Liberty Broadband Corp (LBRDA) 2020 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by. Welcome to the Liberty Broadband 2020 Year-End Earnings Call. (Operator Instructions) As a reminder, this conference is being recorded, February 26.

女士們、先生們，感謝您的耐心等待。歡迎參加Liberty Broadband 2020年終財報電話會議。 （操作員提示）提醒您，本次會議正在錄音，日期為2月26日。

I would now like to turn the conference over to Courtnee Chun, Chief Portfolio Officer. Please go ahead.

現在我將會議交給首席投資組合長 Courtnee Chun。請開始吧。

Thank you, and good morning. Before we begin, we'd like to remind everyone that this call includes certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual events and results could differ materially due to a number of risks and uncertainties, including those mentioned in our most recent Form 10-K filed with the SEC. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this call, and Liberty Broadband and Liberty TripAdvisor expressly disclaim any obligation or undertaking to disseminate any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statement contained herein to reflect any change in Liberty Broadband or Liberty TripAdvisor's expectations with regard thereto or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based.

謝謝，早安。在會議開始前，我們想提醒各位，本次電話會議包含1995年《私人證券訴訟改革法案》所界定的某些前瞻性陳述。由於許多風險和不確定因素，包括我們在最近向美國證券交易委員會提交的10-K表格中提及的風險和不確定因素，實際事件和結果可能與這些陳述有重大差異。這些前瞻性陳述僅代表截至本次電話會議之日的信息，Liberty Broadband和Liberty TripAdvisor明確聲明，不承擔任何義務或責任更新或修訂本文中的任何前瞻性陳述，以反映Liberty Broadband或Liberty TripAdvisor對此的預期變化，或任何此類陳述所依據的事件、情況或環境的變化。

On today's call, we will discuss certain non-GAAP financial measures for Liberty Broadband, including adjusted OIBDA and adjusted OIBDA margin. Information regarding the comparable GAAP metrics, along with required definitions and reconciliations, including preliminary note and schedules 1 and 2, can be found in the earnings press release issued today, which is available on Liberty Broadband's website.

在今天的電話會議上，我們將討論Liberty Broadband的若干非GAAP財務指標，包括調整後的OIBDA和調整後的OIBDA利潤率。有關可比較GAAP指標的信息，以及必要的定義和調節表（包括初步說明和附表1和附表2），請參閱今天發布的盈利新聞稿，該新聞稿可在Liberty Broadband網站上查閱。

Now I'd like to turn the call over to Greg Maffei, Liberty' President and CEO.

現在我想把電話交給 Liberty 的總裁兼執行長 Greg Maffei。

Thank you, Courtnee, and good morning to all of our listeners. Today speaking on the call, we will also have Liberty Broadband's Chief Accounting Officer and Principal Financial Officer, Brian Wendling. Also during Q&A, we will be available to answer questions related to Liberty TripAdvisor. Ron Duncan, CEO of GCI; and Pete Pounds, CFO of GCI, will also be available to answer questions.

謝謝 Courtnee，也祝各位聽眾早安。今天參與電話會議的還有 Liberty Broadband 的首席會計官兼財務長 Brian Wendling。此外，在問答環節，我們也會解答與 Liberty TripAdvisor 相關的問題。 GCI 的執行長 Ron Duncan 和財務長 Pete Pounds 也將參與問答環節。

Let me start by talking about Liberty Broadband itself. On December 18, earlier than expected, we completed the acquisition of GCI Liberty. During the period of November 1 to January 31, we repurchased 1.9 million shares of Liberty Broadband for $293 million. 1.8 million of the repurchases were completed after the December shareholder vote for the GCI Liberty merger. Since then, we've spent about $272 million on repurchases at an average price of about $155 a share. While you may note, the average repurchase price in LBRDK over this period is higher than yesterday's close, they represent an attractive look-through price to Charter of $528 per share versus yesterday's closing of $602, and we remain long-term bullish.

首先，我想談談Liberty Broadband本身。 12月18日，我們提前完成了對GCI Liberty的收購。在11月1日至1月31日期間，我們以2.93億美元的價格回購了190萬股Liberty Broadband的股票。其中180萬股的回購是在12月股東投票通過GCI Liberty合併案後完成的。自那以後，我們以每股約155美元的平均價格，花了約2.72億美元用於股票回購。雖然您可能會注意到，在此期間LBRDK的平均回購價格高於昨日的收盤價，但相對於Charter而言，目前的回購價格為每股528美元，而昨日的收盤價為每股602美元，因此我們仍然長期看好Charter。

In the first quarter, we exceeded our 26% ownership cap in Charter and expect to sell into their buyback beginning in March and do so going forward on a monthly basis. Based on Charter's historic buyback cadence, we expect our share sales to Charter to generate cash well north of $2 billion for Liberty Broadband this year with about a 5.5% tax (inaudible). Our plan is to use this capital, plus the ample liquidity we have on hand already at Broadband, to attack the discount at Liberty Broadband and take advantage of it. With this in mind, our Board has increased the repurchase authorization at Liberty Broadband to approximately $2.5 billion.

