AT&T Inc (T) 2002 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Good day, everyone, and welcome to the Dobson Communications first-quarter earnings results conference call. Today's call is being recorded. For opening remarks and introductions, I would like to turn the call over to Mr. Warren Henry, Vice President of Investor Relations. Please go ahead, sir.

大家好，歡迎參加 Dobson Communications 第一季財報電話會議。 今天的通話正在錄音。對於開場白和介紹，我想將電話轉給投資者關係副總裁沃倫·亨利先生。請繼續，先生。

Thank you, and good morning. This conference call contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These include but are not limited to statements regarding the company's plans, intentions, and expectations for 2002. Such statements are inherently subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected expectations. An extensive discussion of the risk factors that could impact these areas and the company's overall business and financial performance can be found in the company's reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Given these concerns, investors and analysts should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. At this time I will turn the call over to Everett Dobson, President, CEO, and Chairman of Dobson Communications.

謝謝你，早安。本次電話會議包含1995 年《私人證券訴訟改革法案》含義內的前瞻性陳述。這些陳述包括但不限於有關公司2002 年計劃、意圖和預期的陳述。此類陳述本質上受到各種因素的影響。可能導致實際結果與預期預期存在重大差異的風險和不確定性。關於可能影響這些領域以及公司整體業務和財務表現的風險因素的廣泛討論可以在公司向美國證券交易委員會提交的報告中找到。考慮到這些擔憂，投資者和分析師不應過度依賴前瞻性陳述。此時，我將把電話轉給 Dobson Communications 總裁、執行長兼董事長 Everett Dobson。

Thank you, Warren, and good morning. Welcome to our first-quarter conference call. Bruce Knooihuizen, our CFO, and, Doug Stephens, our interim COO, will have comments this morning. They and other members of the management team will be available for the Q&A period later. I thought I might start with an introductory statement about the company that's presenting to you this morning. Dobson Communications is a company that has $230 million in cash and has been pretty cash flow positive several quarters and expects to remain so for the foreseeable future. It is a company that as a result of our announcement this morning extending the AT&T roaming agreement as well as the recent Cingular agreement, we now have over 80 percent of our high-margin roaming business under contract for 2007. It is a company that grew EBITDA 22 percent in the first quarter over last year's first quarter, and it is a company that met or exceeded guidance in every area of 2001 and frankly expects to do so in 2002. And lastly, it is a company that owns some of the most strategic assets in the wireless business. But now more details from the review of the first quarter. We were pleased with the first quarter performance with the exception of the upkick in churn in January that we previously announced, the quarter results were in line with our overall expectations. Growth ads were strong in the quarter, just above totals for last year's first quarter. Both churn and net assets improved in February and again in March, in which we reported more than half of our net ads for the quarter as a whole. April was in fact stronger than March, and Doug will have more to say on that later. Reminding you that our churn guidance for the year was 2 to 2.5, we worked that aside with this trend since January and continued to be an industry leader in maximizing customer attention. I believe the Dobson people in our call centers have long been a cut above the rest of the industry, and they deserve the credit for our strong performance in the customer retention. Another positive trend in the first quarter related to higher sales of local calling plans which reward customers for concentrating their calling volume on our network. Many of our customers prefer calling plans that allows them a larger bucket of minutes on network in exchange for paying per minute roaming charges when they go off network and, again, Doug will have a more detailed review of this as well as our preferred national calling plan clear across America which extends its on-network concept to include the national networks of both AT&T and Cingular. The attractiveness of our preferred roaming strategy was enhanced this quarter by our new ten-year roaming agreement with Cingular. We have moved up the preference ladder as the preferred roaming provider for Cingular, so we could capture more of their minutes going forward. If other key features are discussed out in out-collect rates and hour lower in-collect rate. After another step down next year, the Cingular rate will flatten out for the remainder of the contract term, so it must continue to grow, roaming revenue and margin growth should be very positive. Finally, as we said in the press release, the Cingular agreement covers both [TDMA and GSMGPRS] technology, making it a clear pass to the 2 1/2-G and 3-G future. Last night we did finalize a three-year expenses of our roaming agreement with AT&T wireless, extending it out through 2007. I'm very pleased with the structure and the rate of this agreement. Although we won't disclose the rate, the agreement does purport continued growth of roaming revenues contributed by our largest roaming partner at an attractive margin for Dobson. We are also talking about adding GSMGPRS roaming to the AT&T agreement, but until we're further along on our overlay, there's no immediate urgency to get this done. We do expect to have more to report on this in the near future. Perhaps as important as anything, both the AT&T and Cingular agreements support our goal of significantly improving the possibility of our local service business by allowing us to access their network at favorable rates. And Doug will expand on these operating priorities also later. But suffice it to say that our sales shift is selling more local plans and preferred network plans and an even margin on service revenue is expected to increase nicely as a result. Last year's EBITDA service revenue was in the mid to high single digits. We expect to improve on that in 2002 as we continue to implement this strategy. Also contributing to the increase in the service revenue was our continued strength in ARPU. At $41 for the quarter compared to last year's $40, this is the fifth consecutive quarter that we have increased ARPU year over year, and again, substantiates our transfer to digital. For 2002 as a whole we expect ARPU to be in the $41, $42 range. Supporting the higher ARPU is the continued transition of our subscriber base to digital calling plans. We almost 27,500 analog to digital migrations in the quarter, about 10,000 fewer than in the first quarter last year. So on a proportionate basis we are 79 percent digital compared to 53 percent last year. Roaming minutes were particularly strong in the quarter, especially considering the Cingular agreement didn't take effect until mid quarter, we were pleasantly surprised with the strength of the roaming minutes. Nearly 242 million are proportionate basis compared to the $173 million in the first quarter of last year. That's an increase of over 40 percent. Another highlight of the quarter was improvement in cost per growth ad. EPGA was $410 for the first quarter on proportionate basis compared to $449. Of the $410 approximately $30 is attributable to the migration effort from analog to digital. This reflects the slowdown migration, lower average cost per handset, strong performance by our retail, and other distribution channels. Stepping back just a little, we continue to see the effects of a slower but recovering economy, but we are pleased the last three months trends in growth ads, churn, and net ads are very positive in our outlook for the rest of 2002. We have an excellent strategy and the option team is focused on the right priorities and is executing very well. With that, I'd like to turn the call over to Doug Stephens.

