Lumen Technologies Inc (LUMN) 2024 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Greetings, and welcome to Lumen Technologies second-quarter 2024 earnings call. (Operator instructions) And as a reminder, this conference is being recorded.

大家好，歡迎參加 Lumen Technologies 2024 年第二季財報電話會議。（操作員指示）提醒一下，本次會議正在錄音。

I would now like to turn the conference over to Jim Breen, Senior Vice President, Investor Relations. Jim, please go ahead.

現在，我想將會議交給投資者關係高級副總裁 Jim Breen。吉姆，請繼續。

Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining Lumen Technologies second-quarter 2024 earnings call. On the call today are Kate Johnson, President and Chief Executive Officer; and Chris Stansbury, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer.

大家下午好，感謝您參加 Lumen Technologies 2024 年第二季財報電話會議。今天參加電話會議的有總裁兼執行長凱特·約翰遜 (Kate Johnson)；以及執行副總裁兼財務長克里斯·斯坦斯伯里（Chris Stansbury）。

Before we begin, I need to call your attention to our Safe Harbor statement on slide 1 of our second quarter 2024 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 and the risk factors in our SEC filings.

在我們開始之前，我需要提請您注意我們 2024 年第二季度簡報第 1 張投影片中的安全港聲明，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陳述。所有前瞻性陳述都應與我們提交給美國證券交易委員會 (SEC) 的文件中提出的警示聲明和風險因素結合考慮。

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

我們將參考與最具可比性的 GAAP 指標相協調的某些非 GAAP 財務指標，這些指標可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收益資料中詳細說明的特殊項目成本，這些收益資料可在我們 Lumen 網站的投資者關係部分找到。

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

說完這些，我會把電話轉給凱特。

Thanks, Jim. Good afternoon, everyone. Thanks for joining. I'm cognizant of the timing of this call because over the past two days, the markets have been a bit noisy with lots of uncertainty about the health of the economy in the next 6 to 12 to 18 months. In contrast, the announcement we made last night about Lumen's pivot to growth is all about building critical infrastructure to support the AI economy for the next several decades into.

謝謝，吉姆。大家下午好。感謝您的加入。我很清楚這次電話會議的時間，因為在過去兩天裡，市場有些混亂，對未來 6 至 12 至 18 個月的經濟健康狀況有許多不確定性。相較之下，我們昨晚宣布的 Lumen 成長重點在於建立關鍵基礎設施，以支援未來幾十年的人工智慧經濟。

And to net it out, there are three key takeaways from our call today. First, movement enterprise operational turnaround is progressing well with continued sales momentum across our growth portfolio and further improvement in customer satisfaction. We are also executing extremely well in our Quantum Fiber business.

總而言之，我們今天的電話會議有三個關鍵要點。首先，運動企業營運轉型進展順利，我們的成長組合持續保持銷售勢頭，客戶滿意度進一步提高。我們的量子光纖業務也表現非常出色。

Second, Lumen has been anointed as the trusted network for AI by some of the most important technology companies on earth with over $5 billion in major partnerships in to date and visibility to nearly $7 billion more in opportunities, we see the market for Lumen's private connectivity fabric as providing a major positive momentum shift for this company.

其次，Lumen 已被全球一些最重要的科技公司指定為 AI 值得信賴的網絡，迄今為止已建立超過 50 億美元的主要合作夥伴關係，並有望帶來近 70 億美元的新機遇，我們認為 Lumen 私有連接結構的市場將為該公司帶來重大的積極勢頭轉變。

Third, given our success in forging these partnerships, we're seeing a significant improvement in our overall liquidity profile further securing our ability to transform the company and pivot to growth.

第三，鑑於我們在建立這些合作夥伴關係方面取得的成功，我們看到整體流動性狀況得到顯著改善，進一步確保了我們轉型公司和實現成長的能力。

Let me give some detail on the operational turnaround part first. As I've described on prior calls, we're focusing on delivering dramatically improved customer experiences from quote to cash, giving customers a reason to choose Lumen for core network services. The best way to measure that progress is to look at three areas, sales, customer set and securing the base.

讓我先詳細介紹一下營運轉變部分。正如我在之前的電話中所描述的，我們專注於從報價到現金大幅改善客戶體驗，讓客戶有理由選擇 Lumen 作為核心網路服務。衡量進展的最佳方法是看三個領域：銷售、客戶群和基礎保障。

I'm delighted to share our progress across the fundmental. After a blockbuster Q1, we continued to see strong sales performance in the second quarter with North American large enterprise and mid-market sales, up nearly 26% year-over-year. Additionally, large and mid-market new logo sales increased 10% and net total contract value for all channels was up nearly 40% year-over-year.

我很高興分享我們在基本方面取得的進展。繼第一季的出色表現之後，我們在第二季度繼續保持強勁的銷售業績，北美大型企業和中型市場銷售額年增近 26%。此外，大中型市場新標誌銷售額成長了 10%，所有通路的淨總合約價值較去年同期成長了近 40%。

Two notable wins are Uber, who's leveraging custom fiber wave from movement to ensure unparalleled connectivity between their data centers and the state of New Mexico who is using Lumen to build its first statewide education network. To complement these sales results, we saw another step function improvement in customer SAP in our service delivery process with year-over-year transaction Net Promoter Scores rising 10 points for large enterprise, 35 points for wholesale, 37 points for mid-market and a whopping 42 points for public sector.

兩個顯著的勝利是優步，它利用行動客製化光纖波來確保其資料中心和新墨西哥州之間無與倫比的連接，而新墨西哥州正在使用 Lumen 來建立其第一個全州範圍的教育網路。為了補充這些銷售業績，我們在服務交付流程中看到了客戶 SAP 的另一個階躍功能改進，與去年同期相比，大型企業交易淨推薦值上升了 10 分，批發市場上升了 35 分，中型市場上升了 37 分，公共部門上升了 42 分。

Once again, every one of our enterprise customer channel show significant year-over-year improvements, which should manifest in lower churn, higher gross sales and improved overall revenue growth over time.

再次，我們的每個企業客戶管道都顯示出顯著的同比增長，這將體現為更低的客戶流失率、更高的總銷售額和隨著時間的推移整體收入成長的提高。

Finally, we're making progress securing the base with our relentless focus on five key levers, installs, renewals, migration, usage and disconnects. We think the best way to measure our progress here is to compare ourselves to market trends. And once again, we saw less revenue declines this quarter than our industry peers.

最後，我們透過堅持不懈地專注於五個關鍵槓桿，即安裝、更新、遷移、使用和斷開連接，在確保基礎安全方面取得了進展。我們認為衡量我們進步的最佳方法是將我們自己與市場趨勢進行比較。本季我們的營收降幅再次低於業界同業。

We continue to fine-tune our motions, developing and launching new product bundles and educating our customers on the best migration path from legacy to modern technologies. And while we're excited by the progress of our operational turnaround in legacy core network services, the real breakthrough to share with you is how we're repositioning the company for the future in the growing market of AI.

我們不斷調整我們的動作，開發和推出新的產品包，並教育我們的客戶從傳統技術到現代技術的最佳遷移路徑。雖然我們對傳統核心網路服務營運轉型的進展感到興奮，但真正要與您分享的突破是我們如何在不斷成長的人工智慧市場中重新定位公司的未來。

Two ways that we're repositioning Lumen's. First, we're clarifying telecom by delivering a digital platform to enable enterprise customers to digitally design price order and consume secure network services. Quickly, securely and effortlessly. We're thrilled with our progress driving adoption of our Lumen digital flagship network as a service offering with companies like Versa, T Marzetti and DXC technologies, as well as many other companies across industry.

我們重新定位 Lumen 的兩種方法。首先，我們透過提供數位平台來明確電信業務，使企業客戶能夠以數位化方式設計價格訂單並使用安全的網路服務。快速、安全、輕鬆。我們很高興看到我們在推動 Lumen 數位旗艦網路即服務產品與 Versa、T Marzetti 和 DXC 技術等公司以及業內許多其他公司合作方面取得進展。

Okay. Second, wave of repositioning the company for growth is with Lumen's private connectivity fabrics. To summarize what's happening. The dramatic rise in AI innovation spring explosive growth in data center build-out, and data centers simply has to be connected. We're honored that technology powerhouses like Microsoft and several other big technology firms are choosing Lumen to build their AI backbone, and they're choosing us for two reasons.

好的。第二，Lumen 借助其私有連接結構推動公司重新定位成長。總結一下正在發生的事情。人工智慧創新的急劇崛起引發了資料中心建設的爆炸性成長，而資料中心必須實現互聯。我們很榮幸微軟等科技巨頭以及其他幾家大型科技公司選擇 Lumen 來建立他們的人工智慧主幹，他們選擇我們有兩個原因。

First, our world-class fiber network with it's unique route vast coverage and state-of-the-art fiber solutions from our strategic partnership with Corning. And second, the digital platform we're building that makes consumption quick secure and effortless. With $5 billion in closed deals so far and the active discussions we're having with a long list of additional customers, we believe Lumen is becoming known as the trusted network for AI.

首先，我們世界一流的光纖網路擁有獨特的路線、廣泛的覆蓋範圍以及與康寧建立策略合作夥伴關係所帶來的最先進的光纖解決方案。第二，我們正在建構的數位平台使消費變得快速、安全、輕鬆。到目前為止，我們已經完成了 50 億美元的交易，並且正在與眾多其他客戶進行積極的討論，我們相信 Lumen 正成為 AI 值得信賴的網路。

The growth in this type of sale will be meaningful and accretive to our cash position in the short term and positions us for long-term predictable revenue growth in the future. Looking ahead, I'm sure you, like everybody else on planet Earth is wondering how big are these networking deals going to be for AI and what's the market look like?

這種銷售的成長將在短期內對我們的現金狀況產生重大影響並有助於我們在未來實現長期可預測的收入成長。展望未來，我相信你和地球上的其他人一樣，都在想這些網路交易對人工智慧的影響有多大，以及市場前景如何？

So I'm going to share our early hypothesis with you. We think there are likely to be three distinct phases. The first phase, as evidenced by our closed deals is with huge technology companies, cloud providers, social platforms, et cetera, who are AI thought leaders in our building and training AI models responsible for the explosive growth in data center build-outs.

