Lumen Technologies Inc (LUMN) 2023 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Greetings and welcome to Lumen Technologies's fourth-quarter 2023 earnings call. (Operator Instructions) As a reminder, this conference is being recorded on Tuesday, February 6, 2024.

歡迎參加 Lumen Technologies 的 2023 年第四季財報電話會議。（操作員說明）謹此提醒，本次會議將於 2024 年 2 月 6 日星期二錄製。

And I would now like to turn our conference over to Mike McCormack, Senior Vice President, Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

現在我想將我們的會議交給投資人關係資深副總裁 Mike McCormack。請繼續。

Thank you, Aaron. Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining Lumen Technologies's fourth-quarter 2023 earnings call. On the call today are Kate Johnson, President and Chief Executive Officer; and Chris Stansbury, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer.

謝謝你，亞倫。大家下午好，感謝您參加 Lumen Technologies 的 2023 年第四季財報電話會議。今天參加電話會議的是總裁兼執行長凱特·約翰遜 (Kate Johnson)；克里斯‧史坦斯伯里（Chris Stansbury），執行副總裁兼財務長。

Before we begin, I need to call your attention to our Safe Harbor statement on slide 2 of our fourth-quarter 2023 presentation, which notes that this conference call may include forward-looking statements subject to certain risks and uncertainties. All forward-looking statements should be considered in conjunction with the cautionary statements on slide 2, and the risk factors in our SEC filings.

在開始之前，我需要提請您注意 2023 年第四季度簡報第 2 幻燈片中的安全港聲明，其中指出本次電話會議可能包含受某些風險和不確定性影響的前瞻性聲明。所有前瞻性陳述應與投影片 2 上的警示性陳述以及我們向 SEC 提交的文件中的風險因素結合考慮。

We will be referring to certain non-GAAP financial measures that reconciles to the most comparable GAAP measures, which can be found in our earnings press release. In addition, certain metrics discussed today exclude costs or special items as detailed in our earnings materials, which can be found on the Investor Relations section of the Lumen website.

我們將提及某些與最具可比性的公認會計原則財務指標一致的非公認會計原則財務指標，這些指標可以在我們的收益新聞稿中找到。此外，今天討論的某些指標不包括我們的收益資料中詳細說明的成本或特殊項目，這些資料可以在 Lumen 網站的投資者關係部分找到。

With that, I'll turn it over to Kate.

有了這個，我會把它交給凱特。

Thanks, Mike. Good afternoon, everyone, and thanks for joining us today. I'm excited to provide an update on the significant progress we're making on Lumen's business transformation.

謝謝，麥克。大家下午好，感謝您今天加入我們。我很高興能夠介紹 Lumen 業務轉型所取得的重大進展的最新情況。

A year ago, I shared that 2023 was a reset year for this company, with the new mission and vision, a new executive team, and a newly redesigned culture. And importantly, we aspire to restore confidence in Lumen, not only with the improved financial results, but with execution excellence that delivers on our commitments. We outlined big multi-year strategic priorities, including strengthening our balance sheet, executing on key programs to turn the core business around by 2025, and igniting new growth by delivering disruptive innovations that help our customers solve their next-gen networking needs.

一年前，我曾說過，2023 年是這家公司的重置年，擁有新的使命和願景、新的執行團隊以及重新設計的文化。重要的是，我們渴望恢復對 Lumen 的信心，不僅透過改善財務業績，而且透過卓越的執行來兌現我們的承諾。我們概述了重大的多年策略優先事項，包括加強我們的資產負債表、執行關鍵計劃以在2025 年之前扭轉核心業務，以及透過提供顛覆性創新來幫助我們的客戶解決其下一代網路需求，從而激發新的增長。

And now, I'm pleased to report that we both delivered on our 2023 EBITDA and free cash flow guidance. And we made material progress on our strategic priorities.

現在，我很高興地向大家報告，我們都實現了 2023 年 EBITDA 和自由現金流指引。我們在戰略重點方面取得了實質進展。

I'll start with the balance sheet. As we announced in late January, we entered into an agreement with a significant number of our creditors that clears the path for our turnaround. The deal extends most of our debt maturities to 2029 and beyond, injects $1.325 billion of net new financing into the business, and gives us access to a new approximately $1 billion revolving credit facility to support our operations. It's a strong indication of the confidence of our bondholders and the broader debt markets that they have in our strategy, and it allows us to focus our energy on executing our business transformation.

我將從資產負債表開始。正如我們在一月底宣布的那樣，我們與大量債權人達成了一項協議，為我們的扭虧為盈掃清了道路。該交易將我們的大部分債務期限延長至 2029 年及以後，為業務注入 13.25 億美元的淨新融資，並使我們能夠獲得約 10 億美元的新循環信貸額度來支持我們的營運。這強烈表明了我們的債券持有人和更廣泛的債務市場對我們策略的信心，它使我們能夠集中精力執行業務轉型。

All right. So how is the pivoted growth going? While we have a lot of work left to do, we're seeing progress as evidenced by our North American business performance compared to other industry competitors. While two large legacy telco companies saw Q4 revenue declines in their business wireline segment of roughly 8% to 10% year over year, Lumen's business Q4 revenue decline was only 3.5% year over year, breaking away from the others for the second straight quarter. We believe our positive peer group performance is due both to our strategy and our turnaround execution.

好的。那麼，樞軸式成長進展如何？雖然我們還有很多工作要做，但與其他行業競爭對手相比，我們在北美的業務表現證明了我們取得了進步。雖然兩家大型傳統電信公司的有線業務第四季營收年減約 8% 至 10%，但 Lumen 的第四季業務收入年減 3.5%，連續第二季領先其他公司。我們相信，我們在同儕中的積極表現歸功於我們的策略和扭虧為盈的執行力。

Simply put, Lumen stands alone in how we think about the industry. In today's digital economy, technology environments are complex and multi-layered, whether it's hybrid or multi-cloud or edge compute or emerging technologies, like Gen AI, businesses need fiber networks with digital services that deliver blazing fast speeds, ultra-low latency, massive capacity for growing data workloads, and proximity to widely distributed users all in a secure environment.

簡而言之，Lumen 在我們對產業的看法中獨樹一幟。在當今的數位經濟中，技術環境複雜且多層次，無論是混合雲、多雲、邊緣運算或 Gen AI 等新興技術，企業都需要光纖網路提供數位服務，以提供極快的速度、超低延遲、用於不斷增長的資料工作負載的巨大容量，以及在安全環境中接近廣泛分佈的使用者。

While our competitors harvest their business wireline segments for cash, Lumen is building a fully digital platform to deliver important new capabilities to these customers. And importantly, we're tailoring our go-to-market approach to get them there. So let's dig a little deeper into that go-to-market execution progress.

當我們的競爭對手從他們的有線業務領域獲取現金時，Lumen 正在建立一個完全數位化的平台，為這些客戶提供重要的新功能。重要的是，我們正在定制我們的進入市場方法來幫助他們實現這一目標。因此，讓我們更深入地了解上市執行進度。

I'll start with our commercial excellence efforts in the business segment, which is all about driving better sales execution, securing our base of customers, and creating a world-class digital customer experience.

我將從我們在業務領域的商業卓越努力開始，這一切都是為了推動更好的銷售執行、保護我們的客戶群並創造世界一流的數位客戶體驗。

In 2023, we tailored our go-to-market approach to each customer segment. This focus is allowing us to meet customers where they are and provide unique and tailored path to our modern communication infrastructure. And not surprisingly, it's driving better sales execution.

2023 年，我們針對每個客戶群量身定制了進入市場的方法。這一重點使我們能夠滿足客戶的需求，並為我們的現代化通訊基礎設施提供獨特且量身定制的路徑。毫不奇怪，它正在推動更好的銷售執行。

This year, with the North America enterprise, we added over 3,000 customers and increased new logo sales by 13% sequentially in Q4, specifically our public sector segment grew double digits quarter over quarter and year over year in Q4, powering our strong revenue performance.

今年，我們在北美企業中增加了3,000 多個客戶，新標誌銷售額在第四季度連續增長了13%，特別是我們的公共部門部門在第四季度環比和同比增長了兩位數，推動了我們強勁的收入表現。

Year over year, we sold 29% more growth products to existing public sector customers in Q4, and we increased seller productivity by 18% for the full year. With this momentum, we expect this segment to be the first to bend the revenue curve back to growth. And we think that market segment will follow suit.

與去年同期相比，我們在第四季度向現有公共部門客戶銷售的成長型產品增加了 29%，全年賣家生產力提高了 18%。憑藉這一勢頭，我們預計該細分市場將成為第一個使收入曲線恢復成長的細分市場。我們認為細分市場也會跟進。

Since establishing the dedicated go-to-market team for mid-market last June, tenured direct sales productivity increased 26%, while we simultaneously grew the sales force by 15%. Importantly, we exited 2023 by outperforming market growth rates and taking share in both SASE and IP.

自去年 6 月建立專門針對中階市場的市場進入團隊以來，終身直銷生產力提高了 26%，同時我們的銷售團隊也成長了 15%。重要的是，我們在 2023 年結束時表現優於市場成長率，並在 SASE 和 IP 中佔據份額。

In our large enterprise segment, we're winning business with sophisticated digitally native companies like Uber, who recently chose Lumen 400-gig wave service to ensure that they can scale and accelerate their company's growth with greater agility.

在我們的大型企業領域，我們正在贏得像 Uber 這樣成熟的數位原生公司的業務，他們最近選擇了 Lumen 400-g Wave 服務，以確保他們能夠以更大的靈活性擴展並加速公司的發展。

Okay. Let's turn to securing the base. This is all about install disconnects, renewables, migrations, and usage. This program is the most challenging part of executing Luminous turnaround for sure.

