Telephone and Data Systems Inc (TDS) 2024 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by. My name is Desiree, and I will be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the TDS and UScellular First Quarter 2024 Operating Results Conference Call. (Operator Instructions)

女士們先生們，謝謝你們的支持。我叫 Desiree，今天我將擔任你們的會議操作員。此時此刻，我謹歡迎大家參加 TDS 和 UScellular 2024 年第一季營運業績電話會議。 （操作員說明）

I would now like to turn the conference over to Colleen Thompson, Vice President, Corporate Relations. Please go ahead.

現在我想將會議交給企業關係副總裁科琳湯普森 (Colleen Thompson)。請繼續。

Good morning and thank you for joining us. We want to make you all aware of the presentation that we have prepared to accompany our comments this morning, which you can find on the Investor Relations sections of the TDS and UScellular websites.

早安，感謝您加入我們。我們想讓大家了解我們今天早上為配合我們的評論而準備的演示文稿，您可以在 TDS 和 UScellular 網站的投資者關係部分找到該演示文稿。

With me today and offering prepared comments are from TDS, Vicki Villacrez, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer; from UScellular, LT Therivel, President and Chief Executive Officer; Doug Chambers, Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer; and from TDS Telecom, Michelle Brukwicki, Senior Vice President of Finance and Chief Financial Officer. This call is being simultaneously webcast on the TDS and UScellular Investor Relations website.

今天與我一起提供準備好的評論的是 TDS 執行副總裁兼財務長 Vicki Villacrez； UScellular 總裁兼執行長 LT Therivel；錢伯斯 (Doug Chambers)，執行副總裁、財務長兼財務長；以及來自 TDS Telecom 的高級財務副總裁兼財務長 Michelle Brukwicki。此次電話會議同時在 TDS 和 UScellular 投資者關係網站上進行網路直播。

Please see the websites for slides referred to on this call, including non-GAAP reconciliations. We provide guidance for both adjusted operating income before depreciation and amortization, or OIBDA, and adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, or EBITDA, to highlight the contributions of UScellular's wireless partnerships. TDS and UScellular filed their SEC Forms 8-K, including the press releases and our 10-Qs earlier this morning.

請參閱網站以取得本次電話會議中提及的投影片，包括非 GAAP 調整表。我們為調整後折舊和攤銷前營業收入 (OIBDA) 以及調整後利息、稅項、折舊和攤銷前利潤 (EBITDA) 提供指導，以突出 UScellular 無線合作夥伴關係的貢獻。 TDS 和 UScellular 今天早上提交了 SEC 表格 8-K，包括新聞稿和我們的 10-Q。

As shown on Slide 2, the information set forth in the presentation and discussed during this call contains statements about expected future events and financial results that are forward-looking and subject to risks and uncertainties. Please review the safe harbor paragraphs in our press releases and the extended version included in our SEC filings.

如投影片 2 所示，簡報中提出的資訊以及本次電話會議中討論的資訊包含有關預期未來事件和財務績效的陳述，這些陳述是前瞻性的，並且存在風險和不確定性。請查看我們新聞稿中的安全港段落以及我們向 SEC 提交的文件中包含的擴展版本。

And with that, I will now turn the call over to Vicki Villacrez. Vicki?

現在，我將把電話轉給 Vicki Villacrez。維姬？

Okay. Thank you, Colleen, and good morning, everyone. Before we talk about the results for the quarter, I want to once again reiterate that as announced on August 4 last year, we embarked on a review of strategic alternatives at UScellular. I'm unable to comment on the process at this time, except to say that it remains active and ongoing. Management of TDS and UScellular, along with both Boards, remain committed to a path that is in the best interest of the company and our shareholders. Given the nature of the process, we don't expect to have updates until it's concluded.