因此我將與你們分享我們早期的假設。我們認為可能有三個不同的階段。第一階段，從我們達成的交易可以看出，合作對像是大型科技公司、雲端供應商、社群平台等，他們是我們建構和訓練人工智慧模式的人工智慧思想領袖，推動了資料中心建設的爆炸性成長。

They were the first to recognize that today's Internet simply won't serve tomorrow's AI economy, and they're partnering with Lumen to massively expand their connectivity infrastructure. We think the next tranche of demand is likely to come from the AI model inference phase, probably with forward-thinking enterprises who see AI is the way to transform their businesses in financial services, healthcare and retailers to start.

他們首先認識到當今的互聯網根本無法服務於未來的人工智慧經濟，因此他們正在與 Lumen 合作大規模擴展他們的連接基礎設施。我們認為下一批需求可能來自人工智慧模型推理階段，可能由具有前瞻性思維的企業所推動，他們將人工智慧視為金融服務、醫療保健和零售業轉型的途徑。

And finally, in the third phase, we suspect breakout growth and demand for connectivity and digital on-demand network services will come when AI start talking to AI in rings and exchanges. We're in very early discussions with strategic partners who are helping shape our view in this space. Please note that these recent announcements, which were not included in our 2024 guidance, fund the necessary upfront OpEx and CapEx to ramp and scale these new AI workloads.

最後，在第三階段，我們懷疑當人工智慧開始透過環路和交流與人工智慧對話時，對連接和數位按需網路服務的需求將出現突破性增長。我們正與策略夥伴進行早期討論，他們正在幫助我們形成在這一領域的觀點。請注意，這些最近的公告未包含在我們的 2024 年指引中，它們為增加和擴展這些新的 AI 工作負載提供必要的前期營運支出和資本支出資金。

Additionally, these deals provide funding for continued innovation and strategic cost takeout. And that leads me to my next important piece of news. Today, we're announcing that we see a path to creating a $1 billion in cost takeout by the end of 2027. This next cost wave of efficiency will come from deeply strategic infrastructure simplification in three major area, network, product portfolio and IT.

此外，這些交易也為持續創新和策略成本削減提供了資金。這就引出了我要說的下一個重要新聞。今天，我們宣布，我們看到了到 2027 年底實現 10 億美元成本削減的途徑。下一波成本效率浪潮將源自網路、產品組合和 IT 三大領域的深度策略基礎架構簡化。

These infrastructure projects are rooted in network standardization. We're now integrating the networks from four different architectures engineering them into one simplified standardize and unified network fabric. This move provides a step function change in the level of simplification that we can drive inside the company, providing breakthrough improvements in our customer and employee experiences.

這些基礎設施項目根植於網路標準化。我們現在正在整合四種不同架構的網絡，將它們設計成一個簡化、標準化和統一的網路結構。這項措施為我們在公司內部推動的簡化程度帶來了階躍變化，為我們的客戶和員工體驗帶來了突破性的改善。

Let me provide just a little bit more color on the impact of the plan. Our target is to ensure that the majority of our net new services around this unified network fabric by the end of 2025. This will enable massive simplification in our product portfolio, enabling us to significantly reduce our product count from thousands of product codes to a target of around 300, of massive simplification enabler across Lumen and our ecosystem.

讓我進一步詳細說明該計劃的影響。我們的目標是確保到 2025 年底，我們的大多數新網路服務都圍繞著這個統一的網路結構。這將使我們的產品組合大規模簡化，使我們能夠將產品數量從數千個產品代碼大幅減少到 300 個左右，從而實現 Lumen 和我們生態系統的大規模簡化。

Once we unify the network and simplify the product portfolio in our enterprise business, we'll go after technical cost savings in IT. For example, we'd like to compress our 24 order management systems to a target number of 1 and reduce our 17 billing systems to well, you guessed at a target of 1. This work is going to take a few years to complete, but it will yield material and enduring bottom-line benefits.

一旦我們統一了網路並簡化了企業業務的產品組合，我們就會追求 IT 技術成本的節省。例如，我們希望將 24 個訂單管理系統壓縮為 1 個目標系統，並將 17 個計費系統減少為（您猜對了）1 個目標系統。這項工作將需要幾年時間才能完成，但它將產生物質和持久的底線效益。

To re-emphasize, the work wouldn't be possible without the additional liquidity gain from our private connectivity fabric sales, which also allows us to self fund a spending increase in key areas to drive out these costs for the long term.

再次強調，如果沒有從我們的私人連接結構銷售中獲得的額外流動資金，這項工作就不可能完成，這也使我們能夠自行資助關鍵領域的支出增加，以長期消除這些成本。

To summarize our enterprise business transformation efforts, we've got the cash, we've got the assets and we've got a world-class leadership team needed to execute on the next phase of our transformation, unlocking breakthrough growth opportunities and strategic cost savings moving forward.

總結我們企業業務轉型的努力，我們有現金，有資產，我們有一支世界一流的領導團隊，來執行我們轉型的下一階段，釋放突破性的成長機會和策略成本節約。

And finally, I'm really delighted to share that our mass market segment is showing steady results improvement. We continue to opportunistically deploy capital, enabling 136,000 locations in Q2 on track to deliver 500,000 new fiber enabled locations this year.

最後，我很高興地告訴大家，我們的大眾市場部門的業績正在穩步改善。我們將繼續抓住機會部署資本，第二季已啟用 136,000 個光纖接入點，預計今年將新增 50 萬個光纖接入點。

We also continued our strong fiber sales momentum from first quarter '24, as indicated by our record level of 2Q fiber net adds of 40,000. And we're happy to announce that we've reached over 1 million fiber subscribers in July. This is a significant milestone and reinforces the value of the product we're delivering to the consumer. And it also shows our mass markets team really knows how to execute well.

我們也延續了 24 年第一季以來強勁的光纖銷售勢頭，第二季光纖淨新增量達到創紀錄的 40,000 條。我們很高興地宣布，7月我們的光纖用戶數已超過100萬。這是一個重要的里程碑，強化了我們提供給消費者的產品的價值。這也顯示我們的大眾市場團隊確實懂得如何很好地執行。

With that, I'll turn the call over to Chris

接下來，我會把電話轉給克里斯

Thanks, Kate. Before I discuss the quarter, I want to take a moment to reflect back to Q2 earnings last year. Since that time, we've successfully completed a refinancing that addressed over $15 billion of our debt and extended over $10 billion of our maturities, and we secured access to over $2.3 billion in new liquidity. And we launched our PCF solutions as well as our suite of new digital offerings.

謝謝，凱特。在討論本季之前，我想花點時間回顧去年第二季的收益。自那時起，我們成功完成了再融資，解決了超過 150 億美元的債務，延長了超過 100 億美元的到期債務，並確保了獲得超過 23 億美元的新流動資金。我們推出了PCF解決方案以及一系列新的數位產品。

And we've generated early growth in our public sector and the growth segment of our large enterprise business. And as of yesterday, we announced the largest sales in the company's history, totaling nearly $5 billion, fueled by our AI hyperscaler customers. This is all as we drive in network unification from four discrete enterprise networks to one, resulting in over $1 billion in cost efficiencies.

我們在公共部門和大型企業業務的成長領域取得了早期成長。截至昨天，我們宣布了該公司歷史上最大的銷售額，總額接近 50 億美元，這得益於我們的 AI 超大規模客戶。這一切都是為了推動我們將四個獨立的企業網路合併為一個，從而節省超過 10 億美元的成本。

None of this would be possible without our world-class management team who's executing on our vision. We're moving with pace and we're not done. The recent developments in our business reflect major proof points in terms of early and material execution on Lumen's transformation path forward. And we are pleased the market is starting to value this opportunity.

如果沒有我們世界一流的管理團隊來實現我們的願景，這一切都不可能實現。我們正在快速前進，但我們還沒有完成。我們業務的最新發展反映了 Lumen 未來轉型道路上早期和實質執行的重要證明點。我們很高興市場開始重視這個機會。

We believe we're in the first inning of the AI growth opportunity for our fiber infrastructure and Lumen digital services. Accordingly, the positive impact these private connectivity fabric sales will have in our financials are powerful and clear.

我們相信，我們的光纖基礎設施和 Lumen 數位服務正處於人工智慧成長機會的第一階段。因此，這些私人連接結構銷售對我們的財務產生的正面影響是強大且明顯的。

First, we believe the progress we've made on driving PCF sales these past few months is just the beginning of a vast new TAM, which brings long-term sticky revenue offsetting higher churn [legacy] declines.

首先，我們相信，過去幾個月我們在推動PCF銷售方面所取得的進展僅僅是一個龐大的新TAM的開始，它帶來了長期的黏性收入，抵消了更高的客戶流失（遺留）下降。

Second, we estimate that the cash received from PCF sales will close any free cash flow deficit between now and when we reach sustainable positive free cash flow growth.

其次，我們估計，從現在到我們實現可持續的正自由現金流成長期間，從 PCF 銷售中獲得的現金將彌補任何自由現金流赤字。

Third, we will have ample free cash flow to invest in our transformation and reduce debt. And finally, in our view, PCF sales are significant and incremental to the overall value of Lumen's business. The building blocks of our value creation are clear, starting with our nationwide fiber network. We believe Lumen is one of the few companies with the resources and scale to provide the critical infrastructure for AI and the partnerships we've announced representing large and growing opportunity to provide private connectivity fabric solution.