第一季度，我們持有Charter的股份超過了26%的持股上限，預計將從3月份開始按月出售股份參與Charter的股票回購計畫。根據Charter以往的回購節奏，我們預計今年向Charter出售股份將為Libe​​rty Broadband帶來超過20億美元的現金收入（稅額約為5.5%）。我們的計劃是利用這筆資金，加上我們在Liberty Broadband目前擁有的充足流動資金，抓住Liberty Broadband的折扣機會，並從中獲利。有鑑於此，董事會已將Liberty Broadband的股票回購授權額度提高至約25億美元。

Looking at Charter. In 2020, Broadband affirmed its place as one of the most important consumer and business services, and Charter added more Broadband subscribers in the first half of 2020 than in any calendar year since the Time Warner merger. With operational efficiencies through increased self-installations, self-service platforms and online digital sales, the combination of these, combined with the mix shift -- continuing mix shift to Broadband, resulted in full year 2020 cable EBITDA margins exceeding 40% for the first time in the company's history. And we had a small number of video subscribers in '20, a lone star in the current MVP market.

以Charter為例。 2020年，寬頻業務鞏固了其作為最重要的消費者和企業服務之一的地位，Charter在2020年上半年新增的寬頻用戶數量超過了自時代華納合併以來的任何一個年度。透過增加自助安裝、自助服務平台和線上數位銷售，提升了營運效率，再加上業務結構調整——持續向寬頻業務轉型——使得Charter 2020年全年有線電視業務的EBITDA利潤率首次超過40%，創下公司歷史新高。此外，Charter在2020年還擁有少量視訊用戶，在當前MVP（最有價值產品）市場中獨樹一格。

Mobile is also an exciting growth business for Charter with improving economics. Charter added 1.3 million lines during 2020 and is the fastest-growing wireless provider in its footprint. In fact, in several quarters, we were the fastest-growing wireless player in the nation. Free cash flow at Charter increased 50% for the year, and Charter repurchased over $12 billion of stock. So all in all, pretty good.

行動業務對Charter來說也是一個令人振奮的成長點，其獲利能力正在不斷提升。 Charter在2020年新增了130萬條線路，是其覆蓋區域內成長最快的無線營運商。事實上，在幾個季度裡，我們都是全美成長最快的無線營運商。 Charter的自由現金流在2020年成長了50%，並且回購了超過120億美元的股票。總而言之，表現相當不錯。

Finally, let's turn to Liberty TripAdvisor. TripAdvisor is well positioned for what we believe is the pent-up travel demand that continues to grow. To keep some of our investors stuck in colder climate thinking about the right things, check out the best beaches of 2021 Trip announced this week. It's led by Whitehaven Beach in Australia and Santa Maria Beach in Cuba, perhaps you'll soon be there.

最後，我們來看看TripAdvisor。我們認為，TripAdvisor已經做好充分準備，迎接持續成長的被壓抑的旅行需求。為了讓身處寒冷地區的投資人也能關註一些重要的事情，不妨看看本周公布的2021年最佳海灘之旅。澳洲的白天堂海灘和古巴的聖瑪麗亞海灘位居榜首，或許你很快就能去那裡了。

Cost controls taken at Trip in 2020 have enabled operating leverage as revenue returns. We're also excited about TripAdvisor Plus, the first of its kind direct-to-consumer subscription offering in the travel space. Currently, in beta, we expect to roll it out in the U.S. in the first half of 2021. This provides travelers with compelling value through deals on hotels and experiences as well as giving access to perks and benefits, and this is just the beginning. Over time, we envision adding more services, more benefits and VIP amenities in-destination travel benefit, airline perks, et cetera. The addressable market for TripAdvisor Plus is enormous. We continued to have over 400 million monthly unique visits at Trip in 2019, and converting even a small percentage of that traffic implies a meaningful long-term growth opportunity and recurring revenue stream for Trip.

Trip在2020年採取的成本控制措施，隨著收入的回升，實現了營運槓桿效應。我們也對TripAdvisor Plus感到非常興奮，這是旅遊領域首個此類直接面向消費者的訂閱服務。目前該服務正處於測試階段，我們預計在2021年上半年在美國推出。 TripAdvisor Plus將透過飯店和體驗優惠以及各種特權和福利，為旅客提供極具吸引力的價值，而這只是個開始。未來，我們計劃增加更多服務、更多福利和VIP禮遇，例如目的地旅行福利、航空公司優惠等等。 TripAdvisor Plus的潛在市場非常巨大。 2019年，Trip的月獨立訪客量持續超過4億，即使轉換率只有一小部分，也意味著Trip擁有巨大的長期成長潛力以及穩定的收入來源。

And with that, let me turn it over to Brian to talk about the financials.

接下來，我將把發言權交給布萊恩，讓他來談談財務狀況。

Thank you, Greg. At quarter end, Liberty Broadband had consolidated cash and cash equivalents of $1.4 billion, which includes $32 million of cash at GCI. After year-end, GCI received $174 million in payments from the government relating to RHC funding years '18 and '19. These payments allow GCI to pay down their line of credit by $180 million subsequent to year-end.

