Charter Communications Inc (CHTR) 2022 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Good day, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the Charter's First Quarter 2022 Investor Call. (Operator Instructions) Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded. (Operator Instructions)

您好，感謝您的耐心等待。歡迎參加Charter公司2022年第一季投資者電話會議。 （操作說明）請注意，本次會議正在錄音。 （操作說明）

I will now hand the conference over to your first speaker today, Stefan Anninger. Sir, you may begin.

現在我將會議交給今天的第一位發言人，斯特凡·安寧格先生。先生，您可以開始了。

Good morning, and welcome to Charter's First Quarter 2022 Investor Call. The presentation that accompanies this call can be found on our website, ir.charter.com, under the Financial Information section.

早安，歡迎參加Charter公司2022年第一季投資人電話會議。本次電話會議的簡報可在本公司網站ir.charter.com的「財務資訊」欄位下找到。

Before we proceed, I would like to remind you that there are a number of risk factors and other cautionary statements contained in our SEC filings, including our most recent 10-K and also our 10-Q filed this morning. We will not review those risk factors and other cautionary statements on this call. However, we encourage you to read them carefully.

在繼續之前，我想提醒各位，我們向美國證券交易委員會（SEC）提交的文件中包含一些風險因素和其他警示性聲明，包括我們最新的10-K表格以及今天早上提交的10-Q表格。本次電話會議我們不會對此類風險因素和其他警示性聲明進行詳細討論，但我們建議您仔細閱讀。

Various remarks that we make on this call concerning expectations, predictions, plans and prospects constitute forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements 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 or to make additional forward-looking statements in the future.

我們在本次電話會議中就預期、預測、計畫和前景所作的各種表述均構成前瞻性陳述。這些前瞻性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有差異。任何前瞻性陳述僅反映管理階層目前的觀點，Charter公司不承擔任何義務修訂或更新此類陳述，也不承擔未來作出其他前瞻性陳述的義務。

During the course of today's call, we will be referring to non-GAAP measures as defined and reconciled in our earnings materials. These non-GAAP measures, as defined by Charter, may not be comparable to measures with similar titles used by other companies. Please also note that all growth rates noted on this call and in the presentation are calculated on a year-over-year basis unless otherwise specified.

在今天的電話會議中，我們將提及盈利文件中定義和調整的非GAAP財務指標。這些非GAAP財務指標由Charter公司定義，可能與其他公司使用的類似指標不具可比性。另請注意，除非另有說明，本次電話會議和簡報中提及的所有成長率均按同比計算。

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

今天參加電話會議的有：董事長兼執行長湯姆·拉特利奇；營運長克里斯·溫弗瑞；以及財務長傑西卡·費雪。接下來，讓我們把電話交給湯姆。

Thank you, Stefan. We continue to grow our business by offering superior converged connectivity products. During the quarter, we added 129,000 customer relationships and 185,000 Internet customers. Customer relationship churn remains low due to current consumer behavior while connect activity opportunities also remain low as a result.

謝謝斯特凡。我們透過提供卓越的融合連結產品，持續拓展業務。本季度，我們新增了12.9萬個客戶關係和18.5萬個網路使用者。由於目前的消費者行為，客戶關係流失率仍然很低，但連結活動機會也因此保持在較低水準。

We continued to see very strong mobile line growth with net additions of 373,000. Over the last year, we've grown our mobile lines by nearly 50%. We now have over 4 million total mobile lines.

我們持續保持強勁的行動線路成長勢頭，淨增加37.3萬條線路。過去一年，我們的行動線路數量增加了近50%。目前，我們的行動線路總數已超過400萬條。

Financials were also strong in the first quarter. First quarter revenue and EBITDA each grew by 5.4%. And when excluding a onetime payment, free cash flow grew by 9% year-over-year.

第一季財務業績也表現強勁。第一季營收和 EBITDA 均成長了 5.4%。若不計入一次性付款，自由現金流年增 9%。

As always, we remain focused on our primary goal of driving customer growth and market share, leading to higher free cash flow. We're doing that in a number of ways, including expanding our footprint with good returns on investment; upgrading our network to ensure that we're offering our latest and fastest high-quality connectivity services and continuing to invest in high-quality customer service; and finally, investing in the mobile business to drive convergence of fixed and mobile connectivity products and earn a higher share of monthly household communication spend by saving customers money.

一如既往，我們始終專注於推動客戶成長和市場份額提升，從而提高自由現金流。為此，我們採取了多項措施，包括擴大業務版圖並獲得良好的投資回報；升級網絡，確保提供最新、最快速的高品質連接服務，並持續投資於優質的客戶服務；以及投資行動業務，推動固定和行動連線產品的融合，並透過為客戶節省開支，贏得更高的家庭每月通訊支出份額。

Our rural construction initiative is also progressing as planned, and we've started to work in all 24 of the states where we won Rural Digital Opportunity Fund bids. Our multiyear, multibillion-dollar rural construction project will deliver gigabit high-speed broadband access to more than 1 million unserved rural customer locations across the country. Through RDOF, we'll add over 100,000 miles of new network infrastructure to our approximately 800,000 existing miles over the next 5 or so years.

我們的農村網路建設計劃也正按計劃推進，我們已在中標「農村數位機會基金」（RDOF）的24個州全面展開工作。這項耗資數十億美元、歷時多年的農村網路建設項目，將為全國超過100萬個尚未接入寬頻的農村用戶提供千兆高速寬頻服務。透過RDOF，我們將在未來五年左右的時間裡，在現有約80萬英里網路基礎設施的基礎上，新增超過10萬英里的網路基礎設施。

And our construction is not limited to RDOF commitments. We continue to build in other rural areas and are pursuing opportunities to receive other broadband stimulus funds. In addition, we regularly expand our network to additional residential, SMB and enterprise passing wherever it's economically attractive.

我們的建設並不限於農村發展基金（RDOF）的承諾。我們持續在其他農村地區進行建設，並積極尋求其他寬頻刺激資金。此外，我們定期擴展網絡，覆蓋更多住宅、中小企業和大型企業用戶，只要經濟效益允許，我們都會覆蓋。

Ultimately, our rural construction initiative is not only good for the millions of rural customers that will finally have access to fast and reliable Internet, but it's also good for Charter and its shareholders. The expansion of our footprint will help us drive additional customer growth by growing customers in unserved and underserved areas.

最終，我們的農村網路建設計劃不僅惠及數百萬農村用戶，使他們最終能夠連接快速可靠的互聯網，也有利於Charter公司及其股東。擴大網路覆蓋範圍將有助於我們在服務不足和尚未覆蓋的地區拓展用戶，從而推動用戶成長。

Demand for our customers for greater connectivity speeds and data throughput continue to grow at a very fast pace. During the quarter, Internet customers who do not buy traditional video from us used approximately 700 gigabytes per month, more than 35% higher than pre-pandemic levels. And nearly 25% of those customers now use a terabyte or more of data per month.

客戶對更高連線速度和資料吞吐量的需求持續快速成長。本季度，未向我們購買傳統視訊服務的網路客戶每月使用約 700 GB 的數據，比疫情前水準高出 35% 以上。其中近 25% 的客戶每月使用 1 TB 或更多的資料。

To meet that growing demand, we're both expanding the capacity and reallocating capacity within our network. And the technology to both expand and reallocate plant bandwidth is developing rapidly. Today, we're implementing high splits or what we prefer to call spectrum splits, which allocate more plant capacity to the upstream, all using our DOCSIS 3.1 infrastructure. In turn, we're able to offer our customers higher symmetrical speeds and multi-gigabit speeds.

為了滿足日益增長的需求，我們正在擴大網路容量並重新分配網路容量。用於擴展和重新分配網路頻寬的技術正在快速發展。目前，我們正在實施高頻寬分割（我們更傾向於稱之為頻譜分割），將更多網路容量分配給上行鏈路，所有這些都基於我們的 DOCSIS 3.1 基礎設施。因此，我們能夠為客戶提供更高的對稱速率和多千兆速率。

Additionally, by expanding and reallocating plant capacity, we reduced our network augmentation capital spending, including node split spending going forward. And the vast majority of our deployed modems are already spectrum split-capable, allowing us to provide faster service to our existing customers without swapping out their CPE.

此外，透過擴容和重新分配現有網路容量，我們減少了網路擴容的資本支出，包括未來的節點分割支出。而且，我們部署的大多數數據機都已具備頻譜分割功能，這使我們能夠在不更換現有客戶終端設備 (CPE) 的情況下，為其提供更快的服務。

We've been increasing the number of spectrum split projects in our service areas, and we'll continue to do so. And as the technology develops further, we'll shift our strategy dynamically to further expand the capacity of our plant and reallocate bandwidth as necessary to meet customer needs by deploying additional technologies, including DOCSIS 4.0, which will allow us to deliver even greater capacity, offering consumers the fastest and lowest latency connectivity products in a highly capital-efficient way, driving customer and market share growth and free cash flow.