第三，我們將擁有充足的自由現金流來投資我們的轉型並減少債務。最後，我們認為，PCF 的銷售對於 Lumen 業務的整體價值而言意義重大且具有增量作用。我們的價值創造基石很明確，首先從我們的全國光纖網路開始。我們相信 Lumen 是少數擁有資源和規模來提供 AI 關鍵基礎設施的公司之一，我們宣布的合作夥伴關係代表著提供私人連接結構解決方案的巨大且不斷增長的機會。

We see a runway to growth as we transform telecom, and we believe this sets up a value-creation path for Lumen, all as we continue to execute on our core strategic goals of commercial excellence, securing the base and innovating for growth. As Kate mentioned, our sales growth engines within our large and mid-market enterprise channels in our business segments, along with our mass market segment, showed solid performance this quarter with large enterprise and mid market sales, both up over 26% year-over-year.

我們在電信轉型過程中看到了成長的道路，我們相信這為 Lumen 建立了一條價值創造之路，所有這一切都將在我們繼續執行商業卓越、鞏固基礎和創新成長的核心策略目標的同時進行。正如凱特所提到的，我們業務部門的大型和中型企業通路以及大眾市場部門的銷售成長引擎本季表現穩健，大型企業和中型市場的銷售額均較去年同期成長超過 26％。

Additionally, Quantum Fiber broadband net additions of 40,000, again, set an all-time record, and we passed the 1 million total fiber subscriber mark in July. Outstanding work by the team. While consolidated revenue and adjusted EBITDA still feel the impacts of legacy declines, we are encouraged by improvements we're making in the business.

此外，量子光纖寬頻淨增 4 萬個用戶，再次創下歷史新高，我們在 7 月光纖用戶總數突破了 100 萬大關。團隊的出色工作。儘管合併收入和調整後 EBITDA 仍然受到遺留問題下滑的影響，但我們對業務的改善感到鼓舞。

Now let's move to the discussion of financial results for the second quarter. On a year-over-year basis, total reported revenue declined 10.7% to $3.268 billion. 36% of the decline was due to the impact of divestitures, commercial agreements in the sales of the CDN business. Business segment revenue declined 11.4% to $2.577 billion and approximately 42% of that decline was due to the impact of divestitures and commercial agreements. Mass Markets segment revenue declined 8.2% to $691 million. Adjusted EBITDA was $1.011 billion with a 30.9% margin and free cash flow was negative $156 million.

現在讓我們來討論第二季的財務表現。與去年同期相比，報告總收入下降 10.7% 至 32.68 億美元。 36%的降幅是由於CDN業務出售中的資產剝離和商業協議的影響。業務部門收入下降 11.4% 至 25.77 億美元，其中約 42% 的降幅是由於資產剝離和商業協議的影響。大眾市場部門營收下降 8.2% 至 6.91 億美元。調整後的 EBITDA 為 10.11 億美元，利潤率為 30.9%，自由現金流為負 1.56 億美元。

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, international and other, revenue declined 3.6%. We continue to expect public sector to be the first channel to pivot to sustainable growth later this year, followed by mid-market and then large enterprise.

接下來，我將根據年比數據回顧本季的詳細收入結果。在我們的北美企業通路（即我們的業務部門，不包括批發、國際和其他業務）內，收入下降了 3.6%。我們仍然預計公共部門將成為今年稍後實現永續成長的第一個管道，其次是中型市場，然後是大型企業。

Overall, North American business declined 5.5%. Large Enterprise revenue declined 6.9% in the second quarter. Our grow revenue was approximately flat year-over-year with continued pressure in nurture and harvest product revenue. We expect continued variability in trends as we drive towards overall stabilization. Mid-market revenue declined approximately 7% year-over-year with improvement in growth, offset by nurture and harvest.

總體而言，北美業務下降了5.5%。第二季大型企業營收下降6.9%。我們的種植收入與去年同期基本持平，但培育和收穫產品收入仍持續面臨壓力。在我們努力實現整體穩定的過程中，我們預期趨勢將持續變化。中端市場收入年減約 7%，成長有所改善，但被培育和收穫所抵消。

Public sector revenue increased 8% year-over-year, driven by strength in our grow and other product revenue and partially offset by declines in nurture and harvest. We continue to see traction with large bookings in this space, which take time to ramp to revenue, and these wins give us continued confidence that public sector will be the first sales channel to return to sustainable growth this year.

公共部門營收年增 8%，這得益於我們種植和其他產品收入的強勁增長，但被培育和收穫收入的下降部分抵消。我們繼續看到該領域的大量預訂的吸引力，這需要一些時間才能實現收入，這些勝利讓我們繼續相信，公共部門將成為今年第一個恢復可持續增長的銷售管道。

Wholesale revenue declined approximately 10% year-over-year. The harvest portion of the wholesale portfolio, which is comprised of products like TDM voice and private line saw revenue contract by 17.9% year-over-year in the second quarter. This is primarily driven by telco partners that are selling legacy services.

批發收入較去年同期下降約10%。批發業務組合的收穫部分包括TDM語音和專線等產品，其營收在第二季年減了17.9%。這主要是由銷售傳統服務的電信合作夥伴所推動的。

Our harvest product revenue will likely continue to decline over time and is an area that we will manage for cash. International and other revenue declined 67.1% driven primarily by the divestiture of our media business and the sale of select CDN contracts in the fourth quarter of last year.

我們的收穫產品收入可能會隨著時間的推移而持續下降，這是我們將管理現金的領域。國際及其他收入下降 67.1%，主要原因是去年第四季媒體業務的剝離以及部分 CDN 合約的出售。

Moving to our business product lifecycle reporting our references to results based on our North America enterprise channel. The 3.6% year-over-year decrease was due to declines in our nurture and harvest segments, partially offset by growth, particularly enterprise broadband, dark fiber in IT. While results can vary in any quarter, we expect sustained strength in the grow product revenue as we execute on our core turnarounds.

轉向我們的業務產品生命週期，根據我們的北美企業管道報告我們的結果參考。3.6% 的同比下降是由於我們培育和收穫部門的下滑，但被企業寬頻、IT 領域的暗光纖等成長部分抵消。雖然每季的結果都會有所不同，但隨著我們實現核心扭轉局面，我們預期產品收入將持續保持強勁成長。

Within Nurture and Harvest, we continue to expect headwinds in these markets declining categories. However, we continue to take proactive steps to migrate customers to newer technologies and these actions improve our customers' experience and will provide an uplift in customer lifetime value for Lumin.

在培育和收穫領域，我們預計這些市場下滑的類別仍將面臨阻力。然而，我們將繼續採取積極措施，幫助客戶遷移到更新的技術，這些舉措將改善客戶的體驗，並將提升 Lumin 的客戶終身價值。

Additionally, we will continue to pursue opportunities for cost optimization when we help customers migrate from off-net legacy and TDM-based services onto Lumen's network. Within North American enterprise channels, grow products revenue increased 1.5% year-over-year. Grow now represents approximately 43% of our North America enterprise revenue.

此外，當我們幫助客戶從離網傳統服務和基於 TDM 的服務遷移到 Lumen 網路時，我們將繼續尋求成本優化的機會。在北美企業通路，種植產品收入較去年同期成長1.5%。目前，Grow 約占我們北美企業收入的 43%。

And for our total business segment carrying approximately 80% direct margin this quarter. Nurture products revenue decreased 12.1% year-over-year. Nurture represents 30% of our North American enterprise revenue and for our total business segment carried an approximate 66% direct margin this quarter. Harvest products revenue decreased 10.6% year-over-year and continues to be negatively impacted by declines in TDM based voice and private line.

本季我們整個業務部門的直接利潤約為 80%。培育產品營收年減12.1%。培育業務占我們北美企業營收的 30%，本季我們整個業務部門的直接利潤率約為 66%。Harvest產品營收年減10.6%，持續受到基於TDM的語音和專線下滑的負面影響。

Harvest represented approximately 16% of our North America enterprise revenue in the second quarter. For our total business segments that carry an approximate 77% direct margin this quarter. Other product revenue improved 18.5% year-over-year. As a reminder, other product revenue tends to experience fluctuations due to the variable nature of these products.

Harvest 約占我們第二季北美企業營收的 16%。本季我們整個業務部門的直接利潤率約為 77%。其他產品收入較去年同期成長18.5%。需要提醒的是，由於這些產品的多變性質，其他產品的收入往往會出現波動。

Now moving on to mass markets. Our fiber broadband revenue 14.6% year-over-year, and represents approximately 38% of mass markets broadband revenue. During the quarter, fiber broadband enabled location adds were 136,000, bringing our total to over $3.9 million as of June 30, and pacing towards our targeted annual 500,000 build target this year.

現在轉向大眾市場。我們的光纖寬頻收入年增14.6％，約佔大眾市場寬頻收入的38％。本季度，光纖寬頻啟用地點增加了 136,000 個，使我們截至 6 月 30 日的總收入超過 390 萬美元，並朝著今年 50 萬年度建設目標邁進。

We also added 40,000 Quantum Fiber customers, which is our best fiber net add quarter reported to date, and this brings our total to 992,000. Fiber ARPU was $62, up slightly, both sequentially and year-over-year. Importantly, we reached a significant milestone of 1 million fiber broadband subscribers in July. At the end of the second quarter, our penetration of legacy copper broadband was approximately 9%, and our Quantum Fiber penetration stood at approximately 25%.

我們還增加了 40,000 名 Quantum Fiber 客戶，這是迄今為止報告的最佳光纖淨增量季度，這使我們的客戶總數達到 992,000 名。光纖 ARPU 為 62 美元，環比和同比均略有增長。重要的是，我們7月光纖寬頻用戶數達到了100萬的重要里程碑。截至第二季末，我們的傳統銅寬頻普及率約為 9%，量子光纖普及率約為 25%。

As we look ahead, we will continue our market-by-market assessment of the mass markets business as we explore a range of strategic options to maximize its value. Those options include potential joint ventures, wholesaling arrangements or future divestitures to generate incremental cash.

展望未來，我們將繼續對大眾市場業務進行逐一市場評估，同時探索一系列策略選擇，以最大化其價值。這些選擇包括潛在的合資企業、批發安排或未來的資產剝離以產生增量現金。

Now turning to adjusted EBITDA. For the second quarter of 2024, adjusted EBITDA was $1.011 billion compared to $1.229 billion in the year ago quarter. Second quarter EBITDA was positively impacted by our strong first quarter sales bookings as well as efficiency improvements from our second quarter cost actions and overall margin management.

