(T) 2023 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Thank you for standing by. Welcome to AT&T's Third Quarter 2023 Earnings Call. (Operator Instructions) And as a reminder, this conference is being recorded. I would like to turn the conference call over to our host, Mr. Amir Rozwadowski, Senior Vice President of Finance and Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

謝謝你的支持。歡迎參加 AT&T 2023 年第三季財報電話會議。 （操作員說明）謹此提醒，本次會議正在錄製中。我想將電話會議轉交給我們的東道主、財務和投資者關係高級副總裁阿米爾·羅茲瓦多夫斯基 (Amir Rozwadowski) 先生。請繼續。

Thank you, and good morning, everyone. Welcome to our third quarter call. I'm Amir Rozwadowski, Head of Investor Relations for AT&T. Joining me on the call today are John Stankey, our CEO; and Pascal Desroches, our CFO.

謝謝大家，大家早安。歡迎致電我們的第三季。我是 Amir Rozwadowski，AT&T 投資人關係主管。今天和我一起參加電話會議的是我們的執行長約翰‧斯坦基 (John Stankey)；以及我們的財務長 Pascal Desroches。

Before we begin, I need to call your attention to our safe harbor statement. It says that some of our comments today may be forward-looking. As such, they're subject to risks and uncertainties described in AT&T's SEC filings. Results may differ materially. Additional information, including our earnings materials, are available on the Investor Relations website.

在我們開始之前，我需要提請您注意我們的安全港聲明。它說我們今天的一些評論可能是前瞻性的。因此，它們面臨 AT&T 向 SEC 提交的文件中描述的風險和不確定性。結果可能存在重大差異。其他信息，包括我們的收益材料，請訪問投資者關係網站。

With that, I'll turn the call over to John Stankey. John?

這樣，我會將電話轉給約翰·斯坦基。約翰？

Thanks, Amir, and good morning, everyone. I appreciate you joining us. At the start of this year, we articulated a plan in which our deliberate investment in 5G and fiber would help grow our customer base in a profitable manner. Strong results we share today represent the latest proof that our strategy is working and sets us up for continued sustainable and profitable growth.

謝謝阿米爾，大家早安。我很感謝你加入我們。今年年初，我們制定了一項計劃，我們對 5G 和光纖的刻意投資將有助於以盈利的方式擴大我們的客戶群。我們今天分享的強勁業績代表了我們的策略正在發揮作用的最新證據，並為我們實現持續的可持續和獲利成長奠定了基礎。

We're meeting rising data demand with best-in-class 5G and fiber solutions. This is not only expanding our durable customer base but also delivering attractive returns. The results we're seeing only strengthen our conviction in continuing to invest to bring these next-generation technologies to even more Americans. We're tracking in line to meet or beat our consolidated financial targets. And we're raising our full year adjusted EBITDA and free cash flow guidance today. Our goal has been to invest and grow the business in a manner that progressively differentiates the AT&T asset base in our industry, and we're doing exactly that.

我們透過一流的 5G 和光纖解決方案滿足不斷增長的數據需求。這不僅擴大了我們持久的客戶群，也帶來了誘人的回報。我們看到的結果只會堅定我們繼續投資的信念，將這些下一代技術帶給更多的美國人。我們正在努力實現或超越我們的綜合財務目標。今天，我們提高了全年調整後 EBITDA 和自由現金流指引。我們的目標是以逐步使 AT&T 資產基礎在我們行業中脫穎而出的方式投資和發展業務，而我們正在這樣做。

In wireless, our consistent go-to-market approach continues to expand our base of high-value subscribers. Our results show that our best deal for everyone approach continues to resonate with customers. For example, in September, we saw the strongest iPhone preorders we've had in many years despite competing promotions with higher subsidies allowing lower-value device trade-ins. This is a testament to both the simplicity of our offers and the strength of our consistent and straightforward value proposition as well as the quality of our network.

在無線領域，我們一貫的進入市場方法繼續擴大我們的高價值用戶群。我們的結果表明，我們為每個人提供最佳優惠的方法繼續引起客戶的共鳴。例如，在 9 月份，我們看到了多年來最強勁的 iPhone 預訂量，儘管促銷活動與更高的補貼允許較低價值的設備以舊換新。這證明了我們產品的簡單性、我們一貫、直接的價值主張的強度以及我們網路的品質。

The tale of the tape is clear. Customers are staying with us longer and spending more with us. Just take a look at our consistent low churn, increasing ARPUs and improving returns. Why? Because we're providing more value to customers. For example, the vast majority of people taking our iPhone promotions are signing up for our highest value plans even though it's not a promo requirement. In fact, our highest value unlimited plan is our fastest growing plan.

錄音帶的故事很清楚。客戶在我們這裡停留的時間越來越長，花費也越來越多。只要看看我們持續的低流失率、每位用戶平均收入 (ARPU) 的增加和回報的提高即可。為什麼？因為我們正在為客戶提供更多價值。例如，絕大多數參加我們 iPhone 促銷活動的人都會註冊我們的最高價值計劃，儘管這不是促銷要求。事實上，我們最高價值的無限計劃是我們成長最快的計劃。

In addition, our network has never been better in terms of its size and quality as we continue to enhance the largest wireless network in North America and expand the nation's most reliable 5G network. It's no surprise that when you combine our high-value customer growth and rising revenues per user, we continue to grow profits in our wireless business as evidenced by our highest ever EBITDA on record.

此外，隨著我們繼續增強北美最大的無線網絡並擴展全國最可靠的 5G 網絡，我們的網絡在規模和品質方面都達到了前所未有的水平。毫不奇怪，當您將我們的高價值客戶成長和每用戶收入的成長結合起來時，我們無線業務的利潤將持續成長，我們有史以來最高的 EBITDA 就證明了這一點。

Turning to fiber. The story remains the same. Where we build fiber, we win. We win by delivering the undisputed best broadband solution on the planet, improving our brand position, gaining broadband share and by improving our mobile share.

轉向纖維。故事還是一樣。在我們製造光纖的地方，我們就贏了。我們透過提供全球無可爭議的最佳寬頻解決方案、提高我們的品牌地位、獲得寬頻份額以及提高我們的行動份額來獲勝。

Our strategy is working. We just delivered nearly 300,000 high-quality net adds this quarter against a muted backdrop of household move activity. In addition, the returns on our fiber investment continued to improve from our initial assumptions. We're exceeding our expectations for penetration in new markets. Additionally, the accretive mix shift to higher-value fiber plans has driven our fiber ARPU up nearly 9% year-over-year. Look no further than how fiber is fueling a surge in broadband revenue growth.

我們的策略正在發揮作用。在家庭搬遷活動低迷的背景下，本季我們剛剛交付了近 30 萬套高品質的淨增量。此外，我們的光纖投資報酬率繼續比我們最初的假設有所改善。我們對新市場的滲透超出了我們的預期。此外，向更高價值光纖計劃的增值組合轉變推動我們的光纖 ARPU 年成長近 9%。只需看看光纖如何推動寬頻收入大幅成長即可。

Consumer Wireline has transformed from a declining business to one that is delivering strong, consistent growth. We offer a superior product that has room to improve on all the levers that drive margin performance as we scale. No matter where we put fiber, we're the preferred broadband provider. In August, we selectively launched AT&T Internet Air, our fixed wireless product. We view this service as yet another tool in our connectivity toolbox. While it will primarily act as a targeted catch product, we've been pleased with the positive early reception and have already added about 25,000 subscribers pushing us back into positive territory for overall net broadband growth of 15,000 subscribers in the quarter.

消費者有線業務已從衰退的業務轉變為實現強勁、持續成長的業務。我們提供優質的產品，隨著我們規模的擴大，在所有推動利潤率表現的槓桿上都有改進的空間。無論我們在哪裡鋪設光纖，我們都是首選的寬頻供應商。 8月，我們有選擇地推出了我們的固定無線產品AT&T Internet Air。我們將此服務視為我們連接工具箱中的另一個工具。雖然它主要作為有針對性的捕獲產品，但我們對早期的積極反應感到滿意，並且已經增加了約 25,000 名用戶，推動我們在本季度重新進入積極的區域，整體淨寬頻增長為 15,000 名用戶。

Meanwhile, we're only in the very early stages of reaping the long-term benefits from the inevitable convergence of 5G and fiber. Where we've deployed fiber, we're seeing a tick in Mobility growth. Additionally, AT&T customers with fiber and wireless service have our lowest churn and the highest lifetime values to match. As the one player scaling both wireless and fiber networks, we're well positioned to be the provider of choice for the ubiquitous connectivity that consumers want. And importantly, we're positioned to do this at the lowest unit economic costs, establishing a long runway for sustainable returns.

同時，我們也處於從 5G 和光纖不可避免的融合中獲得長期利益的早期階段。在我們部署光纖的地方，我們看到了行動性的成長。此外，使用光纖和無線服務的 AT&T 客戶擁有最低的客戶流失率和最高的生命週期價值。作為同時擴展無線和光纖網路的公司，我們完全有能力成為消費者所需的無處不在的連接的首選提供者。重要的是，我們能夠以最低的單位經濟成本做到這一點，為永續回報建立一條漫長的道路。

As we advance our network capabilities, we're powering experiences built for the high-speed connected everywhere world we now live in. One example is our work with Cisco to deliver the next evolution and collaboration for those working on the go. By tapping into the fast speeds and low latency of 5G, we seamlessly extended [web-in] calling capabilities to mobile phones, simplifying connectivity for a mobile workforce. We feel strongly that this is just the beginning of what's possible. At the same time that we're reinvigorating customer growth, we are also operating more efficiently across our business. This is a core component of the 120 basis point margin improvement we saw in adjusted EBITDA compared to the third quarter of 2022.

隨著我們不斷提高網路功能，我們正在為我們現在所處的高速互聯世界提供體驗。其中一個例子是我們與思科合作，為行動工作人員提供下一代演進和協作。透過利用 5G 的快速速度和低延遲，我們將 [網路輸入] 呼叫功能無縫擴展到行動電話，簡化了行動員工的連線。我們強烈感覺到，這只是一切可能的開始。在重振客戶成長的同時，我們的業務營運也更有效率。與 2022 年第三季相比，我們看到調整後 EBITDA 利潤率提高了 120 個基點，這是其核心組成部分。

You can also see the benefits of our $1.5 billion of incremental cash from operations over the first 3 quarters compared to the same period a year ago. We're off to a strong start as we execute on our plan to generate $2 billion plus of incremental cost savings within the next 3 years, and we're confident in our ability to achieve this goal. We're executing our legacy wireline transformation as we scale our 5G and fiber networks. Over time, we expect this evolution to drive significant operating efficiencies as we sunset legacy infrastructure that no longer meets our customers' needs.