謝謝你，沃倫，早安。歡迎參加我們的第一季電話會議。我們的財務長 Bruce Knooihuizen 和我們的臨時營運長 Doug Stephens 將在今天早上發表評論。他們和管理團隊的其他成員將參加稍後的問答環節。我想我可以先介紹一下今天早上向大家介紹的公司。 Dobson Communications 是一家擁有 2.3 億美元現金的公司，幾季的現金流一直相當正，並且預計在可預見的未來將保持這種狀態。 由於我們今天早上宣布延長 AT&T 漫遊協議以及最近的 Cingular 協議，我們現在 80% 以上的高利潤漫遊業務都簽訂了 2007 年合約。 該公司第一季的 EBITDA 比去年第一季度增長了 22%，並且在各個領域都達到或超過了 2001 年的指導水平，並且坦率地預計 2002 年也能達到這一水平。 最後，它是一家擁有無線業務中一些最具策略性資產的公司。但現在更多細節來自第一季的回顧。我們對第一季的業績感到滿意，除了我們先前宣布的 1 月客戶流失率上升之外，該季度的業績符合我們的整體預期。本季成長廣告表現強勁，略高於去年第一季的總量。客戶流失率和淨資產在 2 月和 3 月均有所改善，其中我們報告了整個季度淨廣告的一半以上。事實上，四月比三月更強，道格稍後將對此發表更多言論。提醒您，我們今年的客戶流失率指引值為 2 至 2.5，自 1 月以來，我們一直在努力克服這一趨勢，並繼續成為最大限度提高客戶關注度的行業領導者。我相信我們呼叫中心的 Dobson 人員長期以來一直領先於行業其他人員，他們在客戶保留方面的出色表現值得讚揚。 第一季的另一個正面趨勢與本地通話套餐銷售量的增加有關，該套餐獎勵客戶將通話量集中在我們的網路上。 我們的許多客戶更喜歡呼叫計劃，該計劃允許他們在網路上使用更多分鐘，以換取在斷網時支付每分鐘漫遊費，Doug 將對此進行更詳細的審查以及我們首選的國內呼叫整個美國的明確計劃將其網路概念擴展到包括AT&T 和Cingular 的全國網路。 本季我們與 Cingular 簽訂的新的十年漫遊協議增強了我們首選漫遊策略的吸引力。我們已經成為 Cingular 的首選漫遊提供商，因此我們可以在未來獲得更多的時間。如果其他關鍵功能在外出收取費率和每小時較低的收取費率中討論。 明年再次下調後，Cingular 費率將在合約期限的剩餘時間內趨於平穩，因此必須繼續增長，漫遊收入和利潤增長應該非常積極。 最後，正如我們在新聞稿中所說，Cingular 協議涵蓋了 [TDMA 和 GSMGPRS] 技術，使其成為通往 2 1/2-G 和 3-G 未來的明確通行證。昨晚，我們與 AT&T wireless 敲定了為期三年的漫遊費用協議，並將其延長至 2007 年。我對協議的結構和費率非常滿意。儘管我們不會透露具體費率，但該協議確實表明我們最大的漫遊合作夥伴以對 Dobson 有吸引力的利潤貢獻了漫遊收入的持續成長。我們也正在討論將 GSMGPRS 漫遊添加到 AT&T 協定中，但在我們的覆蓋層取得進一步進展之前，目前並不急於完成這項工作。我們確實希望在不久的將來有更多關於此事的報告。也許與任何事情一樣重要的是，AT&T 和 Cingular 協議都支持我們的目標，即透過允許我們以優惠的價格訪問他們的網絡，從而顯著提高我們本地服務業務的可能性。道格稍後還將詳細闡述這些營運優先事項。 但只要說我們的銷售轉變是銷售更多的本地計劃和首選網路計劃，服務收入的平均利潤預計將因此而大幅增加。 去年的 EBITDA 服務收入處於中高個位數。 隨著我們繼續實施這項策略，我們預計 2002 年會有所改善。 我們在 ARPU 方面的持續強勁也促進了服務收入的成長。本季的 ARPU 為 41 美元，而去年為 40 美元，這是我們連續第五個季度實現 ARPU 同比增長，再次證實了我們向數位化的轉變。 2002 年全年，我們預計 ARPU 將在 41 美元至 42 美元之間。支援更高 ARPU 的是我們的用戶群持續向數位通話計畫過渡。本季我們進行了近 27,500 次模擬到數位遷移，比去年第一季減少了約 10,000 次。因此，按比例計算，我們的數位化程度為 79%，而去年這一數字為 53%。本季的漫遊分鐘數尤其強勁，特別是考慮到 Cingular 協議直到季度中期才生效，我們對漫遊分鐘數的強勁感到驚訝。與去年第一季的 1.73 億美元相比，近 2.42 億美元是按比例計算的。增幅超過 40%。本季的另一個亮點是單位成長廣告成本的改善。按比例計算，第一季 EPGA 價格為 410 美元，而去年同期為 449 美元。在 410 美元中，大約 30 美元用於從模擬到數位的遷移工作。這反映出遷移速度放緩、每部手機平均成本降低、零售和其他分銷管道表現強勁。退後一步，我們繼續看到經濟放緩但正在復甦的影響，但我們很高興過去三個月的成長廣告、客戶流失和淨廣告趨勢對我們 2002 年剩餘時間的前景非常積極。擁有出色的策略，選擇團隊專注於正確的優先事項並且執行得很好。說到這裡，我想把電話轉給道格史蒂芬斯。

Thank you, Everett, and good morning, everyone. I want to spend the last few minutes sharing the early results of the operational initiatives that have recently been implemented throughout the organization. On the first-quarter call I discussed our desire to improve local profitability on a per-subscriber basis. One of these efforts was through the increased sales of local rate plans. These plans reduced or eliminate the off-network roaming exposure and offer customers more minutes while making calls on our network. This initiative began in the second half of last year with an ongoing focus of driving higher percent of new sales in the 30 to 35 percent range on these highly profitable plans. I'm pleased to announce that in the first quarter of 2002, 39 percent of the gross additions that we activated were on these local plans. This is compared to 25 percent for the fourth quarter of last year and 15 percent for 2001 as a whole. We're also in the process of completing the large preferred network national plan ever referred to. These plans offer more in-plan minutes than the Talk USA plans that we introduced several years ago, but customers are not charged roaming and toll when making and receiving calls on select preferred networks only, such as AT&T and Cingular Wireless. When roaming on other nonpreferred networks, a permanent fee is charged that typically covers our roaming cost to that carrier. These new plans allow us to take advantage of our recently announced roaming agreement with AT&T and Cingular Wireless, effectively giving a nationwide reach. With approximately 40 percent of the markets currently offering these plans, the early results are very favorable on customer acceptance and more positive financial impact without -- virtually all markets will be offering these national plans by June 1. Our inner carrier services and engineering teams have been aggressive updating the database in our customer handsets to ensure that we are sending traffic to our lowest cost-roaming partners throughout the country. But with over the air provisioning or Intelligent Roamer Database or IRDB, we can better manage our roaming cost by taking advantage of new roaming rates with the carriers we talked earlier, Cingular Wireless and AT&T. Approximately 70 percent of our digital handsets have been remotely updated in the last 60 days, and we expect that 80 to 85 percent will be completed by the end of May. These rate plans offering database updates are all being done with the goal of rapidly increasing new customer additions and reducing churn while improving the overall profitability of our business. We saw the digital subscriber base grow from 74 percent at the end of 2001 to 79 percent as of March 31st while 87 percent of the total minutes for our network was delivered by our digital platform in the first quarter. We continue to expect that approximately 90 percent of our customer base will be using digital handsets by the end of 2002. As Everett said, acquisition costs were $410 per subscriber for the quarter compared to $449 during the first quarter a year ago. This reduction is primarily the result of lower handset [lapses] due to bulk purchase of quality low-end handsets as well as the stabilization of the analog-to-digital migration. We did experience higher than customary churn in January, where we were exposed to the extremely high gross ad month of December of 2000 and had a number of customers coming off of 12-month contracts. As many of you may recall, we had a record-breaking fourth quarter in the year 2000, with December of that year being the largest gross ad month that we've achieved to date. We continue to see significant improvement in the key statistics in our customer contact centers. Consistent comparable key performance indicators have been implemented for all call centers and we utilize these to determine who is performing and where there is opportunity for improvements. Where results do not improve we've made appropriate management, productivity, and profit changes. We've specifically seen a large improvement in how quickly we answer customer calls with the service level. We believe that service level is the leading indicator to customer dissatisfaction and ultimately churn and are seeing positive trends in churn, collection efforts, and net write-offs as a result of these improvements. I am pleased to announce once we got past the high churn in January, our churn and net ad results have improved each successive month, up to and including the month of April. As we stated in our prerelease, the March churn was lower than either January or February, and more than half of our first quarter 2002 net additions were added in March. Our April results in churn and net additions were even stronger than March. In the first quarter we consolidated the number of regions from five to four, emerging the west region into the upper Midwest. At the same time, we announced the closing of our customer contact center in Merced, California, to improve efficiency. In addition to reducing head count, we anticipate improved performance in churn, bad debt, and other key areas as a result of this change. The west region consolidation into the Duluth center will be complete in early June. With the focus on local and preferred network national plans, continuous standardization of best-in-class ideas throughout the organization, along with an improving economy, we foresee strong financial and subscriber growth throughout the balance of the year at Dobson Communication. With that, I'll turn the call over to Bruce Knooihuizen to discuss the financial [inaudible] for the quarter.