現在轉向調整後的 EBITDA。2024 年第二季度，調整後的 EBITDA 為 10.11 億美元，而去年同期為 12.29 億美元。第二季的 EBITDA 受到第一季強勁銷售訂單以及第二季成本行動和整體利潤管理帶來的效率提升的正面影響。

Special items impacting adjusted EBITDA totaled $136 million. The majority of special items in the quarter were related to severance. For the second quarter of 2024, our adjusted EBITDA margin was 30.9%. Capital expenditures were $753 million and free cash flow, excluding special items was negative $156 million. As we previously stated, we're leaning into our network investments to support the rapid growth in demand our customers are facing.

影響調整後 EBITDA 的特殊項目總額為 1.36 億美元。本季的大部分特殊項目與遣散費有關。2024 年第二季度，我們的調整後 EBITDA 利潤率為 30.9%。資本支出為 7.53 億美元，不包括特殊項目的自由現金流為負 1.56 億美元。正如我們之前所說，我們正在依靠網路投資來支持客戶面臨的快速成長的需求。

Now before I provide an update on our 2024 financial outlook, I'd like to provide some color around the near term impacts of our PCF sale and the additional liquidity and flexibility we have. As Kate mentioned, we're moving full speed ahead and investing in our transformation, which includes additional spending on network and systems unification that will ultimately lead to more efficient operations and a better customer experience.

現在，在我提供我們 2024 年財務前景的最新情況之前，我想先介紹一下我們的 PCF 銷售以及我們擁有的額外流動性和靈活性的近期影響。正如凱特所提到的，我們正在全速前進並投資於我們的轉型，其中包括在網路和系統統一方面的額外支出，這最終將帶來更有效率的營運和更好的客戶體驗。

Given our improving liquidity profile, we intend to pull forward some expenses from '26 and '27 into '25, accelerating the time line of our cost takeout goals. With the investments in transformation and costs associated with recent PCF sales and in conjunction with continued legacy revenue declines, directionally, we see 2025 EBITDA below 2024 levels with a significant rebound in 2026 and growing thereafter. We will provide more detailed 2025 guidance on our fourth quarter 2024 call in February.

鑑於我們不斷改善的流動性狀況，我們打算將一些支出從'26年和'27年提前到'25年，從而加快實現成本削減目標的時間表。隨著轉型方面的投資和近期 PCF 銷售相關的成本，以及傳統收入的持續下滑，從方向上看，我們預計 2025 年 EBITDA 將低於 2024 年的水平，並在 2026 年大幅反彈，隨後實現成長。我們將在 2 月的 2024 年第四季電話會議上提供更詳細的 2025 年指引。

Now moving on to our financial outlook. We now estimate fiscal year '24 EBITDA to be in the range of $3.9 to $4 billion, CapEx in the range of $3.1 to $3.3 billion. Cash interest in the range of $1.15 to $1.25 billion and free cash flow in the range of $1to $1.2 billion.

現在來談談我們的財務展望。我們現在估計 24 財年的 EBITDA 在 39 億美元至 40 億美元之間，資本支出在 31 億美元至 33 億美元之間。現金利息在 11.5 億美元至 12.5 億美元之間，自由現金流在 10 億美元至 12 億美元之間。

This guidance includes some incremental OpEx, CapEx and cash flows associated with our PCF sales growth, the gain on sale of an investment as well as incremental spending to ultimately improve our cost structure and margin. This additional OpEx and CapEx will be fully funded upfront by incremental PCF cash flow.

該指引包括與我們的PCF銷售成長相關的一些增量營運支出、資本支出和現金流、投資銷售收益以及增量支出，以最終改善我們的成本結構和利潤率。這些額外的營運支出 (OpEx) 和資本支出 (CapEx) 將由增量 PCF 現金流量預先全額資助。

And with that, I'll turn it back to Kate for closing remarks.

最後，我將請凱特作最後發言。

thanks, Chris. Before we open up the call for questions, I wanted to pause to acknowledge where we are. AI represent one of the most significant technology shifts in history. Every person and every organization on earth will be impacted. AI needs data, data need data centers and data centers need to be connected. What was once an overbuild fiber network is shifting from commodity to something much more valuable.

謝謝，克里斯。在我們開始提問之前，我想停下來了解我們現在的進展。人工智慧代表了歷史上最重大的技術變革之一。地球上的每個人和每個組織都將受到影響。人工智慧需要數據，數據需要數據中心，數據中心需要連接。曾經過度建設的光纖網路正在從商品轉變為更有價值的東西。

As lumen, we are streamlining and digitizing our operations to try to find growth in the legacy telco markets. Instead, we're building a digital platform to help us become the trusted network for AI so we can capitalize on the market that will likely see explosive growth for decades. This is Lumen's moment. We are playing to win. This is the business that we are in.

作為流明，我們正在簡化和數位化我們的運營，以嘗試在傳統電信市場中尋求成長。相反，我們正在建立一個數位平台，幫助我們成為人工智慧值得信賴的網絡，這樣我們就可以利用可能在未來幾十年爆炸式增長的市場。這是 Lumen 的時刻。我們的目標是勝利。這就是我們所從事的業務。

Operator, we're ready for questions.

接線員，我們已準備好回答問題。

Thank you. The floor is now open for questions. (Operator instructions)

謝謝。現在請大家提問。（操作員指令）

Michael Rollins, Citi.

花旗銀行的麥可‧羅林斯。

Thanks and good afternoon. First, with respect to the $5 billion of sales, curious if you could give some additional color on the competitiveness of that process? Are these customers using single vendors for this solution or multiple vendors. So this is something that's not just helping Lumen, but maybe the ecosystem.

謝謝，下午好。首先，關於 50 億美元的銷售額，您是否可以進一步介紹流程的競爭力？這些客戶是否使用單一供應商或多家供應商提供此解決方案。所以這不僅有助於 Lumen，還可能有助於生態系統。

And then for Lumen's specifically, can you share the mix of assets that are existing fiber, existing conduit, leveraging assets that are already out there from you versus what you're building is new infrastructure and as you consume some of those fiber inventories such that investment mix or margin mix might look differently over time as you continue to sell within this new PFC segment. Thanks.

然後具體到 Lumen，您能否分享現有光纖、現有管道的資產組合，利用您已有的資產與您正在建設的新基礎設施，以及當您消耗其中一些光纖庫存時，隨著您在這個新的 PFC 領域繼續銷售，投資組合或利潤組合可能會隨著時間的推移而有所不同。謝謝。

Hey, Mike. So I'll take the first part, let Chris handle the second part. So first part, what does the competitive landscape look like? Look, obviously, I'm a little bit biased, but here's my observations. Our network is the crown jewel that we always thought it was.

嘿，麥克。因此我負責第一部分，讓克里斯負責第二部分。那麼第一部分，競爭格局是什麼樣的呢？看，顯然，我有一點偏見，但這是我的觀察。我們的網路就像我們一直認為的那樣，是皇冠上的寶石。

It's got great coverage, unique routes, it's diverse and it's got state-of-the-art fiber because we've been taking care of it for a long time. And that's giving us great positioning with our customers. They're looking at sometimes building some routes by themselves, most of the time understanding that we can get them there faster with higher quality and better service. And that's that's the observation across the deals we've won so far.

它覆蓋範圍廣，路線獨特，種類繁多，還擁有最先進的光纖，因為我們已經對它進行了長期的維護。這為我們在客戶心目中奠定了良好的基礎。他們有時會考慮自行建造一些航線，但大多數時候都認為我們可以讓他們更快到達目的地，並提供更高的品質和更好的服務。這就是我們迄今為止贏得的交易的觀察。

Yes, and just on the economics, it's a really good question, and I'm not going to be evasive with you. But the reality is it's really complicated. So it's a deal to deal, every deal is different in terms of where they want to go from into how much capacity they need.

是的，就經濟學而言，這是一個非常好的問題，我不會迴避你。但事實是，情況真的很複雜。所以這是一筆交易，每筆交易在他們想要達到的目標以及需要多少產能方面都是不同的。

And inevitably, you will end up with a combination of our existing fiber, new fiber, existing conduit, new conduit, it really does vary deal to deal. Now, on that, we'll never disclose it because these are called private connectivity fabric for a reason. And our customers want to keep it private because it's a competitive, a secret as it is a competitive secret for us. So it will vary deal to deal, but the video that we released, I think, gives it good flavor on average.

並且不可避免地，您最終會得到我們現有光纖、新光纖、現有導管、新導管的組合，這確實因交易而異。現在，關於這一點，我們永遠不會透露，因為它們被稱為私人連接結構是有原因的。我們的客戶希望將其保密，因為這是一個競爭秘密，對我們來說也是一個競爭秘密。所以具體情況會有所不同，但我認為，我們發布的影片總體上給人一種不錯的感覺。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Next question.

下一個問題。

Sebastiano Petti.

塞巴斯蒂亞諾·佩蒂。

Hi, thanks for taking the question. Just had a quick question on the free cash flow guidance. Can you help us think about it? Is that fully just driven by the customer deposits from the just private custom fiber fabric AI? Or is that also reflective of the, I think, Chris, you said gain on the sale.

你好，謝謝你回答這個問題。我只是想問一下關於自由現金流指引的問題。你能幫我們思考一下嗎？這是否完全由私人訂製纖維布料 AI 的客戶存款驅動？或者我認為，這也反映了克里斯，你所說的銷售收益。

And in addition to that, can you help us, maybe think, just the free cash flow uplift that you're seeing here? Is that something that we should expect to stay on the balance sheet in 2024? Or is this something that will probably get spent as you probably to fund the increase in CapEx that you've guided to today? Just trying to help think about the commencement of the build-out in pacing. Thank you.