我們一直在增加服務區域內的頻譜分割項目數量，並將繼續推進這項工作。隨著技術的不斷發展，我們將動態調整策略，透過部署包括DOCSIS 4.0在內的更多技術，進一步擴大網路容量並根據需要重新分配頻寬，以滿足客戶需求。這些技術將使我們能夠提供更大的容量，以高效的資本利用方式為消費者提供速度最快、延遲最低的連接產品，從而推動客戶和市場份額的成長以及自由現金流的增加。

In mobile, we continue to improve and enhance our products in a number of ways, differentiating our offering, helping to drive customer growth and improving mobile business economics. In April, we began the market rollout of mobile speed boost. Mobile speed boost allows Spectrum Mobile customers to receive speeds up to 1 gigabit per second on their Spectrum Mobile service devices when inside their homes even when their provisioned wireline Internet speed is less than a gigabit. The rollout of our first trial of our CBS small cells in full market area continues to progress nicely.

在行動領域，我們持續從多個方面改進和增強產品，從而實現差異化，助力客戶成長，並提升行動業務的經濟效益。今年四月，我們開始在市場上推廣行動速度提升服務。行動速度提升服務讓Spectrum Mobile用戶即使家中固定寬頻速度低於1Gbps，也能在家中使用Spectrum Mobile服務設備享受高達1Gbps的網路速度。此外，我們首個涵蓋整個市場區域的CBS小型基地台試點計畫也進展順利。

In the first quarter, we completed the build-out of our mobile core network for the upcoming trial. We expect the trial to begin in the middle of the year and to offer faster speeds, a better overall mobile experience, all the while saving us costs. Ultimately, with our mobile product, we're offering to consumers a unique and superior fully converged connectivity service package while saving customers hundreds or thousands of dollars per year.

第一季度，我們完成了即將開展的行動核心網路試點計畫的建設。我們預計試點計畫將於年中啟動，屆時將提供更快的網路速度、更佳的行動體驗，同時也能降低成本。最終，透過我們的行動產品，我們將為消費者提供獨特且卓越的全融合連接服務套餐，並每年為客戶節省數百甚至數千美元。

And our share of household connectivity spend, including mobile and fixed broadband, is still very low. In fact, we capture well less than 30% of household spend on wireline and mobile connectivity within our footprint. So there's a large opportunity for us to increase market share by saving customers money. And through our latest offering, we can do that, which in turn raises connects, reduces churn and drives customer growth.

我們在家庭網路連線支出（包括行動和固定寬頻）中所佔的份額仍然很低。事實上，在我們覆蓋範圍內，我們在有線和行動網路連線方面的家庭支出佔比遠低於30%。因此，我們有很大的機會透過為客戶省錢來提高市場份額。而我們最新的產品和服務正能做到這一點，進而提高連線數、降低客戶流失率並促進客戶成長。

Before turning the call over to Jessica, I wanted to make a few comments about the joint venture with Comcast that we announced earlier this week. Our joint venture will provide video delivered by apps, a competitive app store, on-TV applications and is capable of aggregation, navigation, search and curation, billing and content security. It will give consumers new devices and content providers new opportunities to create customer relationships on a platform designed to help them sell video effectively.

在將電話轉給傑西卡之前，我想就我們本週早些時候宣布的與康卡斯特的合資企業談幾點看法。我們的合資企業將提供透過應用程式傳輸的視訊服務、一個具有競爭力的應用程式商店、電視應用程序，並具備聚合、導航、搜尋和內容管理、計費和內容安全等功能。它將為消費者提供新的設備，並為內容提供者提供新的機會，讓他們在一個旨在幫助他們有效銷售影片的平台上建立客戶關係。

Comcast has created excellent IP for this venture, and we have high expectations that we can work together to continue its development and distribution. We have a history of success in our mobile JV operating systems, demonstrated by the fact that between our 2 respective mobile businesses, we added more mobile lines in the first quarter of this year than the rest of the mobile industry added collectively.

康卡斯特為這項合資企業打造了卓越的智慧財產權，我們對雙方合作推動其開發和推廣充滿信心。我們在行動合資作業系統領域擁有豐富的成功經驗，今年第一季度，我們兩家行動業務新增的行動線路數量超過了整個行動產業新增線路數量的總和，便是最好的證明。

Now I'll turn the call over to Jessica.

現在我把電話交給潔西卡。

Thanks, Tom. Let's now turn to our customer results on Slide 5. We grew total residential and SMB customer relationships by 129,000 in the first quarter. Including residential and SMB, we grew our Internet customer relationships by 185,000 in the quarter. We continue to see record low combined competitive and move churn, which has reduced our selling opportunities and very low nonpay churn across our footprint.

謝謝，湯姆。現在我們來看看投影片5的客戶業績。第一季度，我們的住宅和中小企業客戶總數增加了12.9萬人。包括住宅和中小企業在內，我們的網路客戶總數在本季增加了18.5萬人。我們持續保持著競爭和搬遷導致的客戶流失率的歷史新低，這雖然減少了我們的銷售機會，但同時也降低了我們業務覆蓋範圍內的非付費客戶流失率。

Similar to the fourth quarter, we saw both lower Internet churn and lower Internet connects than in the first quarters of 2021, 2020 and 2019. And this was true across our footprint regardless of competing technology.

與第四季類似，我們發現網路使用者流失率和網路連線數均低於 2021 年、2020 年和 2019 年的第一季。而且，無論競爭對手採用何種技術，我們所有業務涵蓋區域的情況都是如此。

Turning to video. Video customers declined by 112,000 in the first quarter. Wireline voice declined by 150,000, and we added 373,000 mobile lines. Despite the lower number of selling opportunities from reduced activity levels, we continue to drive mobile growth with our high-quality, attractively priced service.

視訊業務方面，第一季視訊用戶減少了11.2萬。固話用戶減少了15萬，而行動線路新增了37.3萬。儘管由於業務活動減少導致銷售機會減少，但我們憑藉高品質、價格合理的優質服務，持續推動行動業務成長。

Moving to financial results, starting on Slide 6. Over the last year, we grew total residential customers by 674,000 or 2.3%. Residential revenue per customer relationship increased by 1% year-over-year driven by promotional rate step-ups and video rate adjustments that pass through programming rate increases. These effects were partially offset by the same bundle and mix trends we've seen over the past year, including a higher mix of nonvideo customers and a higher mix of low-priced video packages within our base.

接下來是財務表現部分，從第6頁開始。過去一年，我們的住宅用戶總數增加了67.4萬，增幅為2.3%。由於促銷價格上調和視頻價格調整（這些調整會轉嫁到節目價格上漲上），每位住宅用戶的收入同比增長了1%。但這些成長被過去一年來我們觀察到的套餐組合趨勢部分抵消，例如非視訊用戶比例上升以及低價視訊套餐用戶比例上升。

Additionally, this quarter's revenue was negatively impacted by $20 million in adjustments related to sports network rebates, which we intend to credit to qualified video consumers. These rebates are also reflected in lower programming expense this quarter with no impact to adjusted EBITDA.

此外，本季營收受到與體育網絡返利相關的2,000萬美元調整的影響，我們計劃將這筆款項返還給符合條件的視訊消費者。這些回饋也反映在本季節目製作費用的降低中，但不會影響調整後的EBITDA。

Excluding the impact of sports network credit I just mentioned, our residential ARPU grew by 1.2% year-over-year. Also, keep in mind that our residential ARPU does not reflect any mobile revenue or video programming pass-through increases announced late in the first quarter.

剔除我剛才提到的體育頻道收入分成的影響，我們的住宅用戶平均收入年增了1.2%。另外，請注意，我們的住宅用戶平均收入並未反映第一季末宣布的任何行動收入或視訊節目轉嫁收入的成長。

As Slide 6 shows, residential revenue grew by 3.7% year-over-year and by 3.9% year-over-year when excluding the sports network credit.

如投影片 6 所示，住宅收入年增 3.7%，若不計入體育網絡抵免，則較去年同期成長 3.9%。

Turning to commercial. SMB revenue grew by 4.6% year-over-year, reflecting SMB customer growth of 4.4%. Enterprise revenue was up by 3.7% year-over-year. Excluding all wholesale revenue, enterprise revenue grew by 6.5%, and enterprise PSUs grew by 5.2% year-over-year.

再來看商業業務。中小企業營收年增4.6%，反映出中小企業客戶數量成長4.4%。企業營收年增3.7%。剔除所有批發收入後，企業收入成長6.5%，企業電源單元（PSU）較去年同期成長5.2%。

First quarter advertising revenue grew by 11.5% year-over-year or by 5.1% excluding political revenue, primarily due to our growing advanced advertising capabilities.

第一季廣告收入年增 11.5%，若不計政治廣告收入，則較去年同期成長 5.1%，這主要歸功於我們不斷增強的先進廣告能力。

Mobile revenue totaled $690 million with $292 million of that revenue being device revenue. Other revenue increased by 5.2% year-over-year and includes 2 months of rural construction initiative subsidies totaling $19 million. In total, consolidated first quarter revenue was up 5.4% year-over-year.