您還可以看到與去年同期相比，我們在前 3 季營運產生的 15 億美元增量現金的效益。我們已經有了一個良好的開端，因為我們執行了在未來 3 年內實現 20 億美元以上增量成本節約的計劃，並且我們對實現這一目標的能力充滿信心。隨著我們擴展 5G 和光纖網絡，我們正在對傳統有線網路進行改造。隨著時間的推移，隨著我們淘汰不再滿足客戶需求的遺留基礎設施，我們預計這種演變將顯著提高營運效率。

We're also aligning our operating footprint and work environment to mirror our streamlining focus on 5G and fiber. These steps are important enablers to further improve our collaboration, eliminate organizational redundancies and fully utilize the innovative technologies that improve how we work. And while we're still in the very early stages of generative AI, we're already seeing tangible AI-driven improvements in productivity and cost savings. Measurable progress has been made with lowering customer support costs, unlocking software development efficiencies and improving our network design effectiveness. We expect these capabilities to play a key role in our continued efforts to achieve our future cost savings objectives.

我們還調整了我們的營運足跡和工作環境，以反映我們對 5G 和光纖的精簡重點。這些步驟是進一步改善我們的協作、消除組織冗餘並充分利用改善我們工作方式的創新技術的重要推動因素。雖然我們仍處於生成式人工智慧的早期階段，但我們已經看到人工智慧驅動的生產力和成本節約的實際改進。在降低客戶支援成本、提高軟體開發效率和提高網路設計效率方面取得了顯著進展。我們希望這些能力能夠在我們持續努力實現未來成本節約目標的過程中發揮關鍵作用。

This takes us to the final priority, and that's how we're putting our improving operating leverage to work. In the third quarter, we reduced our net debt by more than $3 billion and are on track to achieve our 2.5x net debt-to-adjusted EBITDA target by the first half of 2025. Less net debt allows us to continue investing in AT&T's durable connectivity businesses and enhance our ability to deliver additional shareholder returns, once we reach our long-term target.

這將我們帶到了最後的優先事項，這就是我們如何將不斷提高的營運槓桿發揮作用。第三季度，我們的淨債務減少了超過 30 億美元，並預計在 2025 年上半年實現淨債務與調整後 EBITDA 之比 2.5 倍的目標。淨債務減少使我們能夠繼續投資 AT&T 的耐用品一旦我們實現長期目標，我們將加強互聯業務並增強我們為股東帶來額外回報的能力。

Our focus remains steady on allocating capital to create best-in-class experiences for customers, drive sustainable, profitable growth and deliver long-term value for shareholders. Over the last few years, our investment-led strategy has delivered tangible benefits to and financial returns from our growing and high-value customer pool in both Mobility and broadband.

我們的重點仍然是穩定地分配資本，為客戶創造一流的體驗，推動可持續的獲利成長，並為股東創造長期價值。在過去的幾年裡，我們以投資為主導的策略為我們在行動和寬頻領域不斷增長的高價值客戶群帶來了切實的利益和財務回報。

We've expanded our nationwide 5G network and are on track to reach 200 million people or more with mid-band 5G spectrum by the end of the year. We're also on track to pass 30 million-plus fiber locations by the end of 2025. We now have about 24 million fiber locations that we're able to serve on our network with additional opportunities to provide service through our GigaPower joint venture with BlackRock or BEAD funding opportunities. Given the returns we're seeing, we continue to believe leaning into attractive return profile of 5G in the fiber business makes strategic and economic sense. At the same time, we remain committed to our dividend payout level and expect its credit quality to consistently improve.

我們已經擴展了全國性的 5G 網絡，並預計在今年年底前透過中頻 5G 頻譜覆蓋 2 億或更多人口。我們也預計在 2025 年底之前覆蓋超過 3000 萬個光纖站點。我們現在擁有約 2400 萬個光纖站點，我們能夠在我們的網路上提供服務，並有更多機會透過我們與 GigaPower 的合資企業提供服務。 BlackRock 或BEAD 融資機會。鑑於我們所看到的回報，我們仍然相信光纖業務中傾向於 5G 具有吸引力的回報具有戰略和經濟意義。同時，我們仍然致力於維持股息支付水平，並期望其信用品質持續提高。

In fact, we've already generated more than enough cash to meet our annualized dividend even before the fourth quarter, which is generally our highest cash generation quarter. Demand for better and faster broadband connectivity has grown exponentially. With the largest wireless network in North America and as the nation's largest fiber Internet provider, we're providing best-in-class 5G and fiber services to meet that demand. It's clear the fundamentals of our business have never been stronger. They'll only grow stronger as we continue to scale our networks, simplify our customers' connected lives and deepen our engagement with them.

事實上，甚至在第四季之前我們就已經產生了足夠的現金來支付年化股息，而第四季通常是我們現金產生量最高的季度。對更好更快的寬頻連線的需求呈指數級增長。憑藉北美最大的無線網路和全美最大的光纖網路供應商，我們正在提供一流的 5G 和光纖服務來滿足這一需求。顯然，我們業務的基礎從未如此強大。隨著我們不斷擴展網路、簡化客戶的互聯生活並加深與他們的互動，它們只會變得更加強大。

With that, I'll turn it over to Pascal. Pascal?

有了這個，我會把它交給帕斯卡。帕斯卡？

Thank you, John. Good morning, everyone. As John discussed, we're driving great returns on our 5G and fiber investments, as you can see on Slide 5. The favorable trend in our wireless and broadband businesses continue. We're growing subscribers, ARPUs and margins in both wireless and broadband, and we're taking out costs. Our strategy is working and gives us confidence to raise guidance today. I will discuss this in more detail later on.

謝謝你，約翰。大家，早安。正如約翰所討論的，我們正在為 5G 和光纖投資帶來巨大回報，正如您在幻燈片 5 中看到的那樣。我們的無線和寬頻業務的有利趨勢仍在繼續。我們在無線和寬頻領域不斷增加用戶數、ARPU 值和利潤，我們正在削減成本。我們的策略正在發揮作用，讓我們有信心今天提出指導。稍後我將更詳細地討論這個問題。

Now let's move to our third quarter financial summary on Slide 6. Consolidated revenues were up 1% in the third quarter, largely driven by growth in wireless service and fiber revenues. These increases were partially offset by an expected decline in business wireline. Adjusted EBITDA was up 4.6% for the quarter with growth in Mobility, Consumer Wireline and Mexico. This was partially offset by an expected decrease in Business Wireline. In fact, due to our increased revenue growth and overachievement in cost savings, we now expect to grow adjusted EBITDA by better than 4% versus our prior guidance of 3% plus.

現在讓我們看幻燈片 6 上的第三季財務摘要。第三季綜合收入成長了 1%，這主要是由無線服務和光纖收入的成長所推動的。這些成長被商業有線業務的預期下降部分抵消。隨著行動、消費者有線和墨西哥業務的成長，本季調整後 EBITDA 成長 4.6%。美國商業資訊的預期下降部分抵消了這一影響。事實上，由於我們收入成長的增加和成本節約的超額完成，我們現在預計調整後的 EBITDA 將成長超過 4%，而我們先前的指導為 3% 以上。

Adjusted EPS was $0.64 compared to $0.68 in the year-ago quarter. This includes about $0.08 of noncash aggregated EPS headwinds from lower pension credits, lower capitalized interest, higher effective tax rate and lower DIRECTV equity income, all of which we expected. Cash from operating activities was $10.3 billion in the quarter and $26.9 billion year-to-date. This is an increase of $1.5 billion year-to-date primarily driven by higher receipts due to revenue growth and lower disbursements, including personnel costs and device maintenance. This growth comes at the same time as we saw a lower year-over-year net impact of receivable sales of about $1 billion year-to-date and higher cash taxes of about $350 million year-to-date. This shows the underlying strength of the organic cash flow occurring in our business.

調整後每股收益為 0.64 美元，去年同期為 0.68 美元。這包括約 0.08 美元的非現金匯總 EPS 阻力，這些阻力來自退休金信貸減少、資本化利息減少、有效稅率提高和 DIRECTV 股權收入減少，所有這些都是我們預期的。本季經營活動產生的現金為 103 億美元，年初至今為 269 億美元。今年迄今增加了 15 億美元，主要是由於收入成長帶來的收入增加和支出減少（包括人員成本和設備維護費用）。在這一成長的同時，我們看到年初至今應收帳款銷售額年比淨影響減少了約 10 億美元，現金稅增加了約 3.5 億美元。這顯示了我們業務中有機現金流的潛在實力。

Capital investment was $5.6 billion in the quarter. This reflects continued historically high levels of investments in 5G and fiber. We expect to move past elevated capital investment levels as we exit the year. We feel really good about free cash flow of $5.2 billion in the quarter. Through the first 3 quarters, our free cash flow was $10.4 billion, up $2.4 billion versus the same period a year ago. We're also now tracking to about $16.5 billion free cash flow for the full year.

本季資本投資為 56 億美元。這反映出對 5G 和光纖的投資持續處於歷史高點。我們預計，今年結束時，資本投資水準將突破較高水準。我們對本季 52 億美元的自由現金流感到非常滿意。前 3 季度，我們的自由現金流為 104 億美元，比去年同期增加 24 億美元。我們現在也追蹤全年自由現金流約 165 億美元。

Now let's turn to our Mobility results on the next slide. Looking at our Mobility results, postpaid phone net adds were 468,000. Total revenues and operating income in our largest business unit are at all-time highs. Revenues were up 2%, and service revenues were up 3.7%. These gains were driven by subscriber growth and higher postpaid phone ARPU. Year-to-date, wireless service revenues have grown 4.6%, and we continue to feel really good about the performance of our wireless business.

現在讓我們來看看下一張投影片上的移動性結果。從我們的行動結果來看，後付費電話淨增數量為 468,000 部。我們最大的業務部門的總收入和營業收入創歷史新高。收入成長 2%，服務收入成長 3.7%。這些成長是由用戶成長和後付費電話 ARPU 提高所推動的。今年迄今為止，無線服務收入成長了 4.6%，我們對無線業務的表現仍然感到非常滿意。

Mobility EBITDA was up 7.6% in the quarter. Mobility postpaid phone ARPU was $55.99, up $0.32 year-over-year. The primary drivers of ARPU growth are higher ARPUs on legacy plans, a continued mix shift to higher value rate plans with higher margin and continued improvement in consumer international roaming trends. Postpaid phone churn remains low at 0.79% for the quarter. This continued low wireless churn shows our value proposition is resonating with customers. In prepaid, we had 26,000 phone net additions with total churn of 2.78% with Cricket churn substantially lower.

