滲透率仍然很低。抓住這一機遇，最終才能為股東創造最大價值。

Operator, we're now ready for Q&A.

操作員，我們現在可以開始問答環節了。

(Operator Instructions) Our first question will come from Jonathan Chaplin with New Street Research.

（操作說明）我們的第一個問題來自 New Street Research 的 Jonathan Chaplin。

One for Chris and one for Jessica. For Chris, I'm wondering if you can give us some context on whether there was a change in competitive dynamics in the fourth quarter. As we look out across the fixed wireless guys and the fiber guys, it seemed pretty steady over the course of the last few quarters. The sort of competitive pressures that seem to stabilize. And I'm wondering if there was just a bigger focus on -- from fixed wireless or potentially fiber in your markets specifically? And then for Jessica, the cash tax guidance is great. If depreciation has expanded -- extended this year, how much of that cash tax go down by?

一個問題問克里斯，一個問題問潔西卡。克里斯，我想請你介紹一下第四季競爭格局是否有變化。我們觀察一下固定無線和光纖網路營運商，過去幾季的情況似乎都比較穩定，競爭壓力趨於穩定。我想知道，你們的市場是否更重視固定無線或光纖網路？傑西卡，現金稅收的預期非常理想。如果今年的折舊額增加，那麼現金稅會減少多少？

So in terms of the competitive environment in the fourth quarter. As you mentioned, we saw some continued expansion of fixed wireless footprint within the quarter. We also saw heavier competitive marketing and some aggressive promotions from both fixed wireless and from the overbuilders. And as you know, Jonathan, slight impacts to gross adds and churn. In this case, it was particularly on the gross adds front, can drive what appear to be outsized changes to net adds. Especially when net adds are slightly positive or slightly negative, really has an outsized impact.

所以，就第四季的競爭環境而言，正如您所提到的，我們看到固定無線網路的覆蓋範圍在本季持續擴大。我們也看到來自固定無線網路營運商和網路建置商的競爭性行銷活動更加激烈，促銷力道也更大。如您所知，喬納森，新增用戶和流失用戶都會受到輕微影響。就目前而言，尤其是在新增用戶方面，這種影響可能會導致淨新增用戶出現看似不成比例的變化。特別是當淨新增用戶略微增加或減少時，這種影響會顯得特別顯著。

As you know, we're, of course, focused very much on the long term, but that doesn't mean that we're not focused on the short term either, particularly what was going on inside of the fourth quarter. And so as I mentioned in the prepared remarks, we're really leaving no stone unturned on potential ways to improve go-to-market in the short term, particularly addressing gross adds in the existing footprint. But we're doing all that though, looking at all aspects, but trying to make sure that we do that in a controlled fashion and don't overreact either given that it is small changes that are driving an outsized impact here.

如你所知，我們當然非常注重長期發展，但這並不意味著我們忽視短期，尤其是在第四季度。正如我在準備好的演講稿中提到的，我們正在竭盡全力尋找短期內改善市場推廣策略的潛在方法，特別是提升現有客戶群的成長。我們正在全面考慮所有方面，但同時也力求以可控的方式進行，避免反應過度，因為正是這些細微的改變才能產生巨大的影響。

Yes. And I'd add on, the environment wasn't consistent through the quarter. Early on, we had some carryover from the Disney dispute in the August rate event that we talked about in last quarter's call. We had expected November and December to recover to the levels that we had seen going into that event, and they didn't. But as we exited the quarter, we saw December slightly negative and January, net adds are consistent with what we saw in December. So that environment does continue.

是的。我還要補充一點，整個季度市場環境並不穩定。早期，我們受到了8月迪士尼價格糾紛的影響，我們在上個季度的電話會議上也討論過這個問題。我們原本預期11月和12月會恢復到事件發生前的水平，但並沒有。不過，到了季度末，我們看到12月略有下降，而1月的淨新增量與12月的情況基本一致。所以，這種市場環境依然存在。

On the cash tax side, Jonathan, it's not just bonus. It's also R&D and interest expense deductions that will impact us. But I would say the reforms that are being considered support the economics of our investments in connecting rural America and then upgrading the network. And so we are fully in support of them. I think it's a little premature to adjust our guidance. But given the investments that we're making, we do expect there to be a material benefit to cash taxes,if the legislation were to go through.

喬納森，就現金稅收方面而言，不僅僅是獎金。研發支出和利息支出抵扣也會對我們產生影響。但我認為，目前正在考慮的改革措施有利於我們投資連結美國農村地區並升級網絡，從而提升投資的經濟效益。因此，我們完全支持這些改革。我認為現在調整業績指引還為時過早。但考慮到我們正在進行的投資，如果相關立法獲得通過，我們預計現金稅收方面將獲得實質的收益。

Our next question will come from the line of Craig Moffett with MoffetNathanson.

我們的下一個問題將來自 Craig Moffett 和 MoffetNathanson。

A couple of questions. Jessica, thank you for the comments you made about ACP. I'm wondering if you can just try to quantify a little bit more for us, the number of ACP subscribers that you have. And if you have insight into how many of those are new subscribers versus previously were paying subscribers? And then I wonder if you could also just comment about T-Mobile indicated that they expect 100,000 to 150,000 fewer net adds per quarter in fixed wireless. How do you think about that flowing into your footprint? And does that inform the way you think about the broadband growth rate going forward?