行動業務收入總計6.9億美元，其中設備收入為2.92億美元。其他收入年增5.2%，包括兩個月的農村建設補貼，總額為1,900萬美元。第一季合併總營收年增5.4%。

Moving to operating expenses and EBITDA on Slide 7. In the first quarter, total operating expenses grew by $410 million or 5.4% year-over-year. Programming costs declined by 0.4% year-over-year due to a decline in video customers of 2.1%, a higher mix of lighter video packages, a $20 million benefit related to sports network rebates that I mentioned and $34 million of other favorable adjustments, much of which was not unique year-over-year. All of that was mostly offset by higher programming rates. Excluding both of the adjustments I just mentioned, programming costs grew by 1.4%.

接下來請看幻燈片7中的營運費用和EBITDA部分。第一季度，營運總費用年增4.1億美元，增幅為5.4%。由於視訊用戶數量下降2.1%，輕量級視訊套餐佔比增加，以及我之前提到的與體育網絡返利相關的2000萬美元收益和其他3400萬美元的有利調整（其中大部分與去年同期並無差異），節目製作成本同比下降0.4%。所有這些影響基本上都被更高的節目製作費率所抵消。剔除我剛才提到的兩項調整後，節目製作成本增加了1.4%。

And looking at the full year 2022, we now expect programming cost per video customer to grow in the low to mid-single-digit percentage range versus mid-single digits previously.

展望 2022 年全年，我們預期每位視訊使用者的節目製作成本將成長至個位數百分比的低至中段，而先前的成長幅度為個位數中段。

Regulatory connectivity and produced content declined by 7.4% primarily driven by lower Lakers RSN costs, lower video CPE sold to customers and lower regulatory and franchise fees. The decline in Lakers costs was primarily driven by the delayed start to the NBA season in 2020, which drove more Lakers games charges into Q1 of 2021, making for an easier comparison this year. Excluding the RSN costs from both years, regulatory connectivity and produced content declined by 5.6%.

監管連接和內容製作成本下降了7.4%，主要原因是湖人隊區域體育網絡（RSN）成本降低、售予客戶的視訊終端設備（CPE）數量減少以及監管費和特許經營費降低。湖人隊成本下降的主要原因是2020年NBA賽季延後開賽，導致更多湖人隊比賽費用計入2021年第一季度，使得今年的比較更加容易。若剔除兩年的RSN成本，監管連結和內容製作成本下降了5.6%。

And for the full year 2022, we expect regulatory connectivity and produced content expense to decline in the mid-single-digit percentage range versus 2021 primarily due to lower video CPE sold to customers and lower RSN costs given the abnormal Lakers game scheduled last year.

預計 2022 年全年，監管連接和內容製作支出將比 2021 年下降個位數百分比，主要原因是向客戶銷售的視訊 CPE 減少，以及由於去年湖人隊比賽的特殊安排，RSN 成本降低。

Cost to service customers increased by 5.3% year-over-year. The increase was primarily driven by higher bad debt, given unusually low bad debt in the first quarter of 2021 when bad debt was down $100 million versus the first quarter of 2020, benefiting from the government stimulus packages. In fact, payment trends in the first quarter continue to be very good. And excluding bad debt from both years, cost to service customers grew by 1.8% primarily due to a larger customer base, previously planned wage increases to $20 per hour starting wage for hourly field operations and call center employees and higher health benefit and fuel costs.

客戶服務成本年增 5.3%。這一增長主要受壞帳增加的影響。 2021 年第一季的壞帳異常低，較 2020 年第一季減少了 1 億美元，這得益於政府的刺激方案。事實上，第一季的付款趨勢依然非常好。若剔除兩年的壞賬，客戶服務成本增加 1.8%，主要原因是客戶群擴大、先前計劃的現場營運和呼叫中心員工起薪提高至每小時 20 美元，以及醫療福利和燃油成本的增加。

As the year progresses, prior year bad debt expense normalizes and should drive meaningfully slower growth in cost to service expense line during the second half of the year.

隨著一年的推移，上一年的壞帳支出將趨於正常，並應顯著減緩下半年服務成本支出的成長。

Marketing expenses grew by 10.1% year-over-year due to higher labor costs driven by previously planned wage increases and temporarily greater staffing levels as Charter completes the in-sourcing of its inbound sales and retention call centers with a focus on providing better service to new and existing customers. For the full year 2022, we expect marketing expense to grow in the mid-single-digit percentage range versus 2021, although marketing expense growth is likely to remain at elevated levels in the second quarter.

由於先前計劃的工資上漲以及Charter公司為更好地服務新老客戶而完成其呼入銷售和客戶維繫呼叫中心的內部化，導致勞動力成本上升，市場營銷費用同比增長10.1%。我們預計2022年全年行銷費用將比2021年成長中等個位數百分比，但第二季行銷費用成長可能仍將維持在較高水準。

Mobile expense totaled $760 million and were comprised of mobile device costs tied to device revenue, customer acquisition and service and operating costs.

行動支出總計 7.6 億美元，包括與設備收入相關的行動裝置成本、客戶獲取成本以及服務和營運成本。

And other expenses increased by 12.5% primarily driven by a favorable nonrecurring adjustment in the prior year period, making for a challenging comparison this year and higher labor costs.

其他費用增加了 12.5%，主要原因是去年期間出現了一筆有利的非經常性調整，導致今年的比較比較面臨挑戰，而且勞動成本也更高。

Adjusted EBITDA grew by 5.4% year-over-year in the quarter.

本季調整後 EBITDA 較去年同期成長 5.4%。

A quick note about inflation before moving on to net income. Certain costs of operating our business such as labor and fuel costs are currently subject to inflationary pressure. But given our previously planned move to a $20 per hour starting wage and our long-term relationships and contracts for goods and services, we haven't yet seen a significant impact on inflation in our P&L.

在討論淨利潤之前，先簡單說明通貨膨脹。我們業務營運的某些成本，例如勞動成本和燃料成本，目前確實受到通貨膨脹的影響。但鑑於我們之前已計劃將起薪提高到每小時 20 美元，並且我們與供應商簽訂了長期的商品和服務合同，因此我們尚未看到通貨膨脹對我們的損益表產生顯著影響。

I would also note that our consumers are experiencing inflationary pressure, but given the availability of subsidies for broadband and our focus on saving customers hundreds of dollars per year by switching to our converged connectivity product, we believe we are well positioned for the changing market.

我還想指出，我們的消費者正面臨通膨壓力，但鑑於寬頻補貼的可用性以及我們專注於透過轉向我們的融合連接產品每年為客戶節省數百美元，我們相信我們已經為不斷變化的市場做好了充分準備。

Turning to net income on Slide 8. We generated $1.2 billion of net income attributable to Charter shareholders in the first quarter versus $800 million last year. The year-over-year increase was driven by a nonrecurring litigation settlement charge in other operating expenses for the first quarter of 2021 and higher adjusted EBITDA.

請參閱第8頁投影片，以了解淨利潤狀況。第一季歸屬於Charter股東的淨利為12億美元，去年同期為8億美元。年比成長主要得益於2021年第一季其他營運費用中包含的非經常性訴訟和解費用以及調整後EBITDA的增加。

Turning to Slide 9. Capital expenditures totaled $1.9 billion in the first quarter, just above last year's first quarter spend of $1.8 billion. We spent a total of $232 million on our rural construction initiative in the quarter. Most of that spend relates to design, walk out and make ready and as expected, has not yet resulted in significant passings growth. And the vast majority of that spend is accounted for in line extensions.

請看投影片9。第一季資本支出總額為19億美元，略高於去年同期的18億美元。本季我們在農村建設項目上共投入了2.32億美元。其中大部分支出用於設計、竣工驗收和準備工作，正如預期，尚未帶來顯著的通行量成長。此外，絕大部分支出用於管線擴建。

We spent $74 million on mobile-related CapEx, which is mostly accounted for in support capital and was driven by investments in back-office systems.

我們在行動相關資本支出上花費了 7,400 萬美元，其中大部分屬於支持性資本，主要由對後台系統的投資推動。

As Slide 10 shows, we generated $1.8 billion of consolidated free cash flow this quarter, a decrease of $55 million or 3% year-over-year. Excluding a onetime litigation payment of $220 million made in the first quarter, free cash flow grew by $165 million or 8.9% year-over-year.

如幻燈片10所示，本季我們實現了18億美元的合併自由現金流，年減5,500萬美元，降幅為3%。若不計入第一季支付的2.2億美元的一次性訴訟款項，自由現金流年增1.65億美元，增幅為8.9%。

Please note that in the second quarter, we'll begin making quarterly cash tax payments for fiscal year 2022. These payments are consistent with the cash tax outlook that we provided in our fourth quarter investor call.

請注意，我們將於第二季開始繳納 2022 財年的季度現金稅。這些稅款繳納與我們在第四季度投資者電話會議上提供的現金稅款展望一致。

We finished the quarter with $94.9 billion in debt principal. Our current run rate annualized cash interest is $4.4 billion. As of the end of the first quarter, our ratio of net debt to last 12-month adjusted EBITDA was 4.43x. We intend to stay at or just below the high end of our 4 to 4.5x target leverage range.