本季行動 EBITDA 成長 7.6%。行動後付費電話 ARPU 為 55.99 美元，年增 0.32 美元。 ARPU 成長的主要驅動力是傳統計劃的 ARPU 值提高、向利潤率更高的高價值費率計劃的持續混合轉變以及消費者國際漫遊趨勢的持續改善。本季後付費電話流失率仍維持在 0.79% 的低點。持續的低無線客戶流失率表明我們的價值主張正在引起客戶的共鳴。在預付費方面，我們新增了 26,000 部電話，總流失率為 2.78%，其中板球流失率大幅降低。

Let's move to the next slide in our wireline results. Our fiber investment is driving Consumer Wireline growth and strong returns. We added 296,000 fiber customers in the quarter. The consistency of fiber's appeal continues to shine as we've now added more than 200,000 fiber net adds for 15 straight quarters. We've also seen measurable improvement in fiber churn year-over-year despite recent pricing actions. This highlights the superior product and experience that customers consistently receive with fiber. Strong fiber revenue growth of about 27% drove total broadband revenues up nearly 10% year-over-year. Fiber ARPU was $68.21, up about 9%. Customers are increasingly choosing faster speed tiers, which is also supporting ARPU growth.

讓我們轉到有線結果中的下一張投影片。我們的光纖投資正在推動消費有線電視業務的成長和強勁的回報。本季我們增加了 296,000 個光纖客戶。纖維的吸引力的一致性繼續閃耀，我們現在已經連續 15 個季度添加了超過 200,000 個纖維網。儘管最近採取了定價行動，但我們也看到光纖流失量同比有了顯著改善。這突顯了客戶透過光纖始終獲得的卓越產品和體驗。光纖收入約 27% 的強勁成長推動寬頻總收入年增近 10%。光纖 ARPU 為 68.21 美元，成長約 9%。客戶越來越多地選擇更快的速度層，這也支持了 ARPU 的成長。

Consumer Wireline EBITDA grew 9.4% on the strength of fiber revenue growth. Given the better-than-expected broadband revenue we've achieved so far this year, we now expect to deliver 7%-plus broadband revenue growth for the year. Additionally, our AT&T Internet Air product is off to a solid start. As we expand our service to select new markets, we're confident it will serve as a strong catch product as we continue to sunset our legacy copper services.

由於光纖收入的成長，消費有線 EBITDA 成長了 9.4%。鑑於我們今年迄今取得的寬頻收入優於預期，我們現在預計今年寬頻收入成長將超過 7%。此外，我們的 AT&T Internet Air 產品已經有了一個好的開始。隨著我們將服務擴展到選定的新市場，我們相信，隨著我們繼續淘汰我們的傳統銅服務，它將成為一個強大的捕獲產品。

Turning to Business Wireline. EBITDA was down $268 million year-over-year. Overall, Business Wireline remains in transition as we move from offering legacy products to next-generation connectivity products. If you take a step back, the overall picture of our business franchise looks somewhat different when you include the increasing strategic importance of business wireless to these very same accounts. Wireless service revenue was up 7%, benefiting from continued growth in postpaid wireless subscribers and connected devices. As the transition to electric vehicles continues, we expect a tailwind from our consistent success in connected cars since EVs consume more data bandwidth.

轉向美國商業資訊。 EBITDA 年減 2.68 億美元。整體而言，隨著我們從提供傳統產品轉向下一代連結產品，美國商業線仍處於轉型期。如果您退後一步，當您考慮到企業無線對這些相同客戶日益增長的策略重要性時，我們業務特許經營的整體情況看起來有些不同。受益於後付費無線用戶和連接設備的持續成長，無線服務收入成長了 7%。隨著向電動車過渡的繼續，我們預計我們在連網汽車領域的持續成功將帶來推動作用，因為電動車消耗更多的數據頻寬。

Connectivity solutions are also growing in the high single digits due to momentum with fiber as we make it available for more small- to medium-sized businesses. And total business solutions year-to-date, EBITDA is down slightly year-over-year as growth in wireless is largely offsetting declines in wireline. At the end of the day, we see the same underlying trends we see year-to-date with Business Wireline EBITDA, and we now expect low double-digit declines for the full year.

由於光纖的發展勢頭，隨著我們為更多的中小型企業提供光纖，連接解決方案也以高個位數成長。今年迄今為止的整體業務解決方案，EBITDA 年比略有下降，因為無線業務的成長在很大程度上抵消了有線業務的下降。歸根結底，我們看到了與年初至今美國商業資訊 EBITDA 相同的基本趨勢，我們現在預計全年將出現兩位數的低跌幅。

Now before I close, I'd like to quickly provide an update on the progress we're making on improving the flexibility of our balance sheet. As a result of our strong cash generation, we're on track to achieve our net debt reduction target for the year. In addition to debt reduction and liability management we discussed last quarter, we have also incrementally reduced our short-term direct supplier and vendor financing obligations in the third quarter, and we expect to continue to do so in the fourth quarter.

在結束之前，我想快速介紹一下我們在提高資產負債表靈活性方面所取得的進展的最新情況。由於我們擁有強勁的現金生成能力，我們有望實現今年的淨債務削減目標。除了我們上季度討論的債務削減和負債管理之外，我們還在第三季度逐步減少了短期直接供應商和供應商融資義務，並且我們預計將在第四季度繼續這樣做。

As a reminder, the pay down of these obligations is a headwind to free cash flows. We are reducing these liabilities in a high interest rate environment, which will help contain our cash interest costs. Therefore, I'm really pleased that we're doing this while still exceeding our initial free cash flow targets for the year. In addition, lowering our financing obligations should enable a more ratable quarterly cadence of our free cash flow in 2024. As we think about our debt mature towers for the next few years, we feel we are in a solid position and expect to address near-term maturities as they come due with cash on hand.

提醒一下，償還這些債務是自由現金流的阻力。我們正在高利率環境下減少這些負債，這將有助於控制我們的現金利息成本。因此，我真的很高興我們在這樣做的同時仍然超出了今年最初的自由現金流目標。此外，降低我們的融資義務應該能夠使我們的自由現金流在 2024 年的季度節奏更加合理。當我們考慮未來幾年的債務成熟塔時，我們認為我們處於穩固的地位，並期望解決近乎-到期時手頭上有現金。

We had more than $9 billion of cash equivalents and interest-bearing deposits on hand at the end of the quarter. In this high rate environment, we find ourselves in the enviable position of being able to earn more on this cash than the cost of our long-term debt. It is also important to remember that more than 95% of our long-term debt is fixed at an average rate of 4.2%, and a weighted average maturity of 16 years. The financial structure I've outlined improves our financial flexibility and ensures we remain in an advantageous position with respect to our cost of capital. Our expectations for growing free cash flow and reducing our debt as it comes due only further improve that position.

截至本季末，我們手頭上有超過 90 億美元的現金等價物和計息存款。在這種高利率環境下，我們發現自己處於令人羨慕的地位，能夠從這些現金中賺取比長期債務成本更多的收入。同樣重要的是要記住，我們 95% 以上的長期債務的平均利率固定為 4.2%，加權平均期限為 16 年。我概述的財務結構提高了我們的財務靈活性，並確保我們在資本成本方面保持優勢。我們對增加自由現金流和減少到期債務的期望只會進一步改善這種狀況。

To close, I'd just like to emphasize I could not be happier with what our team has achieved this year. We are very pleased with our operating results as our business fundamentals are largely exceeding our expectations. As John mentioned, we articulate the plan in which we expected to grow customers in a profitable manner, and we're on track to deliver just that.

最後，我想強調我對我們團隊今年的成就感到非常高興。我們對我們的經營業績感到非常滿意，因為我們的業務基本面很大程度上超出了我們的預期。正如約翰所提到的，我們制定了一個計劃，希望以有利可圖的方式增加客戶，並且我們正在實現這一目標。

That concludes my remarks this morning. Let me hand it over to Amir to open it up for Q&A. Amir?

我今天早上的發言到此結束。讓我把它交給阿米爾來打開它進行問答。阿米爾？

Thank you very much, Pascal. Operator, we'll take the first question.

非常感謝你，帕斯卡。接線員，我們回答第一個問題。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員說明）

Our first question will come from the line of Brett Feldman of Goldman Sachs.

我們的第一個問題來自高盛的布雷特·費爾德曼。

Two, if you don't mind. The first one is, I was hoping we could get your early insights on what drives the uptake of Internet Air, the demo where it's resonating. And I'm also curious how you are deciding which of your in-region markets where it makes sense to launch that product, and maybe whether you're starting to reconsider whether there's opportunities to identify the same conditions out of region? And then just a question for Pascal. I'm curious why you did not increase your adjusted EPS guidance for the year in conjunction with your EBITDA guidance?

兩個，如果你不介意的話。第一個是，我希望我們能夠讓您儘早了解是什麼推動了 Internet Air 的普及，以及它引起共鳴的演示。我也很好奇你們如何決定在哪些區域內市場推出產品有意義，也許你們是否開始重新考慮是否有機會在區域外確定相同的條件？然後有一個問題要問帕斯卡。我很好奇為什麼你們沒有結合 EBITDA 指引來提高本年度調整後每股盈餘指引？

Nothing's changed in our approach to Internet Air. I think I'd start with the second part of your question, and I'm going to articulate exactly how we see the product being used within our business moving forward. So we don't necessarily distinguish that there's application of the product out of region just as there is in region, although they're a little bit different. I said before I have no issue selling Internet Air into the business segment. It's a really attractive thing for us to do. It's a really helpful product on a number of different fronts. It meets a particular need.

我們的網路空氣方法沒有任何改變。我想我應該從你問題的第二部分開始，我將準確地闡明我們如何看待該產品在我們業務中的未來發展。所以我們不一定要區分區域外產品的應用和區域內產品的應用，儘管它們有一點不同。我之前說過，我對將網路空氣銷售到業務部門沒有任何意見。這對我們來說是一件非常有吸引力的事情。這是一個在許多不同方面都非常有用的產品。它滿足了特定的需要。

I've shared with you that given what businesses pay for broadband and the other incremental services you can layer on top of them that allows them to have a higher take or a higher ARPU. And their usage characteristics that makes the profitability of serving the product in that segment different than it is in, say, a consumer household with four people that's streaming video all day long. And so we will continue to find opportunities to do that. We have some markets out of region where we're underpenetrated. We have a lot of network valve capacity that we can use. We'll selectively look at opportunities to do that where it makes sense to do that.

我已經與您分享了，考慮到企業為寬頻和其他增量服務支付的費用，您可以在它們之上分層，從而使他們獲得更高的收入或更高的 ARPU。它們的使用特徵使得在該細分市場中提供產品的盈利能力不同於在一個四口之家整天觀看串流媒體影片的消費者家庭中的產品。因此，我們將繼續尋找機會做到這一點。我們在一些地區外的市場尚未滲透。我們有大量的網路閥門容量可供使用。我們將有選擇地尋找有意義的機會來做到這一點。

I wouldn't tell you that's the dominant driver in region and where we've been putting a lot of time and energy. We start with our customers first. We have a lot of longstanding loyal customers that have been with us. They've been buying bundled services from us, and we can give them a better service on Internet Air than we could possibly on the existing infrastructure that's in place, that is generally going to be infrastructure that we're going to be replacing in fairly short order with fiber.

