Charter Communications Inc (CHTR) 2024 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Hello and welcome to Charter Communications fourth-quarter and full year 2024 investor call. (Operator Instructions) As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. If you have any objections, please disconnect at this time. I will now turn the call over to Stefan Anninger.

您好，歡迎參加 Charter Communications 2024 年第四季和全年投資者電話會議。（操作員指示）提醒一下，本次會議正在錄音。如果您有任何異議，請立即斷開連接。現在我將電話轉給 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, and we encourage you to read them carefully.

謝謝接線員，歡迎大家。本次電話會議的簡報可以在我們的網站 ir.charter.com 上找到。我想提醒您，我們的美國證券交易委員會文件中包含許多風險因素和其他警告聲明，我們鼓勵您仔細閱讀。

Various remarks that we make on this 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.

我們在本次電話會議中就期望、預測、計畫和前景所作的各種評論均構成前瞻性陳述，這些陳述受風險和不確定性的影響，可能導致實際結果與歷史或預期結果不同。

Any forward-looking statements reflect management's current view only, and Charter undertakes no obligation to revise or update such statements. As a reminder, all growth rates noted on this call and in the presentation are calculated on a year-over-year basis unless otherwise specified.

任何前瞻性陳述僅反映管理階層目前的觀點，Charter 不承擔修改或更新此類陳述的義務。提醒一下，除非另有說明，本次電話會議和簡報中提到的所有成長率都是以同比計算的。

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.

今天的電話會議由我們的總裁兼執行長 Chris Winfrey 主持；以及我們的財務長傑西卡·菲舍爾（Jessica Fischer）。說完這些，我們將電話轉給克里斯。

Thanks, Stefan. In 2024, we managed the end of the Affordable Connectivity Program successfully. Outside of normal turn, we kept roughly 90% of former ACP customers connected. Our Spectrum Mobile business continued to grow at a rapid rate. We added over 2 million Spectrum Mobile lines in 2024.

謝謝，史蒂芬。2024年，我們成功完成了「平價連通計畫」。除正常轉彎外，我們保持了大約 90% 的前 ACP 客戶的連線。我們的 Spectrum Mobile 業務持續快速成長。我們在 2024 年增加了超過 200 萬條 Spectrum Mobile 線路。

We're the fastest growing mobile provider in the US, with the fastest connectivity at the best price. Our expansion initiative continued to deliver good passings growth, driven by our subsidized rural initiative and normal construction and fill in activity. In 2024, we grew revenue by 1%, while full year EBITDA growth accelerated to 3.1%, driven by continued strong mobile growth, our cost efficiency initiatives, and political advertising.

我們是美國發展最快的行動服務供應商，以最優惠的價格提供最快的連線。在補貼農村計劃和正常的建設及填補活動的推動下，我們的擴張計劃繼續帶來良好的銷售成長。2024 年，我們的營收成長了 1%，而全年 EBITDA 成長率加速至 3.1%，這得益於持續強勁的行動成長、我們的成本效率舉措以及政治廣告。

Late last year and early this year, we had unexpected natural disasters from Hurricane Helene impacting Florida, the Carolinas, and the broader southeast. With Hurricane Milton across Central Florida, and most recently, to Los Angeles fires. There are, of course, subscriber and financial impacts which Jessica will cover, but our employees work and live in these communities, so it's also personal.

去年年末和今年年初，颶風海倫 (Hurricane Helene) 給我們帶來了意想不到的自然災害，襲擊了佛羅裡達州、北卡羅來納州和廣大東南部地區。颶風米爾頓橫掃佛羅裡達州中部，最近又引發洛杉磯火災。當然，傑西卡會談到用戶和財務方面的影響，但我們的員工在這些社區工作和生活，所以這也是個人影響。

Stories of our frontline employees commitment about, including employees helping to reestablish connectivity for customers despite losing their own homes, and countless employees traveling in from other regions to stay and to help.

我們第一線員工的奉獻故事，包括員工在失去家園的情況下仍幫助客戶重新建立連接，以及無數員工從其他地區趕來提供幫助。

Really proud of how our frontline employees have responded. And from Stanford, we learned some lessons on how to book customers at (inaudible) center, and we got better with our communications along the way. Part of our customer commitment is to always improve and we are.

真的為我們第一線員工的反應感到自豪。我們從史丹佛學到了一些如何在（聽不清楚）中心預約客戶的經驗，並且在過程中，我們的溝通能力也得到了改善。我們對客戶的承諾之一就是不斷進步，我們也確實這麼做了。

As we look to 2025 and beyond, the environment for broadband, mobile, and video remains competitive. But we had better visibility than this time last year, the impact of the elimination of the ACP is now behind us. Cellphone, Internet net additions appear to have peaked or be stabilized, and we continue to do well against new fiber overlap.

展望 2025 年及以後，寬頻、行動和視訊環境依然競爭激烈。但我們比去年同期的能見度更好，ACP 取消的影響已經過去了。手機、網路淨增量似乎已達到高峰或趨於穩定，我們在應對新光纖重疊方面繼續表現良好。

In the meantime, we haven't stayed still, sets us up well for the future. Our multiyear investment initiatives, including network evolution, network expansion, and execution, including the investment to frontline employees and tenure to benefit our service, are all delivering tangible results. And last September, we relaunched the Spectrum brand and its promise to customers through Life Unlimited.

同時，我們並沒有停滯不前，而是為未來做好了準備。我們的多年投資計劃，包括網路發展、網路擴展和執行，包括對第一線員工的投資和為我們的服務提供的任期投資，都在產生切實的成果。去年九月，我們透過 Life Unlimited 重新推出了 Spectrum 品牌及其對客戶的承諾。

With our first -- our market first, customer service commitment and making better use of our unique assets, through converged seamless connectivity across 100% of our network, and now seamless entertainment in video. The positive impacts from our customer commitment and brand refresh investments take time to be recognized, but you can already see the positive effect from our new pricing and packaging in video results.

我們憑藉市場第一、客戶服務承諾以及更好地利用我們的獨特資產，透過覆蓋我們 100% 網路的融合無縫連接，以及現在的無縫視訊娛樂。我們對客戶的承諾和品牌更新投資所帶來的正面影響需要時間才能被認可，​​但您已經可以從影片結果中看到我們新的定價和包裝帶來的正面效果。

In late 2022, we launched a number of strategic initiatives and communicated a significant one-time capital investments to enhance our growth potential long term. While the investments put temporary pressure on our near term free cash flow growth, these were a unique set of non-recurring and generational industry investments.

2022 年末，我們啟動了一系列策略性舉措，並宣布了一項重大的一次性資本投資，以增強我們的長期成長潛力。雖然這些投資給我們近期的自由現金流成長帶來了暫時的壓力，但這是一組獨特的非經常性和世代產業投資。

And they include the largest broadband expansion since the 1980s, the largest physical upgrade of the network since the 1990s. Market leading convergence of our wireline and wireless capabilities and an exciting video transformation, which will help drive our connectivity business.

其中包括自 1980 年代以來最大規模的寬頻擴展，以及自 1990 年代以來最大規模的網路物理升級。市場領先的有線和無線功能的整合以及令人興奮的視訊轉換，這將有助於推動我們的連接業務。

2025 will have a slightly higher level of investment than 2024, but this year will also be our key capital investment. So this is a fitting time to highlight where our strategy leaves us competitively, operationally, and financially for the coming years.

2025年的投資水準將比2024年略高，但今年也將是我們重點的資本投入年。因此，這是一個恰當的時機來強調我們的策略將在未來幾年為我們帶來競爭力、營運和財務方面的影響。

We have a unique set of assets and in scale as shown on slide 4. Spectrum has the fastest Internet, the best Wi-Fi, the fastest mobile product, and is the leading video provider in the US, with over 900,000 miles of network infrastructure, 57 million residential and SMB passings, and over 300,000 fiber lit buildings. Of course, we have significant competition from wireline overbuild, cellphone Internet, and satellite across all of our products.

我們擁有一套獨特的資產，規模如投影片 4 所示。Spectrum 擁有最快的互聯網、最好的 Wi-Fi、最快的行動產品，並且是美國領先的視訊提供商，擁有超過 900,000 英里的網路基礎設施、5700 萬個住宅和 SMB 通行證以及超過 300,000 座光纖照明建築。當然，我們所有產品都面臨著有線過度建設、手機網路和衛星的激烈競爭。

The power of our network though continues to improve, with symmetrical and multi-gig feeds, allowing product developers to create applications and use cases that require high capacity, low latency, high reliability, and edge compute.

然而，我們的網路能力不斷提高，透過對稱和多千兆的饋送，產品開發人員可以創建需要高容量、低延遲、高可靠性和邊緣運算的應用程式和用例。

Product and software developers can rely on the ubiquitous deployment across all the major cable networks in the US. So we're very well positioned. In fact, it's always been the US cable companies that have built the fully deployed platforms that have enabled the development of next generation products and services, despite the handicap of being regional operators, competing against national and now global competitors.

產品和軟體開發人員可以依賴美國所有主要有線網路的廣泛部署。因此我們處於非常有利的位置。事實上，儘管作為區域營運商、與全國乃至全球競爭對手競爭存在障礙，但美國有線電視公司始終建立了全面部署的平台，推動了下一代產品和服務的開發。

The ability to provide the very best of our products across our entire footprint is unique. That includes new features we're developing for seamless connectivity and seamless entertainment. Convergence is a popular phrase amongst our competitors now.

我們能夠在整個業務範圍內提供最優質的產品，這是獨一無二的。其中包括我們為實現無縫連接和無縫娛樂而開發的新功能。「融合」現在是我們競爭對手中流行的一個詞。

And while it's flattering to hear our own wording adopted by others, slide 5 of our presentation today speaks for itself. We are very underpenetrated relative to our converged connectivity capabilities.

雖然聽到其他人採用我們的措辭令人受寵若驚，但我們今天簡報的第 5 張投影片本身已經說明了一切。相對於我們的融合連結能力，我們的滲透率還很低。

Having the best network and product capabilities by itself isn't enough, and that's why we've always focused on the ability to have the most value in our packages, combining the best products, with ways for customers to save hundreds or even thousands of dollars a year, whether a promotion or retail prices.

僅僅擁有最好的網路和產品功能是不夠的，這就是為什麼我們一直專注於在我們的套餐中提供最大的價值，結合最好的產品，讓客戶每年節省數百甚至數千美元，無論是促銷還是零售價格。

By any time you have new entrants, consumers can be enticed to try a new provider even at lower quality and higher all in prices. But in the long term, we believe the best products and best pricing across a package of those services will win.