本季末，我們的債務本金為949億美元。目前的年化現金利息支出為44億美元。截至第一季末，我們的淨債務與過去12個月調整後EBITDA比率為4.43倍。我們計劃將槓桿率維持在4至4.5倍的目標區間上限或略低於該區間。

During the quarter, we repurchased 6 million Charter shares and Charter Holdings common units totaling about $3.6 billion at an average purchase price of $600 per share. And since September of 2016, we've repurchased $60.4 billion or nearly 42% of Charter's equity.

本季度，我們回購了600萬股Charter股票和Charter Holdings普通股單位，總計約36億美元，平均回購價格為每股600美元。自2016年9月以來，我們已回購了604億美元，約佔Charter股權的42%。

Our path to continue to grow our business remains strong, and we will do that by furthering convergence in our connectivity business, allowing us to capture additional share, focusing on expanding our footprint and by continuing to improve the customer experience and extending customer lives. By executing on those items, we will drive customer and share growth, free cash flow growth and shareholder value.

我們持續發展業務的策略依然穩健，我們將透過進一步整合互聯互通業務，擴大市場份額，專注於拓展業務版圖，並不斷提升客戶體驗和延長客戶生命週期來實現這一目標。透過落實這些措施，我們將推動客戶成長、市場佔有率提升、自由現金流成長以及股東價值成長。

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

操作員，我們現在可以進入問答環節了。

(Operator Instructions) And your first question will come from Craig Moffett with Moffett.

（操作說明）您的第一個問題將來自 Moffett 公司的 Craig Moffett。

Well, I have a few questions if I could. First, with respect to broadband, the pace of homes passed, excluding RDOF, decelerated a little bit. I'm wondering if you can just talk about the rate at which you expect homes passed for broadband to grow and how you think about that as a floor for broadband growth rate going forward?

我有幾個問題想請教一下。首先，關於寬頻，不包括RDOF專案在內，家庭寬頻存取速度略有放緩。我想請您談談您預計未來家庭寬頻接取速度的預期，以及您如何看待這個速度作為未來寬頻成長率的下限？

And then with respect to the JV that you announced with Comcast, is there a vision where you take the Flex box and actually make it your primary video delivery platform, where all your video is IP and that you sort of reclaim that capacity?

關於您與 Comcast 宣布的合資企業，您是否設想將 Flex 機上盒打造成為您的主要視訊傳輸平台，所有視訊都透過 IP 傳輸，從而重新利用其容量？

And then finally, one related question, Tom. I sort of -- I can't resist asking if you just want to comment on password sharing and a little bit of an I told you so...

最後，湯姆，還有一個相關的問題。我忍不住想問你，關於密碼共享這件事，你是否想說幾句「我早就告訴過你了」…

Yes. Well, yes, I did tell you so. So yes, Craig, the pace of broadband homes passed, I think, is an interesting driver of potential growth. And you're right to point it out.

是的。嗯，是的，我之前確實有跟你說過。所以，克雷格，寬頻家庭普及的速度，我認為，是潛在成長的重要驅動因素。你說得對。

Over the last 5 years or so, we've added about 1 million passings a year. And that's comprised of new construction of housing developments, plus fill-in, plus plant expansion into areas where it's economic to serve passings that are contiguous to some of that development. And so that's a driver of future growth. There's really 4 drivers that drive the future growth of our broadband business, and that's a significant one.

過去五年左右，我們每年新增約100萬次通行量。這包括新建住宅項目、現有住宅項目的擴建，以及在經濟效益允許的情況下，為毗鄰這些開發項目的通行量增加而進行的線路擴建。因此，這是未來成長的驅動力之一。實際上，推動我們寬頻業務未來成長的因素有四大，而這無疑是其中最重要的因素之一。

Another one is the household in growth -- the growth in households using broadband, which is today in the mid-80s. But I think that will continue to increase as digital literacy increases and people continue to want to be part of the connected world. And so I think that moves up to the vacancy rate over time.

另一個增長點是家庭寬頻用戶數量的增長——目前寬頻用戶數量約80%。但我認為隨著數位素養的提高以及人們對互聯世界的渴望不斷增強，這一數字還會繼續增長。因此，我認為隨著時間的推移，這會推高房屋空置率。

And we also have then this whole RDOF opportunity, which we've just begun to develop. We've just started to activate the subsidized plant expansion through RDOF. And we've actually won quite a few bids at the state level. And there's $42 billion of additional funding that's going to be distributed probably next year for additional expansion into rural areas, and that's an opportunity of growth for us.

此外，我們還有農村發展機會基金（RDOF）的整個項目，我們才剛開始著手開發。我們剛開始透過RDOF啟動補貼工廠擴建計畫。事實上，我們在州一級已經贏得了不少項目。明年可能還會有420億美元的額外資金用於進一步向農村擴張，這對我們來說是一個成長機會。

And then finally, we have the opportunity of -- which we expect to realize, the opportunity of increasing our share of market of existing broadband customers. And we can do that by packaging, which we've always done successfully, our products into a value proposition that's better than what the individual component pieces that they're currently buying from various providers. And so the current mobile growth is a key factor in that opportunity.

最後，我們有機會——而且我們預計能夠實現——提高我們在現有寬頻客戶中的市場份額。我們可以透過將產品打包成一個比他們目前從不同供應商購買的單一組件更有價值的方案來實現這一點，而我們一直以來都成功地運用了這一策略。因此，目前行動業務的成長是實現這一機會的關鍵因素。

So that's how we expect to grow it. And what's going on in the homes passed marketplace? I mean, there are construction issues going on right now. There are supply chain issues that are affecting activations of housing developments and that kind of thing. But over the longer term, I think that, that pace that we've experienced over the last 5 years continues.

這就是我們預期的發展方向。那麼，二手房市場目前的狀況如何呢？我的意思是，現在確實存在一些建築問題，供應鏈問題也影響著住宅計畫的啟動等等。但從長遠來看，我認為過去五年我們所經歷的成長速度將會持續下去。

The second part of your question about the JV and IP, yes, yes. The answer is yes. I expect that incrementally, most of our customer base will be all IP, and that spectrum will be recaptured -- that's currently used over time, and there's various ways of compressing that spectrum as you market your way into the IP space. And that plant capacity that's being realized will be available to increase broadband speeds and/or handle broadband capacity that's required as a result of the use of overall data.

關於您問題的第二部分，即合資企業和IP，是的，沒錯。答案是肯定的。我預計，隨著時間的推移，我們的大部分客戶群將全部使用IP網絡，而目前被佔用的頻譜資源也將得以回收。隨著IP市場的拓展，我們可以採用多種方式壓縮頻譜資源。此外，這些正在釋放的基礎設施容量將可用於提升寬頻速度，或滿足因資料使用量成長而產生的寬頻容量需求。

And lastly, on password sharing, yes. We knew it's a problem. It's not just a problem for the company that's not controlling their passwords, but it's a problem for everybody in the industry because all that content that's used without anybody paying for it affects the supply and demand of all content, not just the provider that's selling the content, which diminishes the value of content for everybody, which is the point we have been trying to make for years.

最後，關於密碼共享，是的。我們知道這是一個問題。這不僅是那些沒有管控密碼的公司的問題，而是整個行業的問題，因為所有這些未經付費使用的內容都會影響所有內容的供需關係，而不僅僅是內容提供商，這會降低內容對所有人的價值，而這正是我們多年來一直試圖強調的觀點。

Your next question will come from Jonathan Chaplin with New Street.

下一個問題將來自 New Street 的 Jonathan Chaplin。

I know traditionally, you prefer not to give context around sort of like a forward-looking view of the broadband market. But given that we're just in an environment of heightened uncertainty, I'm wondering if you'd stray from your normal policy and at least give us some more context for what you're seeing from -- in the market generally in terms of the move activity as we came out of 1Q into 2Q.

我知道您通常不太願意對寬頻市場的未來趨勢做出展望。但鑑於我們目前所處的環境充滿不確定性，我想知道您是否願意打破常規，至少就您觀察到的市場整體情況，特別是從第一季到第二季的市場動態，提供一些背景資訊。

Competition, are you seeing an impact now that's more discernible from fixed wireless broadband? And has that changed over the course of the quarter going into 2Q? And then how should we think about seasonality off of the results that you guys just produced in 1Q? Should we think of seasonality through the year as being the normal trend?

在競爭方面，您是否觀察到固定無線寬頻帶來的更明顯的影響？這種影響在第一季到第二季期間是否有所變化？此外，我們應該如何根據貴公司剛公佈的第一季業績來看待季節性因素？我們是否應該將全年的季節性因素視為正常趨勢？

Look, Chris, why don't you take that?

克里斯，你為什麼不拿走它？

Jonathan, we expected a question along these lines, and I have some thoughts. We expected the market to return to normal actually last year, including seasonality. So difficult to say.

喬納森，我們預料到你會問類似的問題，我也有一些想法。我們原本預期市場會在去年恢復正常，包括季節性因素。所以現在很難說。

But as Jessica mentioned, transaction volume in the market, it remains low, particularly mover churn, which is a key source of net subscriber acquisition for us.

但正如傑西卡所提到的，市場交易量仍然很低，尤其是搬家用戶的流失率，而搬家用戶流失率是我們淨新增用戶的主要來源。

There are some facts that put our lower year-over-year growth in context. Our churn rates of all kinds and across all footprint types remains at record lows. The pace of gigabit overlap increases within our footprint so far has remained consistent with the past few years despite commentary about acceleration.