我有幾個問題。傑西卡，感謝您對ACP的評論。我想請您進一步量化一下ACP的用戶數量。您能否也告訴我們其中有多少是新用戶，又有多少是之前的付費用戶？另外，T-Mobile曾表示預期固定無線業務每季淨新增用戶將減少10萬至15萬，您對此有何看法？您認為這會對貴公司的業務覆蓋範圍產生什麼影響？這是否會影響您對未來寬頻成長率的預期？

So maybe I start off with ACP and just take a step back and then Jess can answer what you were requesting. ACP program, I think as everybody knows, it really has brought Internet connectivity to customers who would not have been able to have access to broadband otherwise. But more importantly, it's allowed customers who would have been coming in and out of the broadband marketplace given affordability issues to remain connected consistently.

所以，或許我可以先從ACP專案說起，退一步講，然後Jess再回答你的問題。 ACP項目，我想大家都知道，它確實為那些原本無法連接寬頻的用戶帶來了網路連線。但更重要的是，它讓那些原本會因為經濟原因而頻繁更換寬頻服務的用戶能夠保持穩定的網路連線。

So we really think, as you know, it's been an effective program. We're proud to be the largest ACP provider in the country. We still -- we're hopeful that the ACP can be refunded in order to keep households that are in the program today connected to the Internet. But if it's not refunded, Craig, we're going to work very hard to keep customers connected. And we've been working on this possibility for some time. We have significant tools to save customers hundreds or even thousands of dollars, as Jessica mentioned.

如您所知，我們認為這項計劃非常有效。我們很自豪能成為全國最大的ACP服務提供者。我們仍然希望ACP能夠退款，以確保目前參與該計劃的家庭能夠繼續上網。但如果無法退款，克雷格，我們也會盡力保障客戶的網路連線。我們為此已經努力了一段時間。正如傑西卡所提到的，我們擁有強大的工具，可以幫助客戶節省數百甚至數千美元。

And I'd highlight that -- keep in mind, most of our ACP customers were Internet customers before the ACP program began. And in the meantime, having said all that, it's actually pretty challenging for us to predict the impact that a potential end to the program is going to have to our customer disconnects. But we're going to report that consistently over time.

我想強調一點——請記住，我們的大多數ACP客戶在ACP計畫啟動前就已經是網路使用者了。同時，綜上所述，我們很難預測專案一旦終止會對客戶斷網狀況造成多大影響。但我們會持續關注並報告相關情況。

Yes. So on the numbers side, Craig. We have a little over 5 million households that received the ACP benefit, also wireline Internet. Very few of those customers used ACPA to upgrade to higher speeds or take more PSUs when they began receiving the benefit. But many do have our flagship speed or higher or do you take other services from us. So -- and I guess, the funding will continue through April. We'll try to keep people informed as we move through the process. But from our perspective, there's not a lot of visibility at this point as to anything that might happen when the program ends.

是的。克雷格，從數據方面來說，我們有超過500萬戶家庭獲得了ACP補貼，其中包括有線網路。這些客戶中，很少有人在開始領取補貼時使用ACP來升級到更高的網速或增加PSU（電源單位）。但許多客戶確實在使用我們的旗艦或更高速度的網速，或使用了我們的其他服務。所以——我想，資金將持續到四月。我們會盡力讓大家了解專案的進度。但就我們目前而言，專案結束後會發生什麼，目前還很難說。

In the end, we're still focused on trying to make sure that ACP is refunded, and I still think there's a strong possibility that could be the case.

最後，我們仍然專注於確保 ACP 獲得退款，而且我仍然認為很有可能會實現。

Yes. Do you want to talk to the fixed wireless lower net add guidance?

是的。您想諮詢一下固定無線網路低階網路存取的指導意見嗎？

Sure. So we noted the same thing that you saw, Craig. I think the bigger point there is that there is a rational approach to the marketplace and the utilization of Spectrum. And I believe a recognition that there's a limited amount of capacity, the bandwidth needs are increasing. I think that was the bigger takeaway from us. It's very difficult for us to sit back and take a look at the geographic footprint of fixed wireless access because it almost changes by the day, in terms of sector availability on radius in terms of capacity and where they're actively marketing and where they're not. And then you have the additional rural footprint versus urban and suburban and what would be off-footprint for us versus on-footprint. And the split between residential and commercial, which makes it pretty difficult to mathematically cascade that into an impact for us.

當然。克雷格，我們也注意到了你看到的同樣情況。我認為更重要的是，市場對頻譜利用採取了理性的態度。而且，我相信大家也體認到容量有限，而頻寬需求卻不斷成長。我認為這才是我們最大的收穫。我們很難坐下來仔細分析固定無線存取的地理覆蓋範圍，因為它幾乎每天都在變化，包括扇區可用性、覆蓋半徑、容量以及廠商的行銷重點。此外，還有鄉村地區、城市和郊區的覆蓋範圍差異，以及哪些區域不在我們的覆蓋範圍內，哪些區域在我們的覆蓋範圍內。住宅和商業用戶之間的差異也使得我們很難用數學方法將這些因素轉化為對自己的影響。

But I thought it was rational what was said, and I thought it made a lot of sense and I think it's consistent with what we've always thought. Frankly, the piece that's been more difficult is just the timing in terms of where that capacity is reached, and it's been a little bit harder to predict than we would like. But I took that as the same way that you did that it should have some positive impact on our existing footprint.