除此之外，您能否幫助我們思考一下，您在這裡看到的自由現金流提升是什麼？我們是否應該預期它會保留在 2024 年的資產負債表上？或者這筆錢可能會被花掉，因為您可能會為今天指導的資本支出增加提供資金？只是想幫助思考如何開始建立節奏。謝謝。

I will give you credit because you ask one of the great questions and the call early. So the cash flow guidance for this year is driven by both, some of the upfront cash received. We haven't received all of it, obviously for the PCF deals, and it is also related to the asset sale that we did. So both of those things contributed to the free cash flow.

我會讚揚你，因為你問了一個很好的問題，而且很早就打了電話。因此，今年的現金流指引是由部分預付現金決定的。我們還沒有收到全部款項，顯然是PCF交易的款項，而且這也與我們所做的資產出售有關。所以這兩件事都促進了自由現金流。

As it relates to where we go from here, and again, I want to really be really careful because we're not giving 2025 guidance yet. But we haven't received all the cash yet, that will be received some this year, some next year, some the following year because again, these are massive construction projects. They take time. And we will start to spend the CapEx as evidenced by our guidance this year and have more next year.

至於我們下一步的目標，我再說一遍，我真的要非常小心，因為我們還沒有給 2025 年的指導。但是我們還沒有收到全部現金，這些現金將在今年、明年或後年收到，因為這些都是大型建設項目。他們需要時間。根據我們今年的指導方針，我們將開始支出資本支出，明年將有更多的支出。

But the point is on the deals, we're not financing the build. So we get paid in advance of the construction. The only thing that is kind of hanging as you go out 12 months is we pay tax on the cash received. So even though the revenue is amortized, the IRS likes to get paid on a cash basis for these deals. So that will be something that we deal with, and we'll give more color on that as we move through. But high level, I would say that next year free cash flow looks good.

但重點是，在交易上，我們不會為建設提供資金。因此我們在施工前就得到了報酬。當你度過 12 個月時，唯一懸而未決的事情就是我們要對收到的現金繳稅。因此，即使收入被攤銷，美國國稅局仍然喜歡以現金方式獲得這些交易的收入。所以這是我們要處理的事情，我們會在處理過程中對此進行更詳細的說明。但從高層次來看，我想說明年的自由現金流看起來不錯。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Next question.

下一個問題。

Batya Levi, UBS.

巴蒂亞·列維（Batya Levi），瑞銀。

Great, thank you. Looking at the EBITDA guidance change for the year. Is that purely related to the incremental OpEx for getting ready for these network (inaudible)? Or is there any change in terms of the underlying trend? And can you just go over the $1 billion cost savings you expect over the next three years the pacing of that? I think you mentioned some of the expenses will be pulled forward. And then is there any incremental cost to achieve that savings through the next three years? Thank you.

太好了，謝謝。看看今年的 EBITDA 指導變化。這是否僅僅與為這些網路做好準備而增加的營運成本有關？（聽不清楚）？或者說其基本趨勢有沒有什麼變化？能否詳細介紹未來三年預計節省的 10 億美元成本以及具體進度？我記得您提到過一些費用將會提前。那麼，在未來三年內，要實現這項節約是否需要增加成本？謝謝。

Yes. So as it relates to this year, the vast majority of the, there was obviously a lot of things that could go on inside of EBITDA. But the main driver here are the TCF deals. And the OpEx investments we need to make to get that construction factory up and running in a more scaled way. It's a group that exists. It's one of Lumen's core competencies, but the size of that group needs to get substantially larger to support just the quantum of these deals.

是的。因此，就今年而言，絕大多數情況下，EBITDA 內部顯然有很多事情可以發生。但這裡的主要驅動力是TCF交易。我們需要進行營運支出 (OpEx) 投資，以使建築工廠以更大規模的方式啟動和運作。它是一個存在的群體。這是 Lumen 的核心競爭力之一，但該集團的規模需要大幅擴大，才能支持這些交易的數量。

And so that's the key driver. As it relates to the $1 billion cost takeout, we haven't again, I want to stay away from 2025 guidance as much as I can. We're not expecting those savings to start until next year. There will be some investment next year, and we'll disclose that when we give guidance for next year.

這就是關鍵驅動因素。至於 10 億美元的成本支出，我們還沒有再這樣做，我想盡可能遠離 2025 年的指引。我們預計這些節省要到明年才會開始。明年會有一些投資，我們會在給出明年指引時披露。

But my comments on just trying to dimensionalize where we go from here are really around the fact that we're taking the opportunity near term balance of this year and '25 to really pull forward investments we were going to have to make in '26 and '27 to get to a place where our IT systems, as Kate mentioned, are more consolidated simplified to drive a customer experience.

但是，我只是想嘗試具體說明我們下一步要走的路，實際上是圍繞這樣一個事實：我們正在抓住今年和25年的近期平衡機會，真正提前投資，我們將不得不在26年和27年進行投資，以達到我們的IT系統更加整合和簡化，正如凱特提到的那樣，從而提升客戶體驗。

And I would say if there's one key driver in that, it's going from what are four enterprise networks today to one. And that is a legacy that exist today that needs to be cleaned up because it just drives a much more seamless customer experience as we go forward.

我想說，如果其中有一個關鍵驅動因素，那就是將目前的四個企業網路減少到一個。這是今天存在的需要清理的遺留問題，因為它在我們前進的過程中會帶來更無縫的客戶體驗。

Got it. Thank you.

知道了。謝謝。

Next question, please.

請回答下一個問題。

David Barden, Bank of America.

美國銀行的戴維·巴登（David Barden）。

Hey, guys, thanks so much for taking the question. Chris, I guess it's not so much a question is I want to put forward a hypothesis and I want you to tell, it would be, I think, super helpful for people to share what you think is right or wrong about it. So we've got this $5 billion deal, but the majority of the cash is coming in the next three to four years, and the majority of the cash is also going out the door in the next three to four years.

嘿，夥計們，非常感謝你們回答這個問題。克里斯，我想這並不是一個問題，我想提出一個假設，然後讓你告訴我，我認為，如果人們分享你對這個假設的正確與否，這將非常有幫助。因此，我們達成了這筆 50 億美元的交易，但大部分現金將在未來三到四年內到位，而大部分現金也將在未來三到四年內流出。

So any kind of cash inflow we're getting is kind of a timing benefit relative to the CapEx that's required under the contract. And if it's a $5 billion contract and the majority of it is related to the construction piece, let's just call it $3 billion round numbers. That means that the actual IRU sale piece is about $2 billion. And as you shared in your video, that IRU revenue doesn't start until after the build is done, which would be probably year year four or five over a 20-year period, $2 billion, $100 million in revenue a year, very high margin, maybe $85 million in EBITDA, tax effected, as you mentioned in your video, maybe, again, taxes will be timing related, but let's just call it $65 million tax affected cash flow over a 20-year period.

因此，我們獲得的任何現金流入都是一種相對於合約要求的資本支出的時間效益。如果這是一份價值 50 億美元的合同，其中大部分與建設部分有關，我們就把它稱為 30 億美元的整數。這意味著 IRU 的實際銷售額約為 20 億美元。正如您在影片中分享的那樣，IRU 的收入直到建設完成後才開始，這可能是 20 年期間的第四年或第五年，每年 20 億美元、1 億美元的收入，利潤率非常高，EBITDA 可能為 8500 萬美元，稅收影響，正如您在視頻中提到的，也許，稅收再次與時間有關，但我們稱之為 65 萬美元的現金流量。

So a $5 billion deal announcement turns into $65 million of cash flow five years from now, what's right and what's wrong about that assessment?

因此，一項 50 億美元的交易公告會在五年後變成 6,500 萬美元的現金流，這種評估什麼是對的，什麼是錯的？

I would say most of it's wrong. (Laughter). I think, David, here is where we go. So again, it's multiple deals that added up to the $5 billion, not not just one. And in the video, we talked about a cash contribution margin which is effectively the EBITDA less the CapEx, pretax that's roughly in the ballpark of our existing EBITDA margin. So you do the math on that, that will give you the pretax free cash flow associated with these deals.

我想說大部分都是錯的。（笑聲）。我想，大衛，這就是我們要去的地方。所以，再說一遍，這是多筆交易，總額達到了 50 億美元，而不僅僅是一筆。在影片中，我們討論了現金貢獻利潤率，它實際上是 EBITDA 減去資本支出，稅前收入大致相當於我們現有的 EBITDA 利潤率。所以你算一下，你就會得到與這些交易相關的稅前現金流。

And that cash flow, to your point, does come largely at the front end. Now there's ongoing payments for space and power, for operating and maintenance if they want us to run the networks for them that gives us nice cash flow over the years. But the tax would also be front end loaded. So the key thing here is that in one set of deals in those $5 billion deals that the net after-tax cash generated from that fully fund the liquidity gap that we've talked about for so long on these calls.

正如您所說，現金流主要來自前端。如果他們希望我們為他們運營網絡，那麼就需要持續支付空間和電力費用以及營運和維護費用，這會讓我們多年來獲得不錯的現金流。但稅也將是前期負擔。因此，這裡的關鍵是，在這 50 億美元交易中的一組交易中，由此產生的稅後淨現金完全彌補了我們在電話會議中長期討論的流動性缺口。

it's older, it's behind us. And we're not done. So as we said, there's another $7 billion of discussions underway right now. And this trend will continue. The demand isn't one and done. So that's the key differences. So there's more cash in the deal than than you've laid out some and there's more to come.

它已經老了，已經過去了。我們還沒完成。正如我們所說，目前還有另外 70 億美元的討論正在進行中。而且這種趨勢還會持續下去。這個要求並不是一次性的。這就是主要的區別。因此，交易中的現金比你支付的要多，而且還會有更多。

And additionally, it's not one deal. The $5 billion represents multiple customers, and each contract is very different. I think that's important to stress.

此外，這並不是一筆交易。這 50 億美元代表多個客戶，而且每個合約都非常不同。我認為強調這一點很重要。

Yes.