謝謝你，格雷格。截至季末，Liberty Broadband的合併現金及現金等價物為14億美元，其中包括GCI持有的3,200萬美元現金。年末後，GCI收到政府支付的1.74億美元，用於支付2018和2019年度的RHC計畫資金。這些款項使GCI能夠在年末後償還其1.8億美元的信貸額度。

Value of our Charter investment at Liberty Broadband as of yesterday's close was $36 million. At quarter end, Liberty Broadband had a total principal amount of debt of $4.8 billion. Including the impact of the $180 million paydown on GCI's line of credit subsequent to quarter end, Liberty Broadband had principal amount of debt of $4.6 billion. GCI's leverage, as defined in this credit agreement, was 3.5x, a meaningful delevering from year-end 2019 when GCI's leverage was 5.1x. GCI has a substantial cushion under its maximum leverage covenant of 6x.

截至昨日收盤，我們在Liberty Broadband的Charter投資價值為3,600萬美元。季度末，Liberty Broadband的總債務本金為48億美元。計入季度末後GCI信貸額度中1.8億美元的償還影響，Liberty Broadband的債務本金為46億美元。根據此信貸協議的定義，GCI的槓桿率為3.5倍，較2019年底的5.1倍顯著下降。 GCI的槓桿率遠低於其6倍的最高槓桿率限制。

Liberty Broadband has $300 million of undrawn large loan capacity, and GCI has approximately $420 million of undrawn borrowing capacity on its line of credit following the sale. These amounts exclude the indemnification obligation and preferred stock.

Liberty Broadband 擁有 3 億美元的未提取大額貸款額度，而 GCI 在出售後擁有約 4.2 億美元的未提取信貸額度。這些金額不包括賠償義務和優先股。

Now just a quick update on GCI. 2020 was a great year for the company. For the full year, revenue grew 9%, and adjusted OIBDA grew 34% to (inaudible) million, the company's highest-ever adjusted OIBDA driven by data demand and lower costs associated with bad -- reduced bad debt and health care expenses, combined with previous cost-saving initiatives. We also had $15 million of onetime items favorably impacting revenue for the year, the impact for the quarter was significant. There's additional discussion of GCI's results in our 10-K that will be filed later today.

現在簡單報告GCI的最新狀況。 2020年對公司來說是碩果累累的一年。全年營收成長9%，調整後OIBDA成長34%，達到（聽不清楚）百萬美元，創下公司歷史新高。這主要得益於數據需求的成長以及壞帳相關成本的降低——壞帳和醫療保健支出的減少，以及先前實施的成本節約措施。此外，我們還有1,500萬美元的一次性專案對全年營收產生了正面影響，對季度業績的影響尤其顯著。關於GCI的業績，我們將在今天稍後提交的10-K文件中進行更詳細的討論。

Fourth quarter experienced 12% revenue growth and 20% adjusted revenue growth. Operationally, they added nearly 14,000 cable modem subscribers and built out Alaska's first 5G network (inaudible). Strategically, they sold the broadcast TV business and reduced their time and materials business to focus on their core competitive advantage, the Alaska network, which had a favorable impact to overall margins. While there was definitely some favorable macro trends impacting the strength of 2020 number, there was solid performance by the team from top to bottom that generated those results in the midst of a truly trying time.

第四季營收成長12%，調整後營收成長20%。營運方面，新增近14,000名有線數據機用戶，並建成阿拉斯加首個5G網路（聽不清楚）。在策略方面，出售了廣播電視業務，並縮減了工時和材料業務，以專注於其核心競爭優勢——阿拉斯加網絡，這對整體利潤率產生了積極影響。儘管2020年的業績確實受到一些有利的宏觀趨勢的影響，但團隊從上到下都表現出色，在如此艱難的時期取得了這些成績。

On RHC matters, we are currently working with the SEC on rates and payments for the funding year of 2021. In more positive news, we received a new order from the SEC in January that gives rate certainty to Alaska providers for funding years ending in June '22 and '23. We expect to have a shorter period between service delivery and cash collection going forward.

關於RHC相關事宜，我們目前正與SEC就2021財年的費率和支付問題進行磋商。更令人欣慰的是，我們在1月收到SEC的一項新命令，該命令為阿拉斯加的醫療服務提供者在2022年6月和2023年6月結束的財年提供了費率確定性。我們預計未來服務交付和款項收取之間的間隔時間將會縮短。

With that, I'll turn the call back over to Greg.

這樣，我就把電話轉回給格雷格了。

Thanks, Brian, and thank you to our listening audience for your continued interest in Liberty Broadband and Liberty TripAdvisor.

謝謝布萊恩，也感謝各位聽眾一直以來對 Liberty Broadband 和 Liberty TripAdvisor 的關注。

And operator, with that, I'd like to open the floor for questions.

操作員，接下來我想接受提問。

(Operator Instructions) We'll go first to Michael Rollins with Citi.

（操作員指示）我們先連線花旗銀行的麥可‧羅林斯。

I'm curious on Liberty Broadband. As you think about the assets in Liberty Broadband going forward, can you referenced the look-through price to Charter earlier in the discussion. Do you expect Liberty Broadband to just keep the assets it has and stay fairly simple? Or are you on the hunt for other assets or investments to place into Liberty Broadband?