謝謝你，埃弗雷特，大家早安。我想用最後幾分鐘來分享最近在整個組織中實施的營運計劃的早期結果。在第一季的電話會議上，我討論了我們提高每個訂閱者的本地盈利能力的願望。 其中一項努力是增加本地費率計劃的銷售。 這些計劃減少或消除了網外漫遊風險，並為客戶在我們的網路上撥打電話時提供了更多的時間。 該計劃於去年下半年開始，持續關注在這些高利潤計劃中推動 30% 至 35% 範圍內的新銷售百分比的提高。 我很高興地宣布，2002 年第一季度，我們啟動的總新增項目中有 39% 是在這些地方計畫中。相比之下，去年第四季為 25%，2001 年全年為 15%。我們也正在完成所提及的大型首選網路國家計畫。 這些計劃比我們幾年前推出的Talk USA 計劃提供更多的計劃內分鐘數，但客戶僅在選定的首選網絡（例如AT&T 和Cingular Wireless）上撥打和接聽電話時無需支付漫遊費和長途費。 在其他非首選網路上漫遊時，會收取永久費用，通常涵蓋我們對該營運商的漫遊費用。這些新計劃使我們能夠利用最近宣布的與 AT&T 和 Cingular Wireless 的漫遊協議，有效地覆蓋全國。目前大約40% 的市場提供這些計劃，早期結果非常有利於客戶接受度和更積極的財務影響，而幾乎所有市場都將在6 月1 日之前提供這些國家計劃。我們的內部承運商服務和工程團隊已經我們一直在積極更新客戶手機中的資料庫，以確保我們將流量發送給全國各地成本最低的漫遊合作夥伴。但是，透過無線配置或智慧漫遊資料庫或 IRDB，我們可以利用我們之前討論過的營運商 Cingular Wireless 和 AT&T 的新漫遊費率來更好地管理我們的漫遊成本。我們大約 70% 的數位手機在過去 60 天內進行了遠端更新，我們預計 80% 至 85% 將在 5 月底完成。這些提供資料庫更新的費率計劃都是為了快速增加新客戶並減少客戶流失，同時提高我們業務的整體獲利能力。我們看到數位用戶群從 2001 年底的 74% 成長到 3 月 31 日的 79%，而第一季我們的數位平台提供了我們網路總分鐘數的 87%。我們仍然預計，到 2002 年底，大約 90% 的客戶群將使用數位手機。正如 Everett 所說，本季每個用戶的購置成本為 410 美元，而去年同期第一季為 449 美元。這種減少主要是由於大量購買優質低階手機以及模擬到數位遷移的穩定而導致手機[失誤]減少的結果。我們在一月確實經歷了比平常更高的客戶流失，2000 年 12 月的廣告總額極高，並且有許多客戶終止了 12 個月的合約。你們中的許多人可能還記得，2000 年第四季我們創下了創紀錄的記錄，當年 12 月是我們迄今為止最大的廣告月收入。我們繼續看到客戶聯絡中心的關鍵統計數據顯著改善。所有呼叫中心都實施了一致的可比較的關鍵績效指標，我們利用這些指標來確定誰表現出色以及哪裡有改進的機會。如果結果沒有改善，我們就對管理、生產力和利潤進行適當的改變。我們特別看到我們應答客戶電話的速度和服務水準有了很大的提高。我們相信，服務水準是客戶滿意度和最終客戶流失的主要指標，由於這些改進，客戶流失、催收工作和淨沖銷方面出現了積極的趨勢。我很高興地宣布，一旦我們度過了 1 月份的高客戶流失期，我們的客戶流失率和淨廣告業績每個月都會有所改善，直到 4 月份（包括 4 月份）。正如我們在預發布中所述，3 月份的客戶流失率低於 1 月份或 2 月份，並且 2002 年第一季淨增量的一半以上是在 3 月份增加的。我們 4 月的客戶流失率和淨增量結果甚至強於 3 月。第一季度，我們將地區數量從五個合併到四個，將西部地區納入中西部北部地區。 同時，我們宣布關閉位於加州默塞德的客戶聯絡中心，以提高效率。 除了減少員工數量之外，我們預計這項變更還將改善客戶流失、壞帳和其他關鍵領域的績效。 西部地區向德盧斯中心的整合將於六月初完成。隨著對本地和首選網路國家計劃的關注、整個組織中一流創意的持續標準化以及經濟的改善，我們預計多布森通信在今年餘下的時間裡將實現強勁的財務和用戶增長。接下來，我將把電話轉給 Bruce Knooihuizen，討論本季的財務[聽不清楚]。

Thank you, Doug. Everett and Doug have sufficiently covered the operating issues with Dobson Communications, so I'll limit my comments to just a couple of issues. In my other current markets, in both capital markets I thought it would make some sense to spend a moment to talk about the Dobson balance sheet. Just as a reminder Dobson's balance sheet does not include American Cellular except as included as an investment. American Cellular is our 50 percent joint venture with AT&T Wireless and is nonrecourse to either partner. As we've previously announced, sale of property to Verizon was complete in Q1. The sale of the Dobson properties produced $329 million of cash, which was all used to pay down debt. In addition, we have received from the FCC $91 of the $109 million [auction] 35 deposit. This brings our current cash balance of unrestricted funds to approximately $230 million. Our cash on hand equates to $2.51 per share. We also have over $120 million available on the 2000 credit facility; however, as Everett said, we expect to produce excess cash this year and we don't anticipate accessing this availability. Netting both the proceeds from the Verizon sale and the cash on hand brings the net balance of Dobson Communication to just under $1.16 billion and our leverage ratio based on a trailing 12 months to 4.4 time. Adding in the public preferred instruments, our leverage ratio is right at 7 times. In fact, over the last five quarters since December 31st 2000, we have reduced our leverage including the public preferred stock by almost three churns. In Dobson financial there are a few items of note. The first is gain for disposal of discontinued operations. Dobson recorded a gain of $81 million before Dobson properties sold to Verizon and $6 million for our share of the gain recognized in the American Cellular sale and the C4. These sales were all shielded by NOL, so there is no current cash tax payments. Adjusted for the sale of these properties, Dobson still has $170 million worth of NOL available and American Cellular has $240 million. The second item of note is the adoption of what's called S FAS 142, counting for intangible assets. We have recorded a one-time charge of $33 million attributable to Dobson's tangible assets and $140 million attributable to our ownership in American Cellular. In addition to these impacts, on a going basis the depreciation and amortization lines will also be less as these items beginning with this quarter are no longer amortized on a monthly basis. Third item is the current disclosure of the reseller base. As has been our practice, we believe in disclosing information that is important to the industry. As you can see, while we believe the reselling channel [can be valuable to] distribution, these customers represent less than 3 percent of our subscriber base. For the quarter, Dobson Communications incurred $17.1 million of capital expenditures and American Cellular increased 13.2. Our guidance for each was 85 and 55 million, respectively. Finally, as disclosed in the American Cellular audit, there is concern over the availability of the entity to meet all its bank covenants in 2002. We are currently in discussions with Bank of America, the administrative agent, to work through a plan that will provide this entity with sufficient flexibility to continue growing. Having said that, we do not anticipate American Cellular will need additional funding to support operations in the foreseeable future. I would now like to turn the call over to questions. Thank you.

謝謝你，道格。 Everett 和 Doug 已經充分討論了 Dobson Communications 的操作問題，因此我將只評論幾個問題。在我目前的其他市場中，在兩個資本市場中，我認為花點時間討論多布森的資產負債表是有意義的。 提醒一下，多布森的資產負債表不包括美國行動電話公司，除非作為一項投資納入。 American Cellular 是我們與 AT&T Wireless 持股 50% 的合資企業，對任何合作夥伴均無追索權。 正如我們之前宣布的，向 Verizon 出售財產已於第一季完成。 出售多布森房產產生了 3.29 億美元現金，全部用於償還債務。 此外，我們還從 FCC 收到了 1.09 億美元[拍賣]35 押金中的 91 美元。 這使我們目前的非限制性資金現金餘額達到約 2.3 億美元。 我們手頭現金相當於每股 2.51 美元。 我們還擁有超過 1.2 億美元的 2000 年信貸額度；然而，正如埃弗里特所說，我們預計今年會產生多餘的現金，但我們預計不會獲得這種可用性。 扣除 Verizon 出售收益和手頭現金後，Dobson Communications 的淨餘額接近 11.6 億美元，過去 12 個月的槓桿率達到 4.4 倍。 加上大眾首選的工具，我們的槓桿率為 7 倍。 事實上，自 2000 年 12 月 31 日以來的過去五個季度，我們已經將包括公共優先股在內的槓桿率降低了近三個季度。 在多布森金融中有幾項值得注意。第一個是處置已終止業務的收益。 在多布森財產出售給 Verizon 之前，多布森獲得了 8,100 萬美元的收益，而我們在出售 American Cellular 和 C4 時所獲得的收益份額則獲得了 600 萬美元。 這些銷售均受到 NOL 的保護，因此目前無需繳納現金稅。 在根據這些資產的出售進行調整後，Dobson 仍擁有價值 1.7 億美元的可用 NOL，而 American Cellular 則擁有價值 2.4 億美元的可用 NOL。 第二個值得注意的事項是採用了所謂的 S FAS 142，計算無形資產。 我們記錄了一筆 3,300 萬美元的一次性費用，歸因於 Dobson 的有形資產，以及 1.4 億美元，歸因於我們對 American Cellular 的所有權。 除了這些影響之外，折舊和攤提額度也將減少，因為從本季開始這些項目不再按月攤銷。 第三項是經銷商基礎的當前揭露。正如我們的做法一樣，我們相信披露對行業重要的資訊。正如您所看到的，雖然我們相信轉售管道對分銷[可能很有價值]，但這些客戶只占我們訂戶群的不到 3%。 該季度，Dobson Communications 的資本支出為 1,710 萬美元，American Cellular 的資本支出增加了 13.2 美元。 我們對兩者的指導分別為 85 和 5500 萬。 最後，正如 American Cellular 審計中所揭露的那樣，人們對該實體能否在 2002 年履行其所有銀行契約表示擔憂。 我們目前正在與行政代理機構美國銀行討論制定一項計劃，為該實體提供足夠的靈活性以繼續發展。 話雖如此，我們預計美國行動公司在可預見的將來不會需要額外的資金來支持營運。 我現在想將通話轉入提問環節。謝謝。