好的。讓我們轉向保護基地。這都是關於安裝斷開、可更新、遷移和使用的。該計劃無疑是 Luminous 週轉過程中最具挑戰性的部分。

The good news is we're making progress in mid-market and large enterprise shown by our sequential results for the second half. Installations were up 13%, migrations were up 4%, renewals were up 50%, and in Q4, usage was up 3%, helping us end the year strong. Now that said, we're just not satisfied, and we'll be focusing on improving performance here in this part of our turnaround using data and analytics and AI to help determine the right action for each unique customer at the right time.

好消息是，我們下半年的連續業績顯示我們在中型市場和大型企業方面正在取得進展。安裝量成長了 13%，遷移量成長了 4%，續訂量成長了 50%，第四季的使用量成長了 3%，幫助我們以強勁的勢頭結束了這一年。話雖如此，我們只是不滿意，在周轉的這一部分中，我們將專注於提高績效，使用數據、分析和人工智慧來幫助在正確的時間為每個獨特的客戶確定正確的行動。

The third piece of commercial excellence is all about customer experience. the Lumen operations and IT teams did a fantastic job building the digital CX foundation in 2023, redesigning our processes from order to cash, starting to implement new state-of-the-art systems, and infusing Gen AI into our service delivery and assurance. And while we're still in the initial stages, we're seeing signs of impact.

商業卓越的第三個面向是關於客戶體驗。 Lumen 營運和 IT 團隊在 2023 年建立數位 CX 基礎方面表現出色，重新設計了從訂單到現金的流程，開始實施新的最先進的系統，並將 Gen AI 融入我們的服務交付和保證中。雖然我們仍處於初始階段，但我們已經看到了影響的跡象。

And for example, in our North American business pilot, we were able to reduce order processing time by 70% for dedicated Internet access, or DIA, one of our highest-volume products. And across all products for large enterprise and public sector customers, we're already seeing a 17-point year-over-year improvement in net promoter scores based on our process improvement works.

例如，在我們的北美業務試點中，我們能夠將專用網路存取（DIA）（我們銷量最高的產品之一）的訂單處理時間縮短 70%。在所有針對大型企業和公共部門客戶的產品中，基於我們的流程改善工作，我們已經看到淨推薦值較去年同期提高了 17 個百分點。

Time to talk about innovation; innovating for growth. As we announced last month, Dr. Satish Lakshmanan joined Lumen as our Chief Product Officer. Satish comes to us from AWS, and brings a highly valuable combination of cloud, artificial intelligence, and product development experience that will be an important part of fueling our innovation engine.

是時候談談創新了；創新促進成長。正如我們上個月宣布的那樣，Satish Lakshmanan 博士加入 Lumen 擔任我們的首席產品長。Satish 從 AWS 來到我們，帶來了非常有價值的雲端、人工智慧和產品開發經驗組合，這將成為推動我們創新引擎的重要組成部分。

And just this morning, we announced that Dave Ward is joining Lumen as our Chief Technology Officer. Dave has a long history of successful executive leadership, having served as CTO for Cisco Systems and most recently as the CEO of PacketFabric, a Network-as-a-Service provider.

就在今天早上，我們宣布戴夫沃德 (Dave Ward) 加入 Lumen，擔任我們的技術長。Dave 擁有長期成功的行政領導歷史，曾擔任 Cisco Systems 的 CTO，最近擔任網路即服務供應商 PacketFabric 的執行長。

Talented visionaries like Satish and Dave are joining because they see the potential for Lumen to innovate, disrupt the industry, and create major value for customers, and therefore, major value for investors.

Satish 和 Dave 等才華橫溢的遠見者之所以加入，是因為他們看到了 Lumen 創新、顛覆產業、為客戶創造重大價值以及為投資者創造重大價值的潛力。

And I'm delighted to report that we are well on our way. In 2023, Lumen co-created with customers and launched several new digital services that take advantage of our world-class fiber network. Our vision is to empower enterprises to leverage the Lumen digital platform, as we are calling it, enabling customers to digitally consume our secure network services. This innovative platform will help customers build AI-powered applications across on-prem, co-lo, and cloud environments seamlessly; while also simplifying network onboarding and management to save costs.

我很高興地向大家報告，我們進展順利。2023 年，Lumen 與客戶共同創建，並利用我們世界一流的光纖網路推出了多項新的數位服務。我們的願景是讓企業能夠利用我們所謂的 Lumen 數位平台，使客戶能夠以數位方式使用我們的安全網路服務。這個創新平台將幫助客戶在本地、主機託管和雲端環境中無縫建立人工智慧驅動的應用程式；同時也簡化網路存取和管理以節省成本。

In the latter half of this year will share new reporting for Lumen digital to allow you to better understand our growth trajectory.

今年下半年將分享Lumen digital的新報告，讓您更了解我們的成長軌跡。

Let me highlight a few important capabilities in the Lumen digital platform. First is Network as a service, or NaaS. We continue to enrich our NaaS offering with more capability. And just last week, we announced the availability of two new Naas solutions with private connections.

讓我重點介紹 Lumen 數位平台的一些重要功能。首先是網路即服務（NaaS）。我們繼續以更多功能豐富我們的 NaaS 產品。就在上週，我們宣布推出兩種具有專用連接的新 Naas 解決方案。

As our recent customer Element Materials remarked, Lumen's NaaS solution was not just timely but transformative. It highlighted the untapped potential of such innovative network solutions.

正如我們最近的客戶 Element Materials 所說，Lumen 的 NaaS 解決方案不僅及時，而且具有變革性。它強調了此類創新網路解決方案尚未開發的潛力。

Another Lumen digital breakthrough capability is ExaSwitch, our high-capacity optical switching platform originally conceived for direct InterCloud peering, is performing extremely well in the market. And as Microsoft shared, they highly value the ExaSwitch platform for the fast and scalable interconnections that it provides, and they're eager and excited to expand ExaSwitch to new metros in 2024.

Lumen 的另一個數位突破性功能是 ExaSwitch，我們的高容量光交換平台最初是為直接 InterCloud 對等互聯而設計的，目前在市場上表現非常出色。正如 Microsoft 所分享的，他們高度重視 ExaSwitch 平台提供的快速且可擴展的互連，並且他們渴望並興奮地在 2024 年將 ExaSwitch 擴展到新的城市。

Lumen sees ExaSwitch as assumed to be must-have solution for any corporation needing simplified, low latency, high capacity, direct cloud connectivity.

Lumen 認為 ExaSwitch 是任何需要簡化、低延遲、高容量、直接雲端連線的公司的必備解決方案。

Finally, Lumen security. You may have read in The Washington Post that the Department of Justice announced that it disrupted the Volt Typhoon bot net used by a major Chinese government-backed effort to hack the US critical infrastructure. I'm incredibly proud of our Black Lotus Labs team for identifying this threat and being credited by the DOJ for helping to keep the United States safe. Soon you'll see Black Lotus Labs powering the Lumen digital platform with some highly valuable security services.

最後，流明安全。您可能在《華盛頓郵報》中讀到，美國司法部宣布它破壞了 Volt Typhoon 殭屍網絡，這是中國政府支持的一項主要黑客攻擊美國關鍵基礎設施的行動所使用的網絡。我為我們的 Black Lotus Labs 團隊識別出這一威脅並因幫助維護美國安全而獲得司法部認可而感到無比自豪。很快您就會看到 Black Lotus Labs 為 Lumen 數位平台提供一些非常有價值的安全服務。

Now the initial capabilities in the platform gives Lumen access to around $40 billion in net new available market. And to be clear, we're just getting started. We're bullish on the impact that Lumen digital will have on helping pivot our company to growth.

現在，該平台的初始功能使 Lumen 能夠進入約 400 億美元的淨新可用市場。需要明確的是，我們才剛開始。我們看好 Lumen digital 對幫助我們公司成長所產生的影響。

Finally, let's cover mass markets. We're executing our strategy to deploy capital where we see the greatest opportunities with the goal of continuing to evolve our business across a portfolio of markets, investing wisely, and driving fiber market penetration.

最後，讓我們來談談大眾市場。我們正在執行我們的策略，在我們看到最大機會的地方部署資本，目標是繼續在市場組合中發展我們的業務，明智地投資，並推動纖維市場滲透。

Some quick notes to share about 2023 in mass markets. We delivered our commitment to grow our fiber network by more than 500,000 locations and intend to maintain that similar robust rate in 2024. While we weren't happy with our net adds performance in 2023 all up, our sales and marketing engine is now gaining momentum as we close the year strongly with record-high December sales, and we continued to see this pace hold through January.

分享 2023 年大眾市場的一些簡短說明。我們兌現了將光纖網路擴展至超過 50 萬個地點的承諾，並計劃在 2024 年保持類似的強勁速度。雖然我們對2023 年的淨增加表現並不滿意，但我們的銷售和行銷引擎現在正在獲得動力，因為我們以創紀錄的12 月份銷售強勁結束了這一年，並且我們繼續看到這一速度保持到1 月份。

Quantum Fiber is the best multi-gig product in the market. And to maintain that status, we know that constant innovation is a priority. That's why we made sure we were the first company in the industry to achieve WiFi 7 certification. And finally, Quantum Fiber customers continue to be delighted, as shown by our Q4 net promoter score of plus 64, improving both quarter-over-quarter and year-over-year customer satisfaction.

量子光纖是市場上最好的多千兆產品。為了維持這個地位，我們知道不斷創新是首要任務。這就是為什麼我們確保我們是業內第一家獲得 WiFi 7 認證的公司。最後，Quantum Fiber 客戶繼續感到高興，正如我們第四季度的淨推薦值 + 64 所示，客戶滿意度環比和同比均有所提高。

One last exciting note. I talked about rebuilding this company from the people up and how important culture change is to supporting our transformation. In just the fourth quarter alone, we won four different culture awards. Most notably, U.S. News & World Report named Lumen Technologies as one of the 2024 Best Telecomms Companies to Work For. Our culture is helping us attract new talent, as well as supporting our current Lumen workforce through a pretty intense time for this company.