我對Liberty Broadband很感興趣。您在考慮Liberty Broadband未來的資產配置時，能否提及一下先前討論中提到的與Charter的穿透價格？您認為Libe​​rty Broadband會繼續持有現有資產，維持相對簡單的營運模式嗎？還是正在尋找其他資產或投資項目注入Liberty Broadband？

Thank you for the question. I -- look, the easy money here in terms of what to do with the capital we receive from -- not with capital on our balance sheet but the capital we will receive through the purchase that Charter makes and the payments we get is to take advantage of the basically 10% to 15% differential between the after-tax proceeds we get and the discount to Charter that we have. That's the obvious place to put our capital. Now to the degree we become more uncertain about the Charter buyback, effectively, we can decide at what pace we want to be a part of the Charter buyback by holding the cash and doing something different. But that's where -- given our belief to Charter and given the discount, that's what's attractive. Today, prices in the market in general are pretty full for other kinds of assets. If the world changes, we might change our view, but that's where we stand today.

謝謝你的提問。你看，就我們即將獲得的資金而言，最容易實現的收益——不是我們資產負債表上的資金，而是我們透過Charter的收購以及我們收到的款項獲得的資金——就是利用我們稅後收益與我們目前持有的Charter股份折扣之間大約10%到15%的差額。這顯然是投資的最佳方式。當然，如果我們對Charter的回購前景感到不確定，我們可以選擇持有現金並採取其他策略，以此來決定我們參與Charter回購的節奏。但鑑於我們對Charter的信心以及目前的折扣，這才是真正有吸引力的地方。目前，市場上其他類型資產的價格普遍偏高。如果市場情勢發生變化，我們可能會改變看法，但這就是我們目前的立場。

And earlier last year, you talked, I believe, about being in discussions with Charter around how to handle this cap as you're approaching it. Can you share any thoughts on what you learned from that discussion? Why didn't you decide to enforce the cap versus maybe just why don't you hold on to the shares that you have? And is this the final decision? Or is it possible that in the future that the structure and the agreement might be revisited?

去年年初，您曾談到與Charter就如何應對即將到來的股價上限進行過討論。您能否分享一下您從那次討論中學到了什麼？為什麼您最終沒有選擇強制執行股價上限，而是選擇繼續持有現有股份？這是最終決定嗎？或者未來是否有可能重新檢視相關結構和協議？

We did have discussions with an independent committee of the Board of Charter about increasing the cap. And frankly, the proposals that were put forward by them to Liberty Broadband, we didn't find as attractive as the alternative of just to purchase from our shares. Can't say that we won't revisit that, don't know what will come in the future. But at the moment, we'll look to the alternatives of what was presented to us versus, as I said, the opportunity to get cash back, pay a 5.5% tax rate and buy what's been running about -- buy the stock back of Liberty Broadband, which has been running at about an 18.5% discount to Charter and thought that was a pretty attractive alternative.

我們確實與Charter董事會的一個獨立委員會討論過提高上限的問題。坦白說，他們向Liberty Broadband提出的方案，我們認為不如直接用我們持有的股份回購來得吸引人。我們不能保證以後不會再考慮這個問題，畢竟未來會如何發展也難以預料。但就目前而言，我們會權衡他們提出的方案，以及我剛才提到的，用現金回購Liberty Broadband股票的機會。 Liberty Broadband的股票目前比Charter的股價折讓約18.5%，我們認為這是一個相當不錯的選擇。

We'll go next to James Ratcliffe with Evercore ISI.

接下來我們將採訪 Evercore ISI 的 James Ratcliffe。

On GCI, the with the wireless (inaudible) you mentioned, should we be looking at 4Q as pretty much normalized when it comes to RHC funding/pricing going forward? And secondly, on Trip, talking about discount that's rolling out recently the -- that's taking it up to high 30s or thereabout, are there any tools available to take advantage of that and possibly use this capital to buy back, et cetera?

關於GCI，您提到的無線（聽不清楚）問題，我們是否應該認為第四季度RHC的融資/定價基本上恢復正常？其次，關於Trip，您提到最近推出的折扣－折扣幅度接近30%，是否有任何工具可以利用這項折扣，並將這部分資金用於回購等用途？

So I'll let -- do you want to comment on the GCI/RHC matter, Pete or Brian? Or...

那麼，我想問──皮特和布萊恩，你們想對GCI/RHC這件事發表什麼看法？或者…

Operator, we seem to have some feedback on the line there.

操作員，我們似乎收到關於那條線路的一些回饋。

Brian, do you want to comment in RHC? Or we'll let Pete or Ron add anything?

Brian，你想在RHC上發表評論嗎？還是讓Pete或Ron來補充？

Yes. Just on the onetime items, there was one settlement for $6 million that came through in the fourth quarter. Otherwise, the results for the fourth quarter are pretty much normalized. I don't know, Pete, if there's anything you'd want to add on that?

是的。就一次性專案而言，第四季有一筆600萬美元的和解金到帳。除此之外，第四季的業績基本上正常。皮特，你還有什麼要補充的嗎？

No, that's it, Brian. Particularly, nothing unusual with RHC that impacted the income statement there.

不，就是這樣，布萊恩。特別是RHC方面，沒有什麼異常情況影響到那裡的損益表。

On Liberty Trip and the discount, it's a funny thing. It's highly volatile. And if you look at the B price and you combine the Bs and the A price, it's not clear it's as big a discount. Now how much float and liquidity there is in the Bs, I'll acknowledge that's a hard number to look at. There is not a ton of excess liquidity at Trip today, but we continue to think about ways to take advantage of any discounts we see when we see them.