是的。

Thank you. I just want to follow up on that, Chris, if I could. So just to make, so if the majority of the costs is coming in, as you said in the press release in the next three to four years, and it's also going out in the next three, four years. So then you've got this minority of the $5 billion that's then realized over the following 20 years. Is that what's, so there's a net kind of zero. And then then there's this tail of income. Is that, how is that not what you said the in press release?

謝謝。克里斯，如果可以的話，我只是想跟進這個問題。所以，如果大部分成本將在未來三到四年內流入，就像你在新聞稿中所說的那樣，那麼它也將在未來三到四年內流出。所以，你得到的只是 50 億美元的一小部分，這些資金將在接下來的 20 年內實現。那是什麼呢？然後還有收入的尾部。是的，這怎麼不是你在新聞稿中說的呢？

I'm not, I guess I'm not following and we can do it in the after call. I'm not following the net zero. The net is significant and fully fund the liquidity gap that you and your peers that modeled over the next number of years. It's that's now fully addressed.

我沒有，我想我沒有跟上，我們可以在通話結束後再做。我沒有遵循淨零排放。淨額相當可觀，將完全彌補您和您的同行在未來幾年內模擬的流動性缺口。這個問題現在已經完全解決。

So, and you are right, then, yes, the revenue bleeds in over a much longer timeframe. But that cash allows us to fund the transformation. It allows us to pay down debt and start to attack the debt structure. And again, that's with these first bundle of deals that total $5 billion and there's more coming.

所以，你是對的，是的，收入會在更長的時間內流失。但這筆現金使我們能夠資助轉型。它使我們能夠償還債務並開始解決債務結構問題。再次強調，這是首批總額 50 億美元的交易，未來還會有更多交易。

Thank you. And this is my last follow-up. So when you say in the press release that the majority of the cash comes in the next three to four years, and there's roughly equal amount of disbursements, so that the CapEx related to the deal is smaller than. So if I add the deficit and the CapEx necessary to win these deals, that gets us to the breakeven, the liquidity that you're talking about.

謝謝。這是我的最後一次跟進。因此，當您在新聞稿中說大部分現金將在未來三到四年內到賬，並且支出金額大致相等，因此與該交易相關的資本支出較小。因此，如果我加上赤字和贏得這些交易所需的資本支出，我們就能達到收支平衡，也就是你所說的流動性。

That's right. So said another way, David, the cash contribution, the $5 billion, less the OpEx to support it less the CapEx to support it, leaves us with an amount of cash we pay tax on that cash. And the after-tax impact of that fully funds the liquidity gap that we had modeled over the next few years, from this first half of the year.

這是正確的。換句話說，戴維，現金貢獻，即 50 億美元，減去支持它的營運支出，減去支持它的資本支出，剩下一筆現金，我們需要為這筆現金納稅。從今年上半年開始，其稅後影響將完全彌補我們預測的未來幾年的流動性缺口。

Thank you, Chris.

謝謝你，克里斯。

Operator, next question please.

接線員，請問下一個問題。

Jim Schneider, Goldman Sachs.

高盛的吉姆·施奈德。

Good afternoon, thanks for taking my question. I was wondering if you could maybe give us some color on within the $5 billion of closed deals. The diversity of customers within that is that a few large hyperscale type customers? Is it a much longer tail of customers, including corporates? And then if you could give us any kind of sense about the same kind of color on the additional $7 billion you're pursuing now?

下午好，感謝您回答我的問題。我想知道您是否可以向我們介紹一下 50 億美元已完成交易的情況。其中的客戶多樣性包括一些大型超大規模客戶嗎？這是否意味著包括企業在內的客戶群會更長？那麼，您能否就您目前正在追求的另外 70 億美元問題給我們提供一些相同的資訊呢？

So the first $5 billion is that first tranche that I talked about. It's hyperscalers, it's social platforms, it's huge technology companies. It's a cloud company. It's everybody building the AI model, right? Where they're building them and they're training them. They're seeing the data flows and they're saying holy cow, current networks simply don't serve where the data growth is going. So they're building out their data centers because data needs compute, and that is driving the requirements that they bring to us about, hey, can you get me from here to there?

所以第一個 50 億美元就是我所說的第一批。它是超大規模企業、社交平台、大型科技公司。這是一家雲端運算公司。每個人都在建立 AI 模型，對嗎？他們在哪裡建造它們並訓練它們。他們看到資料流後不禁感嘆，天啊，目前的網路根本無法滿足資料成長的需求。因此，他們正在建立自己的資料中心，因為資料需要計算，這就推動了他們向我們提出的需求，嘿，你能把我從這裡帶到那裡嗎？

And by the way, can you connect me back to the main Internet highways, so that I can continue to serve my customers there as well. So that's the first one. The second tranche is, and we're just at the really early phase of that piece, which is enterprises that are using the AI models. And frankly, we're one of them.

順便問一下，您能否將我重新連接到主要的網路高速公路，以便我也能繼續在那裡為我的客戶提供服務。這是第一個。第二部分是使用人工智慧模型的企業，我們正處於該部分的早期階段。坦白說，我們就是其中之一。

We're using AI models to transform our business. We have great partnerships with all of these guys to try and to take cost out, drive efficiency, gain insight, more intelligent services. And those enterprises that are leading the way are in health care, retail and financial services for the most part. And they're doing it in a different way. It's not necessarily an end to end customer private network per se. But it's a little bit of fiber and some advanced services on top of it, dramatically increasing their bandwidth and performance needs.

我們正在使用人工智慧模型來轉變我們的業務。我們與所有這些人建立了良好的合作關係，努力降低成本、提高效率、獲得洞察力、提供更聰明的服務。其中，處於領先地位的企業大多集中在醫療保健、零售和金融服務領域。而且他們用不同的方式去做這件事。從本質上來說，它不一定是一個端到端的客戶專用網路。但它只需要少量光纖和一些高級服務，就大大增加了其頻寬和效能需求。

Thanks. And then maybe just relative to the network build-out itself. I believe your Analyst Day last year, you referenced that you had $6 million inner city fiber route miles in the network, and you're planning on doubling that, which is, I think the same commentary you made on one of your earlier announcement.

謝謝。然後可能只是與網路建設本身有關。我記得在去年的分析師日上，您提到過，你們在網路中擁有價值 600 萬美元的城市內光纖線路里程，而且您計劃將這一數字翻一番，我認為這與您在之前的公告中發表的評論相同。

So would the pre-funding and the revenue associated with these deals, is that simply accelerating the build-out you already had contemplated and pulling them forward in time? Or is there any change to the profile or complexion of that build plan?

那麼，這些交易的預先融資和相關收入是否只是加速了您已經考慮的建設並推動了它們的發展？或該建設計劃的概況或性質是否有任何改變？

So I'm, I struggle to figure out where the baseline is from your question. I'll just give you contextually what's happening. We are increasing connectivity both inside the metro areas as well as in the long haul networks. And that's with new routes and pulling more fiber on existing routes. And so it's a combination of all of it. And each deal is a bit different when you overlay them all together what you see is a doubling in metro and a significant increase in long-haul.

所以我很難從你的問題中找出基線在哪裡。我只是向您介紹正在發生的事情。我們正在增加大都會區域內部以及長途網路的連結性。這是透過開闢新航線和在現有航線上拉更多光纖來實現的。所以它是所有這些的結合。當你把它們綜合起來看，每筆交易都有點不同，你會看到城市航線數量翻了一番，長途航線數量顯著增加。

I would just add to that, that the fiber that we put in the ground already and the fiber that we're adding today supports 400 gig waves. And over the next two years that will scale to 800 and 1.6 terabytes. So the fiber that's going in the ground has enormous expandability. And I don't think, at least I'm unaware of anyone else who's investing at that rate to meet the needs of customers.

我只想補充一點，我們已經埋入地下的光纖和今天添加的光纖支援 400 千兆波。未來兩年內，這一數字將擴大到 800 和 1.6 TB。因此，埋入地下的光纖具有極大的可擴展性。我不認為，至少我不知道有其他人以這樣的速度進行投資以滿足客戶的需求。

Thank you very much.

非常感謝。

Next question, please.

請回答下一個問題。

Jonathan Chaplin, New Street.

喬納森卓別林，新街。

Great. Thanks for taking the question, guys. First, just to follow up on David's question. I wonder if you could help contextualize the recurring revenue piece that comes on the back of these massive transactions that you're doing? How should we think about these transactions or driving growth in the growth segment, presumably this is sort of all large enterprise at this point?

偉大的。謝謝大家回答這個問題。首先，我來回答一下戴維的問題。我想知道您是否可以幫助您介紹一下您在這些大規模交易背後產生的經常性收入？我們該如何看待這些交易或推動成長領域成長，想必目前這都是大型企業？

And then given how important this sort of transformative event for the business is unlike embarrassed to be asking about mass markets, but you did really well on net adds in mass markets this quarter. It's been a sort of a pretty dramatic acceleration in the business over the course of the last two quarters.

然後考慮到這種轉型事件對企業的重要性，不像詢問大眾市場那樣令人尷尬，但本季你在大眾市場的淨增量方面確實做得很好。在過去兩個季度中，業務成長速度相當快。

I'm wondering if you can give us some context for what's driving that? And also just speak to sort of the strategy around ARPU a little bit. It looks like ARPU is well below peers. I assume that's sort of a conscious decision to drive penetration. I'm wondering if you, if there's sort of a plan to close the gap over time? Thanks.

我想知道您是否可以向我們介紹一下這現象背後的原因？而且也稍微談談有關 ARPU 的策略。看起來 ARPU 遠低於同行。我認為這是一種為了推動滲透而做出的有意識的決定。我想知道您是否有某種計劃來逐漸縮小差距？謝謝。

Yes. There's a lot in there. I will try to remember. As it relates to the PCF deals, we did say in the video that once you get to scale, and again, as David pointed out, it's anywhere between a three and five year window. In some cases, not all. Customers will ask us to run the networks, we will also provide space and power. So again, if you're powering a signal from San Francisco to New York, long way, you're going to need huts, where you can put rats, you can probably equipment that powers those signals.