Thank you. Today's question-and-answer session will be conducted electronically. If you would like to ask a question, you may do so by pressing star followed by the one on your telephone. We'll pause a moment to allow everyone the opportunity to signal. We'll take our first question. From Michael Rollins at Salomon Smith Barney. Q Hi, good morning. Just a question about the AT&T Wireless roaming agreement. I know you can't talk about rates specifically, but can you give us a sense of what the decline was for like the 2002 rates and then also give us a sense for your in-collect rates so we can understand the margins in some of these national network plans.

謝謝。今天的問答環節將以電子方式進行。如果您想提問，可以按星號，然後再按電話上的號碼。我們將暫停片刻，讓每個人都有機會發出信號。我們將回答第一個問題。來自所羅門美邦的邁克爾·羅林斯。問：嗨，早安。只是關於 AT&T 無線漫遊協定的問題。 我知道您不能具體談論費率，但是您能否讓我們了解一下 2002 年費率的下降情況，然後讓我們了解您的收款費率，以便我們了解某些業務的利潤率這些國家網絡計劃。

I'll let Doug talk about the in-collect rates and how it affects the margins. Let me address the out-collect rates. It's a good question. Really I hadn't thought about the possibility that someone might suggest there would be a decline in it. There is no decline over the previous agreement. We had previously disclosed, I think everyone's aware, we were under contract through 2004 with AT&T, and that did not change. We just extended it beyond 2004. Q Okay.

我會讓 Doug 談談收款費率以及它如何影響利潤。 讓我談談外收費率。這是一個好問題。確實，我沒有想到有人可能會建議它會下降。與先前的協議相比，沒有任何下降。我們之前曾透露過，我想每個人都知道，我們與 AT&T 的合約一直持續到 2004 年，這一點並沒有改變。我們剛剛將其延長至 2004 年之後。問：好的。

And I think the question is how to reduce in-collect rate or ARPU margins. Go ahead.

我認為問題是如何降低收款率或 ARPU 利潤率。 前進。

I guess I would say this on the national plans. As we look at what we're offering prior to launching these plans, we were outmatching them on a national level on the -- what I'd call -- most people refer to as the one-rate plan, what we call Talk USA. They were national, no roam and no toll. We're still going to offer the low-end plans on that the $29 and $39 plan. The higher rate, the national no roam, no low toll everywhere plans are going to go away. We're replacing those with these preferred network plans that have much lower cost to us on a per minute basis. While looking at the specific costs, I will say that we're able to compete on a national footprint that way. There are some areas where you're going to pay a little higher roaming fee and you don't get that included in plan, but while you're utilizing the Dobson network, the AT&T network, the Cingular network in a few other smaller carriers that we do include as we need to that traditionally have comparable rates to where we're at on AT&T and Cingular, it does allow us to offer additional in-plan minutes without the exposure that we had prior with some of the higher costs throughout the country. Q And could you give us a sense if you can's give us the specific agreement, maybe just the average in-collect rates for your roaming partners that would be included on the plan?

我想我會在國家計劃中這麼說。 當我們在推出這些計劃之前審視我們所提供的服務時，我們在國家層面上超越了他們——我稱之為——大多數人稱之為單費率計劃，我們稱之為 Talk USA 。它們是全國性的，不漫遊，也不收費。 我們仍將提供 29 美元和 39 美元計劃的低端計劃。資費較高、全國無漫遊、各地無低通行費的計畫將消失。我們正在用這些首選網路計劃取代這些計劃，這些計劃的每分鐘成本要低得多。在考慮具體成本時，我會說我們能夠透過這種方式在全國範圍內競爭。在某些地區，您需要支付較高的漫遊費，但您不會將其包含在套餐中，但是當您使用其他一些較小運營商的 Dobson 網路、AT&T 網路、Cingular 網路時我們確實包括了，因為我們需要傳統上與我們在AT&T 和Cingular 上的費率相當的費率，它確實允許我們提供額外的計劃內分鐘數，而不會像我們之前那樣暴露在整個過程中一些較高的成本國家。 Q：如果您能給我們具體的協議，也許只是包含在該計劃中的漫遊合作夥伴的平均到付費率，您能給我們一些了解嗎？

Yeah, they're in the low teens. Let me follow up on Doug's point because I think it's an important distinction. There are a lot of off-peak minutes currently in the so-called marketplace today. Cingular and AT&T and others are putting a lot of minutes in the off-peak package. We are not extending the so-called off-peak package to the other networks. Even in the low teens, we think that would be an uneconomic, unwise move. So we restrict the off-peak minutes to the Dobson network. We think that will further enhance or help the profitability. Q And does the low teens rate include long distance?

是的，他們才十幾歲。讓我跟進道格的觀點，因為我認為這是一個重要的區別。目前所謂的市場上有許多非尖峰時段。 Cingular 和 AT&T 等公司在非高峰套餐中投入了大量時間。我們不會將所謂的非高峰套餐擴展到其他網路。即使在十幾歲的時候，我們也認為這將是一個不經濟、不明智的舉動。因此，我們將非高峰時間限制在多布森網路上。我們認為這將進一步增強或有助於獲利能力。 Q：青少年的低費率是否包括長途電話？

Yes. Q It does. Great. Thank you very much.

是的。問：確實如此。偉大的。非常感謝。

Thank you, Michael.

謝謝你，麥可。

We'll take our next question from Greg [Gwebatanko] at [Lieu] Capital Market. Q Good morning. I just want to touch on the liquidity situation. I think you said $230 million in cash. I'm getting $157 on Dobson. I'm assuming the rest comes from American Cellular. And what would the credit line facilities look like on that? And then I've got some follow-ups.

我們將回答 [Lieu] 資本市場的 Greg [Gwebatanko] 提出的下一個問題。問好。我只想談談流動性狀況。 我想你說的是 2.3 億美元現金。 我在 Dobson 上得到 157 美元。 我假設其餘的來自美國移動公司。 信貸額度設施會是什麼樣子？然後我有一些後續行動。

Actually the $230 million is all in Dobson. We have about $140 million of cash on hand and added to that $91 million we received from the refund on the deposit gets us to about $230 million. Q I get you. That's today, not the end of the quarter.

實際上這2.3億美元全部歸多布森所有。 我們手頭上有大約 1.4 億美元的現金，加上我們從押金退款中收到的 9,100 萬美元，我們的現金總數約為 2.3 億美元。 問：我明白了。那是今天，而不是季度末。

Yes. Q And then what type of credit facility line do you have open or available to you?

是的。 Q：那麼您有哪些類型的信用額度可供您使用？

Well, between Dobson and [Signet] we have $120 million. It roughly breaks out to about $190 million on the Dobson credit facility and the balance on the [Signet]. Q Good. And as far as like the step down in the agreement with AT&T, how would you describe the step down? Is it a slow step down or is it -- how does it work?