以下一些事實有助於我們更好地理解年增率放緩的原因。我們所有類型、所有網路覆蓋範圍的客戶流失率均維持在歷史低點。儘管有關於加速成長的討論，但迄今為止，我們網路覆蓋範圍內千兆重疊區域的成長速度與過去幾年保持一致。

So we have competition everywhere we operate, and we always have. And our largest wireline competitor had negative residential wireline net additions in the quarter while we continue to grow.

因此，無論我們在哪裡開展業務，都面臨著競爭，而且一直都是如此。我們最大的固網業務競爭對手本季住宅固網業務淨增量為負，而我們則持續維持成長。

So compared to last year's first quarter with already low market activity, our gross addition rate in the first quarter of this year was lower in both overbuild and our non-overbuild footprint by the same amount. Together with record low churn, this illustrates the biggest driver remains lower selling opportunities from overall market activity and churn.

因此，與去年第一季市場活動本已低迷的情況相比，今年第一季我們在超額建設和非超額建設領域的新增業務量均下降了相同的幅度。加之客戶流失率創歷史新低，顯示最大的驅動因素仍是整體市場活動和客戶流失導致的銷售機會減少。

Jonathan, there are additional factors which could also contribute to lower gross addition rates. First, lower household growth rates Tom just talked about, which we, along with others, have seen. There's still a lingering pull-forward effect from the shift to our higher-quality broadband during the pandemic. It comes from DSL, VDSL and mobile-only customers, which accelerated the conversion rates of that same base, which we would have seen today.

喬納森，還有其他一些因素也可能導致新增用戶總數下降。首先是湯姆剛才提到的家庭成長率下降，我們和其他人都觀察到了這一點。疫情期間用戶向更高品質寬頻的轉變，其影響仍在持續。這主要來自DSL、VDSL和行動用戶，這些用戶加速了我們今天本應看到的寬頻用戶轉換率。

Finally, that mix-related impact of a small increase and more competitive overlap on gross addition rates would be the smallest contributor and really no different than what we've seen in the prior years. We do not see -- I know it's a question. We don't see direct impacts from fixed wireless access in our churn or our gross additions.

最後，小幅成長和競爭重疊加劇對新增用戶數量的影響微乎其微，實際上與我們前幾年看到的情況並無太大差異。我們沒有看到——我知道這是個問題——固定無線存取對我們的用戶流失率或新增用戶數量沒有直接影響。

So does that mean could fixed wireless access be converting DSL and mobile-only customers that would normally come to us? It's possible, and it would be hard to see at low volume across our entire footprint. But we would see that as a potential parking lot for conversion to our faster, more reliable and more ubiquitously marketed and deployed broadband offering.

那麼，這是否意味著固定無線存取能夠吸引那些原本會選擇我們服務的DSL和行動用戶？這並非不可能，只是在我們整個服務覆蓋範圍內，用戶數量較少時很難觀察到。但我們認為，這部分用戶可能成為我們更快、更可靠、覆蓋範圍更廣的寬頻服務的潛在轉換目標。

So we take all competition seriously, and it's not new for us. But I don't believe fixed wireless access is having any material impact on us today when compared to the factors I mentioned.

所以我們非常重視所有競爭，這對我們來說並不新鮮。但我認為，與我之前提到的那些因素相比，固定無線接入目前對我們並沒有產生任何實質的影響。

So overall activity levels remain low, and we will trial different tactics to stimulate more competitive churn, but market activity and mover churn will return. And when it does, we expect our Internet net addition rate to normalize.

因此，整體活躍度仍然較低，我們將嘗試不同的策略來刺激競爭加劇，但市場活躍度和用戶流失率終將回歸。屆時，我們預期網路淨新增用戶率將恢復正常。

Our already very strong mobile line growth should get even better with higher attach and upgrade rates to the fastest and really the only real converged Internet product in our footprint that also saves customers significant money. As Tom mentioned, our various construction initiatives should provide a larger recurring footprint expansion for customer acquisition as we get to the end of this year.

我們本已非常強勁的行動線路成長勢頭，隨著用戶升級到我們覆蓋區域內速度最快、也是唯一真正融合互聯網的產品（該產品還能為客戶節省大量資金），其增長速度應該會更快。正如湯姆所提到的，我們各項建設項目將在今年底前為我們帶來更大的持續性客戶拓展。

So I don't have a guidance or an outlook. But I think those are the biggest drivers of what we're seeing today, and hopefully, that's helpful to the question you asked.

所以我沒有具體的指導意見或預測。但我認為這些是目前我們所看到現象的主要驅動因素，希望這對您提出的問題有所幫助。

That's really helpful. I appreciate it, Chris.

這真的很有幫助。謝謝你，克里斯。

Okay. Thanks, Jonathan.

好的，謝謝你，喬納森。

Your next question will come from Brett Feldman with Goldman Sachs.

下一個問題將來自高盛的布雷特·費爾德曼。

You've obviously continued to show great traction with the wireless net adds even as your selling opportunity against customer gross adds has gone down. So it looks like the recent adjustments you've made to pricing and packaging is resonating with the base.

即使客戶新增銷售機會有所下降，您顯然在無線網路拓展方面依然保持了強勁的成長動能。因此，看來您近期對價格和包裝所做的調整得到了客戶的認可。

You're still going to market differently than the big 3. They increasingly are looking at things like handset promos, they pack a lot of value into their higher tiers whether it's tethering or true unlimited or video.

你們的行銷策略仍然會與三大業者不同。他們越來越關注手機促銷等活動，並在更高級別的套餐中加入大量增值服務，例如網路共享、真正的無限流量或視訊服務。

So I guess I'm just wondering, how are you thinking about whether it makes sense to start going after the wireless consumer who values those things and the assessment you're doing as to whether the additional costs you incur would ultimately be worth it? And does that math start to change if you were at the point where you actually were putting a more significant amount of their macro traffic onto a CBRS network?

所以我想知道，您是如何考慮是否應該開始爭取那些重視這些功能的無線消費者，以及您如何評估由此產生的額外成本最終是否值得？如果您真的將他們更多的巨集流量轉移到CBRS網路上，那麼情況是否會改變？

Yes. Well, I think the -- Brett, the answer to your question is we will use those tactics that make economic sense to us to drive our business and to drive our relationship growth in this mobile broadband space. And the -- as I said in my comments, we have very good growth, and we have greater growth than the rest of the mobile industry currently. So we're on track and doing the right things currently from a marketing perspective, and we think we can accelerate that growth.

是的。嗯，布雷特，關於你的問題，我們的答案是，我們將採用那些對我們來說具有經濟意義的策略來推動業務發展，並促進我們在行動寬頻領域的客戶關係成長。正如我剛才所說，我們的成長勢頭非常強勁，目前高於行動產業的其他公司。因此，從行銷的角度來看，我們目前走在正確的軌道上，正在做正確的事情，我們相信我們可以加速成長。

So there are various tactics that you see people who sell wireless do, and they're all related to trying to create a value proposition for customers, and some of them cost more than others.

因此，你會看到無線產品銷售人員採用各種策略，這些策略都與為客戶創造價值主張有關，其中一些策略比其他策略成本更高。

Fundamentally, we think that our CBRS and our WiFi offload continue to allow us to have low-cost mobile products with high capacity available to our customers, which gives us the ability to sell those products at value propositions for consumers, which ultimately is what we think drives our ability to shift -- drive market share.

從根本上講，我們認為我們的 CBRS 和 WiFi 卸載技術能夠繼續為客戶提供低成本、高容量的行動產品，這使我們能夠以對消費者有價值的方式銷售這些產品，而這最終正是我們認為能夠推動我們轉變——贏得市場份額的關鍵所在。

So we -- I don't put any marketing tactic on the side and say we won't do it or because we're not doing it today, we won't do it in the future. But our fundamental strategy is to use our network effectively and provide a high-quality, best-in-class service better than anyone else, in fact, right now, in terms of speed capability, and sell that for a lower price. And we think that, that value is what consumers will ultimately recognize.

所以，我不會把任何行銷策略放在一邊，然後說我們不會做，或因為今天沒做，以後也不會做。但我們的根本策略是有效利用我們的網絡，提供高品質、一流的服務，事實上，就速度而言，我們現在就已經比任何人都好，而且價格更低。我們相信，消費者最終會認可這種價值。

How we package that up in various marketing tactics, I think, is open to what is successful. And we constantly experiment with marketing tactics to see what resonates best. But we think the core concept is the driver of our opportunity.

我認為，我們如何將這個理念融入各種行銷策略，取決於哪些策略行之有效。我們不斷嘗試不同的行銷策略，以找到最有效的方案。但我們認為，核心理念才是我們把握機會的關鍵。

Brett, a good example of that, we do -- we have a premium plus $10 package in our mobile. So even that at $39.99, so our standard is $29.99 when you take 2 mobiles or more. But at $39.99, the premium package, the take up on it is very low. And the reason it's very low is for the reason that Tom just mentioned.