但我認為他們的說法合情合理，也很有道理，而且與我們一直以來的想法一致。坦白說，最困難的部分在於產能何時達到上限，這比我們預想的要難預測一些。但我跟你一樣認為，這應該會對我們現有的業務規模產生一些正面影響。

Our next question will come from the line of Benjamin Swinburne with Morgan Stanley.

我們的下一個問題將來自摩根士丹利的本傑明·斯溫伯恩。

Chris, a question for you on CapEx, and then I want to ask Jessica about sort of EBITDA growth. Chris, you've been around the cable industry for a long time. So I know you are aware that kind of investment priorities can change over time. And I'm just curious why you felt it made sense to sort of guide out 2027 just because you're in a competitive dynamic industry and want to evolve your strategy over time.

克里斯，關於資本支出，我有個問題想問你；之後我想問傑西卡關於息稅折舊攤銷前利潤增長的問題。克里斯，你在有線電視產業待了很久了，我知道你很清楚投資重點會隨著時間而改變。我只是好奇，為什麼你覺得應該把目標設定在2027年，畢竟你身處在一個競爭激烈、瞬息萬變的產業，需要不斷調整策略。

And it did seem like you guys have -- and you can disagree, but it seems like you've prioritized the line extensions over getting that work evolution done by '25. So I know we thought it might slip into '26, but now it's definitely slipping into '26. Just wanted to understand your thought process there. If that was tied to kind of equipment availability or just a strategic decision? And then, Jessica, there's an expectation that '24 is a good EBITDA growth year for Charter, given the investments you've made in OpEx. I think you cited 3.5% growth in Q4 ex-advertising. Anything you can tell us to help us think about financial performance for the business in '24 would be appreciated.

看起來你們確實——當然你們可以不同意——但你們似乎把產品線擴展放在了優先位置，而不是在2025年之前完成那項工作。我知道我們之前認為可能會推遲到2026年，但現在看來肯定會推遲到2026年了。我只是想了解你們的思路。這是否與設備可用性有關，還是只是一項策略決策？另外，Jessica，鑑於你們在營運支出方面的投資，預計2024年Charter的EBITDA將實現良好的成長。我記得你提到第四季（不計廣告收入）成長了3.5%。如果你能提供任何有助於我們思考公司2024年財務表現的信息，我們將不勝感激。

Sure. So Ben, I think leading into the last earnings call, we had been listening to shareholder feedback about the difficulty people were having of projecting long-term CapEx trends given the significant capital investment opportunities that we have. And you're right. Typically, we would never provide a multiyear outlook, and we've -- about the only guidance that we've historically provided is in your CapEx guidance.

當然。本，我認為在上次財報電話會議之前，我們一直在聽取股東的回饋，他們表示鑑於我們擁有大量的資本投資機會，很難預測長期資本支出趨勢。你說得對。通常情況下，我們不會提供多年展望，而且我們歷史上提供的唯一指引就是資本支出指引。

But these are unique opportunities that don't come around very often. The opportunity to have subsidized rural build have the largest expansion of broadband and cable footprint, really since the 1980s is unique, and it's generational. And I think we felt that investors need to see: a, the size and magnitude of what we were already committed to; and b, to have a very articulated outline of the returns of those investments, which Jessica's provided.

但這些都是千載難逢的獨特機會。能夠透過補貼農村地區的建設，實現自上世紀80年代以來規模最大的寬頻和有線電視網絡覆蓋擴張，這樣的機會實屬難得，而且意義深遠。我認為，投資者需要看到：第一，我們已經投入的規模和力度；第二，這些投資的回報需要清晰明確的規劃，而傑西卡已經提供了這方面的資訊。

We've been providing that. All that information, essentially what we've provided over the past 2 years, but to do it in a single spot. So people could wrap their heads around both to the quantum that exist, the investment returns that are attached to that investment and that it doesn't go on into perpetuity, and that there is a real nice setup for what this is all about, which is free cash flow growth.

我們一直在提供這些資訊。基本上，過去兩年我們提供的所有信息，現在都集中在一個地方。這樣人們就能清楚了解現有的規模、與投資相關的投資回報，以及投資並非永續進行，同時也能了解這一切的真正意義所在——自由現金流成長。

And so while we typically like to keep our cards close to our chest to preserve both flexibility and to maintain our competitive posture, we felt there was a trade-off here to make sure that our shareholders were with us and that people understood the value of the returns of the investment that we're making. And so there's a balance here between: one hand, having the flexibility to always make the right decisions to generate long-term free cash flow; and making sure that we're responsive to shareholder feedback along the way; and that we can demonstrate the long-term value so people take comfort with that.