最後一個令人興奮的音符。我談到了從人開始重建這家公司，以及文化變革對於支持我們轉型的重要性。光是第四季度，我們就獲得了四個不同的文化獎項。最值得注意的是，《美國新聞與世界報道》將 Lumen Technologies 評為 2024 年最佳工作電信公司之一。我們的文化正在幫助我們吸引新的人才，並支持我們現有的 Lumen 員工度過公司一段非常緊張的時期。

To sum it up, 2023, we made great progress putting Lumen for growth. We believe our strategy is the right one and we're executing well; to our plan is to hold steady on our strategy through 2024. We'll continue to strengthen our balance sheet, we'll drive commercial excellence to return the business to growth by 2025, and we'll co-create innovative new capabilities that delight customers and give Lumen access to net new profit pools. And we'll do all of that while keeping you apprised of our progress, being transparent about our wins and our struggles, and delivering on our commitments every step of the way.

總而言之，2023 年，我們在推動 Lumen 成長方面取得了巨大進展。我們相信我們的策略是正確的，並且執行得很好；我們的計劃是在 2024 年之前保持穩定的策略。我們將繼續加強我們的資產負債表，我們將推動商業卓越，到 2025 年讓業務恢復成長，我們將共同創造創新的新功能，讓客戶滿意，並使 Lumen 獲得新的淨利潤池。我們將在做到這一切的同時，讓您隨時了解我們的進展，對我們的勝利和奮鬥保持透明，並在每一步中兌現我們的承諾。

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

這樣，我會將電話轉給克里斯。

Thanks, Kate, and good afternoon, everyone. Kate spoke about our progress and how we are disrupting an industry ripe for change as Lumen transforms into the leading digital enterprise solutions provider. She also spoke of our success in reaching agreement on an amended TSA with a broadened group of creditors to extend our debt maturities.

謝謝凱特，大家下午好。Kate 談到了我們的進展，以及隨著 Lumen 轉型為領先的數位企業解決方案供應商，我們如何顛覆一個已經成熟的產業變革。她還談到我們成功地與更多債權人就修訂後的 TSA 達成協議，以延長我們的債務期限。

On our Q2 earnings call, we said we viewed the formation of the creditor group as an opportunity to address a large part of the capital structure in a very efficient way, and the amended agreement we announced in January accomplishes that. The amended TSA has support from a broad group of creditors and when finalized will address approximately $9 billion of outstanding indebtedness, including more than 77% of debt maturing through 2027.

在第二季財報電話會議上，我們表示，我們認為債權人集團的成立是一個以非常有效的方式解決大部分資本結構問題的機會，我們在一月份宣布的修訂協議實現了這一目標。修訂後的 TSA 得到了廣大債權人的支持，最終確定後將解決約 90 億美元的未償債務，其中包括 2027 年到期的超過 77% 的債務。

The TSA transactions will extend debt maturities to primarily 2029 and beyond, provide $1.325 billion of new money and provide access to a new approximately $1 billion revolver. This agreement and the broad support for it speaks to the confidence our banks and creditors have in our plan and provide Lumen ample runway to execute on our business turnaround. In short, our capital structure is no longer a limiting factor in our transformation. We expect to complete the transactions contemplated by the TSA in the first quarter, subject to the satisfaction of limited remaining closing conditions.

TSA 交易將把債務期限延長至 2029 年及以後，提供 13.25 億美元的新資金，並提供新的約 10 億美元的左輪手槍。該協議及其得到的廣泛支持表明了我們的銀行和債權人對我們的計劃的信心，並為 Lumen 執行我們的業務轉型提供了充足的跑道。總之，我們的資本結構不再是我們轉型的限制因素。我們預計將在第一季完成 TSA 預期的交易，前提是滿足有限的剩餘成交條件。

Before covering our fourth-quarter results, I'd like to take a moment to discuss some changes to our 2024 financial reporting to enhance comparability with prior periods and better align with how we manage the business.

在介紹我們第四季度的業績之前，我想花點時間討論一下我們 2024 年財務報告的一些變化，以增強與前期的可比性，並更好地與我們的業務管理方式保持一致。

First, we're updating our business sales channel reporting by breaking out a new international and other channel, including CDN.

首先，我們透過開闢新的國際和其他管道（包括 CDN）來更新我們的業務銷售管道報告。

Secondly, given the sale of substantially all of our CDN contracts during the fourth quarter of '23, we are updating our business product category reporting to move CDM from Harvest to other within the international and other channel.

其次，鑑於我們在 2023 年第四季度出售了幾乎所有 CDN 合同，我們正在更新我們的業務產品類別報告，將 CDM 從 Harvest 轉移到國際和其他管道內的其他管道。

And finally, with the sale of our EMEE business and select CDN contracts completed in the fourth quarter of '23, we have updated our financial training schedules to provide the historical contributions of these sales, as well as the associated commercial agreement impacts. Keep in mind, when these impacts are excluded from results, our sequential and year-over-year growth rates are substantially better than the reported rates.

最後，隨著我們的 EMEE 業務和精選 CDN 合約的出售於 2023 年第四季度完成，我們更新了財務培訓計劃，以提供這些銷售的歷史貢獻以及相關的商業協議影響。請記住，當這些影響被排除在結果之外時，我們的連續成長率和同比成長率都遠遠優於報告的成長率。

I'll now discuss the financial summary of our fourth quarter. Our fourth quarter total reported revenue declined 7.4% year over year to $3.517 billion. Approximately 39% of the decline was due to the impact of divestitures, commercial agreements and CDN adjusted EBITDA was $1.099 billion in the fourth quarter with a 31.2% margin. Free cash flow was $50 million in the fourth quarter. In 2023, we delivered on our expectations for both adjusted EBITDA and free cash flow.

我現在將討論第四季的財務摘要。我們第四季的總營收年減 7.4% 至 35.17 億美元。大約 39% 的下降是由於資產剝離、商業協議和 CDN 調整後的 EBITDA 的影響，第四季度 EBITDA 為 10.99 億美元，利潤率為 31.2%。第四季自由現金流為 5,000 萬美元。2023 年，我們實現了調整後 EBITDA 和自由現金流的預期。

Next, I'll review our detailed revenue results for the quarter on a year-over-year basis. Within our North America enterprise channels, which is our business segment, excluding wholesale and international and other, revenue declined 0.1%. This quarter, we had a public-sector benefit in our other product group. As a reminder, our other category tends to fluctuate quarter to quarter, given the nature of these revenue streams.

接下來，我將回顧本季同比的詳細收入結果。在我們的北美企業通路（不包括批發和國際及其他業務部門）中，收入下降了 0.1%。本季度，我們的其他產品組獲得了公共部門的好處。提醒一下，考慮到這些收入流的性質，我們的其他類別往往會按季度波動。

Overall, North America business declined 3.5%. We again significantly outperformed our two largest historical competitors in the fourth quarter. While results can vary in any given quarter, we expect this trend of divergence between performance at Lumen and the legacy business wireline providers to continue to widen over time as we expand our digital service offerings.

整體而言，北美業務下降了3.5%。第四季我們的表現再次顯著優於我們兩個最大的歷史競爭對手。雖然任何特定季度的業績都可能有所不同，但我們預計，隨著我們擴展數位服務產品，Lumen 與傳統業務有線供應商之間的業績差異趨勢將繼續擴大。

Large enterprise revenue declined 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Large enterprise revenue was impacted by lower other product revenue, and also the timing of large infrastructure revenue benefiting the year-ago quarter. Our year-over-year growth rate was in grow moderated. We expect continued variability in trends as we drive toward overall stabilization.

大型企業第四季營收下降3.6%。大型企業收入受到其他產品收入下降以及大型基礎設施收入受益於去年同期的時機的影響。我們的年成長率正在放緩。我們預計，隨著我們努力實現整體穩定，趨勢將持續變化。

Now, moving on to mid-markets. Revenue declined 6% year over year. Mid-markets is a very important channel for us and one where we had lost considerable share prior to our focus and investment in this important area. We are leaning into this channel with products and buying tools to make ordering and provisioning more frictionless.

現在，轉向中端市場。收入較去年同期下降 6%。中端市場對我們來說是一個非常重要的管道，在我們重點關注和投資這一重要領域之前，我們已經失去了相當大的份額。我們正在透過產品和購買工具向這個管道傾斜，以使訂購和供應更加順暢。

As Kate mentioned, we're seeing improved leading indicators and are taking share in both IP and SASE products. This is a channel that we expect will be extremely interested in our NAS offering, given the flexibility and ease of provisioning it provides.

正如 Kate 所提到的，我們看到領先指標有所改善，並且正在 IP 和 SASE 產品中佔據份額。鑑於該通路提供的靈活性和易於配置的特點，我們預計該通路會對我們的 NAS 產品非常感興趣。

Public sector revenue grew 14.8% year over year. Trends improved driven primarily by continued strength and grow revenue, moderating declines in nurture and higher other revenue as mentioned earlier. Over the past 12 to 18 months, investors have asked us when we will start to see the benefits of the big contracts signed with the USDA, the U.S. Postal Service, the Department of Defense, and other public sector wins.

公共部門營收年增14.8%。趨勢的改善主要是由持續的實力和收入成長、培育下降的緩和以及前面提到的其他收入的增加所推動的。在過去的 12 到 18 個月裡，投資者問我們什麼時候才能開始看到與美國農業部、美國郵政局、國防部和其他公共部門簽署的大合約的好處。

As our results demonstrate, we are seeing revenue strength in part due to those and other deals ramping as we work diligently to deploy these mission-critical services. Given our visibility to sales bookings and the longer install cycles related to the complexity of the solutions we're deploying within public sector, we have high confidence that we'll be the first sales channel to return to sustainable growth.