好吧，多布森和 [Signet] 之間我們有 1.2 億美元。多布森信貸額度和 [Signet] 上的餘額大致突破了約 1.9 億美元。問：好。至於與 AT&T 協議的終止，您如何描述這項終止？這是一個緩慢的下降還是——它是如何運作的？

It's a consistent step down. And the step down, previously agreed to step down, were in the old contract that had not changed and will extend out to 2004. And then beyond that, you know, they're going to be less step down, less percentage wise, less step down, more normalized rate throughout the remainder of the contract. Q Thank you very much, and good luck on the preferred plans.

這是一個持續的下降。之前同意下台的降級是在舊合約中沒有改變，並將延長到 2004 年。除此之外，你知道，他們將減少降級，減少百分比，減少降級。下台後，合約剩餘時間內的利率將更加正常化。 Q：非常感謝，祝您的首選計畫順利。

Thank you.

謝謝。

We'll now go to Chris Avery at Deutsche Banc. Q Thanks. Just a question on the roaming. For the Dobson properties, the roaming revenue as a percent of total service revenues declined both sequentially and year over year to about 37 percent. Do you expect this trend to continue throughout 2002, and then what do you think that percent will be for the full year?

現在我們請德意志銀行的克里斯艾弗里 (Chris Avery) 發言。問：謝謝。只是一個關於漫遊的問題。 對多布森公司來說，漫遊收入佔服務總收入的百分比較上季和年比均下降至 37% 左右。 您預計這種趨勢會持續到 2002 年嗎？您認為全年的百分比是多少？

I think [guidance]. Go ahead.

我認為[指導]。前進。

I was going to say yeah, we expect the decline for two reasons. As we mentioned, when we originally gave our guidance with some of the step downs and some of the re-upping of some of the contracts or some of the renegotiation of contracts we've done, we expect more roaming revenue this year, even in the Dobson markets to be relatively flat over where it was last year. But having said that, on the local side we expect that to continue growing, and for those two reasons we expect the percent of roaming in total to decline this year. Q Okay. Are you giving a certain percentage or kind of holding on that?

我想說的是，我們預計這種下降有兩個原因。 正如我們所提到的，當我們最初就一些合約的減少和一些合約的重新談判或我們已經完成的合約的一些重新談判提供指導時，我們預計今年的漫遊收入會增加，即使在與去年相比，多布森市場相對持平。 但話雖如此，在本地方面，我們預計這一數字將繼續增長，並且出於這兩個原因，我們預計今年漫遊總量的百分比將下降。問：好的。您是否給予一定比例或某種形式的持有？

No, we haven't.

不，我們沒有。

I think our guidance was 7 to 9 percent on total revenue.

我認為我們的指導是總收入的 7% 到 9%。

Total growth. Q Thank you.

總增長。問：謝謝。

I think you can back into it based on that. I haven't done that.

我認為你可以基於此重新討論。我沒有這樣做過。

We'll now go to Greg Lundberg at Morgan Stanley. Q Good morning, gentlemen. First I was wondering if you could give a breakdown on the balance of the three separate bank facilities because all of them got a little pay down, and then I have another question on yield after that.

現在我們請摩根士丹利的格雷格·倫德伯格 (Greg Lundberg) 發言。問：早安，先生們。首先，我想知道您是否可以詳細說明三個獨立銀行設施的餘額，因為它們都得到了一點付款，然後我還有另一個關於收益率的問題。

Sure. The [Doc] Bank facility has about $521 million. Signet] bank facility is $292 million.

當然。 [Doc] 銀行貸款額度約 5.21 億美元。 Signet] 銀行融資額為 2.92 億美元。

You'll have to call us off line for the different pieces, okay, Greg? Q Okay. What was the roaming piece for the first quarter, and how was that on a year over year basis stated on a removal of the property sold to Verizon?

你必須讓我們下線才能獲得不同的作品，好嗎，格雷格？問：好的。第一季的漫遊部分是什麼？在刪除出售給 Verizon 的資產後，與去年同期相比情況如何？

In the first quarter the total roaming yield was approximately in the mid 20 cent range, and it's lower than when the properties were in. I don't know what that yield was with those properties because we obviously didn't close the books that way. Q Last year it was 39 cents.

第一季的總漫遊收益大約在 20 美分左右，比物業投入使用時要低。我不知道這些物業的收益是多少，因為我們顯然沒有以這種方式結帳。問：去年是 39 美分。

You mean first quarter of last year? Q Yeah.

你是說去年第一季嗎？問：是的。

Yeah, it's about two cents different, phasing out of old venture properties. Q Okay. Thanks.

是的，這大約有兩美分的不同，即逐步淘汰舊的創投財產。問：好的。謝謝。

We'll now go to Ari Burkhoff at UBS Warburg. Q Thank you. Just two questions. Wondering if you could break out the 2002 guidance that you mentioned in the press release and affirmed between Dobson and American Cellular, if you could talk about guidance for American Cellular on a standalone basis. And second, if you could talk about bad debt and overseas [inaudible] and how that's trended during the first quarter. Thank you.

現在我們請教瑞銀華寶 (UBS Warburg) 的阿里伯克霍夫 (Ari Burkhoff)。問：謝謝。只有兩個問題。 想知道您是否可以打破您在新聞稿中提到並在 Dobson 和 American Cellular 之間確認的 2002 年指導方針，是否可以單獨談論 American Cellular 的指導方針。 其次，您是否可以談談壞帳和海外[聽不清楚]以及第一季的趨勢。 謝謝。

I'll ask Bruce about the last part. I'll talk about the first part. We haven't broken out guidance between the two. So probably not appropriate to do here. But I would say I don't think we should expect anything materially different in terms of the operation and the growth expectations. There obviously will be differences and should be differences. I don't think you should imply that there's anything material between the two operations.

我會問布魯斯關於最後一部分的事情。我先講第一部分。我們還沒有打破兩者之間的指導。所以可能不適合在這裡做。但我想說，我認為我們不應該期望在營運和成長預期方面出現任何重大不同。顯然會有差異，也應該有差異。我認為你不應該暗示這兩個操作之間有任何實質的內容。

And in terms of the trending of our receivables and bad debt, actually it's been trended very well. In the first quarter, roughly 80 percent of our receivables were within current or 30 days, and that percent has been going up through the quarter and into April. But very positive note. In terms of write-offs and bad debt, that's gone down. In fact, it was probably just around 3 percent in the first quarter, and it's gone down in April from that. So, again, if you look at the individual month, every month has been improving this year. Q And lastly, when do you expect we would hear an update on the status of your negotiations with the bank with regard to the covenants?

就我們的應收帳款和壞帳趨勢而言，實際上趨勢非常好。 在第一季度，我們大約 80% 的應收帳款是在當前或 30 天內，並且該百分比在整個季度和 4 月一直在上升。但非常正面的說明。 就沖銷和壞帳而言，這一數字有所下降。 事實上，第一季的成長率可能僅為 3% 左右，而 4 月則有所下降。因此，如果你看一下各個月份，今年每個月都在改善。 Q：最後，您預期我們什麼時候能聽到您與銀行就契約進行談判的最新進展？

We're working on that. I don't want to set a time frame. We'll keep you updated as to information, but we're working on it and we'd like to have something resolved as quickly as possible. Q Okay. Thank you.

我們正在努力解決這個問題。我不想設定一個時間範圍。我們會及時向您通報最新信息，但我們正在努力解決這個問題，並希望盡快解決問題。問：好的。謝謝。

We'll now go to John [Benchi] at Lehman Brothers. Q Hi, thank you very much. Just a question with regard to the margin you're generating on your home ARPUs if we try to exclude the higher margin roaming revenues. Could you talk about the trend you've seen in that over the last couple quarters and what of the factors that are going to make that really start to work its way up? I can appreciate the ARPU trend is good.

現在我們請教雷曼兄弟的約翰[本奇]。問：您好，非常感謝您。如果我們嘗試排除較高利潤的漫遊收入，那麼問題是關於您在家庭 ARPU 上產生的利潤。您能否談談您在過去幾季中看到的趨勢以及哪些因素將使其真正開始上升？我可以看出 ARPU 趨勢良好。

If you look at last year's first quarter for Dobson -- let me suggest how we view roaming. If you can imply an even margin to the roaming business, you can certainly see how profitable or lack thereof the local businesses are sometimes. We estimate that the gross margin on the roaming side of the business is roughly 80 percent. In other words, the cost of service associated with roaming for up to 20 percent, and that includes the interconnection fees, transaction fees with TSIs and others. So therefore you can see -- well, there is some costs associated with roaming. It's certainly a high margin business and if you look at Dobson from last year in the first quarter, you know, we had -- see, I'm trying to find it in my notes here. We -- let me see if I can direct you in the right area. Can you hang on a second? Q Sure. I'm running it myself. Right. So if I use the 80 percent, Everett, I had the margin a year ago in the first quarter 6.4 percent for the home business, working off the proportion end. This quarter I showed at 15.7 percent.