關於Liberty Trip的折價，情況比較複雜。它的波動性很大。如果你只看B級債券的價格，再把B級和A級債券的價格加起來，就看不出折價有多大了。至於B級債券的流通量和流動性，我承認這很難估算。目前Trip的流動性並不充裕，但我們會繼續思考如何利用任何出現的折扣機會。

We'll go next to Bentley Cross with TD Securities.

接下來我們將前往TD Securities旗下的Bentley Cross。

Two minor housekeeping questions. One, what's the right corporate overhead drag you're thinking about now of the combined companies? And then secondly, can you just flush out what the advertising impact was for GCI in the quarter?

還有兩個小問題。第一，您現在認為合併後的公司營運成本應該控制在多少？第二，您能否詳細說明一下本季GCI的廣告支出狀況？

Can you repeat the first question? I didn't hear you.

你能再說一次第一個問題嗎？我沒聽清楚。

What's the right corporate overhead drag to think about now of the combined companies?

現在應該考慮合併後公司哪些適當的企業管理費用拖累因素？

I give this one to Brian. Do you want to answer that?

我把這個問題交給布萊恩。你想回答嗎？

Sure. Yes, I think it's slightly elevated in Q4 2020, as you see in the release, that's $7.3 million. So I would back off that a little bit, without giving specific guidance, but that could be an approximation to annualize to reduce that down a bit.

當然。是的，我認為2020年第四季的數據略高，正如你在報告中看到的，是730萬美元。所以我建議稍微下調這個數字，雖然我不會給出具體的指導意見，但這可以作為一個近似值，換算成年化數據後會略微降低一些。

And then I have -- go ahead.

然後我還有──請繼續。

Maybe repeat the second question, just to make sure we all heard it as well.

或許應該重複第二個問題，以確保我們都聽到了。

Can you discuss the advertising impact for GCI with some political advertising in the quarter?

您能否談談本季一些政治廣告對GCI的廣告影響？

Ron or Pete, do you guys want to take a cut at that?

榮恩或皮特，你們兩個想分一杯羹嗎？

Yes, I'll grab that. Yes, we -- after the sale of the broadcast business, we've got relatively de minimis cable advertising revenue that goes on our cable TV programming there. And due to the political advertising, we got about a $3 million bump over and above what I would consider to be relatively de minimis revenue streams there.

是的，我來拿。是的，我們——在出售廣播業務之後，我們有線電視節目的廣告收入相對來說微乎其微。但由於政治廣告，我們額外獲得了約300萬美元的收入，而這筆收入原本就微不足道。

We'll go next to Matthew Harrigan with Benchmark.

接下來，我們將連線 Benchmark 的 Matthew Harrigan。

Firstly, it probably gets lost among Liberty's myriad earnings releases this morning, but the FCC just approved $50 broadband subsidies to lower-income homes, and it's actually $75 in tribal areas. Is that enough to tweak the '21 result for GCI up than the last given the material native population there? And then secondly, and I guess much more prominently, the C-band Auction 107 results, Comcast and Charter were not winners. Not surprising, I guess, given those prices. Is that -- and I know you may have some (inaudible) your answer, but could there be some indication there that you might be more amenable with Charter than with Comcast, which is maybe you can't say definitively on actions, but would it make more sense to work with Verizon in terms of do you see a relationship on the small cell side with the advance of 5G. I know you've tested UNF before, but lots of moving pieces here of the auction results.

首先，這則消息可能淹沒在Liberty今天早上發布的眾多財報中，但FCC剛剛批准了向低收入家庭提供50美元寬頻補貼，在部落地區則是75美元。考慮到部落地區原住民人口眾多，這筆補助是否足以提升GCI 2021年的業績？其次，也是更重要的一點，C頻段107號拍賣結果顯示，Comcast和Charter都未得標。考慮到當時的競標價格，這並不令人意外。我知道您可能已經有了答案（聽不清楚），但這是否意味著您更傾向於與Charter合作而不是Comcast？也許您無法就具體行動給出明確答复，但考慮到5G的推進，您認為與Verizon在小型基地台方面合作是否更有意義？我知道您之前測試過UNF，但這次拍賣結果涉及諸多變數。

So Pete or Ron, do you guys want to talk about the potential impact in tribal areas of a $75 subsidy and the meaning it holds for GCI?

皮特或羅恩，你們想談談 75 美元補貼對部落地區可能產生的影響，以及這對 GCI 的意義嗎？

I'll take a quick cut at that. GCI is already a substantial lifeline provider on the voice side, and we have programs set up that we believe will be well positioned to morph fairly quickly into the broadband subsidy. As Greg implied there, all of Alaska is a tribal area, so the $75 subsidy applies state-wide. So there's some upside to that, I believe, for GCI. But I think you also have to look at the fact that our broadband penetration is also exceedingly high, even more so after the pandemic effects from last year. So the upside is probably limited, although it will probably have a positive effect on further driving down the bad debt and supporting the income stream.