只要有新進者，消費者就會被誘惑去嘗試新的供應商，即使品質較低、總價格較高。但從長遠來看，我們相信最好的產品和最優惠的價格將會勝出。

In slide 6 of our presentation is an example of that advantage across typical broadband and mobile packages. Together with our upcoming seamless entertainment offers, highlighting this value is the goal of our recent pricing and packaging under the Life Unlimited brand refresh.

我們簡報的第 6 張投影片展示了典型的寬頻和行動方案所具有的優勢。結合我們即將推出的無縫娛樂服務，突出這一價值是我們最近在 Life Unlimited 品牌更新下的定價和包裝的目標。

I spoke about the sequencing of our seamless entertainment launches on last quarter's call, and that timing in 2025 hasn't changed, so I won't repeat the steps and priorities. But we look forward to fully rolling that out in the first half of this year, and delivering even more value to consumers, up to $80 of retail app value when subscribing to our video packages.

我在上個季度的電話會議上談到了我們無縫娛樂發布的順序，2025 年的時間沒有改變，所以我不會重複這些步驟和優先事項。但我們期待在今年上半年全面推出該功能，並為消費者提供更多價值，訂閱我們的影片套餐時可獲得高達 80 美元的零售應用價值。

That customer proposition is shown on slide 7 of our presentation. Similar to mobile, taking video as part of the package now ensures a lower price for Internet, both at promotion and retail. And of course, we couple all that with high quality service. We've always believed that investing in customer service and satisfaction creates a virtuous cycle in our business.

該客戶主張已在我們簡報的第 7 張投影片中展示。與行動裝置類似，將影片作為套餐的一部分可以確保網路在促銷和零售時獲得更低的價格。當然，我們將所有這些與高​​品質的服務結合在一起。我們始終相信，投資於客戶服務和滿意度將為我們的業務創造良性循環。

Better customer service translates to fewer customer transactions. Fewer transactions produces higher customer satisfaction and lower churn. Lower churn reduces cost and increases in penetration. And lower cost gives us the ability to offer better pricing, which works for customer acquisition, search and satisfaction and positions us for growth.

更好的客戶服務意味著更少的客戶交易。更少的交易可帶來更高的客戶滿意度和更低的客戶流失率。較低的客戶流失率可降低成本並提高滲透率。較低的成本使我們能夠提供更優惠的價格，這有利於客戶獲取、搜尋和滿意度，並為我們的成長做好準備。

Our sales and service is 100% US based, made in America, if you will, using our own employees, with good paying jobs and benefits. Employees are also Spectrum customers, committed to developing their local communities and their career at this company.

我們的銷售和服務 100% 在美國開展，在美國製造，如果您願意的話，使用我們自己的員工，提供高薪和福利。員工也是 Spectrum 的客戶，致力於發展當地社區和在該公司的職業生涯。

That is a competitive advantage. An investment we already made in wages, benefits in real estate that's difficult to replicate. And that existing investment is also why it was so easy for us to make our marketing customer commitments. We stand behind our commitments to service credits when we missed the mark.

這是一個競爭優勢。我們已經在薪資、房地產福利方面進行的投資很難複製。而現有的投資也是我們如此輕鬆地履行行銷客戶承諾的原因。當我們未達到目標時，我們會堅守對服務信用的承諾。

As a reminder, we've provided a summary of those commitments on slide 8. For years, we've been investing in machine learning and now AI, and much of our effort is making frontline work easier and more efficient, which drives higher customer and employee satisfaction.

提醒一下，我們在第 8 張投影片上提供了這些承諾的摘要。多年來，我們一直在投資機器學習和人工智慧，我們的大部分努力都是為了讓第一線工作變得更輕鬆、更有效率，從而提高客戶和員工的滿意度。

Some of those examples include full service, network, CPE and billing telemetry on the account, which is automatically presented to an agent now when answering the phone. In addition, AI is also listening to the conversation, providing proactive optimized solutions, customer sentiment, ChatGPT style technical support, call summarization, and flagging post-call trading opportunities.

這些範例包括全套服務、網路、CPE 和帳戶計費遙測，這些資訊在接聽電話時會自動呈現給代理商。此外，AI 還會聆聽對話，提供主動優化的解決方案、客戶情緒、ChatGPT 風格的技術支援、通話總結，並標記通話後的交易機會。

AI call summarization also helps the field technician assess the issue before they even get to the door, improving the customer interaction. And that's in addition to rolling out our own ChatGPT on their handheld devices to more accurately pinpoint issues and recommend the best fix to the field tech.

人工智慧通話摘要還可以幫助現場技術人員在到達門口之前評估問題，從而改善客戶互動。除此之外，我們還在他們的手持裝置上推出自己的 ChatGPT，以便更準確地找出問題並向現場技術人員推薦最佳解決方案。

We do have millions of transactions every year. And honestly, there aren't millions of best outcomes. So transactions can be more effective, it can be shortened and reduced, driving higher customer satisfaction and lower churn. But also higher employee satisfaction, which drives lower attrition or tenure, and therefore, better service, which, of course, produces less transactions as a result.

我們每年確實有數百萬筆交易。老實說，最佳結果並沒有百萬種。因此交易可以更有效，可以縮短和減少，從而提高客戶滿意度並降低客戶流失。但同時員工滿意度也會提高，進而降低員工流動率或任期，提供更好的服務，當然，這會導致交易量減少。

Taken together, that is our strategy and competitive positioning; the best network, best products, the most value with unmatched service, having more household penetration, higher product penetration for household, lower service transactions and churn, and lower operating and capital cost per customer, which allows us to have the lowest pricing, a virtuous cycle.

總的來說，這就是我們的策略和競爭定位；最好的網路、最好的產品、最有價值且無與倫比的服務、更高的家庭普及率、更高的家庭產品普及率、更低的服務交易和客戶流失率、以及更低的每位客戶的營運和資本成本，使我們能夠擁有最低的價格，形成一個良性循環。

The financial output is high quality revenue per home passed, with free cash flow growth and high return on investment. But we're not perfect and we've always got room for better execution and speed, but I believe we have a great recipe for growth of our existing products with the investments we've already made.

財務產出是每戶家庭的高品質收入、自由現金流成長和高投資報酬率。但我們並不完美，我們總是有更好的執行力和速度的空間，但我相信，透過我們已經進行的投資，我們現有產品的成長有很好的秘訣。

And we have strategic assets in our network, in our fully US based sales and service employees. Those will enable future products and revenue streams and operational efficiencies that aren't even considered in our financial plans today.

我們的網路以及駐紮在美國各地的銷售和服務員工擁有戰略資產。這些將使未來的產品、收入來源和營運效率成為可能，而這些甚至還沒有被我們今天的財務計畫所考慮。

In the meantime, we positioned the company for customer profitability growth, clear visibility to free cash flow growth, and improving capital allocation and return philosophy. This is a winning formula. It's with a fully dedicated and a hungry team. So we're excited about 2025 and beyond.

同時，我們將公司定位為客戶獲利能力成長、自由現金流成長清晰可見、以及改善資本配置和回報理念。這是一個成功的秘訣。這是一支全心投入且渴望成功的團隊。所以我們對 2025 年及以後的未來充滿期待。

And with that, let me hand it over to Jessica.

現在，讓我把它交給傑西卡。

Thanks, Chris. Before discussing our fourth quarter results, I want to mention that today's results include a number of Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton impacts, which hit the Southeast US in late September and early October.

謝謝，克里斯。在討論我們的第四季業績之前，我想提一下，今天的結果包括 9 月底和 10 月初襲擊美國東南部的颶風海倫和颶風米爾頓的影響。

Our fourth quarter customer results include over 20,000 additional disconnects related to the storms. Fourth quarter adjusted EBITDA was reduced by approximately $35 million, primarily driven by hurricane related customer credits and revenue, and the storms drove approximately $125 million in total incremental capital expenditures in the fourth quarter.

我們第四季的客戶結果包括超過 20,000 次與風暴相關的額外斷電。第四季調整後的 EBITDA 減少了約 3,500 萬美元，主要原因是颶風相關的客戶信用和收入，而風暴導致第四季度總增量資本支出增加約 1.25 億美元。

Today's results do not include any related to the wildfires that hit Southern California in January. Our first quarter results will include some lost customers and passings related to the fires. We're still assessing impacted areas, and we expect to incur capital expenditures to recover and rebuild loss passings.

今天的結果不包括任何與一月份襲擊南加州的山火相關的結果。我們的第一季業績將包括一些因火災而失去的客戶和逝去的人員。我們仍在評估受影響的區域，並預計將產生資本支出來恢復和重建損失的部分。

We've been providing bill credits to customers in impacted areas, and those one-time credits will offset some first quarter revenue. We may also have some incremental operating expense, although we expect that to be relatively small. And we'll isolate the impact of the fires when we report our first quarter results.

我們一直在向受影響地區的客戶提供帳單信用，這些一次性信用將抵消第一季的部分收入。我們可能還會有一些增量營運費用，儘管我們預計這個數字相對較小。當我們報告第一季業績時，我們將隔離火災的影響。

Unrelated, we recently completed an extensive review of our serviceable passings to clean up duplicate acne and other data and to identify new passings. As a result, we reduced total estimated passings in our trending schedule for all periods presented by 1.7 million passings.

無關的是，我們最近完成了對可用傳遞的廣泛審查，以清理重複的痤瘡和其他數據並識別新的傳遞。因此，我們將所有時段的趨勢圖表中預計死亡總數減少了 170 萬人。

Additionally, because of the GAAP requirement, our cost to service customers expense line has been divided into two new cost lines, field and technology operations, and customer operations. The best way to forecast these two allied items is to combine them into one figure as presented in the past as cost to service customers, and that's how I will refer to them today when reviewing our expense results.

此外，由於 GAAP 的要求，我們的服務客戶成本費用項目已分為兩個新的成本項目，即現場和技術營運以及客戶營運。預測這兩個相關項目的最佳方法是將它們合併為一個數字，就像過去作為服務客戶的成本所呈現的那樣，今天我在審查我們的費用結果時也會參考它們。

Let's please turn to our customer results on slide 10. Including residential and SMB, we lost 177,000 Internet customers in the fourth quarter. In mobile, we added 529,000 lines. Video customers declined by 123,000, with the improvement driven by the rebundling we launched in September, along with our Life Unlimited brand refresh. Video performance does not yet reflect the benefits of incorporating seamless entertainment apps in our product. Wireline voice customers declined by 274,000.