好的。謝謝你，科琳，大家早安。在我們談論本季業績之前，我想再次重申，正如去年 8 月 4 日宣布的那樣，我們開始對 UScellular 的戰略替代方案進行審查。我目前無法對此過程發表評論，只能說它仍然活躍且正在進行。 TDS 和 UScellular 的管理層以及兩個董事會仍然致力於走一條符合公司和股東最佳利益的道路。鑑於該過程的性質，我們預計在結束之前不會有更新。

Okay. Now let's talk about the business unit results. I'm pleased that both business units are showing notable year-over-year improvements in adjusted EBITDA and delivering on their profitability target set at the beginning of the year. TDS Telecom is realizing the benefits of our multiyear fiber investments with both top and bottom-line growth in the quarter, and UScellular reported a nice improvement in ARPU in addition to ongoing cost discipline. From a consolidated perspective, we are maintaining our focus on both OpEx and CapEx costs while at the same time prudently allocating our capital towards critical network investments that are advancing our technologies.

好的。現在我們來談談業務部門的業績。我很高興這兩個業務部門在調整後的 EBITDA 方面都表現出了顯著的同比改善，並實現了年初設定的盈利目標。 TDS Telecom 正在認識到我們多年的光纖投資帶來的好處，本季度的收入和利潤均實現增長，UScellular 報告稱，除了持續的成本控制之外，ARPU 也取得了不錯的改善。從綜合角度來看，我們繼續專注於營運支出和資本支出成本，同時審慎地將資本分配給推動我們技術進步的關鍵網路投資。

At TDS Telecom, we are expanding our fiber footprint, and at UScellular, our mid-band rollout remains on track. As we announced this morning, TDS entered into a $375 million unsecured debt facility and borrowed $300 million at closing. The proceeds will be used for general corporate purposes, including the advancement of TDS Telecom's fiber build program. As you will hear Michelle speak later on the call TDS Telecom's fiber strategy is working. TDS Telecom is reporting strong growth as expected, both top and bottom line, which gives us the confidence to keep investing in the fiber program.

在 TDS Telecom，我們正在擴大我們的光纖覆蓋範圍，而在 UScellular，我們的中頻段部署仍按計劃進行。正如我們今天早上宣布的那樣，TDS 簽訂了 3.75 億美元的無擔保債務融資，並在交易結束時借了 3 億美元。所得將用於一般企業用途，包括推進 TDS Telecom 的光纖建設計劃。正如您稍後將在電話會議中聽到 Michelle 所說的那樣，TDS Telecom 的光纖策略正在發揮作用。 TDS Telecom 報告稱，營收和利潤均按預期強勁增長，這讓我們有信心繼續投資光纖計畫。

TDS' overall long-term weighted average cost of debt and preferred equity increases 30 basis points with this borrowing to 6.8%, which is favorable in the current interest rate environment. We will continue to manage our balance sheet through a combination of long-dated debt maturities issued at historically low interest rates, reasonable leverage, and sufficient liquidity, all of which provides flexibility to execute against our current operational objectives and longer-term strategic goals.

由於這筆借款，TDS 的整體長期加權平均債務和優先股成本增加了 30 個基點，達到 6.8%，這在當前的利率環境下是有利的。我們將繼續透過以歷史低利率發行的長期債務期限、合理的槓桿率和充足的流動性相結合來管理我們的資產負債表，所有這些都為我們執行當前的營運目標和長期戰略目標提供了靈活性。

I will now turn the call over to LT.

我現在將把電話轉給 LT。

Thank you, Vicki. Good morning, everybody. If you turn to Slide 5, you can see our quarterly highlights. As you can see, we delivered strong bottom-line results, driven by solid ARPU growth and effective expense discipline. Postpaid ARPU was up 3%, which is impressive given that approximately 40% of our postpaid handset gross adds over the past year have elected our lower-priced flat rate plans.

謝謝你，維基。大家早安。如果您翻到投影片 5，您可以看到我們的季度亮點。正如您所看到的，在穩健的 ARPU 成長和有效的費用控制的推動下，我們實現了強勁的獲利業績。後付費 ARPU 成長了 3%，這一成績令人印象深刻，因為去年我們的後付費手機總銷量中有大約 40% 選擇了我們的價格較低的統一費率計劃。

And as a reminder, this flat rate plans offer lower pricing, but they're not eligible for our richer device promotions and, therefore, they yield similar overall economics as our legacy unlimited plans. A contributing factor to our postpaid ARPU increase has been continuing to move our customers to our higher-value top 2 tier plans, and we have 51% of our handset customers on those top tiers at the end of March '24 compared to 42% a year ago.