如果你看看 Dobson 去年第一季的業績——讓我建議我們如何看待漫遊。如果你可以暗示漫遊業務的利潤是均勻的，那麼你當然可以看到當地業務有時是多麼有利可圖或缺乏利潤。 我們估計漫遊業務的毛利率約為80%。 換句話說，與漫遊相關的服務成本高達 20%，其中包括互連費、TSI 交易費等。因此，您可以看到——嗯，漫遊會產生一些費用。這無疑是一項高利潤業務，如果你看看去年第一季的多布森，你就會知道，我們——看，我正試圖在我的筆記中找到它。我們—讓我看看是否可以引導您到正確的區域。你能等一下嗎？問：當然。我自己在運行。正確的。因此，如果我使用 80%，埃弗雷特，一年前第一季我的家庭業務利潤率為 6.4%，算上比例末。本季我的表現是 15.7%。

I think that's pretty close to our calculation as well. Q So as we look ahead, what are the things that are going to make that move up? And I guess sort of leading to the question, and which I'll just throw out there, where do you think the margins can go with a company with nine million pops? Is there scale issues that would not allow it to approach, say, the high 30s on a home ARPU basis like we're seeing out of some of the biggest national plans?

我認為這也非常接近我們的計算。 Q：那麼當我們展望未來時，哪些因素會推動這項進步？ 我想這有點引出了一個問題，我就直接拋出這個問題，你認為一家擁有 900 萬人口的公司的利潤率會到哪裡？ 是否存在規模問題導致其無法接近家庭 ARPU 值（例如我們在一些最大的國家計劃中看到的 30 多歲）？

Well, let me start with the first part of the question. That is the initiative that Doug talked about and I talked about briefly in my opening comments, our initiatives that are important, the preferred network plan, the local calling plan, for call from certain areas, managing corporate overhead, managing all areas and functions and all areas of the business, including churn, scale and scope from [ads]. Those are all going to and inevitably will improve our profitability. Keep in mind, we acquired some 23 -- completed some 23 acquisitions over the last year. With 23 acquisitions comes 23 different systems, 23 networks, 23 different employee bases. And so I think it's fair to say we're been aggressively transitioning all of those over the last few years, and now it's time to step back and look at how we can maximize the profitability, and I think 15 is doing an excellent job of that. Where it goes, obviously it's probably inappropriate for me to sit here today and give out four, five year guidance, but there's no reason why we shouldn't be reasonably profitable compared to even with the large caps. You know, I don't suggest that when we have 11 1/2 million pops we should be as profitable as somebody that has 150 or 160 million pops or more. But we certainly don't -- we don't feel like we're the underdogs when it comes to creating local profitability. In fact, we believe we'll excel in that area, particularly against our peer group and be profitable with the national carriers as well. Q And just a last question on American Cellular. What are the concessions, if you will, that they would be looking for to, you know, give relief on the covenants? And it seems like AT&T has made it pretty clear they're not willing to put more cash equity in. Is that a similar posture from Dobson?

好吧，讓我從問題的第一部分開始。這就是道格談到的舉措，我在開場白中也簡要談到了這一舉措，我們的重要舉措、首選網絡計劃、本地呼叫計劃、針對某些區域的呼叫、管理公司開銷、管理所有區域和職能以及業務的所有領域，包括[ads] 的流失、規模和範圍。這些都將不可避免地提高我們的獲利能力。請記住，我們去年收購了約 23 家公司，完成了約 23 家公司的收購。 23 項收購帶來了 23 個不同的系統、23 個網路、23 個不同的員工基礎。因此，我認為可以公平地說，我們在過去幾年中一直在積極轉型，現在是時候退後一步，看看我們如何才能最大限度地提高盈利能力，我認為 15 在這方面做得非常出色。那。無論情況如何，顯然我今天坐在這裡給出四五年的指導可能是不合適的，但即使與大盤股相比，我們也沒有理由不獲得合理的盈利。你知道，我並不建議當我們擁有 11.5 百萬人口時，我們應該與擁有 150 或 1.6 億或更多人口的公司一樣盈利。但我們當然不會——在創造本地獲利能力方面，我們並不覺得自己處於劣勢。事實上，我們相信我們將在該領域表現出色，尤其是與我們的同行相比，並且也能與國家運營商一起盈利。 Q：最後一個問題是關於美國行動電話公司的。 如果你願意的話，他們會尋求哪些讓步來減輕契約的負擔？ AT&T 似乎已經明確表示他們不願意投入更多現金股本。 這是多布森的類似姿勢嗎？

John, this is Bruce. I don't think it's appropriate for us to discuss that at this time, and so we're not going to answer that question. We'll be glad to answer any questions on the operation side. Q Okay. Thanks, Bruce.

約翰，這是布魯斯。我認為我們現在不適合討論這個問題，所以我們不會回答這個問題。我們很樂意回答營運方面的任何問題。問：好的。謝謝，布魯斯。

We'll now go to Anthony Carmen at Deutsche Banc. Q Hi. Couple of quick questions here. With respect to the $91 million or so you received back from the FCC, are there any restrictions regarding your use of those proceeds given that next wave has not totally been finalized at this point? And then also with respect to American Cellular, were there any waivers that were required in the first quarter in the interim while you negotiate amendments or changes to the credit facility?

現在我們請來德意志銀行的安東尼卡門。問：嗨。這裡有幾個簡單的問題。關於您從 FCC 收到的大約 9,100 萬美元，考慮到下一波浪潮目前尚未完全確定，您對這些收益的使用是否有任何限制？ 然後，對於美國行動公司，在你們就信貸安排的修改或變更進行談判時，第一季是否需要任何豁免？

This is Bruce again. Let me start with the second one. There were no waivers required for the first quarter compliance. In terms of the next wave, the FCC has not put any requirements on the cash when it was returned to the company. So from that standpoint there isn't. As you said, the next wave issue has not fully been settled yet. The [common word] comes up -- obviously we still think there's some very valuable properties and obviously a big part of our strategy was towards ATT on that's, but we'll see where that ends up. In terms of the cash, there are no restrictions. Q And two quick follow-up questions. Are you seeing anything different from a subscriber or churn or net ad basis in any of the American Cellular products, materially different than what you're seeing in the Dobson or [Signet] properties? And are there any other acquisition of -- for potential divestitures, I should say, of any [pile-in] properties not too dissimilar from what you just did with Verizon?

這又是布魯斯。讓我從第二個開始。第一季合規無需豁免。 就下一波而言，FCC在將現金回饋給公司時並沒有提出任何要求。 所以從這個角度來看，不存在。正如你所說，下一波問題還沒有完全解決。 [常用字] 出現了 - 顯然我們仍然認為有一些非常有價值的屬性，並且顯然我們策略的很大一部分是針對 ATT 的，但我們會看到最終的結果。 就現金而言，沒有任何限制。 Q：還有兩個快速跟進問題。 您是否在任何 American Cellular 產品中發現了與訂戶、流失或淨廣告基礎不同的情況，與您在 Dobson 或 [Signet] 資產中看到的情況存在重大差異？ 我應該說，是否還有任何其他收購——對於潛在的資產剝離，任何[堆積]資產，與您剛剛對 Verizon 所做的沒有太大不同？

There's certainly some properties in the [MNA] environment on what I call on the smaller, independent operators. You know, we have stated previously that we're not actively pursuing those. We might in the future, but right now, frankly, I think we're wanting some more visibility on the economy and our operations, and we're enjoying doing that. As for the differences in churns and performance, I think -- I don't think that you would -- we have any materially significant differences across our regions right now. Q Okay. Thank you.