我不會告訴你這是該地區的主要驅動因素，也是我們投入大量時間和精力的地方。我們先從客戶開始。我們有很多長期忠實的客戶一直與我們在一起。他們一直在從我們這裡購買捆綁服務，我們可以在 Internet Air 上為他們提供比我們在現有基礎設施上更好的服務，這通常是我們將在相當長的時間內更換的基礎設施與纖維的短期訂單。

And so as a holding strategy, we may apply the product, in that case, to hold that customer with a better service experience because they're a high-value customer. It allows us to move into our process of shutting down infrastructure in places where we need to ultimately pull out costs, and shut our network and infrastructure, and it becomes a tool in allowing us to do that. And so that's how we intend to use it. And we'll use it, as I said, on a very careful, surgical and target basis. But it really hasn't changed our point of view on the product in aggregate. And Pascal can touch on the EPS issue, which I think is a pretty simple explanation.

因此，作為一種保留策略，在這種情況下，我們可以應用該產品來為該客戶提供更好的服務體驗，因為他們是高價值客戶。它使我們能夠進入關閉基礎設施的過程，我們需要最終降低成本，並關閉我們的網路和基礎設施，它成為允許我們做到這一點的工具。這就是我們打算如何使用它。正如我所說，我們將在非常謹慎、外科手術和目標的基礎上使用它。但總的來說，它並沒有改變我們對產品的看法。帕斯卡可以談到每股盈餘問題，我認為這是一個非常簡單的解釋。

Brett, here's what I would say. First and foremost, don't read too much into this. We couldn't be happier with the performance of the overall company. And remember, when we gave EPS guidance, we gave a pretty broad range, a $0.10 range. I think it's fair to say we are tracking towards the upper end of that range. But there's more variability in things like capitalized interest, noncash pensions. So it's really just a question on our part but all in all, we feel really good about the overall performance of the business.

布雷特，這就是我要說的。首先也是最重要的一點，不要對此進行過多解讀。我們對整個公司的表現非常滿意。請記住，當我們給出 EPS 指導時，我們給出了一個相當寬泛的範圍，即 0.10 美元的範圍。我認為可以公平地說我們正在接近該範圍的上限。但資本化利息、非現金退休金等方面的變化更大。所以這實際上只是我們的一個問題，但總而言之，我們對業務的整體表現感到非常好。

Our next question will come from the line of Simon Flannery of Morgan Stanley.

我們的下一個問題將來自摩根士丹利的西蒙·弗蘭納裡。

Great. I wonder if we could dig into the fiber and the broadband growth. That 9% ARPU growth is very impressive. Can you just aggregate that a little bit more and then help us understand what's the kind of the take-up of these higher-end tiers and how much further can this growth continue? And then perhaps talk a little bit about DIRECTV and how you see that evolving over time. And how are you thinking about your various strategic options around that?

偉大的。我想知道我們是否可以深入研究光纖和寬頻的成長。 9% 的 ARPU 成長非常令人印象深刻。您能否稍微匯總一下，然後幫助我們了解這些高端產品的使用情況以及這種增長還能持續多久？然後也許可以談談 DIRECTV 以及您如何看待它隨著時間的推移而演變。您如何看待圍繞這個問題的各種策略選擇？

Simon, I don't know if I'll be able to give you the exact number you want. But what I will tell you is the ARPU growth is being driven largely by migration into higher speed plans where customers are moving up in the continuum. Plus, we've been managing the base of some of our embedded stuff at the low end with some pricing adjustments that we've made that's helped. So the spread from bottom to top of the customer base is a little tighter spread than it used to be, in aggregate. But by and large, we've got customers that are choosing to migrate up on speed. And I would tell you, there's a long way for that to run because, as you know as we're deploying today, you had a minimum on the new build, we're putting on 5-gig networks.

西蒙，我不知道能否給你想要的確切號碼。但我要告訴你的是，ARPU 的成長主要是由遷移到更高速的計畫所推動的，在這些計畫中，客戶不斷升級。另外，我們一直在管理一些低階嵌入式產品的基礎，並進行了一些定價調整，這很有幫助。因此，整體而言，客戶群從下到上的分佈比以前要窄一些。但總的來說，我們有一些客戶選擇加快遷移速度。我想告訴你，要實現這一點還有很長的路要走，因為正如你所知，正如我們今天部署的那樣，你在新構建上有最低限度的要求，我們正在部署 5 兆網路。

And so we've got a lot of customers that have a lot of room to go from maybe their migration into a 1-gig product and ultimately moving up to a 2.5- or 5-gig product as their needs adjust and when they decide they want to do that. So I would also tell you when you look at where we're selling on average price per bit relative to others in the industry, we tend to sell at a bit of a discount, which we're okay with right now. I've outlined before why we think that's a pretty decent strategy at this juncture and allows us to get the faster penetration the way we want to do it. And I think it's also going to help as we move into some bundling strategies moving forward that we -- it gives us a lot of opportunity and flexibility as to how we think about putting those products together without taking any margin erosion in the approach.

因此，我們有很多客戶，他們有很大的空間可以從遷移到 1g 產品到最終升級到 2.5 或 5g 產品（隨著他們的需求調整以及當他們決定使用時）。想要那樣做。因此，我還要告訴您，當您查看我們相對於業內其他公司的平均每比特銷售價格時，我們往往會以一定的折扣出售，而我們現在對此還算滿意。我之前已經概述過為什麼我們認為在這個時刻這是一個相當不錯的策略，並且允許我們以我們想要的方式獲得更快的滲透。我認為，當我們採取一些捆綁策略來推進我們的發展時，這也會有所幫助——它為我們提供了很多機會和靈活性，讓我們可以考慮如何將這些產品組合在一起，而不需要採取任何利潤侵蝕的方法。

So I feel really good that we've got a lot of headroom. I think I would also point out that on the expense side of the equation, we are still scaling. You see it happening each quarter. We're getting better, but in a lot of these metropolitan areas that we're building, we're not quite at optimal scale yet. That's where our build is focused and we move forward, which is to fill in and make sure that we get footprints in numbers of homes passed and workforce sizing that is kind of in an optimal structure. And when we do that, we take cost per down as a result of that. We take cost per down in our acquisition costs. We take cost per down in our ongoing maintenance cost. So you should also understand that from a margin accretion perspective, it's not just about driving the ARPU up. It's about us also getting more efficient and effective on the cost line of how we operate that business.

所以我感覺非常好，因為我們有很大的空間。我想我還要指出，在等式的費用方面，我們仍在擴大規模。每個季度你都會看到這種情況發生。我們正在變得更好，但在我們正在建立的許多大都市地區，我們尚未達到最佳規模。這就是我們建設的重點，我們繼續前進，這是為了填補並確保我們在經過的家庭數量和勞動力規模方面取得足跡，這是一種最佳結構。當我們這樣做時，我們會因此計算每次下降的成本。我們會降低採購成本。我們將每次下降的成本計入我們的持續維護成本中。因此，您還應該了解，從利潤成長的角度來看，這不僅僅是為了提高 ARPU。這也關係到我們在經營業務的成本方面變得更有效率和有效。

On DTV, we're running the business incredibly well. It's generating the cash that our partnership was designed to generate. The team is very focused on what they're doing. The plan for the first 2 years that we've been in is basically not only track to what we expected but has outperformed what we expected. I think the focus in that mature business has been really good. We're very satisfied with the trajectory of how it's operating. We're extremely satisfied with how the management team is executing the plan that we set up. They're very focused on what their mission is over the next couple of years. My point of view is we continue to run the play we set up. Something else came along that made sense, fine, we'd examine it. But right now, our management team is focused on operating the business.

在數位電視方面，我們的業務運作得非常好。它正在產生我們的合作夥伴關係旨在產生的現金。團隊非常專注於他們正在做的事情。我們前兩年的計劃基本上不僅符合我們的預期，而且超出了我們的預期。我認為對成熟業務的關注非常好。我們對其營運軌跡非常滿意。我們對管理團隊執行我們所製定的計劃的方式非常滿意。他們非常專注於未來幾年的使命。我的觀點是我們繼續演好我們設定的劇本。其他一些有意義的事情出現了，好吧，我們會檢查它。但現在，我們的管理團隊專注於營運業務。

Great. Any update on the BEAD process?

偉大的。 BEAD 流程有更新嗎？

Other than the wheels of government turn slowly, not really. It's in the process, and we've been working actively. I would say there's a couple of states that are a little bit further ahead than the other states in the country. If you want to call them bellwether, they're bellwether from the sense of that as they're getting ready to file and submit their applications, it's exposing a couple of the areas where clarification needs to occur in the process, about how the regs are to be applied, how the bids are to be evaluated. That process of getting that clarification between the industry, broadly the state and the federal government is underway. And I think that's where the action is right now. That clarification will, hopefully, allow the states that are maybe second, third, fourth in the queue to be a little bit more precise in their applications. And I suspect that once some of these issues are resolved, there'll be a little less back and forth and a little bit more of the road respond to the application and move forward.

除了政府的車輪轉動緩慢之外，並非如此。它正在過程中，我們一直在積極工作。我想說有幾個州比全國其他州領先一些。如果你想稱他們為領頭羊，從某種意義上說，他們是領頭羊，因為他們正準備提交申請，這暴露了在此過程中需要澄清的幾個領域，即法規如何將如何應用，如何評估投標。產業、州政府和聯邦政府之間的澄清過程正在進行中。我認為這就是現在採取行動的地方。希望這項澄清能讓隊列中可能排名第二、第三、第四的州在其申請中更加精確。我懷疑，一旦其中一些問題得到解決，來回的情況就會少一些，對申請做出回應並繼續前進的道路就會多一些。

As I've said before, I'm not optimistic that there's customers that are paying monies on BEAD-supported infrastructure builds that impact the 2024 financial plan. I think this is going to be a 2025-plus thing when you kind of look at the aggregate portions of the build, the private capital that comes in and ultimately, customers that come on the network and start buying services that might not have been buying services before.

正如我之前所說，我對有些客戶為 BEAD 支援的基礎設施建設付費而影響 2024 年財務計畫並不樂觀。我認為這將是 2025 年以後的事情，當你看看構建的總部分、進入的私人資本以及最終進入網絡並開始購買可能沒有購買的服務的客戶時之前的服務。

Our next question will come from the line of John Hodulik of UBS.

我們的下一個問題將來自瑞銀集團 (UBS) 的約翰‧霍杜利克 (John Hodulik)。

Two, if I could. First on wireless. Churn was flat sequentially despite the typical seasonality and continues to come down annually. I mean, just, John, just what are you seeing in the competitive market? Obviously, a lot of concern about what's happening from cable and through other MVNOs. So just trends you're seeing there, and maybe does that suggest that the strength that we typically see in 4Q subs will continue? And then one more, if I may, on the free cash flow. Looking out to '24, not looking for guidance at this point, but anything you can tell us about the piece parts that will drive free cash flow versus these level -- versus the '23 levels next year like CapEx? Or anything you can tell us about working cap, EBITDA or even DIRECTV or tax payments would be great.