布雷特，舉個例子，我們確實有──我們的手機方案裡面有一個高級版，加價10美元。這個高級版套餐售價39.99美元，而我們的標準套餐是29.99美元（購買兩部或以上手機時）。但是，這個39.99美元的高級版套餐，銷售量卻非常低。原因正如湯姆剛才提到的。

Already, they get the fastest mobile product in the country through the standard unlimited offer that we have at $29.99. And because our network works better together with WiFi, and you've got 85% offload with the nation's fastest broadband and therefore, the nation's fastest mobile, there really hasn't been much of a need or a desire even at that attractive price point to take what you would call a premium product.

他們已經可以透過我們29.99美元的標準無限流量套餐享受全國最快的行動產品。而且，由於我們的網路與WiFi配合使用效果更佳，再加上全國最快的寬頻（因此也是全國最快的行動網路）可實現85%的流量卸載，即使在如此誘人的價格下，他們也幾乎沒有必要或意願去購買所謂的「高級產品」。

Your next question will come from Phil Cusick with JPMorgan.

下一個問題將來自摩根大通的菲爾·庫西克。

A couple if I can. First, I think, Tom, you said the mobile network trial is now in mid-'23. Is that right? And is that delayed? And what does that mean for CapEx this year, for mobile CapEx?

如果可以的話，我想問幾個問題。首先，湯姆，我記得你說過行動網路試驗現在定在2023年年中。是這樣嗎？那是不是延期了？這對今年的行動網路資本支出意味著什麼？

No, it's not -- it's mid this year. If I said that, I didn't mean it. It's mid-'22.

不，不是——現在是今年年中。如果我那樣說，那不是我的本意。現在是2022年中。

Okay. All right. That makes sense. Maybe I misheard. And then second of all, have you started to book RDOF revenue? And how quickly should we see that revenue come in from here?

好的，明白了。可能是我聽錯了。其次，你們開始確認RDOF收入了嗎？我們大概多久才能看到這部分收入到帳？

Yes. Jessica?

是的。傑西卡？

Yes, we did start booking RDOF revenue in Q1, Phil. They're 2 months in for the total of $19 million. And the run rate on the RDOF booking will be at that. So it gets booked in over the 10-year period that we receive the funds. So we'll have it at that just over $9 million a month from now until 10 years from now.

是的，菲爾，我們確實從第一季開始確認RDOF的收入了。兩個月過去了，總額已經達到1900萬美元。 RDOF的收入確認速度將維持在這個水準。也就是說，在我們收到資金的10年期間，收入都會陸續確認。所以從現在到未來10年，我們每個月都會確認略高於900萬美元的收入。

Your next question will come from Jessica Reif Ehrlich with BofA Securities.

下一個問題將來自美國銀行證券的傑西卡·雷夫·埃爾利希。

Okay. I have 2 questions. A follow-up on the Comcast JV. I think the press release said that you guys are investing $900 million. Over what time period is that? And how do you expect to monetize the offer? I think it starts next year. Is it mostly advertising or revenue split?

好的。我有兩個問題。關於與康卡斯特的合資企業，我想追問一下。我記得新聞稿裡說你們要投資9億美元。這筆投資會在多久內完成？你們打算如何獲利？我記得好像是明年開始。獲利主要來自廣告還是收入分成？

And then your margins on the cable side are over 42%. Where do you think peak cable margins will be?

而且你們有線電視業務的利潤率超過42%。你認為有線電視業務的利潤率高峰會是多少？

Well, the opportunity, Jessica, is to create advertising revenue and to create transaction revenue on the product. And so those are the money drivers. And that requires, obviously, having full set of content opportunities and using your IP and your marketing skills in the digital space to drive consumer activity and viewing. And so that's the opportunity from the platform from a monetization perspective.

傑西卡，機會在於創造廣告收入和產品交易收入。這些才是真正的獲利驅動力。顯然，這需要你擁有豐富的內容資源，並利用你的智慧財產權和數位行銷技能來提升用戶活躍度和觀看量。這就是平台從獲利角度來看的機會。

Our capital commitment, we haven't disclosed that. But it's in the grand scheme of things, from a development point of view, it's relatively minor, especially when you consider the CPE business that we've always been in, where we've actually had to buy CPE. This, in many cases, will be a retail product. So -- and lastly...

我們尚未揭露具體的資本投入。但從整體發展角度來看，這筆投入相對較小，尤其考慮到我們一直以來從事的CPE業務，而我們實際上都需要購買CPE設備。在很多情況下，這將是一款零售產品。所以——最後…

The last one was a question on margins and where we think margins ultimately could go. I mean, it's hard to comment on margins in the context of our business because your mix of video product makes such a difference. And ultimately, we're trying to sell the right mix of products to the consumer that drives the most cash flow per customer, which doesn't necessarily drive the most margin on a financial statement presentation sort of basis.

最後一個問題是關於利潤率以及我們認為利潤率最終會走向何方。我的意思是，在我們這個行業，很難對利潤率做出評論，因為影片產品的組合對利潤率的影響非常大。最終，我們努力向消費者銷售合適的產品組合，以最大限度地提高每位客戶的現金流，但這並不一定意味著在財務報表上能帶來最高的利潤率。

So I would say on that one, it's hard to speculate on where exactly margins would go as a percentage. But ultimately, we think that what we're doing by capturing additional share in the mobile market, using that and capturing additional share in the broadband market, which drives sort of the most cash flow off of our assets and in our other services as well, we think that, that's the right thing to do to drive cash flow for the business and to continue to grow regardless of what the margin line ultimately shows.

所以，關於利潤率，很難準確預測具體的百分比走勢。但最終，我們認為，透過在行動市場和寬頻市場（寬頻市場是我們資產和其他服務中現金流的主要來源）中獲取更多份額，是推動業務現金流並持續成長的正確做法，無論最終利潤率如何。

Yes. We don't manage to margins. We managed to return on investment. And so we try to generate as much cash on each asset that we deploy as we can and has really nothing to do with margins when you have a mix of products with different kinds of margins in them. And so it's only in a static environment that a margin relative -- relative margin has any value as an analysis tool in our -- from our point of view.

是的。我們追求的不是利潤率，而是投資報酬率。因此，我們力求從每項資產中盡可能地創造現金流，而當你的產品組合包含各種利潤率不同的產品時，利潤率其實與此無關。所以，只有在靜態環境下，相對利潤率──也就是相對利潤率──在我們看來才具有分析價值。

You can have a really high margin by not growing at all.

即使完全不成長，你也可以獲得非常高的利潤率。

Exactly.

確切地。

That hasn't always worked out for those people.

但對那些人來說，這種做法並非總是奏效。

And your next question will come from Doug Mitchelson with Credit Suisse.

下一個問題將來自瑞士信貸的道格·米切爾森。

I think a few more questions around broadband, if you don't mind. The first is how many DSL customers are left in your footprint? And what do you think the broadband penetration is overall in your footprint? How much is left to go from just more folks getting broadband? And a couple of follow-ups.

如果您不介意的話，我想再問幾個關於寬頻的問題。首先，您所在區域還剩下多少DSL用戶？您認為您所在區域的寬頻普及率是多少？如果更多人接入寬頻，還有多少成長空間？還有一些後續問題。

Doug, this is Chris. Look, for competitive reasons, I don't want to go deep into the remaining broadband penetration. People have statistics. They know what's out there. There's still a sizable opportunity for us to grow the market, which Tom talked about.

道格，我是克里斯。聽著，出於競爭原因，我不想深入討論剩餘的寬頻普及率。大家都有統計數據，他們知道市場現況。湯姆也提到過，我們仍然有很大的市場成長空間。

And in terms of DSL, it's declining, but there's still a decent base. You really need to think about not just DSL, but really the VDSL. That's really the new DSL.

至於DSL，雖然用戶數量正在下降，但仍有相當可觀的基數。你真正需要考慮的不只是DSL，還有VDSL。 VDSL才是真正的新型DSL。

I talked a little bit about to the extent that fixed wireless access is building up potentially in the areas that we're moving into from a rural perspective, that's in the future DSL pile or parking lot of subscribers that we can go acquire. So it's DSL today, it's VDSL and it's inferior broadband product relationships that are getting created today that provides that fuel for growth for us in the future from a mix standpoint.

我剛才稍微談到了固定無線接入在我們計劃拓展的農村地區可能會逐漸普及，這相當於我們未來可以從DSL用戶群中挖掘的潛在用戶。所以，如今的DSL、VDSL以及其他一些低階寬頻產品，正是這些正在形成的合作關係，從產品組合的角度來看，為我們未來的成長提供了動力。

And Chris, you mentioned, I think, relative to gross additions, no difference in competitive fiber footprints versus noncompetitive fiber footprints. Is it the same for churn as well? I just wanted to confirm that sort of year-over-year churn changes are no different in the 2 footprints.