請看第 10 張投影片上的客戶結果。包括住宅和中小企業在內，我們在第四季度失去了 177,000 名網路客戶。在行動領域，我們增加了 529,000 條線路。視訊客戶數量減少了 123,000 人，這項改善得益於我們 9 月推出的重新捆綁服務以及 Life Unlimited 品牌的更新。視訊表現尚未體現出在我們的產品中融入無縫娛樂應用的好處。有線語音客戶減少了27.4萬。

In addition to the 20,000 Internet disconnects driven by the hurricanes, the end of the ACP program drove higher fourth quarter non-pay and voluntary churn among former ACP customers, for a total estimated fourth quarter ACP impact of approximately 140,000 Internet losses, primarily non-pay disconnects and some voluntary churn.

除了颶風造成 20,000 次網路斷線之外，ACP 計畫的終止還導致第四季度前 ACP 客戶的未付費和自願流失率上升，預計第四季度 ACP 計畫共造成約 14 萬次網路損失，主要是未付費斷線和一些自願流失。

Looking forward, we believe we are past the one-time ACP related impacts to our customers. Beyond ACP and hurricane impacts, we were generally pleased with our fourth quarter customer results and core Internet results, which exclude ACP and storm related losses were better than last year. We continue to compete well across our footprint.

展望未來，我們相信我們已經擺脫了 ACP 對客戶造成的一次性影響。除了 ACP 和颶風的影響之外，我們對第四季度的客戶業績和核心互聯網業績總體上感到滿意，這些業績不包括 ACP 和風暴相關損失，比去年更好。我們將繼續在業務範圍內保持良好的競爭力。

As Chris discussed, we continue to pursue initiatives that are intended to drive customer and financial growth, including network evolution, new pricing and packaging, converged connectivity product development and footprint expansion, including our subsidized roll initiatives.

正如克里斯所討論的，我們將繼續推行旨在推動客戶和財務成長的舉措，包括網路發展、新的定價和包裝、融合連接產品開發和足跡擴展，包括我們的補貼滾動計劃。

As of year-end, we have launched symmetrical 1 gigabit speeds in all eight of our step 1 markets. Earlier this year, we launched 2 by 1 gigabit service in two of these markets, Lexington, Kentucky and Cincinnati. And we plan to launch 2 by 1 service in additional markets later this year.

截至年底，我們已經在所有八個第一步市場推出了對稱 1 千兆速度。今年早些時候，我們在其中兩個市場——肯塔基州列剋星敦和辛辛那提——推出了 2 x 1 千兆服務。我們計劃今年稍後在其他市場推出 2 by 1 服務。

Demand for faster Internet speeds continues to grow as data usage grows. In the fourth quarter, monthly data usage by our residential Internet customers who don't have our traditional video product, reached over 800 gigabytes.

隨著數據使用量的成長，對更快網路速度的需求也不斷增長。第四季度，未使用我們傳統視訊產品的住宅網路客戶的每月資料使用量達到800多千兆位元組。

Our Wi-Fi also continues to improve, driven by our advanced Wi-Fi product and our new Wi-Fi 7 router. Our Wi-Fi supports our converged connectivity product, including Spectrum Mobile, which is only at about 8% of passings, but remains the fastest growing mobile service in the United States and offers the fastest overall speeds.

在先進的 Wi-Fi 產品和全新 Wi-Fi 7 路由器的推動下，我們的 Wi-Fi 也不斷改進。我們的 Wi-Fi 支援我們的融合連線產品，包括 Spectrum Mobile，雖然使用率僅為 8% 左右，但仍是美國成長最快的行動服務，並提供最快的整體速度。

Turning to rural, we ended the quarter with a total of 813,000 subsidized rural passings. We grew those passings by 117,000 in the fourth quarter, and by nearly 400,000 over the last 12 months. And we generated 41,000 net customer additions in our subsidized rural footprint in the quarter.

談到農村，本季結束時，我們共有 813,000 名農村居民獲得補貼。第四季度，死亡人數增加了 117,000 人，過去 12 個月，死亡人數增加了近 40 萬人。本季度，我們在補貼的農村地區淨新增客戶 41,000 名。

2025 customer growth should benefit from 2024 rural passings growth as well as passings growth in 2025. We expect rural passings growth of approximately $450,000 in 2025, our biggest year so far, in addition to continued nonrural construction and fill in activity.

2025 年的客流量成長應受益於 2024 年農村人口成長以及 2025 年人口成長。我們預計，2025 年農村居民收入將成長約 45 萬美元，這將是迄今為止成長最快的一年，此外非農村建設和填埋活動也將持續進行。

Moving to fourth quarter revenue results on slide 11. Over the last year, residential customers declined by 2.2%, while residential revenue per customer relationship grew by 1.7% year-over-year, given promotional rate step-ups, rate adjustments, and the growth of Spectrum Mobile.

轉到第 11 頁的第四季營收結果。去年，由於促銷費率上調、費率調整和 Spectrum Mobile 的增長，住宅客戶數量下降了 2.2%，而每個客戶關係的住宅收入同比增長了 1.7%。

Those factors were partly offset by a higher mix of non-video customers, growth of lower priced video packages within our base, $34 million of hurricane related residential customer credits, and $37 million of costs, which accounting principles required to be allocated to programmer streaming apps and netted within video revenue.

這些因素被非視訊客戶比例增加、客戶群中低價視訊套餐的成長、3,400 萬美元的颶風相關住宅客戶信用以及 3,700 萬美元的成本部分抵消，會計原則要求將這些成本分配給程式設計師串流媒體應用程式併計入視訊收入。

As slide 11 shows, in total, residential revenue declined by 0.4%. Turning to commercial, total commercial revenue grew by 1.9% year-over-year, with SMB revenue growth of 0.3%, reflecting higher monthly SMB revenue per SMB customer, primarily due to rate adjustments. Enterprise revenue grew by 4.4%, driven by enterprise PSU growth of 5.2%. And when excluding our wholesale revenue, enterprise revenue grew by 5.2%.

如投影片 11 所示，總體而言，住宅收入下降了 0.4%。談到商業，總商業收入同比增長 1.9%，其中中小企業收入增長 0.3%，反映出每個中小企業客戶每月的中小企業收入增加，這主要由於費率調整。企業營收成長 4.4%，受企業 PSU 成長 5.2% 的推動。若不包括批發收入，企業收入成長了 5.2%。

Fourth quarter advertising revenue grew by 26%, given political revenue growth. Excluding political, advertising revenue decreased by 8.2%, due to a more challenged, national, and local advertising market. Other revenue grew by 14.6%, primarily driven by higher mobile device sales. And in total, consolidated fourth quarter revenue was up 1.6% year-over-year, and 1% when excluding advertising revenue and hurricane related customer credits.

由於政治收入的成長，第四季廣告收入成長了 26%。除了政治廣告外，由於全國和地方廣告市場面臨更大挑戰，廣告收入下降 8.2%。其他收入成長了 14.6%，主要得益於行動裝置銷量的成長。整體而言，第四季綜合營收年增 1.6%，若不包括廣告收入和颶風相關的客戶信用，則成長 1%。

Moving to operating expenses and adjusted EBITDA on slide 12. In the fourth quarter, total operating expenses grew by 0.3% year-over-year. Programming costs declined by 9.1% due to an 8.7% decline in video customers year-over-year, and a higher mix of lighter video packages, along with $37 million cost, which accounting principles required to be allocated to programmer streaming apps and netted within video revenue, partly offset by higher programming rates.

前往第 12 頁的營業費用和調整後的 EBITDA。第四季度，總營運費用年增0.3%。節目成本下降了 9.1%，原因是視訊客戶數量同比下降 8.7%，且輕視訊套餐比例增加，加上 3,700 萬美元的成本，會計原則要求將這些成本分配給程式設計師串流應用程式併計入視訊收入，但節目費率提高部分抵消了這一影響。

Other costs of revenue increased by 16.2%, primarily driven by higher mobile device sales, and mobile service direct costs, as well as higher advertising sales expense related to higher political revenue. Cost to service customers, which combines field and technology operations and customer operations declined 0.5% year-over-year, given productivity from our 10 year investments, including lower labor costs.

其他收入成本增加了 16.2%，主要由於行動裝置銷售額和行動服務直接成本的增加，以及與政治收入增加相關的廣告銷售費用的增加。考慮到我們十年來的投資帶來的生產力提高（包括較低的勞動力成本），服務客戶成本（包括現場和技術運營以及客戶運營）同比下降了 0.5%。

Sales and marketing costs grew by 3.2% as we remain focused on driving customer acquisition and given our Life Unlimited brand relaunch in September. Finally, other expenses declined by 0.7%. Adjusted EBITDA grew by 3.4% year-over-year in the quarter, and by 1.8% when excluding advertising.

由於我們仍然專注於推動客戶獲取，並於 9 月重新推出了 Life Unlimited 品牌，銷售和行銷成本增長了 3.2%。最後，其他支出下降了0.7%。本季調整後 EBITDA 年成長 3.4%，若不包括廣告則成長 1.8%。

As we look ahead to the full year 2025, we faced headwinds that we didn't last year, including the lack of political advertisement and the full year impact from the prior year Internet customer losses, primarily due to the end of ACP. But our plan is to grow adjusted EBITDA in this year.

展望 2025 年全年，我們面臨去年未曾遇到的阻力，包括缺乏政治廣告，以及去年網路客戶流失對全年的影響（這主要是由於 ACP 的結束）。但我們的計劃是在今年實現調整後 EBITDA 的成長。

Turning to net income, we generated $1.5 billion of net income attributable to Charter shareholders in the fourth quarter compared to $1.1 billion last year, given this quarter's higher adjusted EBITDA and a larger pension remeasurement loss in the prior year period.

談到淨收入，由於本季的調整後 EBITDA 較高，以及去年同期的退休金重估損失較大，我們第四季歸屬於 Charter 股東的淨收入為 15 億美元，而去年同期為 11 億美元。

Turning to slide 13, capital expenditures totaled $3.1 billion in the fourth quarter, up about $200 million from last year's fourth quarter. Line extension spend totaled $1.1 billion, driven by our subsidized rural construction initiatives, and continued network expansion across residential and commercial greenfield and market fill-in opportunities.

轉到第 13 頁，第四季的資本支出總計 31 億美元，比去年第四季增加了約 2 億美元。線路延伸支出總計 11 億美元，這主要得益於我們對農村建設計劃的補貼，以及在住宅和商業綠地及市場填補機會方面的持續網絡擴張。

Fourth quarter capital expenditures, excluding line extensions, totaled $2 billion, about $130 million higher than last year. The increase was mostly driven by CPE due to purchase timing and higher scalable infrastructure spend. 2024 capital expenditures totaled $11.3 billion, less than our original expectation for $12.2 billion to $12.4 billion, given lower network evolution and line extension spending, both due to timing.