因此，雖然我們通常傾向於對某些事項保密，以保持靈活性和競爭力，但我們認為，為了確保股東的支持，並讓大家理解我們投資回報的價值，必須做出權衡。所以，我們需要在以下兩方面之間取得平衡：一方面，我們要保持靈活性，始終做出正確的決策，以產生長期的自由現金流；另一方面，我們要確保及時回應股東的反饋；並且我們要能夠證明長期價值，讓大家對此感到放心。

In terms of the prioritization of line extensions over the DAA or DOCSIS 4.0 upgrade, it wasn't so much about prioritization. It was really about the certification of the DAA equipment taking a little bit longer, which is pushing out the time line for the rollout. And so the trade-off we had is, could you do it at the 1.2 gigahertz high split upgrade under what we call an integrated CMTS environment and do more of that footprint to keep the original pace?

至於優先考慮線路擴展還是DAA或DOCSIS 4.0升級，這並非優先順序的問題。真正的原因是DAA設備的認證需要更長時間，這延緩了部署時間表。因此，我們面臨的權衡是：能否在所謂的整合CMTS環境下，利用1.2 GHz高分頻升級，並擴大覆蓋範圍以維持原有進度？

Or should we slow it down just a tad, to make sure that we allowed for a catch-up of the DAA Certification process so that you can move to high split with distributed access architecture as well as the 1.8 gigahertz in the rollout of DOCSIS 4.0, which was the latter to make sure that we were having as much of the footprint with the full capabilities of DOCSIS 4.0 over time.

或者我們應該稍微放慢速度，以確保我們有足夠的時間完成 DAA 認證流程，以便您可以過渡到具有分散式存取架構的高分割，以及 DOCSIS 4.0 推廣中的 1.8 吉赫茲，後者是為了確保隨著時間的推移，我們能夠盡可能多地利用 DOCSIS 4.0 的全部功能。

If -- the caveat is if we get into -- a couple of years from now, we see opportunities to pull capital forward, we'll, of course, do that. But this is our best view of where we're going to spend capital. And we thought it was worthwhile to show that to make sure people understand that it doesn't -- that higher level of capital expenditure doesn't go on into perpetuity.

如果——需要說明的是，如果幾年後我們發現有機會提前投入資金，我們當然會這樣做。但這是我們目前對未來資金使用方向的最佳想像。我們認為有必要說明這一點，以確保大家明白，高水準的資本支出並不會永遠持續下去。

Yes. On the EBITDA performance inside of 2024. I guess I'm not going to give EBITDA guidance, but I think we can talk about the few things. So you do have a political advertising year that is a tailwind. We have -- so we've fully lapped the investments that we made in the employee population. And from an expense outlook perspective, I think my expectation is that we'll be able to keep cost to serve essentially flat on an absolute basis. And in sales and marketing, you might have some growth, but it will be small in the 2% to 3% range.

是的。關於2024年的EBITDA表現，我想我不會給出具體的EBITDA預期，但我們可以談談一些其他方面。今年的政治廣告投放確實是一個好因素。我們已經完全收回了對員工隊伍的投資。從支出前景來看，我預計服務成本基本上保持不變。銷售和行銷方面可能會有一些成長，但增幅不會太大，大概在2%到3%之間。

And we continue -- as I said in my remarks, we're taking a look at expenses all across the business to identify areas where we can be more efficient and reduce costs, without impacting our service levels and our sales capabilities. And so we fully understand that we need to maintain EBITDA growth in this environment and strong EBITDA growth coming into what, as you note, should be a stronger year in order to be able to continue focusing on what we want for the long term, which is to be able to invest to grow in the long term and to return to the sort of Internet customer growth in the long term. So I think the dynamics in the background are happening to make that growth happen. That's where we are.

正如我剛才所說，我們正在全面審視公司各項業務的支出，以找出可以提高效率、降低成本的領域，同時確保服務水準和銷售能力不受影響。因此，我們深知，在當前環境下，我們需要保持 EBITDA 的成長，並且正如您所指出的，在即將到來的一年裡，EBITDA 也將保持強勁增長，這樣我們才能繼續專注於我們的長期目標，即進行長期投資以實現長期增長，並最終恢復到互聯網客戶長期增長的水平。我認為，目前各種有利因素正在推動這一成長。這就是我們目前的處境。

Our next question will come from the line of John Hodulik with UBS.

我們的下一個問題將來自瑞銀集團的約翰·霍杜利克。

Just a follow-up on EBITDA growth and one of the components, just revenue per customer. It's been relatively flat for the last couple of quarters. There's a lot of moving parts in terms of pricing towards rolling off Spectrum One. But how should we think about progressing through '24, especially with the -- I think, the most recent data increase in August? And how -- do you believe your pricing part in the broadband market has changed given new sort of competitive landscape we have? Or can you continue to push pricing as that laps midyear? Number one.