是的。裡面有很多東西。我會盡力記住。至於與 PCF 交易相關的內容，我們確實在影片中說過，一旦達到規模，正如 David 指出的那樣，這將是一個三到五年的時間窗口。在某些情況下，並非全部。客戶會要求我們營運網絡，我們還將提供空間和電力。所以，再說一次，如果你要從舊金山嚮紐約發送長距離信號，你將需要小屋，在那裡你可以放老鼠，你可能還需要為這些信號提供動力的設備。

And we said that on average, think about that as roughly 10% of the total contract value. And that revenue and cash will be earned in the year the services are provided. So that's, I think, a good broad guideline. As it relates to mass markets, yes, I could not be more proud of the team. They're killing it.

我們說，平均而言，這大約佔合約總價值的 10%。並且該收入和現金將在提供服務的當年獲得。所以我認為這是一個很好的廣泛指導方針。就大眾市場而言，是的，我對這個團隊感到無比自豪。他們正在殺死它。

There's been intense focus on driving marketing execution and really a focus on both enablement and penetration. And they kept the enablement machine chugging along, but we're just super pleased that the, is the growth and penetration. They're executing flawlessly right now.

我們一直高度重視推動行銷執行，並真正專注於支援和滲透。他們讓支援機器持續不斷地運轉，但我們對成長和滲透感到非常高興。他們現在的執行力堪稱完美。

On ARPU, that's part of the strategy, yes. I mean, we're not trying to do over underpriced. In fact, we have raised prices where we see the opportunity to do so, and we'll continue to do that. But we're pleased with the way everything's working in combination, ARPU penetration, et cetera. So more to come.

就 ARPU 而言，這是策略的一部分，是的。我的意思是，我們並不想定價過低。事實上，我們已經在看到機會時提高了價格，而且我們會繼續這樣做。但我們對一切的協同運作方式、ARPU 滲透率等等感到滿意。接下來還有更多。

Thanks, Chris.

謝謝，克里斯。

Next question, please.

請回答下一個問題。

Nick Del Deo, MoffettNathanson.

尼克·德爾迪奧、莫菲特·納森森。

Hi. Thanks for taking my questions. First, Chris, the comments you've made around the cash contribution margins associated with these deals seem to apply mostly to the $5 billion in signed deals. As we think about future deals, like the $7 billion you have in a negotiation, would you expect those to have more favorable cash economics by leveraging some of the fiber being put in the ground for these earlier deals? Or should they be kind of in the same ballpark?

你好。感謝您回答我的問題。首先，克里斯，您對與這些交易相關的現金貢獻利潤率的評論似乎主要適用於已簽署的 50 億美元交易。當我們考慮未來的交易時，例如您正在談判的 70 億美元，您是否認為透過利用先前交易中鋪設的一些光纖，這些交易將帶來更有利的現金經濟效益？或者它們應該處於同一水平？

Yes, I would say on average, I think the guidance we gave is pretty good. Again, it's hard to say. So, I mean, I can tell you that, we've had discrete decisions that we've made along the way of do we make some incremental investments now on routes where we may have slightly less capacity to try to help for the future, and that would obviously be a benefit to your point.

是的，我想說，總的來說，我認為我們給的指導相當不錯。再一次，這很難說。所以，我的意思是，我可以告訴你，我們一路走來都做出了一些獨立的決定，我們是否現在在一些我們可能能力稍弱的航線上進行一些增量投資，以試圖為未來提供幫助，這顯然對你的觀點有好處。

But then we don't know yet the full scale of what all of the customers want, and that may require us to do additional things that we don't have today. So it's just again, given the quantum of the deals and the complexity, it's hard to answer right now. But I would tell you that I think the guidance we gave is good general guidance around how to think about it.

但我們還不知道所有客戶到底想要什麼，這可能需要我們做現在還沒做過的額外事情。因此，考慮到交易的數量和複雜性，現在很難回答。但我想告訴你，我認為我們給出的指導對於如何思考這個問題是很好的整體指導。

Okay. So not not trying to get too far ahead of signed deals in terms of the capital commitments and whatnot?

好的。那麼，在資本承諾等方面，我們不會試圖超越已簽署的協議嗎？

Right. I mean, look, we will continue to invest in our network as we have for years, and I view that more as kind of a baseline responsibility. As it relates to big CapEx expansions, we will be very measured in how we do that. This is not a gamble. We will, if we see a route where we know there's going to be demand in the future and we're already pulling fiber, we may pull more.

正確的。我的意思是，我們會像多年來一樣繼續對我們的網路進行投資，我認為這更像是一種基本責任。由於它與大規模資本支出擴張有關，因此我們將非常謹慎地進行。這不是賭博。如果我們發現某條線路在未來會有需求，而且我們已經在鋪設光纖了，那麼我們可能會鋪設更多的光纖。

If it's a route where we've got lots of capacity we want. So it really is route by route, mile by mile that we do those analytics, and it's actually really impressive what the team is doing as they model this out. That's a core capability.

如果這是一條擁有大量運力的航線，那我們就願意這麼做。因此，我們確實是按照一條路線、一英里一英里的路線進行分析，而團隊在建模時所做的工作確實令人印象深刻。這是一項核心能力。

And quite frankly, I think it's one of the reasons in addition to the digital services that we can offer these customers, the customers come to Lumen.

坦白說，我認為這除了我們可以為這些客戶提供數位服務之外，也是客戶選擇 Lumen 的原因之一。

Okay. And then, Chris, you quickly alluded to it in your prepared remarks, but I was hoping you could expand a bit on how you're thinking about cannibalization risk, whether current revenue or revenue that you otherwise might have generated. So for example, if you're selling someone dark fiber, I'm guessing you're not selling them ways on that routes going forward.

好的。然後，克里斯，你在準備好的演講中很快提到了這一點，但我希望你可以稍微擴展一下你對蠶食風險的看法，無論是當前收入還是你本來可能產生的收入。舉例來說，如果您向某人出售暗光纖，我猜您不會向他們出售該路線的未來方式。

So think about it this way. Private connectivity fabric is a bundle of everything from dark fiber to waves to IP. It's your network, your way. And these first deals happened to be very large infrastructure, dark fiber [E] kind of deals with some of the other things mixed in.

所以請這樣想。私有連接結構包括從暗光纖到波到 IP 的所有內容。這是您的網絡，您的方式。而這些首批交易恰好是非常大的基礎設施、暗光纖[E]和一些其他混合東西的交易。

As time goes on, I would expect that mix to continue to evolve. And so it depends on what, again, what the customer wants, where they want to get as to whether we got some of that fiber already in the ground or whether we need to pull more.

隨著時間的推移，我預計這種組合將繼續發展。所以這又取決於客戶想要什麼，他們想要從哪裡得到，我們是否已經在地下鋪設了一些光纖，或者我們是否需要鋪設更多的光纖。

I would also like to add asa person coming from the tech world into telecom, there's this proclivity to worry about cannibalization rather than evolution of portfolio. And I think that's how we got to a place of being quite overbuilt. And as I look at the demand for these services and our strategy moving forward, we are going to prioritize penetration of our assets to deliver return to our shareholders. And I think that's going to be very accretive long term.

我還想補充一點，身為一個從科技界進入電信業的人士，我更傾向於擔心產品蠶食，而不是產品組合的演進。我認為這就是我們陷入過度建設的境地的原因。當我審視這些服務的需求和我們未來的策略時，我們將優先考慮我們資產的滲透，以便為股東帶來回報。我認為從長遠來看這將會帶來很大的價值。

Yes. This is not to be very clear. We haven't even talked about cannibalization. This isn't cannibalization of legacy at all. This is about net new and where we're going. And this is why we see the upside that we see in our ability to drive returns for shareholders.

是的。這不是太清楚。我們甚至還沒談到蠶食。這根本不是遺產的蠶食。這是關於淨新情況和我們的發展方向。這就是為什麼我們看到了我們為股東帶來回報的能力的優勢。

Next question, please.

請回答下一個問題。

Greg Williams, TD Cowen.

格雷格威廉斯（TD Cowen）。

Great. Thanks for taking my questions. We're all trying to size the total addressable market of AI and Kate did a good job of articulating those three phases. Maybe we'll start just with that first phase and all these deals and what (inaudible)

偉大的。感謝您回答我的問題。我們都在嘗試確定人工智慧的整體可尋址市場規模，而凱特很好地闡明了這三個階段。也許我們會從第一階段開始，然後進行所有這些交易，（聽不清楚）

So really, I think you got to look at it, how many data centers are they creating and we are taking a stab at it earlier this week and from reports or maybe the better way to ask (inaudible). How many new data centers, are you feeding roughly $4 billion to $5billion of deals? Is it like 10? Is it like 30? I am just trying to get a sense of that, and it helps us with our scope? Thanks.

所以，我認為你應該看看他們正在創建多少個資料中心，本週早些時候我們正在嘗試這個問題，從報告中或更好的問法來看（聽不清楚）。有多少個新資料中心能帶來約 40 億到 50 億美元的交易？是像10嗎？是 30 嗎？我只是想了解這一點，這對我們的範圍有幫助嗎？謝謝。

I mean, we're not tracking that really. What we're tracking is across the group of technology companies that we're speaking to, which is at this point in the dozens, what do their needs look like? What are the synergies between the request so that we can drive economies of scale and how can we drive to closure as fast as possible so we can group them in those ways by route, and by how operationally we can deliver upon these.

我的意思是，我們實際上並沒有追蹤這一點。我們正在追蹤的是，我們正在與之交談的科技公司群體（目前有數十家），他們的需求是什麼樣的？請求之間的協同作用是什麼，以便我們可以推動規模經濟，我們如何盡快完成任務，以便我們能夠按照路線對它們進行分組，以及如何在營運上實現這些目標。

The one thing we do look at when we model it out is where's the power. Data centers need power space, cooling and fiber. And I think the energy piece of the equation is where can you build a data center that you can deliver a green footprint because there's also that piece of it as well. And so it's pretty complex.