正如我們的結果所表明的那樣，我們看到收入強勁的部分原因是，隨著我們努力部署這些關鍵任務服務，這些交易和其他交易不斷增加。鑑於我們對銷售預訂的可見性以及與我們在公共部門部署的解決方案的複雜性相關的更長的安裝週期，我們非常有信心我們將成為第一個恢復可持續增長的銷售管道。

Wholesale revenue declined 11.2% year over year. The majority of wholesale represents the balance of trade with other carriers as we negotiate with each other on buy-side and sell-side arrangements. The historical industry behavior between carriers has been to leverage pricing and rate changes to drive results instead of delivering incremental value to customers.

批發收入較去年同期下降11.2%。當我們就買方和賣方安排進行談判時，大部分批發代表了與其他承運人的貿易平衡。營運商之間的歷史行業行為是利用定價和費率變化來推動結果，而不是為客戶提供增量價值。

In our opinion, these actions are often to the detriment of the industry's customers, and is also generally unhealthy for the industry, while also creating volatility in our and others' results. Within wholesale, approximately 39% of our revenue comes from harvest products, which declined 15.9% year over year in Q4 and contributed to a majority of the 11.2% decline. Our harvest product revenue will likely continue to decline over time and is an area we will continue to manage for cash.

我們認為，這些行為往往會損害產業客戶的利益，而且通常也不利於產業的健康發展，同時也會造成我們和其他公司績效的波動。在批發領域，我們約 39% 的營收來自收穫產品，第四季年減 15.9%，佔 11.2% 下降的主要原因。隨著時間的推移，我們的收穫產品收入可能會繼續下降，這是我們將繼續管理現金的領域。

International and other revenue declined 43.5% year over year, driven by the divestiture of our EMEA business and the sale of select CDN contracts in the fourth quarter of '23.

由於我們 EMEA 業務的剝離以及 2023 年第四季度精選 CDN 合約的出售，國際和其他收入同比下降 43.5%。

Moving to our business product lifecycle reporting, I'll reference results based on our North America enterprise channels, which represent our core strategic categories.

轉向我們的業務產品生命週期報告，我將參考基於我們的北美企業通路的結果，這些管道代表了我們的核心策略類別。

Grow products revenue increased 5.7%, driven by strength in IP across all enterprise channels, cloud services, and infrastructure product growth, particularly within co-location and dark fiber. Grow represented approximately 40% of our North America enterprise revenue, and for our total business segment carried in approximately 80% direct margin this quarter.

在所有企業通路、雲端服務和基礎設施產品成長（尤其是主機代管和暗光纖領域）的 IP 實力的推動下，成長產品收入成長了 5.7%。成長約占我們北美企業營收的 40%，本季我們整個業務部門的直接利潤率約為 80%。

Within nurture and harvest, we continue to expect headwinds in these categories as we take proactive steps to migrate customers to newer technologies. These actions improve our customers' experience and provide an uplift in customer lifetime value for Lumen. As Kate mentioned, we continue to see positive leading indicators that our initiatives are working, and it will take some time to be reflected in our results.

在培育和收穫方面，隨著我們採取積極措施將客戶遷移到更新的技術，我們仍然預期這些類別會遇到阻力。這些行動改善了我們的客戶體驗，並提高了 Lumen 的客戶終身價值。正如凱特所提到的，我們繼續看到積極的領先指標，表明我們的舉措正在發揮作用，但需要一些時間才能反映在我們的結果中。

Nurture product revenue declined 9.7% year over year. Pressure within VPN and ethernet services drove the decline. Nurture represents about 30% of our North America enterprise revenue; and for our total business segment, carry an approximate 69% direct margin this quarter.

培育產品營收年減 9.7%。VPN 和乙太網路服務內部的壓力推動了這一下降。培養約占我們北美企業收入的 30%；對於我們整個業務部門而言，本季的直接利潤率約為 69%。

Harvest products revenue declined 10.4% year over year. Harvest continues to be negatively impacted by declines in TDM-based voice and other legacy services.

收穫產品收入較去年同期下降10.4%。Harvest 繼續受到基於 TDM 的語音和其他傳統服務下降的負面影響。

Now, I want to take a minute to discuss harvest in more detail. We have a very tactical approach to our harvest portfolio, which contains a mixture of customers that are on net as well as off net. These off-net customer contracts carry a much different margin profile, and in some cases, are margin dilutive. We utilize rerates to manage the margin, and in some cases, this can result in non-regrettable churn.

現在，我想花一點時間更詳細地討論收穫。我們對我們的收穫組合採取了非常戰術性的方法，其中包含線上和網外的客戶。這些網外客戶合約的利潤狀況截然不同，在某些情況下，利潤會被稀釋。我們利用重新定價來管理利潤，在某些情況下，這可能會導致無可挽回的客戶流失。

In other cases, we will seek to migrate customers to our newer grow technologies. Another set of customers within harvest are quite profitable, and their needs can be met with existing services. Our data-driven approach drives our product migration and pricing strategies for each of these customers, enabling us to optimize our return profile.

在其他情況下，我們將尋求將客戶遷移到我們更新的種植技術。收穫中的另一類客戶利潤豐厚，現有服務可以滿足他們的需求。我們的數據驅動方法推動了我們針對每個客戶的產品遷移和定價策略，使我們能夠優化我們的回報情況。

Harvest represented less than 17% of our North America enterprise revenue in the fourth quarter, an improvement of approximately 200 basis points year over year for our total business segment, it carrying approximate 81% direct margin this quarter.

Harvest 占我們第四季北美企業營收的不到 17%，我們整個業務部門年增了約 200 個基點，本季直接利潤率約為 81%。

Other products revenue grew 31.7%. As I mentioned earlier, public sector showed particular strength in this product set.

其他產品收入成長31.7%。正如我之前提到的，公共部門在該產品系列中展現了特別的優勢。

Moving on to mass markets, revenue declined 8.3% year over year. Our mass markets fiber broadband revenue grew 11.5% and represented approximately a third of mass market's broadband revenue. Also, noted our exposure to legacy voice and other services revenue continues to improve with an approximate 200-basis-point reduction year over year.

轉向大眾市場，營收年減 8.3%。我們的大眾市場光纖寬頻收入成長了 11.5%，約佔大眾市場寬頻收入的三分之一。此外，我們也注意到，我們對傳統語音和其他服務收入的曝險持續改善，較去年同期減少了約 200 個基點。

During the quarter, fiber broadband enabled location adds were 126,000, bringing our total to approximately 3.7 million as of December 31. As Kate mentioned, we intend to maintain the same 500,000 build pace this year. And during the fourth quarter, we added 20,000 Quantum Fiber customers and this brings our total to 916,000.

本季度，支援光纖寬頻的地點新增數量為 126,000 個，截至 12 月 31 日，我們的總數達到約 370 萬個。正如 Kate 所提到的，我們今年打算保持 50 萬輛的建造速度。在第四季度，我們增加了 20,000 名 Quantum Fiber 客戶，這使我們的客戶總數達到 916,000 名。

Fiber ARPU was flat sequentially and increased on a year-over-year basis to approximately $61 in the fourth quarter. At the end of the quarter, our penetration of legacy copper broadband was approximately 10%, and our Quantum Fiber penetration stood at approximately 25%. Our 12-month frozen penetration of our 2022 enablement cohort was 18% at December 31. For our 24-month frozen penetration of our 2021 enablement cohort was 25%.

第四季光纖 ARPU 環比持平，年成長至約 61 美元。截至本季末，我們的傳統銅質寬頻滲透率約為 10%，量子光纖滲透率約為 25%。截至 12 月 31 日，我們 2022 年賦能隊列的 12 個月凍結滲透率為 18%。2021 年賦能組的 24 個月凍結滲透率為 25%。

Turning to adjusted EBITDA for the fourth quarter of 2023, adjusted EBITDA was $1.099 billion compared to $1.393 billion in the year-ago quarter. The fourth quarter of this year included a net headwind of $13 million related to the divested EMEA business, a net benefit of $3 million from divestiture-related post-closing commercial agreements, and a net headwind of $16 million from the sale of select CDN contracts. These items represent approximately 9% of the year-over-year decline.

至於 2023 年第四季調整後 EBITDA，調整後 EBITDA 為 10.99 億美元，去年同期為 13.93 億美元。今年第四季包括與剝離的EMEA 業務相關的1300 萬美元的淨阻力、與剝離相關的交割後商業協議帶來的300 萬美元的淨收益，以及因出售部分CDN 合約而產生的1600 萬美元的淨阻力。這些項目約佔年減的 9%。

Special items impacting adjusted EBITDA this quarter totaled $211 million. Our fourth-quarter 2023 adjusted EBITDA margin was 31.2%.

本季影響調整後 EBITDA 的特殊項目總計 2.11 億美元。2023 年第四季調整後 EBITDA 利潤率為 31.2%。

Capital expenditures for the fourth quarter of 2023 were $821 million, and the company generated free cash flow of $50 million in the fourth quarter.

2023年第四季的資本支出為8.21億美元，公司第四季產生的自由現金流為5,000萬美元。

Moving to our financial outlook. For the full-year 2024, we expect adjusted EBITDA to be in the range of $4.1 billion to $4.3 billion. Our EBITDA guidance includes an expected 2% to 5% organic decline, a significant and roughly 600 basis point improvement from the organic decline included in our 2023 outlook, as our transformation initiatives take hold.

轉向我們的財務前景。對於 2024 年全年，我們預計調整後 EBITDA 將在 41 億美元至 43 億美元之間。隨著我們的轉型舉措的實施，我們的 EBITDA 指導包括預計有機下降 2% 至 5%，與 2023 年展望中包含的有機下降相比，顯著改善約 600 個基點。

Moving to capital spending and our other outlook metrics. For the full-year 2024, we expect total capital expenditures in the range of $2.7 billion to $2.9 billion.