提醒一下，這種統一費率計劃提供較低的價格，但它們不符合我們更豐富的設備促銷的條件，因此，它們產生與我們傳統的無限計劃類似的整體經濟效益。我們的後付費ARPU 成長的一個促成因素是繼續將我們的客戶轉移到我們更高價值的頂級2 層計劃，截至24 年3 月底，我們有51% 的手機客戶屬於這些頂級計劃，而這一比例為42%。

Postpaid churn was also a bright spot in the quarter, down 5 basis points year-over-year. During the quarter, we focused on retention through personalized promotional offers as well as pulsing in aggressive mass upgrade offers. We saw solid results from our new Us Days retention program, and you can expect to see continued investment in retention throughout this year.

後付費客戶流失率也是本季的一大亮點，較去年同期下降 5 個基點。在本季度，我們專注於透過個人化促銷優惠以及積極的大規模升級優惠來留住客戶。我們從新的「美國日」留存計畫中看到了堅實的成果，您可以期待看到今年在留存方面的持續投資。

Postpaid handset gross adds continue to be a challenge in the first quarter, and a significant driver of the gross add challenges was a 16% year-over-year decline in the total pool of available subscribers. We made some changes in our promotions during Q1, and we've made some additional changes more recently to remove trade-in and plan requirements on our lead promotions. And while it takes time to fully assess the impact of these changes, we're encouraged by the early results, and we expect to continue to assess and adjust our promotions as necessary to drive improved subscriber results.

後付費手機總增加量仍然是第一季的挑戰，而總增加量挑戰的一個重要驅動因素是可用用戶總數較去年同期下降 16%。我們在第一季對促銷活動進行了一些更改，最近我們還進行了一些額外的更改，以取消對我們的主要促銷活動的以舊換新和計劃要求。雖然需要時間來全面評估這些變化的影響，但我們對早期結果感到鼓舞，並且我們希望繼續根據需要評估和調整我們的促銷活動，以推動改善訂閱者結果。

Briefly on cable wireless. As I mentioned in past calls, they've become a formidable competitor in our footprint. We compete against cable wireless across about 2/3 of our footprint. And while they have a mid-single-digit market share across that area, we are currently winning about 15% of the share of postpaid handset gross adds by offering low-cost plans which can be bundled with their fixed broadband products, and they're now beginning to offer device promotions more frequently.

簡單介紹有線無線。正如我在過去的電話中提到的，他們已經成為我們足跡中的強大競爭對手。我們在大約 2/3 的覆蓋範圍內與有線無線競爭。雖然他們在該領域擁有中等個位數的市場份額，但我們目前通過提供可與他們的固定寬頻產品捆綁的低成本計劃，贏得了後付費手機總增加量約 15% 的份額，而且他們'我們現在開始更頻繁地提供設備促銷活動。

We estimate they offload approximately 90% of their traffic to WiFi, and that's 10 to 20 percentage points higher than the estimated WiFi offloads of UScellular. And we believe the same goes for the other large wireless carriers. Higher offload to WiFi means lower usage on cellular, and we believe this dynamic as well as their ability to cross-subsidize their bundled with wireline profits means they could potentially make even more aggressive future moves on pricing and promotion.

我們估計他們將大約 90% 的流量卸載到 WiFi，這比 UScellular 估計的 WiFi 卸載高 10 到 20 個百分點。我們相信其他大型無線電信業者也是如此。 WiFi 的負載增加意味著蜂窩網路的使用率降低，我們相信這種動態以及他們與有線利潤捆綁交叉補貼的能力意味著他們未來可能會在定價和促銷方面採取更積極的舉措。

Now our churn results show we're competing effectively, but we're going to need to ensure we have the right pricing and promotional constructs to remain competitive, while we generate sufficient returns to invest in our network and provide our customers with a great experience. We have another strong quarter in fixed wireless. We've grown this subscriber base by 42% compared to the prior year, ending the quarter with 124,000 subscribers.