第四季的資本支出（不包括產品線延伸）總計 20 億美元，比去年同期高出約 1.3 億美元。成長主要得益於 CPE，因為購買時機和可擴展基礎設施支出更高。 2024 年的資本支出總計 113 億美元，低於我們最初預期的 122 億美元至 124 億美元，原因是網路演進和線路擴展支出較低（均因時間原因）。

We expect total 2025 capital expenditures to reach approximately $12 billion, including line extension spend of approximately $4.2 billion, and network evolution spend of approximately $1.5 billion. On slide 14, we've provided our current expectations for capital spending through the year 2028, excluding any line extension spending associated with the BEAD program as we are still in the early stages of bidding, and we have a lower appetite to bid due to regulatory conditions.

我們預計 2025 年總資本支出將達到約 120 億美元，其中包括約 42 億美元的線路延伸支出和約 15 億美元的網路演進支出。在第 14 頁上，我們提供了到 2028 年的資本支出的當前預期，不包括與 BEAD 計劃相關的任何線路擴展支出，因為我們仍處於競標的早期階段，而且由於監管條件，我們的競標興趣較低。

Our current multiyear CapEx outlook is largely unchanged in total versus our prior outlook, with retiming across years and slight changes across categories. We expect total line extension capital expenditures to decline after 2025, even inclusive of BEAD, which we wouldn't expect to be more than a few hundred million dollars per year for the four years starting in 2026. And our (inaudible) build is still expected to be completed by the end of 2026, two years ahead of schedule.

我們目前的多年期資本支出前景總體上與先前的展望相比基本沒有變化，只是跨年份進行了重新安排，跨類別略有變化。我們預計，2025 年後總線路延伸資本支出將會下降，即使包括 BEAD，我們預計從 2026 年開始的四年內每年的支出也不會超過數億美元。我們的（聽不清楚）建設仍有望在 2026 年底完成，比計畫提早兩年。

We now expect our total network evolution initiative capital to reach $5.4 billion over the period 2024 to 2027 versus $4.6 million previously, given our full plant walk out and the finalization of more detailed project plans.

考慮到我們整個工廠的走出去和更詳細的項目計劃的最終確定，我們現在預計，我們的總網絡發展計劃資本將在 2024 年至 2027 年期間達到 54 億美元，而之前為 460 萬美元。

Looking beyond 2025, we expect total capital spending in dollar terms to be on a meaningful downward trajectory, even inclusive of BEAD spending. And after our evolution and expansion capital initiatives conclude, our run rate capital expenditures should be below $8 billion per year.

展望 2025 年後，我們預期以美元計算的總資本支出將呈現顯著下降趨勢，甚至包括 BEAD 支出。在我們的發展和擴張資本計畫結束後，我們的營運率資本支出應該低於每年 80 億美元。

Just to highlight, that reduction in capital expenditures on its own from approximately $12 billion in 2025 to less than $8 billion in 2028, is equivalent to $25 of annual free cash flow per share based on today's share count.

需要強調的是，資本支出本身的減少將從 2025 年的約 120 億美元減少到 2028 年的不到 80 億美元，按照今天的股票數量計算，相當於每股 25 美元的年度自由現金流。

And while we always prioritize our free cash flow for organic opportunities first and then accretive M&A and buybacks, there are currently no organic capital expenditure opportunities on the horizon that give us concern with that capital expenditures outlook.

雖然我們始終優先考慮我們的自由現金流的有機機會，然後再進行增值性併購和回購，但目前還沒有出現任何有機資本支出機會，這讓我們對資本支出前景感到擔憂。

Fourth quarter free cash flow totaled $984 million, a decrease of approximately $80 million compared to last year's fourth quarter. The decline was primarily driven by higher capital expenditures, cash taxes, and cash interest, partly offset by a larger cable working capital benefit, driven by the implementation of our supply chain financing program and higher EBITDA in this year's fourth quarter.

第四季自由現金流總計9.84億美元，較去年第四季減少約8,000萬美元。下降主要由於資本支出、現金稅和現金利息的增加，但被有線電視營運資本利得的增加（得益於我們今年第四季實施的供應鏈融資計劃和更高的 EBITDA）所部分抵銷。

Just a brief comment on 2025 cash taxes. We currently expect under existing tax legislation that our calendar year 2025 cash tax payments will total between $1.6 billion and $2 billion. We finished the quarter with $93.8 billion in debt principal.

只是對 2025 年現金稅的簡短評論。我們目前預計，根據現有稅法，我們 2025 日曆年的現金稅款總額將在 16 億美元至 20 億美元之間。本季結束時，我們的債務本金為 938 億美元。

In December, we financed -- we refinanced most of our 2027 maturity tower, extending about $13 billion of our credit facilities to 2030 and 2031. After that refinancing, our maturities in each of the next three years are less than $4 billion per year. Our weighted average cost of debt remains very attractive at 5.2%, partly driven by our long dated fixed rate profile.

12 月份，我們為大部分 2027 年到期債務進行了融資——將約 130 億美元的信貸額度延長至 2030 年和 2031 年。再融資之後，我們未來三年每年的到期債務將少於 40 億美元。我們的加權平均債務成本仍然非常有吸引力，為 5.2%，部分原因是我們的長期固定利率狀況。

Our current run rate annualized cash interest is $4.9 billion. In the fourth quarter, we repurchased 292,000 Charter shares and Charter Holdings common units, totaling $113 million at an average price of $384 per share. As of the end of the fourth quarter, our ratio of net debt to last 12 month adjusted EBITDA moved down to 4.13 times and stood at 4.24 times pro forma for the pending Liberty Broadband transaction.

我們目前的年化現金利息為 49 億美元。第四季度，我們回購了 292,000 股 Charter 股票和 Charter Holdings 普通股，總額 1.13 億美元，平均價格為每股 384 美元。截至第四季末，我們的淨債務與過去 12 個月調整後 EBITDA 的比率下降至 4.13 倍，對於即將進行的 Liberty Broadband 交易，預計為 4.24 倍。

Our leverage ratio may decline further given our pause and buybacks, but we are still targeting the midpoint of our 4 to 4.5 times target leverage range, though now pro forma for the pending Liberty Broadband transaction. We look forward to resuming our open market buyback program following the shareholder vote for the Liberty Broadband transaction scheduled for February '26.

鑑於我們的暫停和回購，我們的槓桿率可能會進一步下降，但我們仍將目標槓桿率範圍的中點定為 4 至 4.5 倍，儘管現在是待定的 Liberty Broadband 交易的形式。我們期待在定於 2 月 26 日舉行的股東投票通過 Liberty Broadband 交易後恢復我們的公開市場回購計劃。

As laid out, we've invested in a strong platform for growth, which we expect to see materialize across the business over the last -- over the next several years. And as our capital spending peaks this year, we are poised for strong free cash flow growth and shareholder returns.

如所述，我們已經投資了一個強大的成長平台，我們預計它將在過去幾年以及未來幾年在整個業務中實現。隨著我們的資本支出今年達到頂峰，我們有望實現強勁的自由現金流成長和股東回報。

And with that, I will turn it over to the operator for Q&A.

現在，我將把時間交給接線員進行問答。

(Operator Instructions) Jonathan Chaplin, New Street Research.

（操作員指示）喬納森·卓別林（Jonathan Chaplin），New Street Research。

Thanks guys. A question on CapEx. So I'm wondering if you can just remind us what the end state is for the network upgrade in terms of -- I think it's 100% of the footprint will have a high split and then a portion of the footprint will be upgraded to DOCSIS 4.0 by the end of 2027.

謝謝大家。關於資本支出 (CapEx) 的一個問題。所以我想知道您是否可以提醒我們網路升級的最終狀態是什麼——我認為到 2027 年底，100％ 的覆蓋範圍將具有高分割，然後一部分覆蓋範圍將升級到 DOCSIS 4.0。

Can you remind us how that -- what that is, and how it is changed based on the new guidance? And then for line extension CapEx, I see that the total spend is down, but the number of rural locations is up. Have you reduced the pace of line extensions that you expect to build in non-rural locations? Thank you.

您能否提醒我們那是什麼，以及它如何根據新指南進行更改？然後對於線路延伸資本支出，我發現總支出下降了，但農村地區的數量增加了。您是否放慢了計劃在非農村地區建設的產品線延伸的步伐？謝謝。

Yeah. So Jonathan, I'll start with the line extension one. Two things happened inside of that. We've pulled back a bit on our proactive commercial build. And our expectations are a bit lower for greenfield given that the housing market remains sluggish, though even that, I would say, hasn't meaningfully reduced our passings growth outlook.

是的。那麼喬納森，我將從產品線擴展開始。其中發生了兩件事。我們在積極主動的商業建設方面已經有所退縮。由於房地產市場依然低迷，我們對綠地的預期略低，但即便如此，我想說，這也沒有顯著降低我們對成長前景的預期。

So I think what you see is correct. We do have a few more rural passings than we had before, but it's offset there, the total number down. As far as the network upgrade goes, our plan for the split across the three steps hasn't changed.

所以我認為你看到的是正確的。與以前相比，農村地區的死亡人數確實增加了一些，但已經抵消了，總人數有所下降。就網路升級而言，我們的三步驟分步計畫沒有改變。

So we're still 15%, that will be 1.2 gigahertz, 50% that moves to distributed access architecture, but still at 1.2 gigahertz, and 35% that then moves up to 1.8 gigahertz. And really is, I guess, the way that you would think of it in DOCSIS 4.0. I don't know, Chris, if you have a follow-up on that, that you want to talk about other ones.

因此，我們仍為 15%，即 1.2 千兆赫，50% 移動到分散式存取架構，但仍為 1.2 千兆赫，然後 35% 移至 1.8 千兆赫。我想，這確實和您在 DOCSIS 4.0 中想到的一樣。我不知道，克里斯，如果你對此有後續問題，你想談談其他問題。

Well, look, it will be 100% high split, the mix hasn't changed in terms of where we're going. The ability from there to use a combination of DOCSIS 4 and DOCSIS 3.1 extended on the increment is very low, if any incremental real capital expenditure. So we feel really good about the plan.

嗯，看，它將是 100％ 的高分割，就我們的去向而言，組合沒有改變。從那裡開始使用 DOCSIS 4 和 DOCSIS 3.1 擴展的組合的能力非常低，如果有任何增量實際資本支出。因此我們對這個計劃感到非常滿意。

The one thing I would add is, keep in mind, as we go through on these notes, we're putting in OLTs as well, which allows us to do fiber demand or a fiber drop on demand, although similar to an enterprise group, but to be able to do that in residential and SMB as well.

我想補充的一點是，請記住，當我們討論這些筆記時，我們也在引入 OLT，這使我們能夠按需進行光纖接入或光纖接入，雖然類似於企業集團，但也能夠在住宅和 SMB 中做到這一點。

And so the network is very much capable in terms of wherever things go. You still maintain all the benefits that you have through power in the network, which allows you to hang radios through our CBRS deployment, which is going very well.