轉向資本支出和我們的其他前景指標。2024 年全年，我們預計總資本支出在 27 億美元至 29 億美元之間。

We expect to generate free cash flow in the range of $100 million to $300 million for the full year of 2024, and this includes an approximate $700 million tax refund received during the first quarter of this year. We expect free cash flow to be impacted by higher interest expense related to our new TSA agreement. And based on our initial analysis, we've included an incremental $125 million to $225 million of cash interest in 2024 versus 2023. We do not have any required or planned discretionary pension fund contributions in 2024.

我們預計 2024 年將全年產生 1 億至 3 億美元的自由現金流，其中包括今年第一季收到的約 7 億美元的退稅。我們預計自由現金流將受到與新 TSA 協議相關的更高利息費用的影響。根據我們的初步分析，我們在 2024 年比 2023 年增加了 1.25 億至 2.25 億美元的現金利息。我們在 2024 年沒有任何必需或計劃的任意退休金基金繳款。

In terms of special items for 2024, we continue to expect dedicated third-party costs to support transition services for the divestitures. The reimbursement for these services will be in other income with no material net impact to our cash flows. In addition, in the first quarter of 2024, we expect to recognize meaningful charges related to the negotiation and execution of our TSA agreement.

就 2024 年的特殊項目而言，我們仍然預計會有專門的第三方成本來支援剝離的過渡服務。這些服務的報銷將計入其他收入，不會對我們的現金流產生重大淨影響。此外，我們預計將在 2024 年第一季確認與 TSA 協議的談判和執行相關的有意義的費用。

Before we move to Q&A, just a couple of housekeeping items. First, please remember that the first quarter typically has seasonally higher expenses related to the timing of bonus payments and other prepaid expenses. Additionally, while we are happy to discuss the recent TSA announcement in further detail, our focus is now on our business and the financial results as we move forward. Accordingly, we would prefer to be oriented to questions around the business.

在我們進行問答之前，先介紹一些家務用品。首先，請記住，第一季通常會出現與獎金支付時間和其他預付費用相關的季節性較高費用。此外，雖然我們很高興進一步詳細討論 TSA 最近的公告，但隨著我們的發展，我們現在的重點是我們的業務和財務表現。因此，我們更願意專注於圍繞業務的問題。

I'll turn over to Mike.

我將轉向麥克。

Aaron, we're ready for questions.

亞倫，我們準備好提問了。

(Operator Instructions) Simon Flannery, Morgan Stanley.

（操作員指示）西蒙·弗蘭納裡（Simon Flannery），摩根士丹利。

Right. Thank you, very much, and good evening. Thanks for all the color. I was wondering if you could just help us with the updated trajectory of revenues through the quarter. I think, in the past, you've talked about a second half acceleration after some first half noise.

正確的。非常感謝，晚上好。感謝所有的顏色。我想知道您是否可以幫助我們了解本季營收的最新軌跡。我想，在過去，你已經談到了在上半場噪音之後的下半場加速。

You didn't really talk to that during your prepared remarks. So any updates there would be great. And then thanks for the color on Q1 OpEx.

在你準備好的發言中，你並沒有真正談到這一點。所以任何更新都會很棒。感謝您對第一季營運支出的關注。

How should we think about some of the OpEx savings from some of the severance and other actions that you've recently been taking? How does that flow through the quarters in 2024? Thank you.

我們應該如何看待您最近採取的一些遣散費和其他行動所節省的營運支出？2024 年各季度的情況如何？謝謝。

Yeah, Simon. On the revenue side, we would expect the public sector implementation and the conversion from sales to revenue to accelerate as we move through the year. And to Kate's point, we continue to see improvement in the other channels as well. But mid markets, we expect to continue to improve over the course of the year as well.

是的，西蒙。在收入方面，我們預計公共部門的實施以及從銷售到收入的轉換將隨著今年的進展而加速。對於凱特來說，我們也繼續看到其他管道的改進。但中端市場，我們預計今年也將持續改善。

Obviously, wholesale can be a little more choppy. So that's a harder one to predict. As it relates to OpEx, most of the savings that are related to the action we took last year will be realized this year. And I would expect that to be fairly even quarter to quarter. It's a full-year impact.

顯然，批發可能會更加波動。所以這是一個更難預測的問題。由於與營運支出相關，與我們去年採取的行動相關的大部分節省將在今年實現。我預計每季的情況會相當均勻。這是全年的影響。

Great. And just on that public sector, I mean, to what extent was the Q4 number, including, I don't know, CPE sales or other things that may not recur next quarter?

偉大的。我的意思是，就公共部門而言，第四季度的數字有多大，包括我不知道的 CPE 銷售或下季度可能不會出現的其他情況？

So we did say that other product revenue impacted the fourth quarter, and that's the bulk of it. I would say that our commentary around our competence in public sector really relates to the revenue recognition associated with the installs from those big deals we announced over the last 12 to 18 months.

所以我們確實說過其他產品收入影響了第四季度，這是其中的大部分。我想說的是，我們對公共部門能力的評論確實與我們在過去 12 至 18 個月宣布的那些大交易的安裝相關的收入確認有關。

Great, thanks a lot.

太好了，非常感謝。

Thanks, Simon. Next questioner?

謝謝，西蒙。下一個提問者？

Batya Levi, UBS.

巴蒂亞‧萊維，瑞銀集團。

Great. Thank you. On the enterprise trends, earlier you had mentioned that you were concerned about some of the upcoming maturities and the conversations where the enterprises were on a hold. Can you provide more color on maybe recent conversations with some of those larger clients and how the sales funnel is shaping up?

偉大的。謝謝。關於企業趨勢，您之前曾提到您對一些即將到期的項目以及企業擱置的對話感到擔憂。您能否提供更多關於最近與一些大客戶的對話以及銷售管道如何形成的資訊？

And maybe just another follow up on 1Q, can you quantify the seasonal expenses we should think about for the first quarter? And lastly, taxes, how should we think about tax range if bonus depreciation or other credits are extended? Thank you.

也許只是第一季的另一個後續行動，您能否量化我們應該考慮第一季的季節性費用？最後，稅收，如果紅利折舊或其他抵免延長，我們應該如何考慮稅收範圍？謝謝。

Thanks, Batya. I'll handle that one and give you two pieces to Chris. The clarity of having this TSA updated and amended has been great for our customer conversations. It basically shifts the maturities to ['29]. It provides the ability to focus on our transformation efforts and have conversations with customers without that question. And so we've really been re-leashing that.

謝謝，巴蒂亞。我會處理那個，然後給你兩塊給克里斯。更新和修改此 TSA 的清晰度對於我們與客戶的對話非常有幫助。它基本上將期限轉變為['29]。它使我們能夠專注於轉型工作，並與客戶進行對話，而無需提出任何問題。所以我們確實在重新發揮這一點。

Our pipeline and conversations with customers are positive and growing. And a lot of that has to do with the sales excellence that we've put in place, in terms of supporting our people with world-class platforms and driving AI for sales productivity and things like that. So I think we're in a good spot.

我們與客戶的管道和對話是積極的且不斷增長。這在很大程度上與我們所實施的卓越銷售有關，包括透過世界一流的平台為我們的員工提供支持，並推動人工智慧提高銷售效率等。所以我認為我們處於一個很好的位置。

Chris?

克里斯？

Yeah. And on taxes, our guidance, we gave a cash tax amount that we feel is the best way to look at it. Obviously, with the one-time expenses and special charges associated with the debt transaction, the impact from an ETR standpoint on net income can be really sensitive. So that's why we chose to guide the cash tax amount.

是的。在稅收方面，我們的指導意見是，我們給了我們認為最好的看待現金稅額。顯然，考慮到與債務交易相關的一次性費用和特殊費用，從 ETR 的角度來看，對淨利潤的影響可能非常敏感。這就是為什麼我們選擇指導現金稅額。

As it relates to on legislation, again, we're really pleased with the momentum around that. We would expect that if everything was enacted, that's out there, that the benefit to us could be in the $300 million to $400 million range on an annual basis, but we'll have to wait and see.

由於它與立法有關，我們對這方面的勢頭感到非常滿意。我們預計，如果一切都實施，那麼每年為我們帶來的好處可能會在 3 億至 4 億美元之間，但我們必須拭目以待。

Got it. Thank you.

知道了。謝謝。

Thanks, Batya. Next question, please, Aaron?

謝謝，巴蒂亞。下一個問題，亞倫？

David Barden, Bank of America.

大衛巴登，美國銀行。

Hey, guys. Thanks so much for taking the questions. I guess two, if I could. The first would be just -- Chris, how you could maybe put some guardrails around how a successful TSA conclusions would impact the free cash flow guidance outlook that you're presenting here today, which does not appear to have it in there.

大家好。非常感謝您提出問題。如果可以的話，我想有兩個。第一個是 - 克里斯，你如何可以圍繞成功的運輸安全管理局結論將如何影響你今天在這裡介紹的自由現金流指導前景設置一些護欄，但似乎沒有包含在內。

And the second question would be -- and sorry to go back to the to the public sector, but given that this is the tip of the iceberg of the growth turnaround, third quarter to fourth quarter was up $30 million. Third quarter, fourth quarter doubled another $50 million. Most of all of that was attributed to one-time items of where we see it's going to be the first to return to growth. From what number should we assume that growth begins? Thank you.

第二個問題是——很抱歉回到公共部門，但考慮到這只是成長轉變的冰山一角，第三季到第四季都成長了 3,000 萬美元。第三季、第四季又翻了5000萬美元。其中大部分歸因於一次性項目，我們認為它將成為第一個恢復成長的項目。我們應該假設從什麼數字開始成長？謝謝。

Yeah. So I'll answer the last part first. Again, you're right. We have said over the last couple of quarters there were some one-time benefits that that have repeated themselves and certainly helped us. But as we look into the year from here forward, David, we should continue to see growth in public sector, as the installs around those big contracts build their pace. So we do expect public-sector revenue to be increasing as we go forward from here.