現在，我們的客戶流失結果表明我們正在有效競爭，但我們需要確保我們擁有正確的定價和促銷結構以保持競爭力，同時我們產生足夠的回報來投資我們的網絡並為我們的客戶提供良好的體驗。我們在固定無線領域又迎來了一個強勁的季度。與前一年相比，我們的訂戶基數增加了 42%，本季末訂戶數量達到 124,000 名。

Prepaid net losses improved year-over-year as we saw improvement in our prepaid churn rate, which decreased 24 basis points. Over the past year, we made enhancements to our prepaid distribution, and we expanded our digital engagement, and we're seeing the results of those efforts in our reduced churn and improved lifetime economics of our prepaid customers.

預付淨虧損年增率有所改善，因為我們的預付客戶流失率有所改善，下降了 24 個基點。在過去的一年裡，我們增強了預付費分銷，擴大了數位化參與度，我們看到了這些努力的成果，即減少了預付費客戶的流失並提高了其終身經濟效益。

Just to touch on the business space, and particularly 5G use cases, we're seeing some interesting emerging examples of using advanced network capabilities to help drive innovation, particularly through partnerships. One example is a recent partnership with Rockwell Automation to deploy a 5G private cellular network within their connected enterprise lab. Rockwell is seeing their customers looking for guidance in real-time or near real-time decision-making with their applications, and private 5G provides the lower latency and the higher bandwidth to enable those applications. We've already deployed a number of private cellular networks, and we see a lot of opportunities in the manufacturing and in the utility space going forward.

就商業領域，特別是 5G 用例而言，我們看到了一些有趣的新興範例，這些範例使用先進的網路功能來幫助推動創新，特別是透過合作夥伴關係。一個例子是最近與羅克韋爾自動化合作，在其互聯企業實驗室內部署 5G 專用蜂窩網路。羅克韋爾發現他們的客戶正在尋求針對其應用程式進行即時或近實時決策的指導，而專用 5G 可以提供更低的延遲和更高的頻寬來支援這些應用程式。我們已經部署了許多專用蜂窩網絡，並且我們在未來的製造業和公用事業領域看到了很多機會。

Another example is the recently announced partnership with Cape. They're using our patent pending MVNO revolution architecture to deliver an ultra-private and secure mobile wireless experience that keeps people connected securely wherever they are. And with wireless being a part of our everyday lives, there's a heightened need for privacy and security, and we're really pleased to partner with Cape as they offer a differentiated and innovative solution that protects customers' data.

另一個例子是最近宣布與 Cape 的合作關係。他們正在使用我們正在申請專利的 MVNO 革命架構來提供超私密且安全的行動無線體驗，讓人們無論身在何處都可以安全地連接。隨著無線成為我們日常生活的一部分，對隱私和安全的需求也越來越高，我們非常高興與 Cape 合作，因為他們提供了保護客戶資料的差異化創新解決方案。

Turning to the network. Our mid-band deployment is on track and I'm pleased with the results that we're seeing where we deploy mid-band. By the end of 2024, we expect to have mid-band on cell sites that handle almost 50% of our data traffic. And we're seeing a strong correlation in the percent of traffic handled by our mid-band network and a corresponding increase in both perception and a higher Net Promoter Score, and we're excited about the value this network is delivering to both our mobility and our fixed wireless customers.

轉向網路。我們的中頻部署已步入正軌，我對我們在中頻部署中所看到的結果感到滿意。到 2024 年底，我們預計蜂窩基地台將擁有中頻段，可處理近 50% 的資料流量。我們發現中頻網路處理的流量百分比存在很強的相關性，感知度和淨推薦值也相應增加，我們對該網路為我們的移動性帶來的價值感到興奮以及我們的固定無線客戶。

Finally, with respect to our financial results, our cost optimization program continues to deliver strong results as we increased our profitability and our adjusted OIBDA by 11% in the quarter. Doug will provide some additional detail in his segment, but I'm pleased with the financial results that we're delivering even in the face of subscriber challenges.

最後，就我們的財務業績而言，我們的成本優化計劃繼續帶來強勁的業績，本季我們的獲利能力和調整後的 OIBDA 提高了 11%。道格將在他的部分提供一些額外的細節，但我對我們即使面對訂戶挑戰也能提供的財務表現感到滿意。

A brief note on Washington. The Affordable Connectivity Program was initially created to help close the digital divide, and we're really disappointed that the program was not renewed. I've spoken in the past that there's 2 obstacles to bridging the digital divide in this country, particularly in rural America, and that's infrastructure investments and affordability investment. And BEAD in the 5G fund may help with infrastructure, but affordability still remains a challenge for many customers. And ACP provided support to many people in our footprint. It's disappointing that we couldn't find a way to support them.