因此，無論事物去往何處，網路都具有強大的能力。您仍然可以保留透過網路電源獲得的所有優勢，這使您可以透過我們的 CBRS 部署掛接無線電，目前進展非常順利。

And Chris, I assume that 35% ultimately goes to 100% at 1.8 over time. The assumption is that, that all happens within business as usual CapEx of less than $8 billion.

克里斯，我假設隨著時間的推移，35% 最終會達到 100%，即 1.8。假設這一切都發生在低於 80 億美元的正常業務資本支出範圍內。

Yes. And what you have over time -- one, I'm not sure if and when the need is going to take place. But two, when you get into that less than $8 billion capital expenditure environment, the benefit that you'll have is the amount of node splits and CMTS upgrades that historically took place virtually be non-existent.

是的。隨著時間的推移，我不確定這種需求是否會發生，以及何時會發生。但其次，當你進入不到 80 億美元的資本支出環境時，你將獲得的好處是歷史上發生的節點分裂和 CMTS 升級數量幾乎不存在。

You can reallocate capital to the extent you want, that would have been spent into those segmentation areas in to doing drop-ins and to the actives, but that's all that we've really required. And so it's -- it could be done within the envelope.

你可以根據需要重新分配資本，這些資本原本會被用在那些細分領域，用於投放和活躍業務，但這確實是我們真正需要的。所以它可以在信封內完成。

Got it. Thanks guys.

知道了。謝謝大家。

Thanks, Jonathan. Layla, we'll take our next question, please.

謝謝，喬納森。萊拉，請我們回答下一個問題。

Benjamin Swinburne, Morgan Stanley.

摩根士丹利的班傑明‧斯威伯恩 (Benjamin Swinburne)。

Good morning. You had -- I think it's about 450,000 ACP related subscriber losses or impact in '24. I'm just wondering if you guys are thinking you can grow -- you can improve your broadband results in '25 versus '24 when you consider no ACP, obviously storms are a wildcard, but you'll have more and more rural footprint behind you.

早安.我認為，24 年與 ACP 相關的用戶損失或受到影響的人數約為 45 萬人。我只是想知道你們是否認為自己可以發展——當考慮到沒有 ACP 時，你可以在 '25 年與 '24 年相比改善你的寬頻結果，顯然風暴是一個未知數，但你將擁有越來越多的農村足跡。

And then, Chris, I can't remember the last time your video subscriber numbers outperformed both customer metrics and broadband metrics. It sounds like you guys are maybe selling into the base a bit and subsidizing that with some broadband.

然後，克里斯，我不記得上次你的影片訂閱用戶數量超過客戶指標和寬頻指標是什麼時候了。這聽起來好像你們可能向基礎用戶出售了一些產品，並透過寬頻進行補貼。

Maybe you could talk a little bit about what's happening inside of your offers, and inside the business that's creating this kind of mix shift, and how we might think about that as we move forward. Thanks so much.

或許你可以稍微談談你的產品內部發生了什麼，以及業務內部如何產生這種組合轉變，以及我們在未來的發展中可以如何考慮這個問題。非常感謝。

Sure. Look, Ben, from an outlook perspective, we're really confident about the midterm our ability to grow Internet. But we're also sensitive to the fact that there's (inaudible) in particular periods of time between net loss versus net gain. And so I'm not going to comment on short term small impacts to gross adds or disconnection of big impact. But we won't have the ACP losses this year, and so that's a huge benefit.

當然。本，你看，從前景來看，我們對中期發展互聯網的能力非常有信心。但我們也敏感地意識到，在淨虧損和淨收益之間存在（聽不清楚）特定時間段。因此，我不會對短期內小影響對總增量的影響或大影響的脫節發表評論。但今年我們不會有 ACP 損失，這是一個巨大的優勢。

And it's still competitive in terms of fiber and cellphone Internet overlap, but that gives a little better visibility, as I mentioned that we had last year. The peak cellphone Internet impact, we seem to have gotten there and there will be a declining base of fiber overbuild.

在光纖和手機互聯網重疊方面，它仍然具有競爭力，但這提供了更好的可見性，正如我去年提到的那樣。我們似乎已經到達了手機網路影響的頂峰，光纖過度建設的基礎將會下降。

So you then add on to that in terms of growth rate over time, rural passings, the fact that data consumption continues to increase. The investments we've made in network evolution to outpace the capabilities of our competitors, and then using in a more effective way than we already are, the wireless convergence and then what's coming seamless entertainment.

因此，您可以根據隨時間推移的成長率、農村人口成長以及數據消耗持續增加這一事實來添加這一點。我們在網路發展方面所做的投資是為了超越我們的競爭對手，然後以比現在更有效的方式利用無線整合以及即將到來的無縫娛樂。

I ask people to just step back and think about it from a consumer perspective. We have faster connectivity, a unique set of products. Those products are available everywhere we sell, which is the point I was making with the slide that we showed today.

我要求人們退一步並​​從消費者的角度來思考這個問題。我們擁有更快的連線速度和獨特的產品系列。這些產品在我們銷售的任何地方都可以買到，這就是我今天在幻燈片中要表達的觀點。

And we save customers hundreds and thousands of dollars of Internet when similarly combined with mobile. So I like where we sit, and I expect our seamless connectivity product and its value to really win in the marketplace over time.

當與行動裝置結合時，我們為客戶節省了數十萬美元的網路費用。所以我喜歡我們現在的現狀，並且我期待我們的無縫連接產品及其價值能夠隨著時間的推移在市場上真正獲勝。

In the meantime, we're pushing through for all these things, but not having ACP losses inside this year is huge. And I'm not going to give a short term outlook other than to say we better be better this year than we were next year over last year.

同時，我們正在努力實現所有這些目標，但今年沒有 ACP 的損失是巨大的。我不會給出短期展望，我只想說，今年我們最好比明年比去年做得更好。

So and then on video, the benefit that you saw to our net additions in the fourth quarter are simply a function of rebundling video and with our connectivity sales. And we had moved away from actively attaching video to our broadband sales because we were unconvinced that over time, that would be an asset to the customer relationship because of the value equation that existed in selling a video product that had been commoditized, had a high price, and was able to be repackaged elsewhere through direct-to-consumer apps and otherwise at a lower cost.

那麼在視訊方面，您在第四季度看到的我們淨增量的好處只是重新捆綁視訊和我們的連接銷售的功能。我們不再積極地將影片附加到寬頻銷售中，因為我們不相信，隨著時間的推移，這將成為客戶關係的一項資產，因為銷售已經商品化、價格高昂的視訊產品存在價值等式，並且能夠透過直接面向消費者的應用程式或其他方式以較低的成本在其他地方重新包裝。

And so for years, we had moved away from attaching video to our broadband sales because what used to be a benefit was concerning us as maybe not being a benefit. That being said, once we had moved to an environment where we had more flexibility to use packaging in a way that created packages that were valuable to a customer and then attach the direct-to-consumer apps to our expanded packages in a way that allowed customers to take advantage of the full retail value of the apps as a way to save money, and the introduction of Xumo, which allows you to have unified search and discovery, and combine all of those services that you now get as part of your expanded service as well as any other DTC you take separately in a single place.

因此多年來，我們一直不再將影片附加到寬頻銷售中，因為以前認為是一種好處的東西現在看來可能不再是一種好處了。話雖如此，一旦我們轉移到一個環境，​​我們就可以更靈活地使用打包方式，創建對客戶有價值的包，然後將直接面向消費者的應用程序附加到我們的擴展包中，讓客戶可以利用應用程序的全部零售價值來節省資金，並引入 Xumo，讓您進行統一的搜索和發現，並將您現在作為擴展服務的一部分獲得的所有這些服務以及您單獨使用的任何其他 DTC。

We thought the combination of that actually did provide the value and utility that we're looking for. That's only going to get better. And so that's just the beginning. We haven't rolled out the full set of seamless entertainment packages and marketing yet.

我們認為，這種結合確實提供了我們所尋求的價值和效用。情況只會越來越好。這只是一個開始。我們尚未推出全套無縫娛樂套餐和行銷。

But we felt confident enough beginning in late September to start selling video again actively together with our broadband subscriptions as a way to create new utility in the overall package, not just for video, but really to add value back into the broadband relationship.

但從 9 月底開始，我們有足夠的信心開始再次積極地與寬頻訂閱一起銷售視頻，以便在整個套餐中創造新的效用，不僅僅是視頻，而且真正為寬頻關係增加價值。

And what we did with our Spectrum pricing and packaging that we offered in September as it allowed us to when you take two or three sets of products between really broadband, mobile, and video, allowed us to offer Internet at a lower price, both at promotional and retail value and to offer a price lock based on the bundle that you were taking and offer lower roll-offs on the move from promotion to retail passing, all of which has both long and short term impact on our abilities from a acquisition standpoint as well as from a retention standpoint.

我們在 9 月推出了 Spectrum 定價和套餐，當您在寬頻、行動和視訊之間選擇兩三套產品時，我們可以以更低的價格（包括促銷價和零售價）提供互聯網服務，並根據您所使用的套餐提供價格鎖定，並在從促銷到零售的過程中提供更低的轉出費用，所有這些都會從收購和保留的角度對我們的能力產生和短期影響。

So we feel good about where it's going. It's only going to get better. And that doesn't mean -- that's not a quarterly outlook on video, don't get me wrong. It's just saying that over time, as our capabilities increased our selling capabilities and training to rebundle these services is enhanced. I think it gives us real benefits, not just to video but also into broadband and to mobile.

因此，我們對它的進展感到很滿意。情況只會越來越好。但這並不意味著——這不是對影片的季度展望，請不要誤會我的意思。只是說，隨著時間的推移，隨著我們的能力的提高，我們的銷售能力和重新捆綁這些服務的培訓也得到了增強。我認為它為我們帶來了真正的好處，不僅是在影片方面，還包括寬頻和行動方面。

Thanks so much.

非常感謝。

Thanks, Ben. We'll take our next question, please.

謝謝，本。我們將回答下一個問題。

Craig Moffett, MoffettNathanson.

克雷格·莫菲特（Craig Moffett），莫菲特·納森森（MoffettNathanson）。

Hi. I'm going to try to squeeze in two questions. First, just given the importance of your wireless bundling strategy, I'm going to leave aside the comments that you just had about video, can you point to real evidence of what wireless is doing for your broadband business?