我先簡單說說我的看法。 GCI在語音通訊方面已經是一家重要的生命線服務供應商，而且我們已經設立了一些項目，相信這些項目能夠很快地過渡到寬頻補貼。正如格雷格剛才提到的，阿拉斯加全境都是部落地區，所以75美元的補助適用於全州。因此，我認為這對GCI來說有一定的好處。但我認為，你也必須考慮到，我們的寬頻普及率已經非常高了，尤其是在去年疫情的影響之後。所以，這項補貼帶來的好處可能有限，儘管它可能有助於進一步降低壞賬，並增加收入。

And as far as the C-band auctions and Charter, I think Liberty, like many observers, was stunned by the prices. Obviously, you're looking at sort of the mid-90s to high $90 billion when you include the cost of running the spectrum. And some of the amounts that each of the larger carriers, particularly Verizon but also T, paid were big numbers. I look and think our CBRS alternative that we did participate in, we spent about $500 million of Charter at the CBRS auction. It's very attractive with a cost per pop basis something like a 1/7 of the price or something like that.

至於C頻段頻譜拍賣和Charter公司，我認為Libe​​rty公司和許多觀察家一樣，都被拍賣價格震驚了。顯然，如果算上頻譜營運成本，總價在900億美元到900億美元之間。一些大型營運商，特別是Verizon和T公司，支付的金額都非常驚人。回顧我們參與的CBRS替代方案，我們在CBRS拍賣中花費了Charter公司約5億美元。以使用者數量計算，CBRS方案非常有吸引力，價格大約只有CBRS的七分之一左右。

The other point I'd make is we are really beneficiaries because of our recently renewed MVNO relationship with Verizon where we're going to get the benefit of whatever spending they have and they do there in terms of the MVNO we get. We get the latest and greatest that Verizon has. So I think it's a win all the way around for Charter to be perfectly honest, which is where we get owner economics where we choose in CBRS at a fraction of the price and we get rental economics on their upgraded network with a continuing downward stream based on what their retail prices are. So -- and probably, frankly, stapling as much debt on some of those larger companies is probably going to cause them to look at less bigger and certain alternatives they might do to participate in some of the markets we're in. So I consider it a pretty good result for Charter.

我想提出的另一點是，由於我們最近與Verizon續簽了MVNO合作關係，我們實際上是受益者。我們將受益於他們在MVNO方面的任何投入和支出。我們將獲得Verizon最新、最好的服務。坦白說，我認為這對Charter來說是全方位的雙贏。我們既能以遠低於市價的價格選擇CBRS，享受業主經濟效益，又能以租賃價格享受他們升級後的網絡，並且隨著零售價格的持續下降而獲得收益。坦白說，讓一些大型公司背負如此沉重的債務，很可能會迫使他們考慮規模較小、更具體的替代方案來參與我們所處的市場。因此，我認為這對Charter來說是一個相當不錯的結果。

But specifically, as far as advantages you have on the small cell side of powering and the access and all that, is that still something that it's a moving target? I know that -- I know Comcast has historically been reluctant to let Verizon mess with your network. Can you maybe expand, and I'm sure Charters is probably in the same place? But I take it that with the new agreement, that wasn't something that was specifically contemplated? Or is that just something that could work out in the future? Or is that just off the table for a while?

但具體來說，就小型基地台的供電、存取等方面的優勢而言，這是否仍然是一個不斷變化的目標？我知道——我知道康卡斯特（Comcast）歷來都不願意讓威瑞森（Verizon）幹擾他們的網路。能否詳細說明一下？我相信查特電信（Charter's）可能也持同樣的態度。但我理解，在新協議中，這並非特別考慮過的問題？或者這只是未來可能會解決的問題？還是說暫時擱置了？

I think it's the point you make. We haven't rolled that out yet, our CBRS. We haven't really rolled out our owner economics anywhere yet. But down the road, one could imagine providing access to our network as well. We certainly do provide other places where we provide backhaul on the like for plenty of the larger mobile carriers, so I don't know why -- the last mile capacity as well.

我覺得你說的沒錯。我們的CBRS服務還沒正式推出。我們還沒有在任何地方推出用戶導向的獲利模式。但未來，我們可以考慮提供網路存取服務。我們確實為許多大型行動電信商提供回程連結服務，所以我不明白為什麼——最後一公里容量也需要提供。

We'll go next to [Michael Beamer with CLC Capital].

接下來我們將採訪 CLC Capital 的 Michael Beamer。

I have a couple of questions. Looking at Charter, it looks to me that with (inaudible) homes passed, their penetration roughly is about 58% and the average monthly bill is around $111. What are you thinking in terms of the opportunity for the total penetration? And also, what do you think is the purchasing ability to fund the spending on cable relative to the average rent, which is approximately $900 to 1,000 a month across the U.S.? How are you thinking about that? And when you discuss that, please touch on the price increase that was announced at the end of last year by Charter. Did it go through? And what are your thoughts about inflation? Sorry, I know it's a lot, but I'd really appreciate your thoughts on this.