是的。所以我先回答最後一部分。再說一遍，你是對的。我們已經說過，在過去的幾個季度中，出現了一些一次性的好處，這些好處不斷重複出現，並且肯定對我們有所幫助。但大衛，當我們展望未來的一年時，隨著圍繞這些大型合約的安裝步伐加快，我們應該會繼續看到公共部門的成長。因此，我們確實預計，隨著我們的前進，公共部門的收入將會增加。

And as it relates to the free cash flow guidance, it does include all of the TSA costs. So successful closure means closing in Q1, and we've got line of sight to doing that. We'll certainly give more commentary around that as that gets finalized, but it is contemplated. And I think part of that confusion may be that included in that free cash flow guidance is the $700 million tax refund impact that hit in Q1.

由於它與自由現金流指導相關，因此它確實包括所有 TSA 成本。因此，成功的關閉意味著在第一季關閉，我們已經有能力做到這一點。當最終確定時，我們肯定會對此發表更多評論，但這是經過考慮的。我認為造成這種混亂的部分原因可能是自由現金流指引中包含了第一季發生的 7 億美元退稅影響。

Right. Those are the offsetting forces. Perfect. All right. That's very helpful. Thank you, Chris.

正確的。這些是抵消力量。完美的。好的。這非常有幫助。謝謝你，克里斯。

Yeah, thanks, David. Next question, please.

是的，謝謝，大衛。請下一個問題。

Michael Rollins, Citi.

麥可羅林斯，花旗銀行。

Thanks, and good afternoon. A couple of questions. The first one is if you go back to the Analyst Day slides from a few months back, the EBITDA guidance range is lower at $4.1 billion to $4.3 billion versus the $4.3 billion to $4.6 billion. Can you remind us of just some of the influences and some of the developments that got you to the current range?

謝謝，下午好。有幾個問題。第一個是，如果你回顧幾個月前的分析師日幻燈片，EBITDA 指引範圍較低，為 41 億美元至 43 億美元，而 43 億美元至 46 億美元。您能否提醒我們一些影響和發展使您達到目前的水平？

And then can you also give us an update on how the revenue range should look? After all this time, I think it was originally at [$13.6 billion to $14.1 billion] for 2024.

那麼您能否向我們介紹一下收入範圍的最新情況？經過這麼長時間，我認為 2024 年的最初金額為 [136 億至 141 億美元]。

Yeah. So a few things. So what's changed versus Investor Day? Obviously, the EMEA sale, the CDN sale, and last but not least, just the impact of the debt discussions, and that overhang in our business. We were pretty clear, I think, on the Q2 and Q3 calls that customers were concerned, and certainly the size of the '27 debt tower and our ability to execute the turnaround in time to refinance that, particularly the Lumen debt.

是的。所以有幾件事。那麼投資者日相比有什麼變化呢？顯然，歐洲、中東和非洲地區的銷售、CDN 的銷售以及最後但並非最不重要的一點是債務討論的影響以及我們業務中的懸而未決的問題。我認為，在第二季和第三季的電話會議上，我們非常清楚客戶所關心的問題，當然還有27 年債務塔的規模以及我們及時執行週轉以進行再融資的能力，特別是Lumen 債務。

And that was of particular concern, so we adjusted for that. And with the negotiations behind us, we see positive momentum there.

這是特別值得關注的，所以我們對此進行了調整。隨著談判的結束，我們看到了積極的動力。

As it relates to revenue, we're not guiding revenue at this point. And I would say that's conscious, because the revenue piece is going to be choppy as we go forward, and we want to be really transparent about that.

由於它與收入相關，因此我們目前不指導收入。我想說這是有意識的，因為隨著我們的前進，收入部分將會波動，我們希望對此保持透明。

It's hard to predict what totals will do. It's easier to predict channel by channel that we know when we would expect to see a turnaround. But to try to give that with some level of confidence at this point is just a little too early, so we've chosen to stick to EBITDA where we obviously have more levers to pull and more control around that.

很難預測總數會產生什麼結果。我們可以更輕鬆地逐一管道預測何時會出現改善。但此時試圖給予一定程度的信心還為時過早，因此我們選擇堅持 EBITDA，顯然我們有更多的槓桿可以拉動，也有更多的控制權。

And then just second, in the past, you've talked about the opportunities to proactively churn some of the legacy revenue and convert that into the strategic revenue. Can you share maybe some additional details or developments or there are some numbers where you're able to show the financial benefit of being able to migrate customers more quickly to fresher strategic services?

其次，在過去，您談到了主動攪動一些遺留收入並將其轉化為策略收入的機會。您能否分享一些額外的細節或進展，或者您可以透過一些數字來展示能夠更快地將客戶遷移到更新的策略服務所帶來的經濟效益？

So a couple of things. There's, number one, using AI to reach out to customers in a programmatic fashion at scale to drive productivity of the outbound calling that we do is the first step. And so we've made a lot of progress there putting the platform together.

有幾件事。首先，使用人工智慧以程式方式大規模接觸客戶，以提高我們所做的出站呼叫的生產力，這是第一步。因此，我們在整合平台方面取得了巨大進展。

Number two, taking a migration factory approach. So for each legacy platform that customers are on, understanding the behavior signals that drive likelihood to churn, and approaching them in cohorts, and then meeting where they are in terms of what they have and the best solution that we can migrate them to, and doing as much of that either in an automated fashion as possible. All of that is the chassis that we built in '23.

第二，採用遷移工廠方法。因此，對於客戶所在的每個舊平台，了解導致客戶流失可能性的行為訊號，並按群體接近他們，然後根據他們擁有的內容以及我們可以將他們遷移到的最佳解決方案來滿足他們的需求，並盡可能以自動化方式完成這些工作。所有這些都是我們在 23 年製造的底盤。

Now we're starting to -- and in Q4, we had some pretty significant progress numbers we don't report on but in terms of doing the reach out and making progress with migrations, et cetera. So we'll continue to monitor it. And as we get to a place of growth and stability and productivity of those teams in a way that we can share, we certainly will.

現在我們開始 - 在第四季度，我們有一些相當重要的進展數字，我們沒有報告，但在進行外展和在遷移方面取得進展等方面。所以我們會持續關注。當我們以一種我們可以分享的方式實現這些團隊的成長、穩定和生產力時，我們當然會這樣做。

Thanks, Mike. Next questioner?

謝謝，麥克。下一個提問者？

Eric Luebchow, Wells Fargo.

艾瑞克‧盧布喬 (Eric Luebchow)，富國銀行。

Great. Appreciate it. Maybe you could touch on mid-market a little bit. I know that's been a big focus of the company in terms of new salespeople and new logo generation. I mean, when do you think -- is that more of a 2025 story when we start to see the revenue line really turn in that segment?

偉大的。欣賞它。也許你可以稍微接觸一下中端市場。我知道這一直是公司在新銷售人員和新標誌生成方面的一大重點。我的意思是，當我們開始看到該細分市場的收入線真正發生變化時，您認為這更像是 2025 年的故事嗎？

And then secondly, maybe you could just touch on your interest in additional asset sales or divestitures as you look out. I think you've been pretty open about the consumer and mass markets business potentially making sense being separate from the enterprise segment. Is that something that you would actively evaluate? Thank you.

其次，也許您可以在觀察時談談您對額外資產出售或資產剝離的興趣。我認為您對消費者和大眾市場業務與企業部門分開可能有意義的問題持非常開放的態度。這是您會積極評估的事情嗎？謝謝。

So starting with mid-markets. This is actually the first market segment -- customer segment that we stood up, our squads, our scrum teams to go after. And that's everybody from sales marketing, customer success, IT operations, finance, billing, et cetera, all circling around the customer segment to say, what are the offerings that we need? What's the price we need to win? What does the marketplace look like? How do we swarm them and cover the markets, both direct and indirect?

所以從中端市場開始。這實際上是第一個細分市場——我們站出來的客戶細分，我們的小隊，我們的 Scrum 團隊要追求的目標。來自銷售行銷、客戶成功、IT 營運、財務、計費等領域的每個人都圍繞著客戶群問，我們需要什麼產品？我們需要付出什麼代價才能獲勝？市場是什麼樣子的？我們如何聚集它們並涵蓋直接和間接的市場？

Because as you know, we want to continue to leverage our ecosystem for more feet on the street from a sales perspective. And all of that work happened in '23. What's most remarkable about that is it set the tone and context for how we then do turnarounds in the other segments, because we got this learning mojo thing happening, where the teams are meeting with daily standups and weekly standups, and reporting back on the challenges that they were experiencing.

因為如您所知，我們希望繼續利用我們的生態系統從銷售角度吸引更多人參與其中。所有這些工作都發生在 23 年。最值得注意的是，它為我們如何在其他領域實現扭虧為盈奠定了基調和背景，因為我們發生了這種學習魔力的事情，團隊每天舉行站立會議和每週站立會議，並報告挑戰他們正在經歷的。

And then using an agile methodology, whether it's building a piece of IT functionality, or it's working with the product team to say we need these net new capabilities, or the marketing team to say how can we do better, account-based marketing, et cetera. And that method of working across functions with no silos in an agile, rapid fashion has set the context for, basically, how we treat all the other segments. So that's thing one.

然後使用敏捷方法，無論是建立一項 IT 功能，還是與產品團隊合作說我們需要這些淨新功能，或者與行銷團隊合作說我們如何做得更好，基於帳戶的行銷等等等。這種以敏捷、快速的方式跨職能、沒有孤島的工作方法基本上為我們如何對待所有其他細分市場奠定了基礎。這就是第一件事。

Thing two is, internally, there's a bit of camaraderie and healthy competition. And I call my mid-market teams the sand baggers, because basically, they are always coming in a little bit better than they say they're going to and I think they're starting to get their chops. And so we're excited by our improvement in productivity. We're excited about our improvements in sales and revenue, et cetera.