你好。我將嘗試提出兩個問題。首先，考慮到您的無線捆綁策略的重要性，我將把您剛才關於影片的評論放在一邊，您能否指出無線對您的寬頻業務有何影響的真實證據？

And the way that you think about whether it's through churn or something else, that suggests that the convergent strategy is having a meaningful impact. It's obviously topical because Comcast essentially said they're going to try to emulate the strategy that you've already been pursuing for a couple of years.

無論您的想法是透過客戶流失還是其他方式，都顯示收斂策略正在產生有意義的影響。這顯然是一個熱門話題，因為康卡斯特基本上表示他們將嘗試模仿你已經推行了幾年的策略。

And then also on the topic of Comcast, you mentioned organic growth opportunities. I have to ask because we get the question so often. How do you think about inorganic growth opportunities? And with the commentary so frequently being discussed about the possibility of combining with Comcast, how do you think about getting bigger as a cable operator?

然後關於康卡斯特的話題，您提到了有機成長機會。我必須問一下，因為我們經常被問到這個問題。您如何看待無機成長機會？關於與康卡斯特合併的可能性經常被討論，您如何看待自己作為有線電視營運商的發展？

There's a lot in there, Craig. But they're good questions. So from a wireless standpoint and the benefits to convergence, if you think back to what we were doing and we continue to do it the Spectrum one offer was really using the broadband relationship and offering at time of acquisition or retention of free mobile line.

裡面有很多東西，克雷格。但這些都是好問題。因此，從無線的角度和融合的好處來看，如果您回想一下我們正在做的事情以及我們繼續做的事情，Spectrum one 的優惠實際上是利用寬頻關係，並在收購或保留免費移動線路時提供服務。

And what that was driving is additional attach, obviously, the mobile line, which is actively used, but additional mobile lines that were attached. And so we were using broadband really for the benefit of mobile. And what we had seen along the way, some of it due to the convergence benefits and the seamless connectivity, and some of it, obviously, was self-selection that takes place.

而這顯然推動了額外的連接，即積極使用的移動線路，以及連接的額外移動線路。因此，我們使用寬頻確實是為了移動的利益。我們一路走來所看到的，有些是由於融合優勢和無縫連接，而有些顯然是發生的自我選擇。

And there's bias there, so that's why we've been careful, is that we saw a much lower churn rate in those broadband customers when they had mobile versus when not. And some of that is clearly self-selection. And we've always recognized that, and that's why we've been careful not to report out on that too heavily. But it's not all self-selection and there's a clear benefit, and it's a better product, and it saves customers tremendous amounts of money.

這其中存在偏見，所以我們才要小心，我們發現當寬頻客戶擁有行動裝置時，他們的流失率比沒有行動裝置時要低得多。其中一些顯然是自我選擇的。我們一直都認識到了這一點，因此我們一直很小心，不會過多地報道這一點。但它並非全是自主選擇，而且它有明顯的好處，而且它是一種更好的產品，可以為客戶節省大量的錢。

What we did with the new pricing and packaging is we recognize that we now have a brand recognition in the marketplace of Spectrum Mobile, which is the fastest mobile product. It's now widely recognized, both from a brand and capability standpoint.

我們採用新的定價和包裝是因為我們意識到，我們現在在 Spectrum Mobile 市場上擁有品牌認知度，而 Spectrum Mobile 是速度最快的行動產品。現在，無論從品牌還是能力的角度來看，它都得到了廣泛認可。

And it does have superior speed and it has better connectivity through the Spectrum Mobile SSID attach as well as, Speed Boost. And we decided when at acquisition or retention, we can use mobile and doesn't need to be always priced at zero dollars for the first line for free, and we can use it to drive improved acquisition and retail pricing for Internet and flip it a little bit.

它確實具有卓越的速度，並且透過 Spectrum Mobile SSID 連接以及 Speed Boost 具有更好的連接性。我們決定，在獲取客戶或留住客戶時，我們可以使用行動設備，而不需要總是將第一條線路的價格定為零美元，我們可以利用它來推動互聯網獲取和零售定價的改善，並稍微調整一下。

It doesn't mean that we've stopped using Spectrum One, but still have Spectrum One active in the marketplace and it works well. But we can also use the Life Unlimited bundles, as I'd like to call them, to enhance our capabilities for Internet sell-in. That's early stages, but I think it's clearly going to have benefits.

這並不意味著我們停止使用 Spectrum One，而是 Spectrum One 仍然在市場上活躍並且運作良好。但是，我們也可以使用我所稱的「無限生命」套餐來增強我們的網路銷售能力。現在還處於早期階段，但我認為它顯然會帶來好處。

So I think the conversion strategy works. The point I was making in the slide that we showed in today's presentation as we have a unique capability to deliver that where nobody else really does across their entire footprint. And so to the extent that convergence matters, which we think it does, we think we're in the best position to do that.

所以我認為轉換策略是有效的。我在今天的簡報中強調的一點是，我們擁有獨特的能力來實現這一點，而其他任何人都無法在整個業務範圍內做到這一點。因此，就我們認為的融合很重要的程度而言，我們認為我們處於最佳位置來做到這一點。

And I just want to make sure that we address there as well that not only does mobile but the broadband subscriber, but mobile also has financial benefits all on its own. It drives additional margin at the customer level.

我只是想確保我們也解決這個問題，不僅是行動，還有寬頻用戶，而且行動本身也具有經濟效益。它在客戶層面帶來額外的利潤。

By attaching it to more customers, we drive sort of additional margin across the business. And really, it's one of the key sort of cornerstones to how we get comfortable with the plan for EBITDA growth inside of 2025 because we have that mobile revenue, and therefore, mobile margin as a driver of growth in the business.

透過將其與更多客戶聯繫起來，我們可以為整個業務帶來額外的利潤。實際上，它是我們制定 2025 年 EBITDA 成長計畫的關鍵基石之一，因為我們擁有行動收入，因此行動利潤率是業務成長的驅動力。

It's become significant. And just to add on to that, it's not just you mentioned convergence, you could think about convergence as really the wireline and wireless capabilities together. But also with video, and that hasn't been the case.

它已經變得很重要。補充一點，您提到的融合並不只有融合，您還可以將融合視為有線和無線功能的真正結合。但對於影片來說，情況並非如此。

What I was mentioning to Ben, I think video can become an asset again. And it doesn't mean that we're going to grow video, I'm not saying that. But I think we can use it as a significant asset that's also unique to us compared to most of our competitors together with mobile to find ways to drive growth to a unique set of products and to save customers a lot of money.

我剛才跟本提到，我認為影片可以再次成為一種資產。但這並不意味著我們會發展視訊業務，我不是這麼說的。但我認為，我們可以將其作為一項重要資產，與大多數競爭對手相比，這也是我們獨有的，再加上行動技術，我們可以找到推動獨特產品成長的方法，並為客戶節省大量資金。

On the M&A front, I know there's a lot of chatter out there. Our strategy, Craig, it's really to create value has never been dependent on M&A. In fact, it's really been moving in purely from an organic growth perspective and how do we put value for shareholders from that perspective.

關於併購方面，我知道有很多討論。克雷格，我們的策略是真正創造價值，從未依賴併購。事實上，它確實純粹是從有機成長的角度發展的，從這個角度來看，我們如何為股東創造價值。

And you do that by being a great operator. You do it by saving customers lots of money, providing great service, doing that with in-sourced onshore employees, and being hopefully a good allocator of capital. But by being a good operator that also, I think, opens acquisition opportunities over time.

透過成為一名出色的操作員，您就可以做到這一點。您可以透過為客戶節省大量資金、提供優質服務、聘用本土員工以及成為優秀的資本配置者來實現這一目標。但我認為，作為一名優秀的營運商，隨著時間的推移，也會帶來收購機會。

And the rest of the cable industry, when you sit back and think about it, it's all family owned or family controlled, and think they'll decide. This is not like Time Warner Cable, where there's another large publicly traded company out there. And so it's really in the hands of these families or family-controlled businesses who get to decide when it's the time that they'd like to combine.

至於有線電視產業的其他部分，如果你坐下來仔細想一想，你會發現它們都是由家族擁有或家族控制的，並且認為他們會做出決定。這與時代華納有線電視公司不同，後者是另一家大型上市公司。因此，真正進行合併的決策權掌握在這些家族或家族控制企業的手中。

And the other thing I would tell you is that the door for M&A, I think there's a lot of chatter that it's also wider, I don't think it's wide open. I think any M&A transaction that you have to do in any administration anytime, it has to be good for customers, and it has to be good for jobs.

我想告訴你的另一件事是，我認為有很多人談論併購的大門是否敞開，但我不認為它是否敞開。我認為，任何時候、任何政府進行的任何併購交易都必須有利於客戶，必須有利於就業。

And when you think about our organic operating strategy that drives growth, that's been helpful in that respect in the past in terms of our ability to get things done as well. But it's not -- it's a potential add-on to our strategy, it's not the core of our strategy. It's not the only way that we can create value.

當你考慮到我們推動成長的有機營運策略時，你會發現這在過去也對我們完成任務的能力有幫助。但它不是——它是我們策略的潛在附加部分，而不是我們策略的核心。這不是我們創造價值的唯一方式。

Thanks, Craig. Layla, we'll take our next question, please.

謝謝，克雷格。萊拉，請我們回答下一個問題。

Sebastiano Petti, JP Morgan.

摩根大通的塞巴斯蒂亞諾·佩蒂。

Thank you for taking the question. If perhaps, Jessica, you could comment just around EBITDA, you do expect growth for the year. Any color perhaps OpEx level across the different buckets that we should be assuming?

感謝您回答這個問題。傑西卡，如果您可以僅對 EBITDA 進行評論的話，您確實預計今年會出現增長。我們應該假設不同儲存桶中的 OpEx 等級有何種顏色嗎？

Obviously, as Spectrum Life Unlimited ramps, and what you and Chris have talked about, creates more attach opportunities, there's probably sales and market costs that come with that. So just maybe trying to frame that a little bit would be helpful against the backdrop as well of improving costs that you implemented in 2024.

顯然，隨著 Spectrum Life Unlimited 的擴張，以及您和克里斯所談論的創造更多附加機會，可能會帶來銷售和市場成本。因此，也許嘗試稍微建構一下這一點，在 2024 年實施的成本改善背景下也會有所幫助。

And then maybe just thinking about the CapEx guide. Obviously, it was helpful, does not include bead -- limited BEAD appetite per se. But maybe how you're thinking about any changes to tax policy, should we get an extension of bonus depreciation? How would you perhaps maybe think about that across the buckets of shareholder returns versus maybe improving or accelerating some of your network efforts? Thank you very much.