我有幾個問題。就Charter而言，據我觀察，在（聽不清楚）戶家庭中，他們的滲透率約為58%，平均每月帳單約為111美元。您認為他們的總滲透率還有多大潛力？另外，您認為人們的購買力如何，才能負擔得起有線電視費用？考慮到美國平均每月900到1000美元的房租，您對此有何看法？在討論這個問題時，請您談談Charter去年年底宣布的價格上漲。漲價是否已經生效？您對通貨膨脹有何看法？抱歉，我的問題很多，但我非常希望得到您的解答。

Yes. I'm also going to write the final chapter of the Bible when we're done here. But the -- look, I think if you ask Tom Rutledge, he would believe that, ultimately, we're going to have 2/3 of -- we'll grow our share up to 2/3 of the market or perhaps even more over time because we have the best network and in large parts of our market where we can provide better customer service at a relatively low-cost upgrade, and so we really are well positioned.

是的。等我們忙完這裡，我還要寫聖經的最後一章。但是——你看，我想如果你問湯姆·拉特利奇，他會相信，最終我們會佔據三分之二的市場份額——隨著時間的推移，我們的市場份額會增長到三分之二甚至更多，因為我們擁有最好的網絡，而且在我們市場的大部分地區，我們可以以相對較低的成本提供更好的客戶服務升級，所以我們確實處於非常有利的地位。

In general, yes, Charter has taken some price increases, and it really is hard to say because it's by plan where it rolls out across the nation. It's not a uniform, we turn the switch and everything goes up 3%. It really is when the customer's contract is and what kind of plan they're under and what new plans we offer. In general, if you looked at most analysis that I've seen, Charter has not been a price taker, we have been a share taker. And I think the management team at Charter has done a great job of doing that where we've gained share largely faster than anyone else among the big cable players and do price as something that perhaps is available down the road but not something we need to work on today. We've got a better offering at lower price and continue to take share and leave that volume rather than price dial rather than the volume dial less turn than some of the others in the market.

總的來說，Charter確實提價了，但很難說具體漲幅是多少，因為漲價是根據計劃在全國範圍內逐步實施的。並非統一漲價，也不是一刀切地全部上漲3%。實際漲價幅度取決於客戶的合約條款、他們所簽訂的套餐類型以及我們提供的新套餐。總的來說，如果你看過我所看到的大多數分析，你會發現Charter並非價格接受者，而是市場份額的競爭者。我認為Charter的管理團隊在這方面做得非常出色，我們比其他大型有線電視營運商更快地獲得了市場份額，而且我們把價格作為未來可能考慮的因素，而不是我們目前需要關注的重點。我們以更低的價格提供更好的服務，並持續擴大市場份額，而不是像市場上的其他一些公司那樣，僅依靠提升用戶數量來調整價格。

As far as where it can go, we'll see. As you increasingly look in a world where people are going to have remote alternatives, whether it be for businesses or personal use, you will see increased demand for broadband and the value of the service is likely to rise. I don't have a number in my head at how -- never really looked at or thought about it against average rent, particularly because in a lot of cases, people own their homes, it's not a rental property, or we have businesses, small businesses. So I don't necessarily think about it against rents. But I do think the product, as I started out, has shown increasing -- Broadband has shown increasing value to consumers and businesses alike in 2020, I don't expect that to dissipate much in the years ahead.

至於它未來的發展方向，我們拭目以待。隨著人們越來越傾向於遠距辦公，無論是企業還是個人用戶，寬頻需求都會增加，其價值也可能隨之提升。我並沒有具體的數字來預測——我從未真正考慮過將其與平均租金進行比較，尤其是在許多情況下，人們擁有自己的住房，而不是出租房產，或者我們在這裡指的是小型企業。所以我並不刻意去比較租金。但我確實認為，正如我最初接觸寬頻時所觀察到的，寬頻在2020年對消費者和企業都展現出了日益增長的價值，我預計這種趨勢在未來幾年內不會有太大減弱。

Can I just follow-up with (inaudible)

我可以接著說（聽不清楚）嗎？

Sure.

當然。

The recent success of the Liberty Media Acquisition Corp, clearly, you have excess capital in Liberty Broadband. And the free cash flow from the repurchase is going to obviously create a high-class problem for you. How are you thinking not just at Liberty Broadband but across your company? How do you think about the conflict of interest and attempting to essentially treat every shareholder properly because Liberty Media is its own entity?

Liberty Media Acquisition Corp 近期的成功表明，Liberty Broadband 擁有過剩的資金。而回購帶來的自由現金流顯然會為您帶來一個棘手的難題。您是如何考慮的，不僅是 Liberty Broadband，而是整個公司？您如何看待利益衝突，以及如何妥善對待每位股東，因為 Liberty Media 是一個獨立的實體？

Yes. So a couple of things. I think I talked about the first and primary opportunity we're pursuing today at Liberty Broadband. And given prices in the market and given the opportunity we see in front of us, that looks pretty attractive and our belief in the underlying value of Charter as Charter continues to shrink its equity, grow its cash flow, grow its revenue, grow its dividend. So we're pretty enthused about that. Now each of the companies that has been spun from Liberty Media has specifically waived their conflict of interest. And in fact, we've been at this a long time and really haven't seen a lot of cases where that's been an issue. If we see something in e-commerce, that's probably likely to go to Curate. If we see something around motor sports, that's probably likely to go into Formula 1. And if we see something around music, that's probably likely to go into Liberty Sirius. There just seem to be natural homes.