關於 EBITDA 成長及其組成部分之一——每客戶收入，我想跟進一下。過去幾個季度，每客戶收入基本持平。在 Spectrum One 服務逐步取消的過程中，價格方面有許多變數。但我們該如何看待 2024 年的發展，尤其是在 8 月最近一次數據成長之後？鑑於我們目前面臨的新的競爭格局，您認為您在寬頻市場的定價策略發生了哪些變化？或者，您能否在年中之前繼續推行價格策略？這是第一個問題。

And then on the mobile strategy. Anything you can tell us about what mobile is doing in terms of lowering churn in the broadband market? Is it also helping you in terms of new connects and driving new subscribers or just really churn reduction? And then anything you should expect to change as you sort of proceed with some of the build-out measures you're taking to add your own capacity?

接下來是關於行動策略。您能否談談行動業務在降低寬頻市場用戶流失率方面所扮演的角色？它是否也有助於增加新用戶連線和新訂戶，還是只是降低用戶流失率？隨著您推進一些擴容措施，增加自身網路容量，您預期哪些方面會改變？

Yes. So I'll start with ARPU. When you look at average revenue per customer overall, John, the biggest factor that's keeping it flat is the rate of video penetration. So what matters there is the extent to which we can retain video customers with some of the package and pricing strategies that we have. If you isolate and you sort of pull out Internet ARPU, you can see even in the remarks that I made on the quarter, that Internet ARPU continues to grow. And when you pull out the Spectrum One, mobile allocation continues to grow at a rate that's consistent or even a little higher than historical levels.

是的。那我先從ARPU（每位用戶平均收入）說起。約翰，如果你整體來看每用戶平均收入，那麼影響其成長的主要因素是影片普及率。所以，關鍵在於我們能否透過現有的套餐和定價策略留住視訊用戶。如果你單獨分析網路ARPU，你會發現，正如我之前對本季業績的分析，網路ARPU仍在持續成長。而如果剔除Spectrum One，行動流量分配的成長速度也保持穩定，甚至略高於歷史水準。

On the mobile side, I talked about it on the last call. As you have -- so -- because we've sort of lapped the free line offer, the number of free lines that we have in the system over the course of 2024 is more steady than it was in 2023. So you'll also see that the impact of that mobile allocation over to the Internet should steady over time. And you'll have, just as a matter of math, more paying customers in the base as a proportion relative to the free lines. So I think that's the piece there. I don't know, Chris, do you want to talk about pricing power?

關於行動端，我在上次電話會議上已經談到了。正如您所看到的—因為我們已經結束了免費線路的優惠活動，所以2024年我們系統中的免費線路數量比2023年更加穩定。因此，您也會看到，行動端流量轉移到網路的影響也會隨著時間的推移而趨於穩定。而且，從數學角度來看，付費用戶在用戶基數中所佔的比例也會高於免費線路。所以，我認為這就是關鍵。克里斯，你想談談定價權嗎？

Sure. In broadband, our fundamental view hasn't changed that in the long term, keeping your prices as low as you can, both enhances your ability to grow, and that's still our long-term objective. It reduces churn and it reduces the likelihood that somebody views you as an attractive overbuilt candidates. So our fundamental views haven't changed.

當然。在寬頻領域，我們的基本觀點始終未改變：從長遠來看，盡可能降低價格既能增強客戶的成長能力，也是我們長期的目標。這樣做可以降低客戶流失率，並減少客戶將您視為價格過高、難以被接受的競爭對手的可能性。因此，我們的基本觀點並沒有改變。

Having said that, we've had inflationary pressures, and we've been passing that through to the best of our ability. To the extent that our pricing is lower and it is for the most part across the industry, I view that as a positive long-term capacity question and from an ability to grow. But it doesn't mean that we're immune to inflation. It doesn't mean that we're not willing to pass through increases as we need to.

話雖如此，我們確實面臨通膨壓力，並且一直在盡最大努力將壓力轉嫁給消費者。就目前而言，我們的定價較低（而且這種情況在整個行業中普遍存在），我認為這對長期產能和成長能力來說都是積極的。但這並不代表我們不受通膨影響，也不代表我們不願意在必要時將成本上漲轉嫁給消費者。

And there's a balance here as well that in an environment where we're investing so much into expansion and making sure that we do maintain EBITDA growth rates so that we can keep that engine going, it matters to us and it matters to our shareholders. And we're focused on that in parallel. So there's a balance that's taking place. And I think we're in a -- not only in a good position overall, but I think a very good relative position.

這裡也存在著一種平衡：在我們大力投資擴張並確保維持 EBITDA 成長率以維持成長引擎運轉的環境下，這對我們和我們的股東都至關重要。我們正同步關注這一點。所以，這其中存在著一種平衡。我認為我們不僅整體上處於有利地位，而且相對地位也非常好。

In terms of the overall market, you've seen different operators across the sector moving their prices up over time as well. And I think that demonstrates that there's real value to the product, and there's a need to recover cost along the way. It's a capital-intensive business.

就整體市場而言，你會發現該行業的各個運營商都在逐步提高價格。我認為這表明產品確實有價值，而且需要逐步收回成本。畢竟，這是一個資本密集型產業。

And then your last question on -- John, is mobile churn. The contribution of mobile to the broadband business. The biggest factor so far, as you highlighted, really has been a significant and a very material amount of churn reduction that takes place on those customers who attach mobile. As I mentioned, it's only 13% of our base today. And I'd offer you two pieces.