第二件事是，在內部，有一些友誼和良性競爭。我將我的中端市場團隊稱為“沙袋工”，因為基本上，他們的表現總是比他們所說的要好一些，而且我認為他們已經開始發揮作用了。因此，我們對生產力的提高感到興奮。我們對銷售額和收入等方面的改善感到興奮。

I think what we'd like to do next and where you'll see us target the guns is on the ecosystem side, making sure that we have a platform that is partner friendly. So we can drive sales productivity indirect, because we all know that's what we need for total coverage.

我認為我們下一步想要做的以及您將看到我們瞄準的目標是生態系統方面，確保我們擁有一個對合作夥伴友好的平台。因此，我們可以間接提高銷售效率，因為我們都知道這就是我們全面覆蓋所需要的。

You want to you want to handle the other --?

你想要你想要處理另一個——？

Yeah. I mean, on asset sales, we'll obviously continue to evaluate the entire portfolio. What I would say specifically about the mass markets business is really a few things. One, that's an enormously valuable asset and we know that. And that's why we're continuing to invest at the pace that we're at right now in getting more fiber in the ground and pushing really hard to drive subscriber growth.

是的。我的意思是，在資產出售方面，我們顯然會繼續評估整個投資組合。關於大眾市場業務，我要具體說的是幾件事。第一，這是一項非常寶貴的資產，我們知道這一點。這就是為什麼我們繼續以目前的速度進行投資，以獲取更多的光纖，並大力推動用戶成長。

That said, we've been very public about saying that's a space where consolidation is necessary and we will not be the consolidator. And I think you've seen in the last few days some noise in the industry, as people are, I think, taking more active positions around what happens next with that sector. So we're going to keep our heads down, continue to focus on execution, and building out the value of that asset, and we'll evaluate as we go.

也就是說，我們一直非常公開地表示，這是一個需要整合的領域，我們不會成為整合者。我認為在過去的幾天裡，您已經看到了該行業的一些噪音，因為我認為人們對該行業接下來會發生的事情採取了更積極的立場。因此，我們將保持低調，繼續專注於執行，並建立該資產的價值，我們將邊做邊評估。

All right. Thank you. Thanks, Eric. Next questioner?

好的。謝謝。謝謝，埃里克。下一個提問者？

Nick Del Deo, MoffettNathanson.

尼克·德爾·迪奧，莫菲特·內森森。

Hey, thanks for taking my questions. I've got two guidance-related ones for Chris, the first one on CapEx. So it looks like your midpoint for CapEx this year is $2.8 billion. It was about $3 billion in '23 ex-EMEA. Your fiber-to-home passings are about the same in '24 versus '23. So it seems like the CapEx or everything else is ticking down some. I was just wondering if you could talk a little bit about what's behind that reduction, assuming that observation is correct?

嘿，謝謝你回答我的問題。我為克里斯準備了兩個與指導相關的內容，第一個是關於資本支出的內容。因此，您今年的資本支出中點似乎為 28 億美元。23 年（歐洲、中東和非洲地區除外）的銷售額約為 30 億美元。24 年和 23 年的光纖到戶傳輸量大致相同。因此，資本支出或其他一切似乎都在下降。我只是想知道假設觀察是正確的，您是否可以談談減少背後的原因？

It's really driven by our continued focus on efficiency. And so we continue to push on both OpEx, as well as CapEx, and we will continue to do so. But it's not -- don't view it as a signal of us pulling back anywhere. We are investing aggressively and we'll continue to invest aggressively in both enterprise and mass markets, as well as just the broader simplification of Lumen as we go forward.

這實際上是由我們對效率的持續關注所推動的。因此，我們將繼續推動營運支出和資本支出，而且我們將繼續這樣做。但事實並非如此——不要將其視為我們在任何地方撤退的信號。我們正在積極投資，並將繼續在企業和大眾市場以及 Lumen 的更廣泛簡化方面進行積極投資。

There's an enormous amount of effort that's taking place, in particular, this year, around financial systems, as well as operations that will dramatically improve the customer experience.

特別是今年，圍繞金融系統以及營運方面正在付出巨大的努力，這將極大地改善客戶體驗。

Okay. So it's you'd say you get a similar bang for your -- or more of a CapEx paying for your buck this year than last year and that kind of explains it?

好的。所以你會說你今年的資本支出比去年得到了類似的回報，或是更多的資本支出，這可以解釋嗎？

That's right.

這是正確的。

Okay. And then second on cash taxes. It looks like cash taxes paid excluding the refund are going to be in the $400 million to 500 million range, which is a pretty big number. I guess, barring any change in the tax code, is this a reasonable starting point to think about for the next few years? Or regarding the debt transactions rather than things throwing it off?

好的。其次是現金稅。看起來不包括退稅在內的現金稅將在 4 億至 5 億美元之間，這是一個相當大的數字。我想，除非稅法有任何變化，這是未來幾年考慮的合理起點嗎？還是關於債務交易而不是拋棄它的事情？

Yeah, I don't want to try to estimate what '25 is right now. We're obviously not doing guidance there. As I said earlier, we gave the guidance, the cash tax guidance we gave this year just because of the sensitivity and net income with all the other special charges hitting this year.

是的，我現在不想嘗試估計「25」是什麼。我們顯然沒有在那裡做指導。正如我之前所說，我們今年給出了現金稅收指導，只是因為敏感度和淨利潤以及今年所有其他特殊費用的影響。

I will give you a little bit here, though, on the interest, because I think it's important. I think the cash interest in '25 will not be materially different than it is in '24. And the key thing there is -- just for your modeling is, well, we don't have a full-year impact under the TSA and '24.

不過，我會在這裡給你一些關於興趣的訊息，因為我認為這很重要。我認為 25 年的現金利息與 24 年不會有太大不同。關鍵的是，就您的模型而言，我們在 TSA 和 24 條規定下沒有全年影響。

At the execution of the TSA, we do basically have to pull forward interest expense. So when we look at it, that variable is going to be roughly the same '24 and '25. I think that -- I'll give you that much on '25.

在執行 TSA 時，我們基本上必須提前支付利息費用。因此，當我們查看它時，該變數在 24 年和 25 年大致相同。我想——我會在 25 年給你這麼多。

Okay. I guess -- maybe I'll phrase it differently. Are there one-time tax items that we should bear in mind that are baked into that guidance?

好的。我想——也許我會用不同的措詞。該指南中是否有我們應該牢記的一次性稅項？

No, not materially. No.

不，不是物質上的。不。

Okay. Okay. Thank you, Chris.

好的。好的。謝謝你，克里斯。

Thanks, Nick. Next questioner?

謝謝，尼克。下一個提問者？

Greg Williams, TD Cowen.

格雷格·威廉斯，TD·考恩。

Great. Thanks for taking my questions. Chris, I realized you typically guide EBITDA in that $200 million range and I'm just wondering if there's any particular puts and takes to consider what's driving that range this year? I know you mentioned some levers that you can pull.

偉大的。感謝您回答我的問題。克里斯，我意識到您通常將 EBITDA 指導在 2 億美元的範圍內，我只是想知道是否有任何特定的看跌期權和支出來考慮今年推動該範圍的因素？我知道你提到了一些可以拉的槓桿。

And then the second question is just on the ABS debt markets, if you're looking at that in the year now that you've got the clean runway from the TSA. And maybe you can leverage some of these fiber homes? Thanks.

第二個問題是關於 ABS 債務市場的，如果你在今年已經從 TSA 獲得了乾淨的跑道的話，那麼你會考慮這個問題。也許您可以利用其中一些光纖家庭？謝謝。

Yeah, we'll continue to look at the capital structure and for ways to make it more efficient forward. So we're not done that was a big one, but we're not done. I'm sorry. Repeat the first part of the question.

是的，我們將繼續關注資本結構，並尋找提高其效率的方法。所以我們還沒完成那件大事，但我們還沒完成。對不起。重複問題的第一部分。

Just the EBITDA range, if there's any puts and takes to consider and levers to pull?

只是 EBITDA 範圍，是否有任何需要考慮的看跌期權和槓桿？

Yeah. No, I mean, we felt that the plus or minus $100 million was the way to go. The comment that I made earlier on just the levers we have, obviously, we're doing a number of things, right? The primary objective is to get revenue growing as we shift aggressively from legacy services to digital service offerings. But at the same time, we are fixing the internal workings of Lumen.

是的。不，我的意思是，我們認為正負 1 億美元才是正確的選擇。我之前就我們擁有的槓桿發表的評論，顯然，我們正在做很多事情，對嗎？主要目標是隨著我們積極從傳統服務轉向數位服務，實現收入成長。但同時，我們正在修復 Lumen 的內部運作。

I mean, multiple billing systems, multiple GLs, inventory, frankly, a really poor customer experience. And Kate spoke to some of the progress we're making there. So as those things get fixed, that obviously gives us the opportunity to drive more efficiency in addition to a better customer experience and that also had EBITDA effect. So the EBITDA, we get the double benefit obviously of the revenue as well as those efficiency plan.

我的意思是，多個計費系統、多個總帳、庫存，坦白說，客戶體驗非常差。凱特談到了我們在那裡取得的一些進展。因此，當這些問題得到解決後，除了更好的客戶體驗之外，這顯然也使我們有機會提高效率，也產生了 EBITDA 效應。因此，就 EBITDA 而言，我們顯然獲得了收入和效率計劃的雙重好處。

That's helpful. Thank you.

這很有幫助。謝謝。

Thanks, Greg. Next question, please.

謝謝，格雷格。請下一個問題。

Frank Louthan, Raymond James.