關於華盛頓的簡短說明。經濟實惠的連接計劃最初是為了幫助縮小數位落差而創建的，我們對該計劃沒有更新感到非常失望。我過去曾說過，彌合這個國家的數位落差有兩個障礙，特別是在美國農村，那就是基礎設施投資和可負擔性投資。 5G 基金中的 BEAD 可能有助於基礎設施建設，但負擔能力對許多客戶來說仍然是一個挑戰。 ACP 為我們足跡中的許多人提供了支持。令人失望的是我們找不到支持他們的方法。

Our exposure is relatively minimal, but we're committed to continuing to serve these customers, and we have a plan to provide them with special discounted offers to ensure that they're able to stay connected. Before I turn the call over to Doug, I want to recognize and thank all of our associates for their exceptional hard work and dedication towards helping our customers stay connected to what matters most each day.

我們的曝光度相對較小，但我們致力於繼續為這些客戶提供服務，並且我們計劃為他們提供特別折扣優惠，以確保他們能夠保持聯繫。在將電話轉給道格之前，我要感謝我們所有的員工，他們為幫助我們的客戶與每天最重要的事情保持聯繫而付出了非凡的辛勤工作和奉獻精神。

Doug, over to you.

道格，交給你了。

Thanks, LT. Good morning. Before we go to the quarterly results, I want to remind you that we sunset the CDMA network in January of this year. At the time of the shutdown, we had 11,000 postpaid and 2,000 prepaid connections still dependent on the network. These customers were removed from their respective basis and are not reflected as defections or churn in the first quarter results. We expect the CDMA network shutdown to be accretive to 2024 adjusted OIBDA and to result in approximately $40 million in run rate annual operating expense savings beginning in 2025.

謝謝，LT。早安.在我們公佈季度業績之前，我想提醒大家，我們已在今年 1 月取消了 CDMA 網路。在關閉時，我們有 11,000 個後付費連線和 2,000 個預付費連線仍然依賴網路。這些客戶已從各自的基礎中刪除，並且不會在第一季業績中反映為流失或流失。我們預計 CDMA 網路關閉將增加 2024 年調整後的 OIBDA，並導致從 2025 年開始每年節省約 4000 萬美元的營運費用。

Let's review the customer results on Slide 6. Postpaid handset gross additions decreased by 30,000 due to the intense competitive environment, and as LT mentioned, a 16% reduction in the pool of available customers. Correspondingly, postpaid handset net additions were down 22,000. Connected device net additions were slightly improved for the quarter, up 2,000 due to higher demand for fixed wireless home Internet as well as a decrease in hotspot churn. Prepaid net losses improved by 10,000 connections due to improvements in prepaid churn previously discussed by LT.

讓我們回顧一下投影片 6 上的客戶結果。相應地，後付費手機淨增量下降了 22,000 部。由於對固定無線家庭網路的需求增加以及熱點流失的減少，本季連接設備淨增量略有改善，增加了 2,000 台。由於 LT 先前討論的預付費流失率的改善，預付費淨損失減少了 10,000 個連線。

Now let's turn to the financial results, starting on Slide 8. Total operating revenues for the quarter decreased 4%, as service revenues declined 2% and equipment sales declined 10%. The primary drivers of lower service revenue are declines in the average postpaid subscriber base partially offset by a higher postpaid ARPU, as LT discussed previously.

現在讓我們從幻燈片 8 開始來看財務業績。正如 LT 先前所討論的，服務收入下降的主要驅動因素是平均後付費用戶基數的下降，但後付費 ARPU 的上升部分抵消了這一下降。

Equipment sales declined due to a decrease in smartphone devices sold as a result of lower gross additions and upgrades, which was partially offset by an increase in price per unit sold due to customer demand for more expensive devices as well as a decrease in promotional expense as customers continue to opt for flat rate price plans which are not eligible for higher levels of device discounts. The decline in upgrade rates and the corresponding decline in equipment sales is consistent with the industry.