克里斯，你之前提到過，就新增用戶數量而言，競爭性光纖網路覆蓋範圍和非競爭性光纖網路覆蓋範圍之間沒有區別。那麼用戶流失率也是一樣嗎？我只是想確認一下，這兩種網路覆蓋範圍的年度用戶流失率變化是否相同。

Yes, we see churn down in both types of footprints at a similar amount, and we see the almost -- well, not almost, the exact same reduction in gross addition rate in both overbuild and non-overbuild footprint, which really completely validates that this isn't a competitive phenomenon that you see in the marketplace. It's the market activity, a low mover churn environment. And we're stimulating in a lot of different ways, and some of that will have some success, but the bigger driver will just be when the market starts to normalize. So yes, you understood it correctly.

是的，我們看到兩種類型的建築面積流失率都差不多，而且新增建築面積的降幅幾乎——不，應該說是完全相同——都超過了超額建設建築面積的降幅，這完全證實了這並非市場競爭現象，而是市場活動本身，以及低流動率環境所致。我們正在採取多種刺激措施，其中一些會取得一定成效，但更大的驅動力在於市場何時開始恢復正常。所以，是的，你理解得完全正確。

But another part of your question was what's the overall broadband penetration. And if you take all those smaller speed, slow speed products, it's in the mid-80s. And as I said earlier, I think that goes up towards the vacancy rate.

但你問題的另一部分是關於寬頻的整體普及率。如果把所有低速寬頻產品都算進去，普及率大概在80%左右。正如我之前所說，我認為這會提高空置率。

Great. And the last question I wanted to get to, and I appreciate you taking all the questions. Competitors have a variety of pricing and go-to-market strategies for broadband and mobile. And you actually have, I think, a difference yourself on how you would bill a broadband customer and how you might bill a wireless customer. I think wireless, no contracts and no taxes or fees.

好的。最後一個問題我想問，感謝您耐心解答所有問題。競爭對手在寬頻和行動通訊領域有著不同的定價和市場推廣策略。我認為，您在寬頻用戶和無線用戶的收費方式上也存在差異。無線用戶無需簽訂合同，也無需支付任何稅費。

How are you thinking about evolving your pricing strategies, if at all, either in response to competitors or because you're finding more optimal ways to serve your customers?

您打算如何調整定價策略（如果有的話）？調整的原因是為了因應競爭對手，還是為了找到更佳的客戶服務方式？

Like I was speaking about marketing earlier, that's a form of price. We have lots of opportunity to mix and match various tactics to create value for customers, perceived value. But fundamental value is where we're really trying to drive our product, which is having superior products at lower prices than our competitors by doing smart investments and good technologies that allow us to have a lower cost structure and have a lower cost per bit, so to speak, available to consumers, both in the mobile space and in the broadband space and in the video space to the extent it's a separate business.

就像我之前談到的行銷一樣，價格也是一種形式。我們有許多機會可以靈活運用各種策略，為客戶創造價值，也就是感知價值。但我們真正致力於打造的是產品的根本價值，那就是透過明智的投資和先進的技術，以低於競爭對手的價格提供更優質的產品。這些投資和技術使我們能夠降低成本結構，降低每比特的成本，從而為消費者提供更優質的服務，無論是在行動領域、寬頻領域，還是在視訊領域（儘管視訊本身是一個獨立的業務領域）。

And we can mix and match those value propositions in a variety of ways depending on what we need to do to move customer perceptions about where the true value is in the product set.

我們可以根據需要，以各種方式混合搭配這些價值主張，從而改變顧客對產品組合中真正價值的認知。

Thanks, Doug.

謝謝你，道格。

Your next question will come from Vijay Jayant with Evercore.

下一個問題將來自 Evercore 的 Vijay Jayant。

I had one sort of big question about the video business. Obviously, your video losses seem to buck the trend relative to some of your peers. Can you just talk about how much flex is left on these lower-tier offers that you can still put out to customers? And any changes to sort of carriage minimums as you renegotiate programming deals?

我有一個關於視頻業務的重要問題。顯然，與一些同行相比，你們的視訊業務虧損似乎逆勢而行。能否談談你們目前還能提供客戶哪些低階產品？在重新談判節目合約時，你們是否會對最低播放量之類的規定進行調整？

And then just for Jessica, you called out a lot of trends on the cost side. I just wanted to ask some questions on them. On bad debt, are we back to the pre-pandemic levels?

傑西卡，你提到了很多成本方面的趨勢。我想就此問幾個問題。關於壞賬，我們是否已經恢復到疫情前的水平？

And then just on CapEx. Obviously, you talked about core for cable. Should we assume RDOF CapEx sort of trend similar to this quarter in the low 200s a quarter, just for modeling purposes?

然後是關於資本支出。顯然，您提到了有線電視的核心業務。為了建模，我們是否應該假設RDOF的資本支出趨勢與本季類似，維持在每季200美元左右？

Jessica, you want answer the bad debt question?

潔西卡，你想回答壞帳問題嗎？

Yes. So if I start on the expense items, Vijay, a bit. The bad debt, we're not back to pre-pandemic levels. I don't expect us actually to go all the way back to pre-pandemic levels. The subsidies for broadband that are available in the market have eased the impact on consumers of sort of what happens in the economy and just made it easier to pay for services overall.

是的。那麼，Vijay，如果我先從支出項目說起。壞帳方面，我們還沒有恢復到疫情前的水準。我也不指望我們能完全恢復到疫情前的水準。市場上提供的寬頻補貼減輕了經濟狀況對消費者的影響，也讓支付服務費用變得更容易。

And they are targeted, obviously, those consumers who are more prone to go nonpay in the first place. So nonpay churn overall continues to be at near-record lows. And I think that right now, we haven't seen yet sort of moves back towards pre-pandemic levels.

顯然，他們的目標客戶是那些本來就更容易拖欠付款的消費者。因此，整體而言，拖欠付款的客戶流失率仍然接近歷史最低水準。我認為，目前我們還沒有看到這種情況回升到疫情前的水平。

On the RDOF side, I think that spend in the rural construction initiative overall, I wouldn't expect it to sort of trend at a very steady level over time. There will be opportunities that we have to accelerate spend at points in time and as we have those opportunities because we think that continuing the build is important, we likely will take them.

就農村發展基金（RDOF）而言，我認為農村建設項目整體支出不會長期維持非常穩定的水平。我們會在某些時候有機會加快支出，一旦出現這些機會，因為我們認為繼續建造至關重要，所以我們很可能會抓住這些機會。

I think we've accelerated right now some of the kind of spend that I talked about happening in this quarter, the design and make-ready type expenses. We're trying to pull those forward so that we can be ready to deploy as quickly as possible sort of to deploy more going into next year.

我認為我們現在已經加快了本季一些我之前提到的支出項目，例如設計和準備方面的費用。我們正努力將這些支出提前，以便盡快做好準備，為明年部署更多專案做好準備。

It's -- that's not a change in guide sort of on where we think we're going for overall. But I think as I said when we issued -- when we talked about the $1 billion that we hoped to spend for the year, we could spend more or we could spend less than that. And it's all based on what we're able to do. We're going as fast as we can.

這並非改變我們對整體目標的預期方向。但正如我之前所說，當我們談到希望今年支出10億美元時，我們可能會支出更多，也可能支出更少。這一切都取決於我們的實際能力。我們正在盡最大努力推進。

And with regard to video, why we're somewhat of an outlier, we try hard, for one thing. And again, we try to put value where we can for the consumer and think that there's still opportunity in video. And one of the things that we had success with is the creation of additional packaging and the mix of video products that we actually sell to consumers.

至於影片領域，我們之所以顯得有些另類，首先是因為我們非常努力。其次，我們努力為消費者創造價值，並認為視訊領域仍蘊藏著巨大的機會。我們成功的一點是，我們開發了額外的包裝，並豐富了我們實際銷售給消費者的視訊產品組合。

And we're continuously improving the right structures around what we're able to sell. And it's been difficult because of the way historically video has been packaged in this very fat, expensive bundle that's driven by sports rights costs.

我們正在不斷改進銷售產品的相關架構。但由於以往視訊產品通常被打包成價格昂貴、內容臃腫的捆綁包，而這種捆綁包的價格又受到體育賽事版權成本的驅動，因此這項工作一直很困難。

And as we've been able to get some of the content out of that, the ecosystem and put into tiers, and we're successfully selling those. And I think over time, we'll be able to build a very nice video business.

我們已經能夠從生態系統中提取部分內容，並將其分級銷售，而且銷售情況良好。我認為隨著時間的推移，我們將能夠建立一個非常好的視訊業務。

Thanks, Vijay.

謝謝你，維傑。

And your next question will come from Ben Swinburne with Morgan Stanley.

下一個問題將來自摩根士丹利的本·斯溫伯恩。

Tom and Chris, I had a couple of related questions around competition in broadband. I think in -- I'm not telling you anything you don't know. I think investor sentiment on cable is probably as poor as it's been since like maybe the mid-2000s when you were getting overbuilt by Fios and U-verse, particularly at Cablevision.

湯姆和克里斯，我有一些關於寬頻競爭的相關問題。我想——我說的這些你們應該都知道。我認為投資者對有線電視的信心可能已經跌至2000年代中期以來的最低點，當時Fios和U-verse的建設規模過大，尤其是在Cablevision方面。

Tom, do you see corollaries today to that period when you were running Cablevision and Verizon was building its network across half the footprint and how you compete and sort of navigate that overbuild?