約翰，你最後一個問題是關於行動用戶流失的，也就是行動業務對寬頻業務的貢獻。正如你所強調的，目前最大的影響因素是，那些連接到行動服務的用戶流失率顯著降低。正如我之前提到的，目前這部分用戶只占我們用戶群的13%。我還有兩點要補充。

One is on the positive side, it is dramatic, the churn reduction. On the -- just to be balanced, there's still self-selection that exists inside that base. So I want to be careful that we don't overplay the benefit there on what's still a relatively small portion of our Internet base and growing and has big upside.

一方面，正面的方面是用戶流失率的顯著下降。另一方面，為了保持平衡，我們必須指出，使用者群體內部仍然存在著自我選擇機制。因此，我希望我們謹慎行事，不要過度誇大這部分用戶帶來的好處，畢竟他們目前在我們網路使用者群體中所佔的比例仍然相對較小，而且正在不斷增長，未來發展潛力巨大。

The new connects. Those new Internet connect who take mobile, take percentage of our mobile acquisition mix that comes from new customers has risen over the years. Is that because we do a better job of selling into call center and attaching? Or is it because mobile is actually driving gross adds?

新用戶連線。這些使用行動裝置的網路新用戶，在我們行動端新客戶獲取組合中所佔的比例逐年上升。這是因為我們在呼叫中心銷售和客戶拓展方面做得更好嗎？還是因為行動端確實推動了新增用戶數量的成長？

In this environment where you have so many different moving parts, I'm not comfortable telling you that it's been a big driver as of yet of new sales but I think that's the opportunity, not only for churn reduction, but convergence continues to take hold as these products work together in a way that our competitors can't replicate the ability to use Spectrum One. The combination of broadband Internet, WiFi and 5G is our backup radio. It's the slowest portion of our network and have the fastest overall connectivity service and seamless connectivity, I think it's powerful. And I think it has the ability to not just reduce churn, which is already doing today but to actually drive acquisition over time. And so we're early on, but still very exciting.

在當前這個涉及眾多複雜因素的環境下，我目前還不能斷言它已成為新銷售的主要驅動力，但我認為這蘊藏著巨大的機會。它不僅有助於降低客戶流失率，而且隨著這些產品協同工作，融合趨勢也在不斷增強，這是我們的競爭對手無法複製的Spectrum One功能。寬頻網路、WiFi和5G的組合就像我們的備用無線電。雖然它是我們網路中速度最慢的部分，但卻擁有最快的整體連接速度和無縫連接，我認為它非常強大。而且我認為它不僅能夠降低客戶流失率（目前已經實現了這一點），而且隨著時間的推移，還能真正促進新客戶的獲取。所以，我們目前還處於早期階段，但前景依然令人振奮。

Our next question will come from the line of Peter Supino with Wolfe Research.

我們的下一個問題將來自 Wolfe Research 的 Peter Supino。

I have a couple of questions on the subject of growth investment. Slide 11 discusses cost per core passing in your forecast of 2,000 to 2,500. And that struck me as high relative to historical core passings and even relative to fiber expansion. And I wonder if you could share about your assumptions for penetration and ARPU in that front.

關於成長投資，我有幾個問題。第11頁投影片討論了您預測的每芯傳輸成本（2000到2500根光纖）。我覺得這個數字相對於歷史光纖傳輸量，甚至相對於光纖擴容規模都偏高。我想請您分享您在光纖滲透率和ARPU（每位使用者平均收入）的假設。

And then on a related note, again, on core growth investment, but moving over to BEAD. We've seen big increases over the last couple of years since the money for BEAD was allocated in the availability and uptake of fixed wireless services over mid-band. We expect more increases in the availability of LEO satellite services, not just Starlink, but Amazon's product. And so I'm wondering if your outlook for penetration in that potential BEAD footprint is moderating and if that affects your appetite at all?

另外，關於核心成長投資，我們再談一下BEAD計畫。自從BEAD計畫資金投入以來，過去幾年固定無線服務在中頻段的可用性和普及率都出現了顯著增長。我們預計低地球軌道衛星服務的可用性也將進一步提高，不僅是星鏈，還有亞馬遜的產品。因此，我想知道您對BEAD潛在覆蓋區域的市場滲透率預期是否有所調整，以及這是否會影響您的投資意願？

Yes. So I'll start on the cost per passing question. What you see there is related to the mix between commercial and even enterprise passings and residential passing. So the cost per resi passing that lives inside of that is closer to $1,500. What's happening is that there are, I'm going to say, a smaller number, but a larger dollar amount of commercial passings that are included in the mix that drives the average cost per passing to be a little bit higher. And we're just trying to give enough information there to get you to a reasonable passings estimate so that -- so you can model off of that, what gains you would generate from the build.