設備銷售下降是由於總新增和升級減少導致智慧型手機設備銷量下降，但由於客戶對更昂貴設備的需求導致每台設備售價上漲以及促銷費用減少，部分抵消了銷量下降。率價格計劃，但這些計劃不符合更高等級的設備折扣。升級率的下降以及相應的設備銷售下降與行業一致。

Now let's turn to Tower results on Slide 9. The business delivered a solid quarter with $25 million of third-party Tower revenues, which represents 3% growth. As we noted last quarter, the wireless industry has moderated capital expenditures, which will impact Tower revenue growth rates in the short term, but we are bullish on the long-term revenue opportunities of the Tower business.

現在讓我們來看看投影片 9 的 Tower 業績。正如我們上季度所指出的，無線產業的資本支出有所放緩，這將在短期內影響鐵塔收入成長率，但我們看好鐵塔業務的長期收入機會。

Next, let's turn to our quarterly operating performance shown on Slide 11. For this discussion, I will refer to adjusted operating income before depreciation and amortization as adjusted operating income. As I mentioned, operating revenues declined 4%. However, this decline was offset by a decrease in cash expenses compared to the prior year of 7%. Loss of equipment or equipment sales less cost of equipment sold decreased 40% as a result of lower transaction volume and lower promotional cost per transaction, partially due to higher adoption of flat rate plans, as previously discussed.

接下來，讓我們來看看投影片 11 中顯示的季度營運表現。正如我所提到的，營業收入下降了 4%。然而，這一下降被現金支出較上年減少 7% 所抵消。由於交易量減少和每筆交易的促銷成本降低，設備或設備銷售損失減去設備銷售成本下降了 40%，部分原因是如前所述，統一費率計劃的採用率較高。

Selling, general and administrative expenses decreased 4%, driven by lower employee-related expenses which includes decreases attributable to both the second quarter 2023 reduction in workforce and sales expenses, partially due to the decrease in gross add and upgrade volumes, partially offset by increases in expenses related to the strategic alternatives review. Wrapping up this slide, as LT mentioned, adjusted operating income increased 11% and adjusted EBITDA, which incorporates the earnings from our equity method investments, along with interest and dividend income increased 8%. Both of these amounts have been adjusted to exclude $7 million of expenses related to our strategic alternatives review.

銷售、一般和管理費用下降 4%，原因是員工相關費用減少，其中包括 2023 年第二季度勞動力和銷售費用減少造成的下降，部分原因是總新增和升級量的減少，部分被增加所抵消與策略替代方案審查相關的費用。正如 LT 所提到的，調整後的營業收入成長了 11%，調整後的 EBITDA（其中包含我們權益法投資的收益）以及利息和股息收入成長了 8%。這兩項金額均經過調整，排除了與我們的策略替代方案審查相關的 700 萬美元費用。

Our cost optimization program continues to deliver strong results. Despite expected service revenue declines for the full year 2024 and cost increases that result from our ongoing mid-band 5G deployment, we expect our full year adjusted operating income margin as a percent of service revenues to remain relatively flat in 2024. The full year 2024 cost profile is expected to be positively impacted by the shutdown of our CDMA network in the first quarter of 2024, the reduction in force executed in the second quarter of 2023 and cost savings from initiatives across all areas of the business. Our associates have done an excellent job identifying and executing these initiatives, and we remain focused on this program in 2024 to drive further cost savings.

我們的成本優化計劃持續取得強勁成果。儘管預計 2024 年全年服務收入將下降，並且我們正在進行的中頻 5G 部署導致成本增加，但我們預計 2024 年全年調整後營業利潤率佔服務收入的百分比將保持相對平穩。成本狀況將受到2024 年第一季CDMA 網路關閉、2023 年第二季執行人員減少以及所有業務領域措施節省成本的正面影響。我們的員工在識別和執行這些措施方面做得非常出色，我們將在 2024 年繼續關注該計劃，以進一步節省成本。

Our capital expenditures decreased compared to the same period last year, partially due to the timing of mid-band capital expenditures in each respective period. In addition, we expect capital expenditures for the full year 2024 to trend toward the lower end of our guidance range and be less than 2023 capital expenditures. As shown on Slide 12, our 2024 financial guidance remains unchanged from the guidance we issued in February of this year as we remain on track to our financial plan.