然後也許只是考慮一下資本支出指南。顯然，它是有幫助的，但不包括珠子——本身就有限的珠子胃口。但是也許您正在考慮稅收政策的任何變化，我們是否應該延長獎金折舊？您可能會如何考慮股東回報與改善或加速某些網路工作之間的連結？非常感謝。

Yeah, So I can -- I'll start on EBITDA growth. You said we plan to grow EBITDA growth in 2025. I think we do that through a combination of growth in the mobile business, customer benefits from the new pricing and packaging. There's Spectrum One promotional roll-off and some other rate benefits that we'll see. And then continued efficiencies in the business, particularly in cost to serve.

是的，所以我可以 - 我將從 EBITDA 成長開始。您說過我們計劃在 2025 年實現 EBITDA 成長。我認為我們透過結合行動業務的成長以及客戶從新的定價和包裝中獲益來做到這一點。我們將看到 Spectrum One 促銷活動和一些其他費率優惠。然後繼續提高業務效率，特別是服務成本。

As you heard Chris sort of talk about with some of the benefits that we see from machine learning and AI, and just driving around the customer commitments to have fewer transactions with customers. But also the continuing benefits of our -- of what we've done on the expense side.

正如您所聽到的克里斯談論的我們從機器學習和人工智慧中看到的一些好處，以及圍繞客戶承諾來減少與客戶的交易。而且我們在費用方面所做的努力也持續帶來好處。

In that respect, I think across programming and cost to service customers, I generally expect that we'll be flat to slightly down, acknowledging that we think about programming on per video customer basis and that mix does matter there a lot.

在這方面，我認為在節目製作和服務客戶成本方面，我總體上預計我們會持平或略有下降，但我們考慮節目製作時是基於每個視訊客戶的基礎，而組合確實非常重要。

And so to the extent that the mix of products that customers take changes as a result of the inclusion of the seamless connectivity app or the seamless entertainment apps, I think that one ultimately will be dependent on results, but that's what we expect.

因此，如果由於無縫連接應用程式或無縫娛樂應用程式的加入而導致客戶所購買的產品組合發生變化，我認為這最終將取決於結果，但這正是我們的預期。

In sales and marketing, as you point out there, I think there's a little more growth, maybe low to mid-single digits, given what we're doing to drive and grow customers and to roll out or continue the rollout of the Life Unlimited brand. And so that's where I'm sitting on the expense side. And I don't know, Chris, do you want to talk about --

在銷售和行銷方面，正如您所指出的，考慮到我們為推動和增加客戶以及推出或繼續推出 Life Unlimited 品牌所做的努力，我認為還會有更多成長，可能是低到中等個位數。這就是我在費用方面的現況。我不知道，克里斯，你想談談--

Taxes usually where Jessica -- so if we're talking about capital allocation, maybe we tag team this one, but if needed. Look, we don't know where tax legislation is going to go. But if it was enacted, it is obvious that we'd have potentially a very sizable reduction in our cash taxes versus the outlook that Jessica has been talking about.

稅收通常由傑西卡負責 - 所以如果我們談論資本配置，也許我們會聯合起來討論這個，但如果需要的話。看，我們不知道稅收立法將會走向何方。但如果它得以實施，顯然我們的現金稅將有可能大幅減少，這與傑西卡所說的前景不同。

And whether that's rate or interest deductibility or bonus depreciation, actually, all three of those are really important to an infrastructure builder. And that's what we do, is we build the infrastructure here in the US, the highway the pipeline for all of these applications and traffic.

無論是利率、利息扣除額還是獎金折舊，實際上，這三者對基礎建設者來說都非常重要。這就是我們所做的，我們在美國建造基礎設施、高速公路和所有這些應用和流量的管道。

And so any of those three things, and hopefully it's all three, which is rate interest deductibility and bonus depreciation, would make the return on all of our capital projects that might have been less attractive to be much more attractive.

因此，這三件事中的任何一件，希望是所有這三件事，即利率扣除和獎金折舊，都會使我們所有資本項目的回報（可能不那麼有吸引力）變得更具吸引力。

I don't think that means that you should be say it's one for one in terms of dollar for dollar terms of incremental, but to projects that are very good for customers and very good for our communities that might have been on the edge from a returns profile, suddenly can get really enhanced. And I think that's good for the economy and for jobs and for shareholders all in one.

我認為這並不意味著你應該說這是一對一的、以美元對美元的增量方式，而是對於那些對客戶非常有利、對我們的社區非常有利的項目，這些項目的回報狀況可能一直處於邊緣狀態，但突然間卻得到了真正的增強。我認為這對經濟、就業和股東都有好處。

Thanks, Sebastiano. Layla, we'll take our next question, please.

謝謝，塞巴斯蒂亞諾。萊拉，請我們回答下一個問題。

Jessica Reif Ehrlich, Bank of America.

美國銀行的傑西卡·賴夫·埃利希 (Jessica Reif Ehrlich)。

Thank you. I guess on LA, I know you said you'd be more specific on the first quarter call. But is there any early read that you can give -- I don't know what you're assuming for homes coming back, but it is a step -- a multiyear step down?

謝謝。我想在洛杉磯，我知道你說過你會在第一季的電話會議上更具體地說明。但是，您能否提供一些早期的解讀——我不知道您對房屋回流有何假設，但這是一個步驟——多年的逐步回落？

And then a follow-up for both video and M&A, the video seems to be working before you were even marketing. Can you give us some color on what your marketing plans are for what is clear value for customers?

然後對影片和併購進行跟進，影片似乎在行銷之前就已經發揮作用了。您能否向我們詳細介紹您的行銷計劃，以便為客戶帶來明顯的價值？

And then on M&A, Chris, you made a remark at the beginning about national and global competition. So can you just talk about like how you would compete with more national competitors, what you -- what benefits you would get? Is it all with cost or revenue? Any color you can give?

然後談到併購，克里斯，您一開始就談到了國內和全球競爭。那麼您能否談談您將如何與更多全國競爭對手競爭，您將獲得什麼好處？都是成本還是收益？您能給什麼顏色嗎？

Sure. So from an LA perspective, what's widely reported is there's roughly 15,000, 16,000 passings that have earned and no longer inhabitable. And you should assume that the entirety of LA is really our footprint, and so that reflects passing for us. In the grand scheme of overall Charter at 57 million passings, that's not that large. But it's near and dear to home. And so it's, like I said, personal to us.

當然。因此，從洛杉磯的角度來看，廣泛報導的是，大約有 15,000 到 16,000 名居民因火災而死亡，並且該建築已不再適合居住。你應該假設整個洛杉磯實際上就是我們的足跡，所以這反映了我們的經過。相對於整個憲章運動 5,700 萬人次的宏偉計劃而言，這個數字並不算大。但它離家很近，而且很親切。所以，正如我所說的，這對我們來說是私事。

So there's a penetration read on that. That will be the subscriber impact that's immediate. Those homes, over time, so we'll be taking out of passings, we'll take them out of customer relationships. And over time, if you know that area, and I know you do, it will get rebuilt and those will become new passings and new homes inside of our footprint. And we're already looking at the exact plans for rebuilding, starting in many cases to do so.

因此，對此有一個深入的解讀。這對訂閱者來說將是直接的影響。隨著時間的推移，這些房屋將會從逝去的人中消失，我們將從客戶關係中消失。隨著時間的推移，如果你了解那個地區，我知道你了解，它會被重建，那些將成為我們足跡內的新過客和新家園。我們目前正在研究重建的具體計劃，並且在許多情況下已經開始實施。

That will drive, as Jessica mentioned, clear leasing capital, which we'll be able to highlight. And there will be a subscriber impact, which we'll highlight definitively once that's in our next earnings call. There will be credits along the way for customers who are impacted through -- obviously, if they lost their home.

正如傑西卡所提到的，這將推動清理租賃資本，我們將能夠強調這一點。而且這將對訂閱者產生影響，我們將在下次收益電話會議上明確強調這一點。對於受到影響的客戶（顯然，如果他們失去了家園），我們將為他們提供信貸。

But in addition to that, throughout (inaudible) And otherwise, we've got policies in place to do that. And so there will be a number of one-time financial impacts and similar to other times. We'll just go through that list and Jessica will do that on the next call.

但除此之外，在整個（聽不清楚）過程中，我們已經制定了政策來做到這一點。因此，將會產生一些一次性的財務影響，與其他時間類似。我們只需瀏覽一下這份清單，而傑西卡就會在下次通話中這樣做。

The video from, a marketing perspective, look, from a competitive standpoint, I'm not going to sit here and articulate everything that we're doing. But I think strategically positioning our video product and our package of services in a way that allows customers to have more product than they'd be able to afford otherwise and to save significant amounts of money, when you look at that slide, the things that we concluded, not all of those apps are yet deployed, including, for example, Peacock, which will come within the next month or so.

從行銷角度看，從競爭角度看，我不會坐在這裡詳細闡述我們所做的一切。但我認為，我們對視訊產品和服務包進行策略性定位，使客戶能夠擁有比他們原本能夠負擔的更多的產品，並節省大量的錢，當你看那張幻燈片時，我們得出的結論是，並不是所有的應用程序都已經部署，例如，Peacock，它將在下個月左右推出。

But once we've got all the apps fully activated for inclusion, and once we have a consumer friendly way for them to upgrade into the ad-free version, which is for the benefit of us, the programmer, and the consumer, and we have that in a store that allows customers to go through at least the perception of a unified authentication process that's customer friendly, then you'll start to see us push more and more into driving that not just for video sales, but as a way to contribute to the broadband connectivity and the mobile relationship.

但是，一旦我們將所有應用程式完全激活並納入其中，一旦我們有一種消費者友好的方式讓他們升級到無廣告版本，這對我們、程式設計師和消費者都有好處，而且我們在商店中允許客戶至少經歷一個統一的、客戶友好的身份驗證過程，然後你會看到我們越來越多地推動這一點，不僅僅是為了視頻銷售，而是一種促進寬頻連接和行動關係的方式。

One of the key features that we've had as part of our negotiations with the programmers along the way is to say, we need to cooperate, this is a partnership. And it shouldn't be that every four or five years, we're going to go to battle and try to find a net zero gain, this is really about -- because that hasn't worked. The net zero game actually left to -- led to significant losses for everyone, including the customer, but as well as, obviously, programmers, even us.

我們在與程式設計師談判過程中的一個關鍵特點是，我們需要合作，這是一種夥伴關係。我們不應該每隔四、五年就努力尋找淨零收益，因為這並沒有奏效。淨零遊戲實際上給每個人帶來了重大損失，包括客戶，當然還有程式設計師，甚至我們。

So the idea here is to form a true partnership where we can get behind each other's products that we can co-market together. They have fantastic brands. They have fantastic IP. The way that Spectrum as good as our brand is, it would be difficult to replicate.