我們在建模時要考慮的一件事就是力量在哪裡。資料中心需要電力空間、冷卻和光纖。我認為等式中的能源部分是你在哪裡可以建立一個可以提供綠色足跡的資料中心，因為這也是其中的一部分。所以它相當複雜。

Next question, please.

請回答下一個問題。

Frank Louthan, Raymond James.

法蘭克洛森、雷蒙詹姆斯。

Great, thank you. Maybe you can give us a little more color within the sort of $5 billion group. Can you give us an idea of the largest deal as a percentage of revenue. And then as it relates to the $5 billion in bookings here, what do you, what's an average annual bookings and how much is it up this year, including the PCF deals? Thanks.

太好了，謝謝。也許您可以為我們提供更多關於 50 億美元範圍內的詳細資訊。您能否告訴我們最大交易佔收入的百分比是多少？那麼，就這裡的 50 億美元訂單而言，您認為平均年度訂單是多少，今年的訂單量增加了多少（包括 PCF 交易）？謝謝。

So yes, in terms of the biggest one, again, that starts to get close to really starting to disclose stuff around customers because if I give you that, then it's just a guessing game as to which customer it is. And that's not fair to the customer. And frankly, it's sensitive information for us. So we're not going to give that.

所以是的，就最大的問題而言，這再次接近真正開始披露有關客戶的信息，因為如果我給你這些信息，那麼你就只能猜猜是哪個客戶了。這對顧客不公平。坦白說，這對我們來說是敏感資訊。所以我們不會給予這個。

As it relates to the bookings, I want to make sure I understand, are you asking that once we get the scale, how much, how does that relate to what we're selling today? Is that the question?

至於預訂，我想確保我理解，您是否問，一旦我們獲得規模，這與我們今天的銷售有何關係？這是問題嗎？

Well, it seems, maybe I'm misusing the term here, but it seems like you've done $5 billion in sales for here, which sounds like a bookings number. Not necessarily something hitting revenue in the income statement. What is, I'm just getting an idea of what the incremental upside from that, from bookings is in '24 versus, say, '23, inclusive of this bump from the PCF deals?

嗯，看起來，也許我在這裡用錯了術語，但看起來你在這裡的銷售額達到了 50 億美元，這聽起來像是一個預訂數字。不一定會影響損益表中的收入。我只是想了解一下，與 2023 年相比，2024 年的預訂量能帶來多少增量，包括 PCF 交易帶來的成長嗎？

Yes, I would say from a modeling standpoint, I would think about that as largely all incremental. We always sell dark fiber. And I think the dark fiber run rate, I'd have to go back and check Frank, because I don't know off the top of my head, but ex the deals, dark fiber is obviously in the growth bucket, and we continue to grow that segment.

是的，我想從建模的角度來看，我認為這基本上都是增量的。我們一直在銷售暗光纖。我認為暗光纖的運行率，我必須回去檢查一下弗蘭克，因為我不知道，但除了交易之外，暗光纖顯然處於增長區間，而且我們會繼續增長這一部分。

But this, yes, we had the state of California in the fall that we mentioned, right? So that was a big deal. But again, we've done those in the past, and we'll do other deals like that going forward. This shift that we're seeing right now, which quite frankly, I don't think comes as a surprise, right? There's been so much research and communication around the amount of investment required to support AI.

但是，是的，我們在秋天提到了加利福尼亞州的情況，對嗎？所以這是一件大事。不過，我們過去曾經做過這些交易，而且今後我們還會做其他類似的交易。坦白說，我認為我們現在看到的這種轉變並不令人意外，對吧？關於支援人工智慧所需的投資金額，已經進行了大量研究和交流。

And everybody forgot about the fact that the data doesn't originate in the data center and stay in the data center, right? It's got to get in, it's got to get out. So what we're really seeing is that now finally being realized and I would say that's largely incremental.

大家都忘記了這個事實：資料並非源自資料中心並停留在資料中心，對嗎？它必須進去，也必須出來。所以我們真正看到的是，現在終於實現了，我想說，這基本上是漸進的。

Okay. And one quick thing. Did you, can you clarify the split in the increase in free cash flow between the asset sale and the upfront cash?

好的。還有一件事。您能否澄清一下資產出售和預付現金之間自由現金流增加的分配？

The asset sale was, I think, after-tax $190 million.

我認為，資產出售的稅後價值是 1.9 億美元。

Okay. Thank you.

好的。謝謝。

Next question, please, operator.

接線員，請問下一個問題。

Eric Luebchow, Wells Fargo.

富國銀行的 Eric Luebchow。

I appreciate for taking the question. Thank you. So you talked about getting back to the EBITDA growth in 2026 after a step-down next year. How should we think about the visibility of getting back to revenue growth given the trajectory of bookings you've had. And it sounds like these PCF deals since they'll be amortized over a very long contract duration will certainly help revenues. But I don't know if they're enough to really get you back to revenue growth by 2026 as well? If you could kind of talk through the moving parts there. Thanks.

感謝您回答這個問題。謝謝。所以您談到了在明年放緩之後在 2026 年恢復 EBITDA 增長。考慮到您目前的預訂走勢，我們應該如何看待恢復收入成長的可見性。聽起來這些 PCF 交易肯定有助於增加收入，因為它們將在很長的合約期間內攤銷。但我不知道這些是否足以讓你在 2026 年之前恢復收入成長？如果您可以詳細講講那裡面的活動部件的話。謝謝。

Yes. So again, I don't want to get too close to guidance here. As we've said, revenue will obviously lag the EBITDA turnaround because of our ability to drive significant cost takeout as we fix what's broken, right? And we go from four networks to one. So the timing on the revenue, which I guess what we said most recently is that's going to lag by at least a year.

是的。因此我再說一遍，我不想在這裡太接近指導。正如我們所說的那樣，收入顯然會落後於 EBITDA 的轉變，因為我們在修復問題的同時有能力大幅降低成本，對嗎？我們的網路從四個減少為一個。因此，我想我們最近說過，收入的時間將會落後至少一年。

And I think that still holds in the situation. But again, the comments that I made, I want to be really clear about this around kind of directionally '25 and '26. To be very clear, that excludes the $7 billion set of discussions we're having right now, right? We don't count that until it comes in because just like this first batch of deals, they're very hard to predict one what, what's required to deliver them. And two, what the timing is?

我認為這種情況仍然適用。但是，我再次強調，我希望在 25 和 26 年的方向上真正清楚地表達我所發表的評論。明確地說，這不包括我們現在正在進行的 70 億美元的討論，對嗎？我們在它到來之前不會計算這些，因為就像第一批交易一樣，很難預測交付它們需要什麼。第二，時間是什麼？

Yes, understood. And just one follow up. These new data center deals, the ones you've announced and then the ones that are in your pipeline, you tied into the inner city fiber investments that, where you'll double your fiber capacity over the next handful of years. We've heard a lot about data center deals moving to more further out rural locations, given power constraints in a lot of markets.

是的，明白了。僅剩一個後續行動。這些新的資料中心交易，包括您已宣布的交易以及正在籌劃中的交易，都與城市內部的光纖投資聯繫在一起，您將在未來幾年內將光纖容量翻一番。由於許多市場存在電力限制，我們聽到很多關於資料中心遷移到更遠的農村地區的消息。

So can you talk at all about like splits between middle mile, long haul fiber versus metro fiber that's in your pipeline to support these types of deals, given data center deals are being done in further out locations, It seems based on what we've seen? Thanks.

那麼，您能否談談中間一英里、長距離光纖與城域光纖之間的分割，這些光纖是您為支持此類交易而正在籌備中的，考慮到數據中心交易是在更遠的地方進行的，這似乎是基於我們所看到的情況？謝謝。

What I'll say is this, our network, one of the reasons why it's so attractive. And by the way, when I say network, it's fiber and in some cases, it's conduit, right? It's this vision that was built 25 years ago. And now because of the advances in fiber technology, we have the ability to monetize it. So it's both.

我想說的是，這就是我們的網路如此有吸引力的原因之一。順便說一句，當我說網路時，它是光纖，在某些情況下，它是導管，對嗎？這個願景是 25 年前提出的。現在由於光纖技術的進步，我們有能力將其貨幣化。所以兩者都有。

It's both of those things. And so I would say it's a strength of both the inner city and the Metro. The customers broadly speaking, are wanting to access. And as we continue to invest in things like waves, it will be to deliver against both of those.

這兩件事都是這樣的。所以我想說這是內城區和地鐵的優點。廣義上講，客戶都希望獲得存取權限。隨著我們繼續在波浪等方面進行投資，我們將實現這兩個目標。

Waves customers want two things. They want to get where they want to get, and they want to get there quickly. And I don't know if anyone else in the space who is investing the kind of money that we are to make sure that happens.

Waves 的客戶想要兩樣東西。他們想要到達目的地，並且想要快速到達。我不知道該領域是否有其他人像我們一樣投入如此多的資金來確保這一目標的實現。

Next question, please.

請回答下一個問題。

Since there are no more questions, I will now turn the conference back over to Kate Johnson, CEO for closing remarks. Please go ahead.

由於沒有其他問題，我現在將會議交還給執行長凱特·約翰遜作結束語。請繼續。

Thanks so much. To wrap, it's an exciting time for Lumen as AI charts the course for our pivoted growth, and our future is very, very bright. Thanks for joining today. We look forward to meeting you at the upcoming conferences and updating you on the significant progress we're making in transforming our company. Have a great night.

非常感謝。總而言之，對於 Lumen 來說這是一個令人興奮的時刻，因為 AI 為我們的核心成長指明了方向，我們的未來非常非常光明。感謝您今天的加入。我們期待在即將召開的會議上與您會面，並向您通報我們在公司轉型方面取得的重大進展。祝你有個美好的夜晚。

Ladies and gentlemen, that concludes today's call. Thank you all for joining. You may now disconnect.

女士們、先生們，今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝大家的加入。您現在可以斷開連線。