是的。那我先從每次通行證的成本問題說起。您看到的這個成本與商業通行證（包括企業通行證）和住宅通行證的組成有關。住宅通行證的平均成本接近 1500 美元。問題在於，商業通行證的數量雖然較少，但金額較大，這推高了平均每次通行證的成本。我們只是想提供足夠的信息，幫助您對通行證的成本進行合理的估算，以便您能夠以此為基礎，模擬該項目帶來的收益。

And then in terms of the penetration, Peter. The -- there's very different types of builds that sits in there. I mean serviceability, which is where a customer calls us effectively for a one-off or 2 or 3 additional line extensions. The penetration on that is 85% as it should be. And other areas where greenfield or market fill-in where penetrations can range anywhere between 45% and 70% at a lower cost per passing, as Jessica highlighted than some of the other extension builds that we do. So the returns are very, very attractive. They always have been. There's nothing really new there.

彼得，關於市場滲透率，這裡面麵包含著非常不同的建設類型。我指的是服務性建設，也就是客戶打電話給我們，要求一次性或兩三條額外的線路延長。這方面的滲透率達到了85%，符合預期。而其他領域，例如新建項目或市場填補，滲透率可以在45%到70%之間，而且每次通過的成本更低，正如傑西卡強調的那樣，這比我們做的其他一些延伸項目要低。所以回報非常非常可觀。一直以來都是如此。這方面並沒有什麼新變化。

And somewhat tied to that. You asked about our views on penetration. Generally, but in the context of BEAD with fixed wireless access or low Earth orbit satellite LEO, I think the -- let me start with LEO. This is an expensive offering on a month-per-month basis, expensive from a CPE standpoint, and it needs to be because the -- if I told you our network was going to fall to the ground every 6 to 8 years and burn up, you'd tell me that's a pretty capital-intensive business that needs to be priced appropriately as it is. I think LEO has a really good use in certain cases, but it's typically not going to be where our fiber-based network is deployed. And so it's not something that really has risen too much in terms of our thinking and penetration.

這在某種程度上也與此相關。您問到了我們對網路滲透率的看法。總的來說，尤其是在採用固定無線接入或低地球軌道衛星（LEO）的BEAD方案中，我認為——讓我先說說LEO。從用戶端設備（CPE）的角度來看，LEO的月費非常昂貴，而且價格也必須如此，因為——如果我告訴您我們的網路每隔6到8年就會倒塌燒毀，您肯定會告訴我，這是一個資本密集型業務，其定價必須合理。我認為LEO在某些情況下確實非常實用，但它通常不是我們部署光纖網路的主要方向。因此，就我們的想法和網路滲透率而言，LEO並沒有真正得到太多重視。

Fixed wireless access, it's shown us that you can have lower quality and inferior service at a low price or low incremental price and there's a market for that. But our penetration expectations for RDOF and for subsidized rural and what we'll feed into BEAD were already low in terms of what we've built into our models compared to what I think ultimately we'll achieve. And so I think that's already reflected inside of our penetrations.

固定無線存取表明，即使服務品質較低，價格或增量成本也很低，而且這種模式也有市場。但是，就我們模型中設定的覆蓋率而言，我們對農村發展基金（RDOF）、補貼農村地區以及我們將納入基本能源評估（BEAD）的覆蓋率預期已經低於最終預期。因此，我認為這一點已經反映在我們的覆蓋率數據中。

If you think about just at the 12-month mark, where we're approaching close to 50% in the subsidized rural passings, our initial thoughts where we get half of that within a year. And so we're way ahead of that, and I think the terminal penetration would be higher than what we thought at RDOF, despite the fact that there's an admittedly stronger fixed wireless access presence now than there was 3, 4 years ago when we made those commitments. So all -- a big round about way to say, I think it's factored into all of our thinking. And I don't think it changes our view in terms of where we'll ultimately get to for terminal penetration because we weren't overly aggressive in what we assumed.

如果只看12個月的節點，我們補貼的農村寬頻接取率已經接近50%，而我們最初預計一年內能達到一半。所以我們遠遠超前於預期，而且我認為終端普及率會高於我們在農村發展基金（RDOF）上的預期，儘管現在的固定無線存取覆蓋率確實比三、四年前我們做出這些承諾時要高。總而言之——我拐彎抹角地說——我認為這些因素都已納入我們的考量。而且我認為這不會改變我們對終端普及率最終目標的看法，因為我們當初的期望並沒有過於激進。

We mentioned less than 50% -- or the 50% or so at about the 12-month-plus mark. But as you can see and what we provided in all of the cohorts that we're seeing, we're still growing at a good rate at that point. So it's not as though you've reached the customers who are going to get your product and we're not seeing additional growth. We're still seeing good growth in those markets even at that vantage.

我們之前提到不到50%——或者說大約在12個月後達到50%左右。但正如你所看到的，以及我們在所有用戶群中提供的數據，我們仍然保持著良好的成長速度。所以，這並不代表你已經觸及了所有會購買你產品的客戶，而我們看不到任何成長。即使到了那個階段，我們仍然在這些市場看到了良好的成長動能。

It's early but it's going off.

雖然時間還早，但已經開始了。

Our next question comes from the line of Sebastiano Petti with JPMorgan.

我們的下一個問題來自摩根大通的塞巴斯蒂亞諾·佩蒂。

I just wanted to follow up on the competitive environment, just based upon the previous response. Just any help on thinking about the fixed wireless impact in terms of your -- is that just isolated or the competitive environment that has perhaps shifted in 4Q and persisted to January. Is that isolated in your non-fiber overlap territories? Are you seeing that as well be somewhat impactful in terms of -- as well in the 1-gig market? And a quick follow-up to that. Any update we can get on overlap for fiber as it stands exiting the year?