因此，這裡的想法是建立真正的合作夥伴關係，我們可以互相支持彼此的產品並共同行銷。他們擁有出色的品牌。他們擁有出色的 IP。Spectrum 和我們的品牌一樣優秀，很難複製。

And we're out there selling their product every single day, with 25,000 frontline sales and retention people. And we are very good at distribution, but I think having them get behind and help us advertise the value that's here can work well for the programmer, but also work well for us.

我們擁有 25,000 名一線銷售和保留人員，每天都在銷售他們的產品。我們在分銷方面非常擅長，但我認為讓他們支持並幫助我們宣傳這裡的價值不僅對程式設計師有好處，而且對我們也有好處。

And obviously, it works very well for the customer because they save money, they are able to take more product, and they can actually upgrade to the ad-free version, which creates additional revenue for the programmers and for us over time, in a way that works as a much better ecosystem.

顯然，這對客戶來說非常有利，因為他們可以省錢，能夠購買更多產品，而且實際上可以升級到無廣告版本，這會隨著時間的推移為程式設計師和我們創造額外收入，從而形成一個更好的生態系統。

So without getting into any tactics around marketing, I think you can see where we're trying to make sure that the incentives are very much aligned between the programmers, us and the customer in a way that, from our perspective, really works to sell more connectivity relationships.

因此，無需討論任何行銷策略，我想您可以看到我們正在努力確保程式設計師、我們和客戶之間的激勵措施高度一致，從我們的角度來看，這確實有助於建立更多的連結關係。

From a scale perspective, which is what you asked, if we, as Charter, if we had more scale, I think the brand recognition of our mobile services -- Internet tends to be a little bit more local. But clearly, when you think about us competing (inaudible) against national mobile operators, when you think about us in the video space, there's Amazon, there's Google.

從規模的角度來看，也就是你所問的，如果我們作為 Charter，如果我們有更大的規模，我認為我們的行動服務——互聯網的品牌認知度會更加本地化。但顯然，當你想到我們與國家行動電信商競爭（聽不清楚）時，當你想到我們在影片領域時，有亞馬遜，有Google。

And so across really all of our products, you can think about where there's marketing advantage, to having some additional scale. We have scale today and it's sufficient. I'm not saying that we're approved to that, but I think we could do better for customers.

因此，在我們所有的產品中，你都可以思考哪裡具有行銷優勢，哪裡具有額外的規模。我們如今已經有了規模，而且已經足夠了。我並不是說我們同意這樣做，但我認為我們可以為客戶提供更好的服務。

By having that scale, I think we could save customers additional money. I think we could in-source jobs the way that we did with Time Warner Cable and Bright House, and bring more US jobs back from offshore call centers on to onshore environments that create good paying jobs, as well as bringing contract labor into in-house as well. So I think we can be good for ourselves in terms of scale, for consumers in terms of scale, I think we can be good for jobs.

透過這種規模，我認為我們可以為客戶節省更多的錢。我認為，我們可以像對待時代華納有線電視公司和 Bright House 一樣，將工作引入美國，將更多的美國工作從海外呼叫中心帶回能夠創造高薪工作的國內環境，同時也將合約工引入美國國內。所以我認為從規模上來說，我們對自己有利，從規模上來說，對消費者有利，我認為我們也能為就業帶來好處。

And then finally, if you think about an environment that we've talked a lot about, AI development to actually enhance our service capabilities, to make these onshore in-house jobs better for our employees. AI is not cheap. And the more scale you have for that, to the extent you could become less regional and closer to a national operator to compete, it allow you to invest more into AI, and to actually have lower cost per customer to do so, and to drive additional benefits for customers that way.

最後，如果你想想我們經常談論的環境，人工智慧開發實際上增強了我們的服務能力，使我們的員工能夠更好地完成這些在岸內部工作。人工智慧並不便宜。而且，規模越大，您的競爭就越不區域化，而越接近全國性運營商，這樣您就可以在人工智慧方面投入更多，從而實際上降低每個客戶的成本，並以這種方式為客戶帶來額外利益。

Look, I could go on and on. We have enough scale to operate well today, we're doing it. But having additional scale, of course, is always beneficial when you operate a large, a fixed network, high capital business.

瞧，我還可以繼續說下去。今天我們已經有足夠的規模來良好地運營，我們正在這樣做。但當你經營大型、固定網路、高資本的業務時，擁有額外的規模當然總是有益的。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Thanks Jessica. Layla, we will take our last question, please.

謝謝傑西卡。萊拉，我們將回答最後一個問題。

Kutgun Maral, Evercore ISI.

Kutgun Maral，Evercore ISI。

Good morning and thanks for taking the questions. Just a follow-up on the M&A discussion from a different lens and maybe focus on wireless. You've scaled their mobile efforts quite meaningfully. And I know that you've had a lot of success with migrating traffic onto your own network.

早上好，感謝您回答問題。只是從不同角度對併購討論進行跟進，也許重點關注無線領域。您已經相當有意義地擴大了他們的行動業務。我也知道您在將流量遷移到自己的網路上已經取得了很大成功。

But as that business grows and perhaps Comcast also ramped, is there a change to your view on whether owners' economics would make more sense on a standalone basis or through a partnership?

但是隨著業務的成長以及康卡斯特的擴張，您是否改變了對業主經濟是單獨實施更有意義還是透過合作實施更有意義的看法？

I just wanted to revisit the pie the coming pushback that we get on your mobile and convergence efforts is that your margins there and the opportunity more broadly are naturally limited because of the (inaudible) relationship, and therefore, you just don't get as much credit on the success that you've had. So would appreciate your perspective.

我只是想重新審視這個問題，我們在移動和融合努力中遇到的阻力是，由於（聽不清楚）關係，您在那裡的利潤和更廣泛的機會自然會受到限制，因此，您無法獲得與已經取得的成功相同的讚譽。所以很感激您的觀點。

And just a quick one on rural. The new passings have continued to pick up sequentially, but customer and ads were flattish. Can you just help us think about penetration trends over there? And as your new passings (inaudible) accelerates around 450,000 in 2025, should we still assume that rural sub net adds will also accelerate? Or are there other nuances that we should be mindful of? Thank you.

我簡單談談農村問題。新乘客量持續連續回升，但乘客量和廣告量卻持平。您能幫我們思考一下那邊的滲透趨勢嗎？隨著 2025 年新死亡人數（聽不清楚）加速增加到 45 萬左右，我們是否仍應該假設農村子網增加也會加速？或是有其他細微差別需要我們注意嗎？謝謝。

Trying to think the best way to answer your question on the mobile business. We when we got into the mobile business, it really was because it is an extension of our broadband business. And so when you think about our mobile business today or 87% of the traffic is really are in our network already today.

試著思考如何以最佳方式回答您關於行動業務的問題。我們進入行動業務，實際上是因為它是我們寬頻業務的延伸。因此，當您考慮我們今天的行動業務時，87％的流量實際上已經在我們的網路中了。

We've deployed thousands of radios for CBRS. We'll be deploying that nation across our entire footprint, deploying thousands more this year, radios for CBRS, in a multitude of markets. And so that number, the 87% is only going to increase through CBRS deployment.

我們已經為 CBRS 部署了數千台無線電設備。我們將在整個國家的範圍內進行部署，今年將在許多市場部署數千台 CBRS 無線電設備。所以這個數字，87% 只會透過 CBRS 部署而增加。

But as well as our Wi-Fi capabilities and the cooperation amongst these regional cable operators to enable Wi-Fi auto authentication across these networks as we compete against national MNOs. So the offload can continue to increase.

但是，我們還有 Wi-Fi 功能以及與這些區域有線電視營運商的合作，以便在我們與國家 MNO 競爭時在這些網路上實現 Wi-Fi 自動身份驗證。因此卸載量可以繼續增加。

Already, our margins are very good on the product. And so there's no driving force for us to say that we need to have owner's economics. We don't look at the product as a standalone basis. We have the capability to get EBITDA growth that way, which we do just for really more from a capital markets perspective, and it's significant contribution this year in 2025 to our growth rate.

目前，我們的產品利潤已經很高了。因此，我們沒有動力說我們需要有所有者經濟學。我們並不將產品視為獨立的基礎。我們有能力透過這種方式實現 EBITDA 成長，從資本市場的角度來看，我們這樣做確實是為了實現更多目標，而且這對我們 2025 年的成長率做出了重大貢獻。

But it's really a combined product. For us, mobile is an extension broadband product. It ties into our seamless connectivity capabilities. And so there's no pressure from our perspective to feel like we need to have owner's -- additional owner's economics beyond the 87% that we already have today. I don't know if you want to comment on.

但它實際上是一種組合產品。對我們來說，行動是寬頻的延伸產品。它與我們的無縫連接能力緊密相關。因此，從我們的角度來看，我們並沒有壓力去認為我們需要擁有超出今天已有的 87% 的所有者經濟——額外的所有者經濟。不知道您是否想發表評論。

On the rural piece, so there are a couple of things going on. First off, if you think about where a preponderance of our rural build is, there's a large amount in the Carolinas and in Florida. And so from a sales perspective, I think there was a bit of impact there from the hurricanes inside of Q4.

關於農村問題，有幾件事正在發生。首先，如果你想想我們的鄉村建築主要集中在哪裡，你會發現大量的建築都集中在卡羅來納州和佛羅裡達州。因此，從銷售角度來看，我認為第四季的颶風造成了一定影響。

I do also think from a timing perspective, so the second one, you have passings sometimes they get placed in service very late in the quarter. And so some of those passings might not have aged quite as much as you would think if you sort of assume that they're coming in at a steady rate.

我確實也從時間角度考慮，第二點是，有時候，有些車輛會在本季末投入使用。因此，如果你假設這些死亡人數以穩定的速度增加，那麼其中一些人的去世可能並沒有你想像的那麼久遠。

And the last one is there's a little bit of competition in those rural markets on the cellphone Internet side. I don't think that changes where we end up sort of from a terminal penetration in those markets perspective because the desire in those spaces for wired broadband is still quite high. But as to the speed with which we terminate some of -- we penetrate some of those passings very early on, there's a little less jump at the very beginning than what we had seen previously.

最後一個是農村市場在手機網路方面存在一些競爭。我認為從這些市場的終端滲透率來看，這不會改變我們的最終結果，因為這些市場對有線寬頻的需求仍然很高。但至於我們終止某些傳球的速度——我們很早就穿透了其中一些傳球，一開始的跳躍比我們之前看到的要少一些。

That's good to know.

很高興知道這一點。

Layla, that concludes our call. Right back to you.

萊拉，我們的通話到此結束。馬上回覆您。

Thank you all for joining the call today. The session is now concluded, and you may now disconnect.

感謝大家今天參加電話會議。會話現已結束，您現在可以斷開連線。