湯姆，你覺得今天的情況和你當年運營 Cablevision 時，Verizon 在半個美國地區建設網絡，以及你如何應對這種過度建設的情況有什麼相似之處嗎？

And then one thing that's happening I'm sure you guys are aware, there's a lot of sort of Tier 2 fiber overbuilds happening around the country. I'm sure there's some in your footprint. They're not massive, but a lot of private equity funded builds.

還有一件事，我相信你們也都知道，那就是全國各地正在進行大量的二級光纖網路建設。我敢肯定你們的服務區域內也有一些。這些項目規模不大，但很多都是私募股權投資的。

We usually don't see cable companies acquire infrastructure assets in their footprint, at least in the U.S. I'd just be curious if you think that's long term what happens here or not for reasons that might be obvious because it would seem that there's a lot of capacity being built now on the wireline side. And there will need to be some rationalization, at least in some geographies long term.

我們通常不會看到有線電視公司在其服務區域內收購基礎設施資產，至少在美國是如此。我只是好奇，您認為從長遠來看，這種情況是否會在這裡發生？原因可能顯而易見，因為目前有線網路方面似乎正在建立大量的容量。而且，從長遠來看，至少在某些地區，需要進行一些資源整合。

All right. Well, in terms of sentiment, yes, there have been periods in my business career in cable where sentiment has gone up and down. And my sentiment remains the same. And I think it's a great business, and I think we have great opportunity to take and to continue to grow the business successfully.

好的。就市場情緒而言，是的，在我從事有線電視行業的職業生涯中，市場情緒確實經歷過起伏。但我對這個行業的看法始終如一。我認為這是一個很棒的行業，我們擁有巨大的機遇，可以抓住機遇，並繼續成功地發展壯大。

And so when everybody's euphoric, it's probably odd. And when everybody is pessimistic, it's odd, and I'm unchanged. And my experiences with Cablevision and other assets, I managed Time Warner assets as well prior to that and have managed competition. My first job as a general manager in 1980 was an overbuild actually.

所以，當大家都興高采烈的時候，這可能有點奇怪。當大家都悲觀的時候，也很奇怪，而我卻始終如一。我在有線電視公司和其他資產方面的經驗，在此之前我也管理過時代華納的資產，並且有管理競爭對手的經驗。我1980年擔任總經理的第一份工作，其實是負責一個超額建設專案。

And so I have lots of experience with it and lots of success in growing our businesses in that environment. So there's nothing unusual about what's going on now. And actually from a competitive environment, it's pretty much unchanged, the pace of what's been going on, notwithstanding that there are some small builds going on elsewhere with private equity, as you say, and that LEC expansion has continued. But it hasn't gone up in pace.

因此，我在這方面經驗豐富，也成功地在這種環境下發展了我們的業務。所以現在的情況並沒有什麼不尋常之處。實際上，從競爭環境來看，發展速度幾乎沒有變化，儘管正如你所說，其他地方有一些私募股權投資的小規模項目正在進行，而且本地交換運營商（LEC）的擴張也在繼續。但整體速度並沒有加快。

So -- and we do quite well regardless of whether we're in a physical competition with a wireline builder or whether we're in competition with satellites or whether we're in competition with a fixed wireless asset.

所以——無論我們是在與有線網路建造者進行實體競爭，還是與衛星競爭，或是與固定無線資產競爭，我們都能做得相當不錯。

We're pretty comfortable that we can continue to drive our value proposition and continue to grow our customer relationships. So my sentiment is unchanged. And are there opportunities for us to buy some infrastructure companies that would help us make our network better because they happen to be in the right place? There probably is.

我們很有信心能夠持續提升我們的價值主張，並不斷擴展客戶關係。所以我的看法沒有改變。我們是否有機會收購一些基礎設施公司，以幫助我們改善網絡，因為它們恰好處於有利位置？很有可能。

Yes. I'd add to that, Ben. You've seen it as well, you've been around for a while. The history of these tertiary overbuilders is pretty demonstrated as well. And my experience is they all start out with a rosy story, and they get a lot of capital going in. And the early penetration is because there's something new and environment starts to look good. And as long as you can sell fast enough, you can do okay as a return.

是的，本，我還要補充一點。你也看到了，你在這個行業待的時間也不短了。這些三級開發商的過度擴張的歷史也早已昭然若揭。我的經驗是，他們一開始都描繪出美好的藍圖，並且會獲得大量資金。早期之所以能迅速滲透，是因為市場出現了新的事物，環境看起來也不錯。只要你能賣得夠快，就能獲得不錯的回報。

But the history is that they all go bankrupt, and they end up having to be recapitalized. And so I think there's that repeat that takes place every so often in the marketplace. And so you see some of that.

但歷史經驗表明，它們最終都會破產，都需要重組資本。所以我認為這種現像在市場上會時不時重演。因此，你會看到這種情況。

And our job is just put our head down, be competitive like we always have and go dig out customers and continue to develop products, pricing and packaging that people can't replicate. So like Tom, I'm about as optimistic as you could be about where the business continues to go.

而我們的工作就是埋頭苦幹，像以往一樣保持競爭力，努力挖掘客戶，不斷研發出別人無法複製的產品、定價和包裝。所以，和湯姆一樣，我對公司未來的發展前景也十分樂觀。

I was optimistic last year, and I was optimistic the year before that and I still am.

去年我很樂觀，前年也很樂觀，現在依然如此。

Yes. we're out of consensus now, Tom.

是的，湯姆，我們現在無法達成共識了。

Thanks, Ben.

謝謝你，本。

Thanks, Ben.

謝謝你，本。

Your last question will come from Michael Rollins with Citi.

最後一個問題將來自花旗銀行的邁克爾·羅林斯。

Just to follow up on a couple of things. First, just curious if you could share more of the timetable on the pace of broadband network upgrades for certain percentages of your coverage footprint when you think of the opportunity to increase upload speeds as well as to expand download speeds?

還有一些事情想跟進。首先，我想了解一下，在考慮提升上傳速度和下載速度時，您能否分享一下在覆蓋區域內，特定比例的寬頻網路升級的具體時間表？

And then secondly, as you consider a number of factors, rate environment, stock price, the company's view of forward growth, under what circumstances would you revise the current capital allocation plan and take net debt leverage targets higher or lower?

其次，考慮到利率環境、股價、公司對未來成長的看法等諸多因素，在什麼情況下你會修改目前的資本配置計劃，提高或降低淨債務槓桿目標？

I guess I'll start on the leverage target question. If I think about where we are right now, rates have obviously increased versus where they've been in the recent past. In historical context, I think that rates are still quite low. And so maybe not low but in line with where we'd expect them to be.

我想先從槓桿目標的問題談起。就目前的情況來看，利率顯然比近期水準上升。但從歷史角度來看，我認為目前的利率仍然相當低。所以，或許說它不算低，但至少符合我們的預期。

In the -- from a growth perspective, as you just heard from Tom and Chris, I think we continue to be quite optimistic about our growth opportunity. And on the sentiment side, our stock is trading at a multiple to free cash flow even that's just pretty low compared to where we've been.

從成長角度來看，正如湯姆和克里斯剛才所說，我們對自身的成長前景依然非常​​樂觀。而從市場情緒來看，我們目前的股票本益比（以自由現金流為基準）也相當低，遠低於我們先前的水準。

And so I think that we're happy with where we're sitting, targeting the high end of our 4 to 4.5x leverage ratio. We obviously continue to evaluate over time. It would be hard to sort of break out what scenario exactly would cause us to move off of that space. But I think that we're happy with where we are, and we'll continue to target at that level.

因此，我認為我們對目前的狀況感到滿意，目標是維持在4到4.5倍槓桿率的高端。當然，我們會持續進行評估。很難具體指出什麼情況會導致我們改變策略。但我認為我們對現狀感到滿意，並將繼續保持這個目標水準。

And in terms of the pace of upgrades, we're actually doing multiple upgrades in various parts of the country right now. And we're pacing ourselves in such a way that we're learning how to do it really effectively.

就升級進度而言，我們目前正在全國各地同時進行多項升級。我們合理安排進度，以便學習如何有效率地完成升級工作。

The interesting thing about our capacity to do these upgrades is that they're quite simple electronic upgrades. They're relatively inexpensive, and we can do them rapidly across as much of our footprint as we need to do. And we're just actually putting ourselves in a position right now so that we can execute at the pace we need to execute, given where the demand for that kind of capacity will exist. And we haven't really forecasted that publicly in terms of how fast we're going to do that.

我們進行這些升級的能力之所以有趣，是因為這些都是非常簡單的電子升級。它們成本相對較低，而且我們可以根據需要，迅速在我們業務範圍內完成升級。我們目前正在積極做好準備，以便能夠根據對這種能力的需求，以所需的速度執行升級。至於具體的升級速度，我們尚未公開預測。

Thanks, Mike. And Peter, we're going to pass it back to you. That concludes our call. Thank you very much.

謝謝，麥克。彼得，我們把電話轉回給你。通話到此結束。非常感謝。

This concludes today's conference call. Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect.

今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝您的參與。您可以斷開連線了。