[MNA] 環境中肯定有一些我所說的小型獨立運營商的屬性。你知道，我們之前已經說過，我們不會積極追求這些。我們可能會在未來，但現在，坦白說，我認為我們希望對經濟和我們的營運有更多的了解，我們很高興這樣做。至於客戶流失和性能方面的差異，我認為——我不認為你會——我們現在在各個地區之間存在任何實質性的顯著差異。問：好的。謝謝。

We'll now go to Paul [Lou] with Goldman Sachs. Q Hi. Just a couple of quick follow-up questions. You've talked about subscriber growth picking up in March and April getting better. Do you think that's a factor of the economy or new promotions you've been putting in?

現在我們請高盛的保羅[Lou]。問：嗨。只是幾個快速的後續問題。您談到了 3 月和 4 月訂閱者成長的情況有所改善。您認為這是經濟因素還是您一直在進行的新促銷活動？

This is Doug. I believe it's a couple things. The promotions have been fairly stable up to this point. Our first big launch is this on-network national plan that we have not promoted yet in the marketplace. So what we've done in March and April, we were very comparable from an offer standpoint from what we did in January and February. The gross did improve, but more importantly we saw churn come down dramatically. So I think that the January piece was a moment in time caused by an awful lot of customers were put on in December a year ago that came up for renewal. Some of those stayed on and some of them didn't. So there's an awful lot of exposure there from our very strong growth a year ago. I think the economy has certainly helped out a bit, but I think operationally things are working well. I think there is more traffic picking up. We've seen that continue to go through the year. So we do feel the economy is going the right direction. But from an offer standpoint there hasn't been able anything that has changed dramatically. And our big push on that right now will be when we come out publicly and announce these what we'll call Clear Across America national network plans. Q Of the people who are coming off contracts, what percentage left your networks to someone else?

這是道格。我相信這是有幾件事。到目前為止，促銷活動一直相當穩定。我們的第一個重大發布是這個網路上的國家計劃，我們尚未在市場上推廣。因此，從報價的角度來看，我們在三月和四月所做的事情與一月和二月所做的事情非常相似。總收入確實有所改善，但更重要的是，我們看到客戶流失率大幅下降。所以我認為 1 月的作品是一個及時的時刻，因為有很多顧客在一年前的 12 月上演了這些作品，並要求續訂。其中一些留下來，有些則沒有。因此，我們一年前的強勁成長帶來了巨大的風險敞口。我認為經濟確實有所幫助，但我認為營運方面一切進展順利。我認為流量會增加。我們已經看到這種情況在這一年中持續存在。所以我們確實認為經濟正在朝著正確的方向發展。但從報價的角度來看，還沒有任何巨大的變化。 我們現在對此的大力推動將是當我們公開宣布這些我們稱之為 Clear Across America 國家網路計畫時。 Q：在即將解除合約的人中，有多少比例將您的網路留給了其他人？

I don't have that in front of me. I apologize. I don't think it was unusually high. Maybe slightly higher than typical, I guess, but not dramatically higher over what a traditional month is. We've just had more exposure out there when the numbers start coming up. Q Do you think people are leaving because the other competitors could offer a broader coverage area, or were they more aggressive on the pricing side? Do you have a sense of why they left, I guess?

我面前沒有那個。我道歉。我不認為這個數字異常高。我猜可能會略高於典型月份，但不會比傳統月份高出很多。當數字開始出現時，我們剛剛獲得了更多的曝光。 Q：您認為人們離開是因為其他競爭對手可以提供更廣泛的覆蓋範圍，還是他們在定價方面更加激進？ 我想你知道他們為什麼離開嗎？

Well, I guess one could say there was a little bit of exposure where there were some on-network national plans that came out early in the year that maybe were a couple of months ahead of ours. So there may have been some that left, I'm sure, because of that, but I think most of it is just natural attrition that some customers opt to move around and that happens in this industry. We win some of those as frequently as we lose them, so I don't think it was unusually high.

嗯，我想有人可以說有一些曝光，一些網路上的國家計劃在今年年初出台，可能比我們的計劃早了幾個月。因此，我確信，可能會有一些人離開，但我認為大部分只是一些客戶選擇流動的自然流失，而這種情況發生在這個行業。我們贏球的頻率和輸球的頻率一樣高，所以我認為這個數字並不是異常高。

Once again, that's star one for question and we'll take our next question from David Wells from Lehman Brothers. Q Thank you. A couple operating questions on [Amcel]. Does the AT&T roaming extension cover [Amcel] as well as Dobson?

這又是一個明星問題，我們將接受雷曼兄弟的大衛威爾斯提出的下一個問題。問：謝謝。 [Amcel] 上的幾個操作問題。 AT&T 漫遊分機是否涵蓋 [Amcel] 以及 Dobson？

Yes. Q Okay. Second question. Was there anything in [Amcel's] net ads in terms of customers that may have lopped off for billing reasons or other? Looking the growth ads are down about 7 1/2 thousand and the net ads are down about 8,000. And it seems the pickup in churn of .1 percent is not enough to create that type of drop in net ads. Were there some customers you lopped off for one reason or another?

是的。問：好的。第二個問題。 [Amcel 的] 網路廣告中是否有因帳單原因或其他原因而流失的客戶？成長廣告減少了約 7.5 萬個，淨廣告減少了約 8,000 個。 0.1% 的客戶流失率似乎不足以造成網路廣告的這種下降。您是否因某種原因而放棄了某些客戶？

No, I'm not -- the answer to your question is no. There were no particular one-quarter adjustments to the subscriber base. Q It just seems like a lot of drops in the net ads relative to the increased churn.

不，我不是──你的問題的答案是否定的。用戶群沒有特別的四分之一調整。 Q：相對於客戶流失率的增加，網路廣告似乎下降了許多。

With this large of a subscriber base, a 10th of a point difference in churn and we do round up, can impact it a few [tribe] or so.

對於如此龐大的用戶群，流失率的十分之一的差異（我們進行了四捨五入）可能會影響幾個[部落]左右。

David, you might remember that American Digital Network and plans really came along a little bit after the Dobson did. So in the fourth quarter of 2000 we gained a lot of momentum that carried over to the first quarter of 2001. I think that's part of the difference of what you're seeing when you compare American to Dobson. Q A final question. Bruce, you mentioned that American Cellular doesn't have any real funding needs for the foreseeable future. Can you zone in on that a little more? Is that through this year, through next year? Is it true GMSO overbuilt? Any more comment on that?

大衛，你可能還記得美國數位網路和計畫確實是在多布森之後才出現的。 因此，我們在 2000 年第四季獲得了極大的動力，並一直延續到 2001 年第一季。 我認為這就是當你將美國航空與多布森進行比較時你所看到的差異的一部分。 問：最後一個問題。 布魯斯，您提到美國行動公司在可預見的未來沒有任何真正的資金需求。 能再關註一下嗎？是今年到明年嗎？ GMSO 真的是過度建設了嗎？對此還有什麼評論嗎？

Just general comments because we only gave guidance for this year, but based on our guidance this year we should have sufficient [castor] operations. Our operating has ever said -- focuses on local possibility. You can find that with roaming. It's just generating enough cash to meet all this obligation. I don't really want to go out beyond this year because that's the way we've given guidance to.

只是一般性評論，因為我們只給出了今年的指導，但根據我們今年的指導，我們應該有足夠的[腳輪]運營。我們的營運曾經說過－專注於當地的可能性。您可以透過漫遊找到它。 它只是產生足夠的現金來履行所有這些義務。 我真的不想在今年之後出去，因為這是我們給出指導的方式。

I think we can say how much cash we have. That's what the senior notes.

我想我們可以說出我們有多少現金。 前輩是這麼說的。

Yes. We have about $98 million in cash in escrow for the senior notes interest. Our first cash payment on the senior notes will take place in October of 2004.

是的。 我們有約 9,800 萬美元的現金作為優先票據利息的託管資金。 我們對優先票據的第一筆現金支付將於 2004 年 10 月進行。

Yeah.

是的。

2003. Q Okay. Thanks a lot.

2003 年。問：好的。多謝。

Drew Hansen at Morgan Stanley. Q Yes, good morning. If you could give us two -- I think two numbers I didn't see in the release, which was the actual gross debt at quarter end for American Cellular and the cash, if there is any, on the balance. I think you gave an aggregate number for the company, I think, on a proportionate basis. And then on the Cap X you can break out for the quarter, and then going back to your comment about the 85 million for the full year with Dobson, the break down between Dobson [Signet] and the Dobson operating company?