兩個，如果可以的話。首先是無線。儘管存在典型的季節性因素，但客戶流失率仍連續持平，並且每年持續下降。我的意思是，約翰，您在競爭激烈的市場中看到了什麼？顯然，人們對有線電視和其他行動虛擬網路營運商所發生的事情非常擔憂。那麼，這只是您在那裡看到的趨勢，也許這是否表明我們通常在第四季度潛艇中看到的力量將持續下去？如果可以的話，我還想談談自由現金流。展望 24 年，目前不尋求指導，但您能告訴我們有關將推動自由現金流的各個部分與這些水平相比的信息嗎？與明年 23 年的水平（如資本支出）相比？或者您可以告訴我們有關工作上限、EBITDA 甚至 DIRECTV 或納稅的任何信息，那就太好了。

I'd be happy to have Pascal give a non-answer on guidance for free cash flow next year, but I'm just kidding, John. We'll give you a little texture on it, I guess. On the wireless side, look, I think at the second quarter call last year or last quarter when we talked about where we were on our momentum in the market, we articulated what had occurred. We pointed back to specifically one particular account that we had, had some churn in that drove a little bit of an anomaly. We indicated to you that we felt pretty good about our momentum in the market that we expected a normalized third quarter in our performance. And I believe you can look at the tale of tape here and see that there's a normalized third quarter in our performance and nobody else has reported. But from the best of what I can glean in our mechanisms that are out of the market, we're kind of back into a ratable share position. And I think that's actually a preferred position because the way we think about this is I'm actually more interested in growing our share of revenues as opposed to just our share of raw number of customers.

我很高興帕斯卡對明年的自由現金流指導給出非答案，但我只是在開玩笑，約翰。我想我們會給你一些紋理。在無線方面，我認為在去年第二季或上個季度的電話會議上，當我們談到我們在市場上的勢頭時，我們闡明了所發生的情況。我們特別指出了我們擁有的一個特定帳戶，該帳戶發生了一些變化，導致了一些異常情況。我們向您表示，我們對市場動能感到非常滿意，預計第三季業績將正常化。我相信你可以看看這裡的磁帶故事，發現我們的第三季業績正常化，沒有其他人報告過。但從我在市場之外的機制中收集到的最好資訊來看，我們又回到了可評級的份額地位。我認為這實際上是一個優先位置，因為我們思考這個問題的方式實際上是我更感興趣的是增加我們的收入份額，而不是我們的原始客戶數量份額。

And I think we're doing as good a job of that in the industry as anybody. We're bringing on highly accretive customers, and we continue to see our share of industry revenues improve at a better rate than the share of our actual subscriber counts, which tells me that I think we're focused on those profitable customers and bringing in the right customers. I would tell you the churn numbers, as you indicated, we're very happy with them. They're very strong. They're very solid. So despite what's being reported by MVNOs or cable, our base is incredibly stable.

我認為我們在這個行業中做得和其他人一樣好。我們正在吸引高度增值的客戶，並且我們繼續看到我們在行業收入中所佔份額的增長速度比我們實際用戶數量所佔份額的增長速度要快，這告訴我，我認為我們專注於那些可盈利的客戶並引入合適的客戶。我會告訴您流失數字，正如您所指出的，我們對它們非常滿意。他們非常強大。它們非常堅固。因此，儘管行動虛擬網路營運商或有線電視報道了一些情況，但我們的基礎仍然非常穩定。

And you can see what's happening on our road side that's ultimately driving the net numbers. If you step back and think about that in aggregate, if we're growing ARPUs and if we're growing accretive customers, and if our churn is stable, look, I think I'm okay with what's going on. I think that's a good formula. And when I think about where we get ready to approach the fourth quarter, we're kind of right on plan of what we expected just to see happen. We're optimistic about the quarter. We think we're set up well in terms of our staffing levels, our positioning in the market, resources and supplies that we have. We think the product is a relevant product. So no matter what the economic environment is, I don't see anything that's going to necessarily impact the category. I think it's a very popular category for gift giving and what needs to go on. So I would expect we have a strong seasonal fourth quarter like we typically have in the industry, and I don't see that changing right now. Pascal, do you want to give some texture on free cash flow?

您可以看到我們路邊發生的事情最終推動了淨數字。如果你退後一步，從總體上考慮一下，如果我們的 ARPU 正在成長，如果我們正在成長增值客戶，如果我們的客戶流失率穩定，那麼我想我對正在發生的事情沒有什麼意見。我認為這是一個很好的公式。當我想到我們為第四季度做好準備時，我們對我們預期會發生的事情的計劃有點正確。我們對本季持樂觀態度。我們認為我們在人員配備水準、市場定位、資源和供應方面都做得很好。我們認為該產品是相關產品。因此，無論經濟環境如何，我認為不會有任何因素必然影響該類別。我認為這是一個非常受歡迎的送禮類別，也是需要繼續發展的。因此，我預計第四季度的季節性表現將非常強勁，就像行業中通常的情況一樣，我認為目前這種情況不會改變。帕斯卡，您想對自由現金流給一些說明嗎？

Sure thing. John, here are the things to keep in mind. We've said this all along. We're trying to build a franchise that is producing sustainable growth in both earnings and cash. We're confident we're going to be able to do that in 2024. So when you think about earnings, here are the piece parts to keep in mind. We continue to expect to grow our Mobility business very nicely as well as continue to drive growth in our fiber broadband business.

當然可以。約翰，這裡有一些需要記住的事情。我們一直這麼說。我們正在努力建立一個能夠帶來收入和現金可持續增長的特許經營權。我們有信心在 2024 年能夠做到這一點。因此，當您考慮收益時，請記住以下幾個部分。我們繼續期望我們的行動業務能夠得到良好的發展，並繼續推動我們的光纖寬頻業務的成長。

Our cost takeout efforts the last couple of years have shown that we are committed to creating a really efficient cost structure. So all those things will help drive EBITDA growth. And you couple that with a step down in CapEx from the elevated levels we've been at in '22 and '23, those are going to be the big growth drivers to drive free cash flow growth next year, offsetting that, we would anticipate DIRECTV contributions to decline along -- consistent with the secular decline of that business. But I would say keep in mind that, that DIRECTV is probably more resilient than many have expected, and the team is doing an incredible job of managing that asset. And then we also expect with the phaseout of the 2017 tax incentives like bonus depreciation, interest limitations, well, we're going to pay more taxes next year. Those are the big piece parts.

我們過去幾年的成本削減工作表明，我們致力於創建一個真正有效的成本結構。因此，所有這些都將有助於推動 EBITDA 成長。再加上資本支出從 22 年和 23 年的高水準下降，這些將成為明年推動自由現金流成長的主要成長動力，我們預計，這將抵消這一點DIRECTV 的貢獻也隨之下降——與該業務的長期下降一致。但我想說的是，請記住，DIRECTV 可能比許多人預期的更有彈性，而且團隊在管理該資產方面做得非常出色。然後我們也預計，隨著 2017 年稅收獎勵措施（如紅利折舊、利息限制）的逐步取消，我們明年將繳納更多稅款。這些是大部件。

Our next question will come from the line of Phil Cusick of JPMorgan.

我們的下一個問題將來自摩根大通的菲爾·庫西克。

Maybe under the category of pushing my luck. On CapEx, it's been trending down for the year. The last few years, you've actually had lower CapEx in the fourth quarter, and vendor comments are that things are going to slow more. Should we be looking for a big bounce in the fourth quarter for some reason to get to $24 billion or maybe that is a little high at this point?

也許屬於碰運氣的範疇。在資本支出方面，今年一直呈現下降趨勢。在過去的幾年裡，第四季度的資本支出實際上較低，供應商的評論是事情會更加緩慢。我們是否應該出於某種原因期待第四季出現大幅反彈，達到 240 億美元，或者目前這個數字可能有點高？

Yes, Phil, I'd be disappointed if you didn't try to push your luck, but I think we gave you guidance that said our CapEx for the year was going to mirror kind of what we did last year. And I still think that's going to be our guidance that our CapEx for the year is going to mirror what we had last year. So you should expect you're going to see something in the fourth quarter that delivers a number that reflects something very similar in the neighborhood of what we did last year. I've been telling you, I think, for several quarters that our goal is to get to a little bit more ratable construct around how we operate the business, and we've been working hard to do that, meaning we smooth some things out.

是的，菲爾，如果您不嘗試碰運氣，我會感到失望，但我認為我們給您的指導表明我們今年的資本支出將反映我們去年所做的事情。我仍然認為這將是我們今年的資本支出將反映去年的指導。因此，您應該期望在第四季度看到一些與我們去年所做的非常相似的數字。我想，幾個季度以來，我一直在告訴你們，我們的目標是圍繞我們的業務運作方式建立一個更值得評價的結構，我們一直在努力做到這一點，這意味著我們解決了一些問題。

We're not quite where we need to be in that regard yet, but we're getting better. So I think you need to be careful leaning extensively on seasonality because if we're doing our job right and we're doing all the right things and managing our working capital and those kinds of things, which I think we're getting progressively better at based on the comments that we gave you earlier, you may see seasonality start to adjust a little bit.

在這方面我們還沒有達到我們需要達到的目標，但我們正在變得更好。因此，我認為你需要謹慎地廣泛依賴季節性，因為如果我們正確地做好我們的工作，我們正在做所有正確的事情並管理我們的營運資本和諸如此類的事情，我認為我們會逐漸變得更好根據我們之前給您的評論，您可能會看到季節性開始略有調整。

If I can, one more. On the fiber side, how are you finding the business doing in terms of shaking customers out of cable, given the low move environment? Are you doing anything different to pull customers away? Or is this just sort of steadily working?

如果可以的話，再來一張。在光纖方面，考慮到低移動環境，您認為該業務在將客戶從電纜中剔除方面表現如何？您是否採取了其他措施來吸引顧客？或者這只是一種穩定的工作？

We -- what I would say is, I'll maybe reframe your question. We're constantly evolving our tactics and our approach for how we take share. And we're constantly -- I think we're getting better and I -- props to the marketing team that does this and the operating team that does the build. It's really a team effort, frankly, that occurs in these markets. There's no better way to sell the product than having -- digging up somebody's front yard, so to speak. So it builds awareness, and then our job is to capitalize on that awareness and build excitement around it.