弗蘭克·勞森，雷蒙德·詹姆斯。

Great. Thank you. Just wanted go to slide 6 and the different opportunities you have there. Can you characterize that as what potential revenue that is? Is that multi-billion-dollar opportunity for Lumen? How should we think about that?

偉大的。謝謝。只是想看第 6 張投影片以及那裡的不同機會。您能將其描述為潛在收入嗎？這對 Lumen 來說是一個價值數十億美元的機會嗎？我們該如何思考這個問題？

And then you mentioned something on the recognition of the revenues for the public sector business. Is there some timing difference in the cash flow, some of those that we should be aware of? Thanks.

然後您提到了有關公共部門業務收入確認的問題。現金流是否存在一些我們應該注意的時間差異？謝謝。

Why don't hit the cash flow and all the (multiple speakers)?

為什麼不打擊現金流和所有的（多個發言者）？

Yeah. So really public sector, Frank, that's the longest sale to install interval of anything we sell. The big complex deals, obviously, we're working with government agencies, and they've got to go through their processes and that takes time. So you can have a 12- to 18-month lag, as I mentioned, until that starts to get recognized in revenue.

是的。弗蘭克，這實際上是公共部門，這是我們銷售的任何產品中最長的銷售安裝間隔。顯然，對於大型複雜交易，我們正在與政府機構合作，他們必須完成他們的流程，這需要時間。因此，正如我所提到的，您可能會有 12 到 18 個月的滯後期，直到您開始在收入中得到確認。

As it relates to the cash flows around that, it will increase as time goes on because obviously the pace of the installs increase. But --

由於它與周圍的現金流有關，因此它會隨著時間的推移而增加，因為顯然安裝速度會增加。但--

Is the book-to-bill difference is what you're talking about, not a cash recognition difference?

您所說的是訂單與帳單之間的差異，而不是現金識別差異嗎？

Exactly. And they're just massive contracts. So yeah. But I'll turn it back to Kate for the first part of your question.

確切地。而且它們只是大量合約。嗯是的。但我會把你問題的第一部分轉回給凱特。

Sure. On page 6, we -- just for everybody's identification here, is the Lumen digital platform. And we have the portfolio outlined with a totally digital customer experience wrapped around two important things.

當然。在第 6 頁，我們－僅供大家識別，是 Lumen 數位平台。我們的產品組合概述了完全數位化的客戶體驗，圍繞著兩個重要的事情。

So first is our network, our core network services, because none of these digital services are relevant without total integration to the network. Customers are demanding left-to-right, top-to-bottom integration, quick, secure, effortless. It needs to be exactly that in order to be relevant in the digital economy.

首先是我們的網絡，我們的核心網路服務，因為如果不完全整合到網絡，這些數位服務都無關緊要。客戶要求從左到右、從上到下的集成，快速、安全、輕鬆。為了在數位經濟中發揮作用，它必須準確地做到這一點。

And I think you can look to other companies that have some of these digital services and they don't have the fiber network, and they just can't get the economics and they can't get the customer service right. So we're excited about it.

我認為你可以看看其他擁有一些數位服務的公司，但他們沒有光纖網絡，他們無法獲得經濟效益，也無法獲得正確的客戶服務。所以我們對此感到興奮。

There are there are four core capabilities that we have right now for Lumen digital. We're just getting started, as I said. The ones that we have here represent a total available market of around $40 billion. But I think that's actually understating it, because we have a couple of really interesting opportunities emerging that we'll talk about as we get a little bit closer to shaping them.

Lumen digital 目前擁有四項核心功能。正如我所說，我們才剛剛開始。我們這裡擁有的市場總額約為 400 億美元。但我認為這實際上是低估了它，因為我們有一些非常有趣的機會出現，當我們接近塑造它們時我們將討論它們。

Think of it this way. NaaS is a cloudifying telco. It's digital everything, any port, any service, anytime, anywhere. ExaSwitch is the center of connectivity, fast path into the cloud, any cloud, and across clouds. the Edge is becoming more and more germane, especially with a totally digital network and a high-capacity switching because users are everywhere. And the expectation is that I'm going to process all of that data that's generated at the speed of thought. And so proximity really matters.

這樣想吧。NaaS 是一家雲端化電信公司。無論何時何地，任何連接埠、任何服務都是數位化的。ExaSwitch 是連接中心、進入雲端、任何雲端以及跨雲端的快速路徑。邊緣變得越來越密切，特別是在全數位網路和高容量交換的情況下，因為用戶無處不在。我的期望是我將處理所有以思維速度產生的數據。因此，鄰近性確實很重要。

And then the last thing is security, and we have huge muscle here that's totally under commercialized. So we're excited about the about the future. And right now, we're just calling it a very big opportunity for net new profit pools, which is going to really help our growth curve.

最後一件事是安全，我們在這裡擁有巨大的實力，但完全沒有商業化。所以我們對未來感到興奮。現在，我們只是稱其為淨新利潤池的一個非常大的機會，這將真正有助於我們的成長曲線。

Right, great. Thank you.

對了，太好了。謝謝。

Thanks, Frank. I think we have time for just one more question, Aaron.

謝謝，弗蘭克。我想我們還有時間再問一個問題，亞倫。

Jonathan Chaplin, New Street.

喬納森卓別林，《新街》。

Thanks. Thanks for squeezing me in, guys. Actually, two very quick ones. So Chris, given that it may make sense at some point to separate mass markets out, could you give us a sense for the EBITDA that you're generating that business today?

謝謝。謝謝你們把我擠進去，夥計們。事實上，兩個非常快的。那麼，克里斯，考慮到在某些時候將大眾市場分開可能是有意義的，您能給我們介紹一下您今天產生的業務的 EBITDA 嗎？

And then maybe a more conceptual question for you, guys, is you run through the trends in the business, which seem to be improving in a lot of areas. And it seems like you're taking share in the core segments that you're focused on, and you're struggling against the industry backdrop. That's just really, really tough.

夥計們，對你們來說，也許一個更概念性的問題是，你們了解一下業務趨勢，這些趨勢似乎在​​許多領域都在改善。看起來你正在搶佔你所關注的核心細分市場的份額，並且你正在行業背景下苦苦掙扎。這真的非常非常困難。

It strikes me that the end of the business segment in aggregate is just fragmented and that's part of the problem. And I'm wondering if there's a consolidation opportunity there, and whether you'd be a consolidator, or whether a big consolidation transaction would just give you exposure to revenue streams that you're looking to move away from? Thank you.

讓我驚訝的是，整個業務部門的末端只是支離破碎，這就是問題的一部分。我想知道那裡是否有整合機會，以及您是否會成為整合者，或者大型整合交易只會讓您接觸到您希望擺脫的收入流？謝謝。

Yeah. So I'll take the second part of the question -- is it's an interesting one for sure. And I think you should think of us as being huge opportunity in the business segment by providing digital services that are integrated into the network in getting smarter and smarter about how we can take advantage of these really, really complex environments, hybrid cloud, multi-cloud, Gen AI, et cetera.

是的。所以我將回答問題的第二部分——這肯定是一個有趣的問題。我認為您應該將我們視為業務領域的巨大機遇，透過提供整合到網路中的數位服務，我們可以越來越聰明地利用這些非常非常複雜的環境、混合雲、多雲。雲端、Gen AI 等等。

We have, not only the right team, as I've talked about, we've got a world-class network, which I've talked about. And we've already got a head start with a lot of intellectual property protected by patents that uniquely positions us to take advantage of this. That's where our focus is.

正如我所談到的，我們不僅擁有合適的團隊，而且還擁有我所談到的世界一流的網路。我們已經在許多受專利保護的智慧財產權方面取得了領先地位，這使我們能夠利用這一優勢。這就是我們的重點。

We're maniacally focused on delivering value to customers and obsessing about their needs, because that's how we grow as fast as possible. If there are opportunities to integrate vertically or horizontally as time goes on, we will strategically look at every single one of those as it's our fiduciary responsibility. And as it makes sense, we'll go after them.

我們瘋狂地專注於為客戶提供價值並關注他們的需求，因為這就是我們盡可能快速成長的方式。如果隨著時間的推移有機會進行垂直或水平整合，我們將策略性地審視其中的每一個，因為這是我們的信託責任。只要有道理，我們就會追捕他們。

Okay.

好的。

And on the EBITDA, we don't guide to that. It is in our filings. So I think that's where I would point you to in terms of the splits between mass markets and enterprise.

對於 EBITDA，我們不做指導。它在我們的文件中。因此，我認為這就是我要向您指出的大眾市場和企業之間的分歧。

But as it relates to a potential split of the businesses, what I really want to emphasize is we're not looking to fire sale any assets. We're investing in good assets to make them great. And that's our focus first and foremost, because that's how we see the path to maximizing value as we go forward.

但由於這涉及潛在的業務分割，我真正想強調的是，我們並不打算甩賣任何資產。我們投資優質資產，讓它們變得偉大。這是我們首先關注的焦點，因為這就是我們在前進過程中如何看待價值最大化的道路。

So definitely on the radar screen, but we've got a really dedicated group of people who are very focused on the Quantum Fiber build-out and the great customer experience that it brings. And we're going to continue on that path.

所以肯定會出現在雷達螢幕上，但我們有一群非常敬業的人員，他們非常專注於量子光纖的構建及其帶來的出色客戶體驗。我們將繼續沿著這條道路走下去。

Great to hear. Thanks, guys.

很高興聽到。多謝你們。

Thanks, Jonathan.

謝謝，喬納森。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Aaron, with that, we're going to end the call.

亞倫，這樣我們就結束通話了。

Thank you, ladies and gentlemen, this will conclude the conference call for today. We thank you for your participation and ask that you please disconnect your line. Have a great day, everyone. We'll see you next time.

謝謝女士們、先生們，今天的電話會議到此結束。我們感謝您的參與，並請您斷開線路。祝大家有個美好的一天。我們下次見。