我只是想根據之前的回复，進一步了解競爭環境。關於固定無線網路的影響，您能否提供一些建議？這種影響是孤立的，還是說競爭環境在第四季度發生了變化並持續到一月份？這種影響是否僅限於您非光纖重疊區域？您是否也認為它對千兆市場產生了一定的影響？另外，能否就今年末光纖重疊情況提供一些最新資訊？

And then on the CBRS build-out. Obviously, your peer Comcast have been testing along with you for quite a while, but their live in Philadelphia as perhaps as well as some other markets. Any update on how the team is thinking about CBRS and how you perhaps offload strategy over the next several years?

接下來是關於CBRS的部署。顯然，你們的競爭對手康卡斯特（Comcast）已經和你們一起測試了相當長一段時間，但他們的服務主要涵蓋費城以及其他一些市場。關於團隊對CBRS的規劃，以及未來幾年你們可能如何制定相關策略，有什麼最新的進展嗎？

There's a lot there, Sebastiano, but here we go. So fixed wireless impact. It's where they've deployed, and it's in both fiber and nonfiber overlap. It's more acute in the nonfiber overlap because it's the first time that somebody has had what they view as an alternative other than DSL. And so it has a novelty factor in the nonoverbuild footprint that is similar to a fiber overbuild that has an immediate short-term impact when it's new into the marketplace. So it has a more pronounced impact there.

塞巴斯蒂亞諾，這裡面有很多東西，但我們先從頭說起。首先是固定無線網路的影響。它已經部署在光纖和非光纖重疊區域。在非光纖重疊區域的影響更為顯著，因為這是人們第一次擁有DSL以外的替代方案。因此，在非光纖覆蓋區域，它具有一種新穎性，類似於光纖覆蓋區域，當它剛進入市場時，會產生立竿見影的短期影響。所以，它在那裡的影響更為明顯。

But I think the overbuilders, the wireline overbuilders, would tell you the fixed wireless impact -- fixed wireless access probably has had an impact on them as well. So it's not that it doesn't have an impact in an overbuild territory. It's just much more pronounced in an area where the overbuild doesn't exist. Our overbuild percentage in our 10-K today, I think we disclosed as well that it's roughly 50% in terms of overbuild.

但我認為，那些過度建造有線網路的用戶會告訴你固定無線存取的影響——固定無線存取可能也對他們產生了影響。所以，並非在過度建設區域沒有影響，只是在沒有過度建設的區域影響更為顯著。我們在今天提交的10-K文件中揭露，我們的過度建設比例約為50%。

And then as it relates to CBRS. We are fully deployed and active with thousands of radio access networks out on the strand and MDUs in one large market today. And we're expanding into another market at some point this year and that's going very well. And the pacing of that really is dictated by a few things.

至於CBRS，我們目前在一個大型市場中已全面部署並投入使用數千個無線接入網絡，覆蓋海灘和多戶住宅單元（MDU）。我們計劃今年稍後擴展到另一個市場，目前進展非常順利。而這擴展的步伐其實取決於幾個因素。

One is our relationship with Verizon is good and strong. The economics are great. And this is an ROI-based deployment. So it will be there. The returns will be there when we deploy. But interestingly, the more penetrated we become, the more attractive the returns get. And so from a deployment of capital perspective, CBRS is very exciting. It's a very clear mathematical return.

首先，我們與Verizon的關係良好且穩固。經濟效益也十分可觀。而且，這是一項基於投資回報率的部署。因此，部署完成後，收益自然會到位。但有趣的是，我們的市場滲透率越高，回報就越誘人。所以，從資本部署的角度來看，CBRS專案非常令人振奮。它的回報非常明確，體現在數學層面。

But in an environment where we're deploying as much capital as we are, and we have so much active activity on the outside plant in terms of high split upgrade and construction of new networks. We're just pacing it along the way to manage all those factors in a way that we think about deployment of CBRS. But we're going to fully deploy it. It's exciting. It has a great return. The depth at which we employed in each market really is a function of utilization on a geographically specific area and the attractive agreement and the great relationship that we have with Verizon today, so that's strategic to us. So all those factors play into the timing.

但在我們投入如此巨額資金，且外部網路（包括高比例網路升級和新網路建置）活動如此活躍的環境下，我們正在穩步推進CBRS的部署，以應對所有這些因素。但我們最終會全面部署CBRS，這令人振奮，回報豐厚。我們在每個市場的部署深度，實際上取決於特定區域的網路利用率、我們與Verizon達成的優惠協議以及我們目前與Verizon的良好合作關係，這對我們來說具有戰略意義。因此，所有這些因素都會影響部署時機。

That was our last question. I'll now turn the call back over to Stefan Anninger.

這是我們的最後一個問題。現在我將把電話交還給斯特凡·安寧格。

Thanks, operator. Thanks, everyone. We'll see you next quarter.

謝謝接線生。謝謝大家。我們下個季度再見。

Thank you very much.

非常感謝。