我們——我想說的是，我可能會重新組織你的問題。我們不斷改進我們的策略和方法來獲取份額。我們一直在——我認為我們正在變得更好，而且我——支持執行此操作的營銷團隊和執行構建的營運團隊。坦白說，這確實是這些市場中團隊努力的成果。可以這麼說，沒有比挖掘某人的前院更好的銷售產品的方法了。因此它建立了意識，然後我們的工作就是利用這種意識並圍繞它激發興奮。

And we've done an exceptional job at the front end of making that happen, and we continue to fine-tune our tactics around that. And that's what's led to faster rates of penetration. And it's a huge sensitivity driver and the overall financial performance of the investment, if you can double penetration rates in the first 18 months over what had been historic levels. It's amazing what that does pay back effectively. And we've been really successful at doing that. I think to give you a little color on your question, as we hit the 40% pan level in a market, which we're now getting more and more markets where we're kind of at that 40% share, 40% penetration level, our tactics do switch. And so as more markets hit the 40% level, we have to go to a little bit different set of tactics around how we do that.

我們在實現這一目標的前端做了出色的工作，我們將繼續圍繞這一點調整我們的策略。這就是導致更快滲透率的原因。如果您能夠在前 18 個月內將滲透率提高到歷史水平的兩倍，那麼這將是一個巨大的敏感性驅動因素和投資的整體財務表現。令人驚訝的是，它所帶來的有效回報。我們在這方面確實取得了成功。我想對你的問題進行一些說明，因為我們在一個市場中達到了 40% 的普遍水平，現在我們在越來越多的市場中達到了 40% 的份額，40% 的滲透率水平，我們的策略確實改變了。因此，隨著越來越多的市場達到 40% 的水平，我們必須圍繞如何做到這一點採取一些不同的策略。

And I think, frankly, in many instances, especially where those are in region, they play into our strengths in terms of how we drive more value into the household, how we use the bundling lever in an effective way, how we use data differently to target, what distribution channels we use to contact those customer shift as a result of that. So I would say we have a really fine-tuned set of plays that get us from 0 to 40, and we're pretty good at doing that. And then when we hit 40, we kind of start to use a different set of playbooks in those particular markets as they mature, and I feel really good. The team has their handle on that, and they're doing it the right way. We spend the right money at the right time to unseat those customers, and that's why you see that business scaling so nicely in the way that it is.

坦白說，我認為，在許多情況下，尤其是在地區內的情況下，它們在我們如何為家庭帶來更多價值、我們如何有效地使用捆綁槓桿、我們如何以不同的方式使用數據方面發揮了我們的優勢為了確定目標，我們使用哪些分銷管道來聯繫這些客戶，從而發生變化。所以我想說，我們有一套非常微調的玩法，可以讓我們從 0 到 40，而且我們非常擅長做到這一點。當我們年滿 40 歲時，隨著這些特定市場的成熟，我們開始使用一套不同的策略，我感覺非常好。團隊已經掌握了這一點，而且他們正在以正確的方式做這件事。我們在正確的時間花正確的錢來取代這些客戶，這就是為什麼你會看到業務以現在的方式如此順利地擴展。

Since you mentioned it, what is that first 18-month penetration at this point?

既然您已經提到了，那麼目前第一個 18 個月的滲透率是多少？

So next question.

那麼下一個問題。

Our next question will come from the line of Michael Rollins of Citi.

我們的下一個問題將來自花旗銀行的邁克爾·羅林斯。

Two, if I could, as well. First, could you discuss the factors behind the slowing wireless device upgrade rate? How it's impacting the financials? And could this go even lower in the future? And then secondly, just an update on where AT&T is on the run rate cost-cutting targets? And if you could size the potential for additional savings over the next 1 to 3 years?

如果可以的話，也有兩個。首先，您能否討論一下無線設備升級速度放緩背後的因素？它如何影響財務？未來這個數字還會更低嗎？其次，請簡單介紹一下 AT&T 在運行率成本削減目標的進度？您能否評估未來 1 至 3 年內額外節省的潛力？

Sure, Michael. So I would tell you that I don't think anything has really changed in what we see in the device rate and whether or not it slows dramatically over what its current rate is, hard to say. I would say the bias is pick your view of what the economic environment does, and that's probably the higher correlation as to what happens to the upgrade rate. And if there's a more stressed economic environment, maybe it slows a bit. If it stays healthy and robust and kind of works along where we're at right now, then I don't think it's going to dramatically change.

當然，邁克爾。所以我想告訴你，我認為我們在設備速率中看到的情況並沒有發生任何真正的變化，也很難說它是否比目前的速率顯著減慢。我想說的是，偏見是選擇你對經濟環境的看法，這可能與升級率的變化有更高的相關性。如果經濟環境壓力更大，成長速度可能會稍微放緩。如果它保持健康和穩健，並且按照我們現在的情況發揮作用，那麼我認為它不會發生巨大的變化。

I think what we've been seeing in general is a couple of things. I've mentioned this before in other calls, and it doesn't change my point of view. The devices, frankly, from generation to generation, change a little bit less. It's harder to get differentiation in the hardware. I mean, they're really good cameras on them, and there's really good modems. And they all have really good speed because of the spectrum bands that handle them. And so customers aren't necessarily hanging on a device evolution to say there's such a dramatic uptick in functionality that I can't use my device for several years.

我認為我們總體上看到了一些事情。我之前在其他電話中提到過這一點，但這並沒有改變我的觀點。坦白說，這些設備一代又一代地改變得少了一點。在硬體上獲得差異化更加困難。我的意思是，它們的相機非常好，而且調製解調器也非常好。由於處理它們的頻段，它們都具有非常好的速度。因此，客戶不一定會堅持設備的發展，說功能的大幅提升導致我幾年都無法使用我的設備。

Two, I think people or the human body, the commercial case industry that is responsible for protecting devices, people are dropping them less, and they're taking better care of them. And as a result of that, they last a little bit longer. You add on to that, the fact that we're very successful at selling insurance into our customer base. Because we sell insurance, customers are more prone to potentially take a replacement device within the terms of the agreement that they have rather than swap out to a new device, and that has worked out well for customers. And it works out well for us, and that tends to extend the life cycle a bit.

第二，我認為人們或人體，負責保護設備的商業外殼產業，人們減少了它們的掉落，並且更好地照顧它們。因此，它們的使用壽命會更長一些。除此之外，我們在向客戶群銷售保險方面非常成功。因為我們銷售保險，所以客戶更有可能在協議條款內更換設備，而不是換成新設備，這對客戶來說效果很好。這對我們來說效果很好，而且往往會稍微延長生命週期。

And look, as devices get expensive, more expensive and they are getting more expensive for whatever reason, consumers are rational animals. And like any other more expensive thing, oftentimes, you keep it a little bit longer, you try to squeeze a little bit more out of it. And I think there's a cycle of that occurring. So I think that's why we're seeing the cycle we're seeing. Whether it continues to drive its way down or it kind of flattens out remains to be seen, but it's pretty explainable. And I don't think it's going to substantially alter kind of our point of view of [momentum] views for you and what we're looking at as we move forward.

看看，隨著設備變得越來越貴，無論出於何種原因，它們都變得越來越貴，消費者是理性的動物。就像任何其他更昂貴的東西一樣，通常，你會保留它更長的時間，你會嘗試從中擠出更多的東西。我認為這種情況會發生一個循環。所以我認為這就是我們看到這個週期的原因。它是繼續下跌還是趨於平緩還有待觀察，但這是可以解釋的。我認為這不會實質地改變我們對你們的[勢頭]觀點以及我們在前進過程中所關注的觀點。

On the run rate on cost cutting that you asked about. Look, the run rate is we did $6 billion over 3 years, right? And we did that in an inflationary environment. So it was really like, I would say, it's 130% of what we really wanted to do when you think about what we were able to actually work through and get done. We've given you $2 billion more over the next 3 years. You saw that we took an accrual this quarter. That accrual is set up through the course of next year. I think if you want to understand how we expect some of these costs to go, there's probably a correlation to that accrual that you should think about. That's obviously not all of it, but it's a portion of it. It would give you some indication of how we think about feathering this in over the course of the next 12 months.

關於您詢問的成本削減的運行率。看，運行率是我們在 3 年內完成了 60 億美元，對嗎？我們是在通膨環境下做到這一點的。所以我想說，當你想到我們能夠實際完成並完成的事情時，這實際上是我們真正想做的事情的 130%。我們在未來 3 年內再提供您 20 億美元。您看到我們本季提列了應計費用。該應計費用將持續到明年。我認為，如果您想了解我們預計其中一些成本將如何發生，那麼您應該考慮與應計費用之間的相關性。顯然這不是全部，但只是其中的一部分。它可以讓您了解我們如何考慮在接下來的 12 個月內對此進行羽毛化。

And I would say, as I indicated in my opening remarks, we feel really good about where we are in momentum right now and some of the things we have underway. I mentioned to you many quarters ago that we're -- we've been investing in our information technology infrastructure. It's been painful. It requires a lot of work. It's very, very detailed work every time you change out a CRM system or a billing system. And you have to carefully deal with your customer base and your different distribution channels. We're now getting to the point where we're starting to turn some scale up on those platforms. That, coupled with the fact that more of our activity is built on fiber and wireless, is giving us a different kind of cost structure in the business.

我想說，正如我在開場白中指出的那樣，我們對目前的勢頭以及我們正在進行的一些事情感到非常滿意。我在很多個季度前就向大家提到過，我們一直在投資我們的資訊科技基礎設施。這很痛苦。這需要做很多工作。每次更換 CRM 系統或計費系統時，這都是非常非常詳細的工作。您必須仔細處理您的客戶群和不同的分銷管道。我們現在已經開始在這些平台上擴大規模。再加上我們更多的活動建立在光纖和無線基礎上，這為我們帶來了不同的業務成本結構。

We're going to continue to ride that curve. We're going to continue to make sure that we streamline the business effectively for what we have as the new products moving forward. That's part of the legacy migration of what we've been doing in geographic footprint shutdown. And I feel really good about us being able to achieve that $2 billion over the next 3 years.

我們將繼續沿著這條曲線前進。隨著新產品的推出，我們將繼續確保有效地簡化業務。這是我們在地理足跡關閉方面所做的遺留遷移的一部分。我對我們能夠在未來 3 年內實現 20 億美元的目標感到非常高興。

And our next question will come from the line of Craig Moffett of MoffettNathanson.

我們的下一個問題將來自 MoffettNathanson 的 Craig Moffett。

I want to stay with the topic you were just discussing about upgrade rates and things and just try to get a sense of what you're seeing in terms of the new iPhone launch and what that might mean for margins in the fourth quarter. And then just a second question, if I could, just to clarify your remarks earlier on the BEAD program. As it does ramp up in what now sounds more likely to be 2025, would you expect that, that would be, to some degree, a substitute for some of your fiber builds that are currently thought of as competitive overbuilds? Or would they be a supplement to competitive overbuilds?