摩根士丹利的德魯漢森。 Q：是的，早安。 如果你能給我們兩個——我想有兩個我在新聞稿中沒有看到的數字，即美國行動公司季度末的實際總債務和餘額中的現金（如果有的話）。 我認為你按比例給出了公司的總數。然後在 Cap X 上，您可以對本季度進行突破，然後回到您對 Dobson 全年 8500 萬美元的評論，Dobson [Signet] 和 Dobson 運營公司之間的關係？

I'll answer the cash and let everybody else take the others questions. The $230 million in cash is 100 percent Dobson. It is not a proportionate number reflecting any of American Cellular. In terms of American, total debt at American was just a little over $1.9 million. That includes the bank of -- yeah, the I'm sorry, the -- is that correct?

我會回答現金問題，然後讓其他人回答其他問題。 這 2.3 億美元現金 100% 是多布森的。 這不是反映任何美國行動公司的比例數字。 就美國航空而言，美國航空的總債務略高於 190 萬美元。 這包括銀行——是的，對不起，——是這樣嗎？

No, that's American [inaudible].

不，那是美國的[聽不清楚]。

I'm sorry. But 1.6.

對不起。但是1.6。

Lower, yeah.

低一點，是的。

1.6 includes the 7 million bonds and approximately $900 million in bank debt. In terms of capital over at American, they have the $99 million of cash for escrow. At the end of the first quarter, they had just a minimal amount of cash for operating requirements. That was their cash balance. Q Thank you.

1.6 包括 700 萬債券和約 9 億美元的銀行債務。 就美國航空的資本而言，他們有 9,900 萬美元的現金可供託管。 在第一季末，他們只有最低限度的現金來滿足營運需求。 那是他們的現金餘額。 問：謝謝。

We have not given guidance on [Signet], but it's fair to say that as [inaudible] you're seeing a drop in cap X of 2002 compared to the [inaudible]. That would be the same for [Signet].

我們尚未就 [Signet] 提供指導，但可以公平地說，與 [聽不清楚] 相比，[聽不清楚] 2002 年的 X 上限有所下降。對於[Signet]來說也是如此。

Yes. Q Okay. Thank you.

是的。問：好的。謝謝。

You did understand that the $85 million cap X was just for Dobson and there's $55. Q Separately. Just a follow-up on the last question, so the comment regarding American Cellular, as I understand your issues, does not need funding, is that -- does that mean is that relating -- it says you do not require any ad sales in order to meet any amortization that would typically be required?

你確實明白，8500 萬美元的 X 上限只是針對多布森的，而 55 美元。問：分別。 只是最後一個問題的後續行動，因此，據我了解您的問題，有關美國移動電話的評論不需要資金，是 - 這是否意味著相關 - 它說您不需要任何廣告銷售為了滿足通常需要的任何攤銷？

In the foreseeable future, that's correct. Q Okay. Thank you.

在可預見的未來，這是正確的。問：好的。謝謝。

We'll now go to Danielle Gilbert at Mason Capital. Q Hi, it's Ken [Garsheen] for Danielle. Can you clarify the situation on American Cellular? I think a lot of people on the call are sort of anxious about it. Are you guys saying you will not put any more money in, or is that still an open question for the firm?

現在我們請梅森資本的丹妮爾吉爾伯特。 Q：嗨，我是丹妮爾的肯 [Garsheen]。 可否介紹一下美國移動公司的情況？ 我認為很多參加電話會議的人都對此感到焦慮。你們是說不會再投入更多資金，還是這對公司來說仍然是一個懸而未決的問題？

Let me reiterate the issue. The issue goes back to the audit statement that we released at the -- for the end of last year which are forward looking as well. Our auditors made a comment that based on the current covenants, it looks as though American Cellular may not meet all the covenants for 2002.

讓我重申一下這個問題。這個問題可以追溯到我們去年年底發布的審計聲明，該聲明也是前瞻性的。 我們的審計員評論說，根據目前的契約，American Cellular 似乎無法滿足 2002 年的所有契約。

We're not going to discuss any of our positions in terms of our negotiations with the bank at this point in time. Q Okay. Thank you.

目前我們不會在與銀行的談判中討論我們的任何立場。問：好的。謝謝。

We'll go to Andy Green at [Wacuvia] Securities. Q Good morning. Just a question to this last question on American Cellular. Despite the audit statement, you did get the ratings downgrade, and it was a pretty scathing report in my opinion. Do you have any comment on that, whether or not that was overdone or, you know, what the liquidity situation, you know, looks like at American Cellular. And you know, can that operation, can you show enough improvement this year in that operation to support a billion six in debt, the difference between the leveraged number, you know, kind of on a run right now and the covenant numbers is pretty large. Just was wondering if you had any comment on that if it's as serious as the rating agencies seem to think.

我們將採訪[Wacuvia] 證券公司的安迪·格林。問好。 只是關於美國行動電話最後一個問題的問題。 儘管有審計聲明，但你的評級確實被下調了，在我看來，這是一份相當嚴厲的報告。 您對此有何評論，無論這是否過度，或者您知道，美國行動公司的流動性狀況如何。 你知道，這項業務今年能表現出足夠的改進來支持十億六美元的債務嗎？槓桿數字之間的差異，你知道，現在有點擠兌，契約數字相當大。 只是想知道您對此是否有任何評論，是否像評級機構所認為的那麼嚴重。

Well, the rating agencies are going to write what they want to write. From our standpoint, from an operations standpoint, we're more pleased with the way things are turning around at American Cellular. We've made a lot of investments over the last few years, including converting our analog to digital, putting a lot of cell sites in, getting our minute use up. American has probably had one of the highest growth rates in terms of new subscribers over the last few years of probably anyone in the wireless industry. So from an operations standpoint, we feel real good about where we are and where we're going. I think there's a lot of positives. And in terms of the capital structure, again, I really don't want to discuss the capital structure at this point, but we are very positive on the results of American and look forward to the prospects as we move forward. Q I hear you, Bruce. I just -- you know, to -- when you look at, you know, less than $35 million of EBITDA this quarter and a billion six in debt, how aggressive is your outlook for this year? You know, if you are going to generate enough free cash flow to fund the $55 million in cap X and the interest expense on the debt and so forth, how much wiggle room do you have there, Bruce?

嗯，評級機構會寫他們想寫的。 從我們的角度來看，從營運的角度來看，我們對美國行動公司的情況轉變更加滿意。 在過去的幾年裡，我們進行了大量投資，包括將類比轉換為數字，建立大量的蜂窩基地台，以及充分利用我們的分鐘資源。 過去幾年，美國航空可能是無線產業中新用戶成長率最高的公司之一。 因此，從營運的角度來看，我們對自己的現狀和未來的方向感到非常滿意。我認為有很多正面積極的一面。 就資本結構而言，我現在真的不想討論資本結構，但我們對美國的表現非常樂觀，並期待我們前進的前景。 問：我聽到你的聲音了，布魯斯。 我只是——你知道，當你看到本季的 EBITDA 不到 3500 萬美元，債務達到 10 億六美元時，你對今年的前景有多樂觀？ 你知道，如果你要產生足夠的自由現金流來為 X 上限的 5500 萬美元和債務利息費用等提供資金，那麼你有多少迴旋餘地，布魯斯？

Well, our guidance has been that we're going to have 8, 10 percent growth in EBITDA. You know, how much wiggle room? As Everett said, we expect to meet or exceed all of our guidance as we did last year. Is it tight? Yeah. It is tight. But we're confident with the operations. Q Thank you.

嗯，我們的目標是 EBITDA 成長 8% 到 10%。你知道有多少迴旋餘地嗎？ 正如埃弗里特所說，我們預計會像去年一樣達到或超過我們的所有指導。緊嗎？是的。很緊。但我們對營運充滿信心。問：謝謝。

There are no further questions at this time. Gentlemen, I'd like to turn the conference back to you for any additional or closing comments.

目前沒有其他問題。先生們，我想將會議轉回給你們，請你們提出任何補充意見或結束意見。

Thank you, and we appreciate the attendance, we appreciate the comments and questions, and we will be glad to answer any further questions if there are any follows-up. And with that, I'll sign off.

謝謝您，我們感謝您的出席，我們感謝您的評論和問題，如果有任何後續行動，我們將很樂意回答任何進一步的問題。就這樣，我就結束了。

This concludes today's conference. We appreciate your participation. You may now disconnect.

今天的會議到此結束。我們感謝您的參與。您現在可以斷開連線。