我們的資本支出與去年同期相比有所下降，部分原因是各時期的中等資本支出的時間安排。此外，我們預計 2024 年全年的資本支出將趨於我們指導範圍的下限，並低於 2023 年的資本支出。如投影片 12 所示，我們的 2024 年財務指引與今年 2 月發布的指引保持不變，因為我們仍按計畫實施。

I will now turn the call over to Michelle Brukwicki. Michelle?

我現在會把電話轉給 Michelle Brukwicki。米歇爾？

Thank you, Doug, and good morning, everyone. Turning to Slide 14. As Vicki mentioned, the key highlight for TDS Telecom is that our fiber strategy is working. For the past several years, we've made significant investments in our fiber program and our financial results are starting to reflect the benefits of those investments. We just delivered our strongest quarter of revenues and profitability since starting our fiber program. Our fiber results, combined with our disciplined expense management, produced a 5% increase in revenue and a 38% increase in adjusted EBITDA in the quarter.

謝謝你，道格，大家早安。轉向幻燈片 14。在過去的幾年裡，我們對纖維計劃進行了大量投資，我們的財務表現開始反映出這些投資的好處。我們剛剛實現了自啟動纖維計劃以來最強勁的季度收入和盈利能力。我們的纖維業績，加上嚴格的費用管理，使本季營收成長了 5%，調整後 EBITDA 成長了 38%。

In addition to delivering strong financial results, the team continues to deliver a steady cadence of marketable fiber service addresses with 28,000 this quarter. We're on track to reach our annual goal of 125,000 marketable fiber service addresses that we shared with you in February. As we deliver these fiber addresses, we are also successfully selling into those addresses. Overall, we are achieving the broadband penetrations projected in our business cases. In first quarter, we reached a major milestone, exceeding 100,000 residential broadband connections in our expansion markets.

除了提供強勁的財務業績外，該團隊還繼續穩定地提供適銷光纖服務地址，本季已提供 28,000 個地址。我們預計將實現我們在 2 月與您分享的 125,000 個可銷售光纖服務地址的年度目標。當我們提供這些光纖地址時，我們也成功地銷售到這些地址。總體而言，我們正在實現業務案例中預期的寬頻普及率。第一季度，我們實現了一個重要的里程碑，在我們的擴展市場中住宅寬頻連線數超過了 100,000 個。

Moving to Slide 15. You can see where we're at on our longer-term scorecard. We are targeting 1.2 million marketable fiber service addresses. We ended the quarter with 827,000, so we're 2/3 of the way there. We're also targeting 60% of our total service addresses to be served by fiber. We ended the quarter with 49%. This reflects progress in growing fiber through our expansion markets as well as fibering up our incumbent markets. We also refer to this as our ILEC. At the end of the quarter, 44% of our ILEC addresses were fibered up. And finally, we are expecting to offer speeds of 1 gig or higher to at least 80% of our footprint. We finished the quarter with 73% gig speeds.

前往投影片 15。我們的目標是 120 萬個可銷售的光纖服務地址。本季結束時，我們的人數為 827,000，所以我們已經完成了 2/3。我們也計劃將 60% 的服務地址由光纖提供服務。本季結束時，我們的佔有率為 49%。這反映了我們透過擴張市場以及增強現有市場在纖維種植方面取得的進展。我們也稱之為 ILEC。截至本季末，我們 44% 的 ILEC 位址已實現光纖化。最後，我們預計至少 80% 的足跡能夠提供 1 GB 或更高的速度。本季結束時，我們的演出速度為 73%。

On Slide 16, you can see that we are growing our footprint with a 12% increase in total service addresses year-over-year. As shown on the right side of the slide, we are -- we see increased demand for higher broadband speeds, with 78% of our customers taking 100 megabits per second or greater, up from 72% a year ago. We continue to increase the availability of Gig+ speeds. Customer take rates of these speeds are growing, with 17% of our customer base on 1 gig or higher at the end of the quarter.