我想繼續討論您剛剛討論的有關升級率和其他事情的話題，並嘗試了解您對新款 iPhone 的發布所看到的情況，以及這對第四季度的利潤率可能意味著什麼。然後是第二個問題，如果可以的話，我想澄清一下您之前關於 BEAD 計劃的言論。由於現在聽起來更有可能是 2025 年，它確實會增加，您是否認為這會在某種程度上取代您目前被認為具有競爭力的過度建設的一些光纖建設？或者它們會成為競爭性過度建設的補充嗎？

So I -- what I would tell you, Craig, is I've made some comments in my opening remarks that we had a preorder rate in this cycle that was probably the best that we've seen in a long period of time. And whether or not that's unique to AT&T or unique to the industry, I don't know. I have not heard others report at this juncture. I don't know what their guidance is going to be, but I will tell you that our upgrade rate was a bit higher than what we have seen in the last several quarters. But it wasn't what I would call out of pattern, where it's going to be anything that is inconsistent with the guidance we've given you on our margins for the year and inconsistent with what we expect for the business performing. So everything that we have articulated to you where we would guide in on service revenue growth, what we think the operating margins are going to be within the business, our EBITDA performance is all still very much in check relative to what we see going on there.

所以我——克雷格，我要告訴你的是，我在開場白中發表了一些評論，我們在這個週期中的預購率可能是我們在很長一段時間內看到的最好的。我不知道這是 AT&T 獨有的還是整個產業獨有的。目前我還沒有聽到其他人的報告。我不知道他們的指導方針是什麼，但我會告訴你，我們的升級率比過去幾季的情況要高一些。但這並不是我所說的不合時宜的情況，即任何與我們為您提供的本年度利潤率指導不一致以及與我們對業務表現的預期不一致的情況。因此，我們向您闡明的所有內容，我們將指導服務收入成長，我們認為業務範圍內的營業利潤率，我們的 EBITDA 表現相對於我們所看到的情況仍然受到很大的控制。

What I would say on BEAD is I think it will depend. I think in some cases, there could be some instances where there's a substitute in a state, but I think in some cases, there can be some incremental. And a lot of it will depend on the nature of the particular build, geographically where it's located and what our relative contribution is in. And so I would -- I hate to give you such a soft answer, but the good news is it doesn't change anything we've guided you toward in '24. It doesn't change anything we're building now for '24. It doesn't change what we've committed to you for in '25 in terms of our commitment for the total number of fiber homes passed. If we find some incremental opportunities to go after and if we win some, we won't know that until next year. We'll, of course, make some changes but that's not going to be something that you're going to be seeing over the 18-month horizon in terms of what it does to our investment levels, sub count levels or anything like that.

關於 BEAD，我想說的是，我認為這要視情況而定。我認為在某些情況下，在某些情況下，某個州可能會有替代品，但我認為在某些情況下，可能會有一些增量。這在很大程度上取決於特定構建的性質、它所在的地理位置以及我們的相對貢獻。所以我不想給你這樣一個溫和的答案，但好消息是它不會改變我們在24 年引導您實現的任何目標。它不會改變我們現在為 24 世紀構建的任何內容。這不會改變我們對 25 年通過的光纖家庭總數的承諾。如果我們找到了一些增量機會並贏得了一些機會，我們要到明年才能知道。當然，我們會做出一些改變，但在 18 個月的時間裡你不會看到這對我們的投資水準、子計數水準或類似的影響。

Our next question will come from the line of David Barden of Bank of America.

我們的下一個問題將來自美國銀行的大衛·巴登。

John, a big part of the growth that AT&T and the sector has enjoyed has come from the pricing lever, and you guys were early in calling out pricing is something that had to move to reflect inflation in the economy. But as you look ahead into 2024, given the realities of the cable industry's presence here now and maybe the gravity that they represent from a pricing perspective, could you kind of opine a little bit on how you see the price lever being a part of the kind of short- to medium-term growth story for AT&T? And then maybe also second question, if I could, would be kind of any -- obviously, we just saw the new FCC net neutrality NRPM come out. I'm wondering if there's anything new in there that you see that you incrementally agree or disagree with based on what we kind of went through with Wheeler on this topic?

約翰，AT&T 和該行業的成長很大一部分來自定價槓桿，你們很早就指出定價必須改變以反映經濟中的通貨膨脹。但是，當您展望 2024 年時，考慮到有線電視行業目前存在的現實情況，以及它們從定價角度所代表的重要性，您能否就如何看待價格槓桿成為市場的一部分發表一些看法？ AT&T 的中短期成長故事是什麼樣的？然後也許還有第二個問題，如果可以的話，可以是任意的——顯然，我們剛剛看到新的 FCC 網路中立性 NRPM 出來了。我想知道根據我們與惠勒在這個主題上的經歷，你是否發現有什麼新的東西讓你逐漸同意或不同意？

Really just trying to fire me up, aren't you?

你真的只是想激怒我，不是嗎？

Got to get you going in the morning, John.

約翰，早上得讓你出發。

I guess. Here's how I kind of view the pricing issue. First of all, the industry has invested in an incredible level. If you kind of look, last year was a record investment level for the wireless industry. It's entirely possible. Obviously, don't know yet, but I look at trends that are going on. It's entirely possible this year could be pretty close to that as well. And so it's not a surprise to me in a rational industry when investment levels are up like that, that there's a desire to make sure that everybody is getting a return on these massive investments they're making, and the incredible performance that they're putting out on these networks and the value that's driving into the consumer experience.

我猜。以下是我對定價問題的看法。首先，該行業的投資達到了令人難以置信的水平。如果你仔細觀察的話，你會發現去年無線產業的投資水準創了歷史新高。這是完全有可能的。顯然，還不知道，但我關注正在發生的趨勢。今年完全有可能也非常接近這個數字。因此，在一個理性的行業中，當投資水平如此上升時，我並不感到驚訝，因為人們希望確保每個人都能從他們正在進行的大規模投資以及他們令人難以置信的業績中獲得回報在這些網路上發佈內容以及推動消費者體驗的價值。

And so I step back from that and say, is it perfectly reasonable with what I see going on with the industry in general and other players in the market. Understanding that, that value equation as customers are getting more speed, more reliability, greater capability that, that value exchange needs to be adjusted a little bit. And I see that happening. And I see it happening in a lot of different quarters in a lot of different ways. And sometimes, it manifests itself in an exchange for value giving -- because there's more capacity out there giving people more free things, more hotspots for an incremental amount of money. Sometimes it's looking at those that are maybe at the ratio of how much they're using to how much they're paying need to be hit a little bit as a result of it.

因此，我退一步說，這與我所看到的整個行業和市場上其他參與者的情況完全合理嗎？了解這一點，隨著客戶獲得更快的速度、更可靠、更強大的能力，價值交換需要稍微調整。我看到這種情況正在發生。我看到它在很多不同的領域以很多不同的方式發生。有時，它表現為價值給予的交換——因為有更多的能力為人們提供更多免費的東西，更多的熱點以增加金錢。有時，它會考慮那些可能會因此而受到一點影響的用戶的使用量與支付量的比率。

But I see a lot of rational moves in that regard. And I think as the market continues to mature, the industry, from my point of view, has shown that it can do that in a fairly effective way. And I look at things like customer satisfaction and utility and use, and all those things are headed in the right direction. So I'm going to conclude that it's being done in a fairly smart way. And I look at -- I know my numbers, and I look at my churn numbers, and my churn numbers are really, really good. We're really pleased in that regard.

但我在這方面看到了很多理性的舉動。我認為，隨著市場的不斷成熟，從我的角度來看，該行業已經表明它可以以相當有效的方式做到這一點。我會專注於客戶滿意度、效用和使用等問題，所有這些事情都朝著正確的方向發展。所以我得出的結論是，這是以一種相當聰明的方式完成的。我看——我知道我的數字，我看我的客戶流失數字，我的客戶流失數字非常非常好。在這方面我們真的很高興。

And so to me, it's like there is plenty of places navigate and look at this and do it strategically if you're experienced in managing a subscription base, which I think that we are and I think we've done over time. Cable is running the play that they're running. They're attacking a particular segment of the market that they want to attack. I'm a person that kind of use things long term and structurally. And as I've said before, I don't think it's a sustainable strategy to be the low cost or price leader in a market when you're on a variable cost structure. And so ultimately, there's some repricing. It's a little bit lumpy at times in this industry. We know that, that's the case. But ultimately, there's a repricing that goes on.

所以對我來說，如果你在管理訂閱基礎方面有經驗的話，就好像有很多地方可以瀏覽和看待這個問題，並有策略地去做，我認為我們是這樣的，而且我認為我們隨著時間的推移已經做到了這一點。有線電視正在播放他們正在播放的戲劇。他們正在攻擊他們想要攻擊的特定市場部分。我是一個長期、有結構地使用事物的人。正如我之前所說，當你處於可變成本結構時，我認為成為市場中的低成本或價格領導者並不是一個可持續的策略。所以最終，會有一些重新定價。這個行業有時有點不穩定。我們知道，情況就是這樣。但最終，重新定價仍在繼續。

And our job is play for the long haul, and that's why we're focused on accretive, profitable growth, looking for the right customers, the ones that want to stay with us. And I think we're doing just fine in that regard. And if you get those customers that really understand the value that you bring to the equation, you shouldn't have a problem adjusting pricing on that value as you work through the evolution of your product.

我們的工作是長期發展，這就是為什麼我們專注於增值性、獲利性成長，尋找合適的客戶，那些想要留在我們身邊的客戶。我認為我們在這方面做得很好。如果您的客戶真正了解您所帶來的價值，那麼您在產品的演變過程中根據該價值調整定價就不會有問題。

So on to your second question. The United States demonstrated coming through the pandemic that it had one of the best and most scalable broadband infrastructures in the world, both at home and at business. And where other regions of the world were doing silly and crazy things, we relocated massive amounts of work and shifted massive amounts of traffic on wireless networks from the urban core during the days to the suburban residential dwellings. And we shifted video from workplaces to home, and we performed remarkably well.

那麼關於你的第二個問題。美國在經歷這場大流行病後證明，無論是在家庭還是在企業，它都擁有世界上最好、最具擴展性的寬頻基礎設施之一。當世界其他地區正在做愚蠢而瘋狂的事情時，我們將大量的工作轉移到郊區，並將無線網路上的大量流量從城市核心轉移到郊區住宅。我們將影片從工作場所轉移到了家裡，並且表現得非常好。

And that's indicative, I think, of what has been very sound and good policy driving investment in infrastructure in this country. We're, as I just said, coming off a record investment year in wireless infrastructure. If you look at fiber, there is -- I've never seen the amount of private capital and money that's going into fiber builds right now around the United States that are incenting more infrastructure builds on that side. We just passed the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act, and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act not only dealt with the underserved, but it had a component in there for affordability of the underserved.