是的。有幾點要說。我想我已經談到了我們今天在Liberty Broadband正在尋求的首要機會。鑑於目前的市場價格以及我們眼前的機會，這看起來相當有吸引力。我們堅信Charter的潛在價值，因為Charter正在不斷縮減股權，同時提升現金流、收入和股息。所以我們對此感到非常興奮。現在，從Liberty Media分拆出來的每家公司都明確放棄了利益衝突。事實上，我們從事這方面的工作已經很久了，很少遇到利益衝突的問題。如果我們發現某個業務涉及電子商務，那麼它很可能會歸入Curate。如果我們發現某個業務涉及賽車運動，那麼它很可能會歸入F1。如果我們發現某個業務涉及音樂，那麼它很可能會歸入Liberty Sirius。這些業務似乎都有其天然的歸宿。

Now in the case of the SPAC, Liberty Media did not waive its conflict. So any opportunities that the SPAC sees will first be offered delivery media. We created a position where John Malone is effectively not in the Liberty Media Acquisition management team, and he will be the one who gets to decide whether -- excuse me, not in the LMAC management team, and he'll be the one to decide whether it goes in Liberty Media. But I think it's unlikely we're really going to see that as a practical matter because, again, if we see something in motor sports, unless it's too large a scale, it's likely to be Formula 1. If we see something that doesn't fit particularly well, it may very well be in the SPAC. So we've had this conflict in effect for years. We've never really had an issue with shareholders about it because I think we're pretty -- we try to be transparent and explain our motives. And in general, we try to create purer plays among the entities we have and not have to diversify unless there was a really good reason. And in fact, one of the reasons we created the SPAC was to look at those diverse alternatives that may not fit so well in the portfolio that we have today.

就SPAC而言，Liberty Media並沒有放棄其利益衝突。因此，SPAC看到的任何機會都會首先提供給發行媒體。我們設立了一個職位，讓John Malone實際上不屬於Liberty Media Acquisition（LMAC）的管理團隊，而由他來決定是否－抱歉，不是LMAC的管理團隊，而是由他來決定是否將專案納入Liberty Media。但我認為，從實際角度來看，這種情況不太可能發生，因為，如果我們在賽車運動領域看到什麼機會，除非規模太大，否則很可能是F1。如果我們看到一些不太合適的項目，很可能會將其納入SPAC。所以，這種利益衝突已經存在多年。我們從未因此與股東發生過任何糾紛，因為我認為我們相當——我們努力保持透明，並解釋我們的動機。總的來說，我們力求在現有業務範圍內打造更純粹的投資組合，除非有充分的理由，否則不會進行多元化投資。事實上，我們成立SPAC的原因之一就是為了尋找那些可能不太適合我們現有投資組合的多元化投資機會。

Our last question comes from [Mike Heron] with (inaudible).

最後一個問題來自 [Mike Heron]，問題內容為（聽不清楚）。

I have two quick ones. One, it looks like GCI moved from video sub from the business segment to the consumer segment. I was just wondering if that is correct and that explains some of the change in revenue. My second question has to do with the transfer of the GCI subsidiary that holds the Charter shares up to the parent. Can you give us more color on the reasoning and the implications for that change in the org structure?

我有兩個問題想快速解答。第一，GCI 似乎從企業部門的視訊業務轉移到了消費者部門。我想確認這個消息是否正確，以及這是否能解釋部分收入變化。我的第二個問題與持有 Charter 股份的 GCI 子公司轉移給母公司有關。能否詳細說明一下此次組織架構調整的原因與影響？

I'll take the second one. As often is the case in Liberty, it was tax motivated, and that was our primary goal. And I'll let -- Pete, do you want to comment on any -- or Brian, do you want to comment on any changes in the video sub allocation or positioning?

我選第二個。自由黨常這麼做，目的是為了避稅，這也是我們的首要目標。還有，皮特，你想對視頻訂閱分配或位置的任何變化發表意見嗎？或者布萊恩，你想對視頻訂閱分配或位置的任何變化發表意見嗎？

Pete, you go for that.

皮特，你去吧。

Yes, I'll -- Yes, so when we sold the broadcast TV business, we elected to change the unit that took the revenue. It used to go into the GCI business revenue stream because broadcast we viewed as a bit more of a business play. Without the broadcast, it's just the video advertising revenue, and that seemed to follow more with the consumer revenue stream. So that's why, Michael, it moved from the business to the residential, and it's just the advertising revenue.

是的，我會——是的，所以當我們出售廣播電視業務時，我們決定改變收入的分配部門。以前這部分收入會併入GCI業務的收入流，因為我們當時認為廣播業務更偏向商業運作。沒有了廣播業務，收入就只剩下視訊廣告收入，而這似乎更符合消費者收入的組成。所以，邁克爾，這就是為什麼收入從商業部門轉移到了住宅部門，而且現在只包含廣告收入。

Yes, thank you. I think that's our last question. Thanks to the management teams, thanks to our employees, and thanks to all our listeners for their interest in Liberty Broadband and Liberty TripAdvisor. We hope to speak with you next quarter, if not sooner.

是的，謝謝。我想這是我們最後一個問題了。感謝管理團隊，感謝我們的員工，也感謝所有聽眾對Liberty Broadband和Liberty TripAdvisor的關注。我們希望下個季度能再次與您交流，如果可能的話，更早一些。

This does conclude today's conference. We thank you for your participation.

今天的會議到此結束。感謝各位的參與。