我認為，這表明了推動該國基礎設施投資的非常健全和良好的政策。正如我剛才所說，我們即將迎來無線基礎設施投資創紀錄的一年。如果你看看光纖，你會發現——我從未見過現在美國各地投入光纖建設的私人資本和資金數量，這正在刺激美國那邊建設更多的基礎設施。我們剛剛通過了《兩黨基礎設施法案》，《兩黨基礎設施法案》不僅涉及服務水平低下的人，而且還包含了服務水平低下的人的負擔能力的一部分。

And I think what's most important to understand is while the government is putting up $43 billion, $44 billion for that, private capital will probably match that to the tune of about $100 billion. You could have $150 billion of investment going in to solve the underserved and unconnected problem. There's more choice every day in the broadband industry. There's no indications that in the ISP segment, there's any discrimination going on. We have an industry in aggregate that supports no blocking, no paid prioritization, no throttling contrary to what we see going on with some platform apps that are out there, that are choosing to do some of those things in how they operate their business.

我認為最重要的是要理解，雖然政府為此投入了 430 億美元、440 億美元，但私人資本可能會相應投入約 1,000 億美元。您可以投入 1500 億美元來解決服務不足和未連網的問題。寬頻產業每天都有更多選擇。沒有跡象表明在 ISP 領域存在任何歧視。我們的行業總體上支援無阻塞、無付費優先級、無節流，這與我們所看到的一些平台應用程式的情況相反，這些應用程式選擇在其業務運作方式中執行其中一些操作。

The ISP industry is, I think, the last of customers concerned, no customers are complaining about what's going on in that front. So why we would use taxpayer money and resources and political capital to chase a problem that doesn't exist is a bit of a mystery to me? Chasing an unnecessary partisan issue when we have bipartisan issues, potential bipartisan issues like what is the competitive spectrum policy for the United States, and how do we reauthorize spectrum authority so that we can keep pace with places like China and have a growing economic environment and great innovation. How do we deal with the fact we have a broken universal service process that is so important for those that can't afford their services to make sure that it's sustainable?

我認為 ISP 產業是最後一個關心的客戶，沒有客戶抱怨這方面發生的事情。那麼，為什麼我們要用納稅人的錢、資源和政治資本來解決一個不存在的問題，這對我來說有點神祕？當我們遇到兩黨問題時，追逐不必要的黨派問題，潛在的兩黨問題，例如美國的競爭性頻譜政策是什麼，以及我們如何重新授權頻譜授權，以便我們能夠跟上中國等國家的步伐，並擁有不斷發展的經濟環境和偉大的創新。我們如何應對這樣一個事實：我們的普遍服務流程支離破碎，而這對於那些無力承擔服務費用的人來說非常重要，以確保其永續發展？

These are bipartisan issue that need to be dealt with and solved. I think that's where regulators should be spending their time. Now having said that, I think the facts are pretty clear. We will participate in the process with the FCC constructively. We're going to bring all this data to bear. We're going to demonstrate that this is, in fact, how the markets are operating. Hopefully, there's reasonable individuals that take that, get a good reading of it, understand it and decide to set policy consistent with that, that, that reality ultimately results in rational policy, and we see a reasonable outcome on that.

這些都是兩黨需要處理和解決的問題。我認為監管機構應該把時間花在這方面。話雖如此，我想事實已經很清楚了。我們將建設性地與 FCC 一起參與這一過程。我們將利用所有這些數據。我們將證明這實際上就是市場的運作方式。希望有理智的人能夠接受這一點，好好閱讀它，理解它，並決定制定與此相一致的政策，現實最終會導致理性的政策，我們會看到一個合理的結果。

And I haven't given up hope that, that could be the case. However, if what we end up is a heavy-handed approach of taking early 1900s regulation and applying it against the Internet and using it as a government influence to something that's working just fine in the public markets, I will tell you, as a company, we will do everything we need to do to ensure that the record reflects what the law allows the regulator to do and what the record supports. So that's kind of where I add on it at this juncture.

我並沒有放棄希望，情況可能會是這樣。然而，如果我們最終採取的是 1900 年代初期的監管手段，並將其應用於互聯網，並將其作為政府對在公開市場上運作良好的事物的影響力，我會告訴你，作為一家公司，我們將盡一切努力確保記錄反映法律允許監管機構做什麼以及記錄支持什麼。這就是我現在添加的內容。

Our last question will come from the line of Frank Louthan of Raymond James.

我們的最後一個問題來自雷蒙德詹姆斯的弗蘭克勞森。

On the business side, can you characterize the decline year-over-year in terms of whether -- how much of that is weighted to slower or sort of weaker business environment versus exiting unprofitable or low margin products? And then secondly, on the international roaming contribution, where are we on that relative to sort of pre-pandemic levels as far as its contribution to wireless ARPU? And when does that comp start to get a little harder?

在業務方面，您能否從以下方面來描述逐年下降的情況：其中有多少是由於業務環境放緩或疲軟，而不是退出無利可圖或低利潤產品？其次，就國際漫遊貢獻而言，相對於大流行前的水平，就其對無線 ARPU 的貢獻而言，我們處於什麼位置？比賽什麼時候開始變得有點困難？

Frank, business side, here's how I would kind of rank the overall impact. One, the most significant impact that is occurring in the fixed wireline business is what I will call the secular change of technology. So it's the managed complex networking shift toward SDN, which means provision raw bandwidth and use software. And there's an effectiveness and efficiency issue that comes on with that. You shift -- you may keep a customer, you continue to do business with a customer, but you don't shift that technology dollar for dollar. That's probably our most significant.

弗蘭克，商業方面，我將如何對整體影響進行排名。第一，固定有線業務中發生的最重大影響是我所說的技術的長期變革。因此，託管複雜網路正在向 SDN 轉變，這意味著提供原始頻寬並使用軟體。隨之而來的是有效性和效率問題。你可以轉移——你可以保留一個客戶，你繼續與客戶做生意，但你不會把技術美元換成美元。這可能是我們最重要的。

The second part is our decision to exit certain product sets that are low margin and are inconsistent with our ability to sell that core transport in that secular shifting environment. Whereas before, when we were engineering and provisioning highly complex and managed networks, we oftentimes had to bundle and bring things together, which -- to win the business, which oftentimes led us to distribute and layer on top of that other products and services, in this more of a streamlined focused approach on transport and the accretive aspects of transport.

第二部分是我們決定退出某些利潤率低且與我們在長期變化環境中銷售核心運輸的能力不一致的產品系列。而以前，當我們設計和配置高度複雜和受管理的網路時，我們經常必須將東西捆綁在一起，為了贏得業務，這常常導致我們在其他產品和服務之上進行分發和分層，這更多的是針對運輸和運輸增值方面的精簡重點方法。

The second dynamic that's occurring is us backing away from kind of layering on the resale of some of those services. I would tell you that the dynamic around business demand is relatively small, if nonexistent dynamic, in what's happening overall in our revenues. I think there's still a healthy demand in business. And I would point out that while we report on fixed business segment specifically, when you look at our aggregate business performance, it's a very different story.

發生的第二個動態是我們放棄對其中一些服務的轉售進行分層。我想告訴你，在我們的整體收入中，圍繞業務需求的動態即使不存在，也相對較小。我認為商業需求仍然強勁。我想指出的是，雖然我們特別報告了固定業務部門，但當你查看我們的整體業務績效時，情況卻截然不同。

So if you were to kind of take our wireless business component and add it to the fixed business, you have a relatively flat dynamic that's going on, and that's largely because of the growth in wireless. And I actually think we're on the front end right now of many businesses now understanding the wireless technology is their next strategic frontier of how they engineer their processes and their company. And I'm actually pretty bullish that what we saw in the early days of VPN where managed networks and managed capabilities and supported capabilities on complex networks were a big growth cycle in enterprise customers. I think we're going to see the same thing start to emerge on the wireless side. And I think that's just going to be growth. And when we have the presence we do in these large customers, the fact that we're calling on them with one set of services and we can sell both sets of services is really important for us, despite some of the secular headwinds we're taking and the technology shift out on the fixed side.

因此，如果您將我們的無線業務元件添加到固定業務中，您會看到相對平穩的動態，這主要是由於無線業務的成長。事實上，我認為我們現在處於許多企業的前端，現在了解無線技術是他們如何設計流程和公司的下一個策略前沿。事實上，我非常看好我們在 VPN 早期所看到的情況，其中託管網路、託管功能以及複雜網路上的支援功能是企業客戶的一個巨大的成長週期。我認為我們將看到同樣的事情開始出現在無線方面。我認為這就是增長。當我們在這些大客戶中佔有一席之地時，我們向他們提供一套服務並且我們可以銷售兩組服務這一事實對我們來說非常重要，儘管我們面臨一些長期阻力採取和技術轉移到固定側。

Okay. Amir, I'm going to take the liberty of maybe closing this if I can since you said last question. I'd like to thank, first of all, all of you for joining us today. And I would tell you, the way I feel about this quarter is that the pieces have largely fallen into place for us. We have the right formula across the board and the company that's delivering the type of value that we wanted to engineer this business to deliver. And I think, in fact, if you look at the numbers and what we reported, it is delivering. And I think what you are seeing is the results of consistency. Consistency of how we're executing in the business, our go-to-market approach and the focus, the focus on a select number of products and lines of business that is making the difference of how effectively we're operating the company.

好的。阿米爾，自從你說了上一個問題以來，如果可以的話，我將冒昧地結束這個問題。首先，我要感謝大家今天加入我們。我想告訴你，我對本季的感覺是，我們的一切基本上已經就位。我們擁有全面正確的公式，並且公司正在提供我們希望透過設計該業務來提供的價值類型。我認為，事實上，如果你看看這些數字和我們報告的內容，你會發現它正在發揮作用。我認為你所看到的是一致性的結果。我們的業務執行方式、進入市場的方法和重點的一致性，以及對選定數量的產品和業務線的重點，這使我們營運公司的效率變得不同。

And I'm really proud of what the team has done to get us to this point. It's not been an easy trail. It's been one that's had a lot of hard decisions. But it's nice to see those hard decisions paying off and the tangible results that drive returns back into the shareholder base.

我對團隊為實現這一目標所做的努力感到非常自豪。這不是一條容易的路。這是一個做出了很多艱難決定的人。但很高興看到這些艱難的決定得到了回報，並產生了切實的成果，將回報帶回股東基礎。

And I can promise you, we're all focused on closing the year strong and sustaining the momentum that you're seeing in the third quarter. So I thank you very much for your interest in AT&T, and hope you all have a good Halloween.

我可以向您保證，我們都致力於以強勁的業績結束這一年，並維持您在第三季度看到的勢頭。因此，我非常感謝您對 AT&T 的關注，並希望大家度過一個愉快的萬聖節。

Ladies and gentlemen, that does conclude our conference call for today. We'd like to thank you for participating in today's earnings conference call. Thank you for using our service. Have a wonderful day. You may now disconnect.

女士們先生們，我們今天的電話會議到此結束。我們感謝您參加今天的收益電話會議。感謝您使用我們的服務。祝你有美好的一天。您現在可以斷開連線。