在投影片 16 上，您可以看到我們的足跡不斷擴大，服務地址總數年增了 12%。如投影片右側所示，我們看到對更高寬頻速度的需求不斷增加，78% 的客戶每秒使用 100 兆或更高速度，高於一年前的 72%。我們持續提高 Gig+ 速度的可用性。這些速度的客戶接受率正在成長，截至本季末，我們的客戶群中有 17% 的客戶使用的是 1G 或更高的速度。

Our broadband investments are driving meaningful results. As I mentioned in the last call, during 2024, we are focusing on driving broadband penetrations in our new expansion markets, and we are executing as planned. As shown on Slide 17, we had 6,400 residential broadband net adds in the quarter, which contributed to 6% growth in residential broadband connections year-over-year. We see strong broadband connection growth in our expansion markets. We also continue to see incumbent copper customers convert to fiber where available, protecting our base and providing a better customer experience. The enhanced A-CAM program will get even more fiber into our ILEC markets to serve these customers.

我們的寬頻投資正在帶來有意義的成果。正如我在上次電話會議中提到的，2024 年期間，我們的重點是推動新擴張市場的寬頻普及率，我們正在按計劃執行。如投影片 17 所示，本季住宅寬頻淨增用戶為 6,400 個，住宅寬頻連線數較去年同期成長 6%。我們看到我們的擴張市場中寬頻連線強勁成長。我們也繼續看到現有的銅纜客戶在可用的情況下轉向光纖，從而保護我們的基礎並提供更好的客戶體驗。增強的 A-CAM 計劃將為我們的 ILEC 市場提供更多光纖，為這些客戶提供服務。

Average residential revenue per connection was up 7% due primarily to price increases. And with increases in broadband connections and revenue per user, we saw 10% growth in residential revenues. Specifically, expansion markets delivered $26 million of residential revenues in the quarter, compared to $15 million a year ago. As expected, commercial revenues decreased 9% in the quarter as we continued to decommission our CLEC markets. Lastly, wholesale revenues increased 3% due to the incremental revenues we have started to receive under the enhanced A-CAM program.

每次連接的平均住宅收入增加了 7%，這主要是由於價格上漲。隨著寬頻連線和每用戶收入的增加，我們看到住宅收入增加了 10%。具體而言，擴張市場在本季帶來了 2,600 萬美元的住宅收入，而去年同期為 1,500 萬美元。正如預期的那樣，隨著我們繼續停用 CLEC 市場，本季商業收入下降了 9%。最後，由於我們在增強的 A-CAM 計劃下開始獲得增量收入，批發收入增加了 3%。

On Slide 18, you can see our quarterly performance. Operating revenues were up 5% in the quarter as the growth in residential revenues in wholesale was partially offset by the decline in commercial revenues. Strong expense management led to a 6% decrease in cash expenses for the quarter. As our penetrations and revenues grow, along with this disciplined cost management, we are seeing nice growth in adjusted EBITDA, up 38% in the quarter. Capital expenditures were $87 million in the quarter, down 33% from last year.

在投影片 18 上，您可以看到我們的季度業績。本季營業收入成長 5%，住宅批發收入的成長部分被商業收入的下降所抵銷。強有力的費用管理導致本季現金費用減少 6%。隨著我們的滲透率和收入的成長，加上嚴格的成本管理，我們看到調整後的 EBITDA 出現了良好的成長，本季成長了 38%。該季度資本支出為 8,700 萬美元，比去年下降 33%。

Slide 19 shows our 2024 guidance which remains unchanged from what we shared with you in February. We are confident in our plans for both top and bottom-line growth this year through increasing our fiber penetrations and effective cost management. Turning to CapEx, we are committed to pacing our capital spend this year in line with our profitability. For the next few years, we are balancing the priorities of both our fiber expansion program and the enhanced A-CAM program. We are carefully planning and engineering both programs to keep them progressing at a pace to meet our build commitments that's also commensurate with our financing capacity.

投影片 19 顯示了我們的 2024 年指導方針，該指導方針與我們 2 月與您分享的內容保持不變。我們對今年透過提高光纖滲透率和有效成本管理實現收入和利潤成長的計劃充滿信心。談到資本支出，我們致力於根據我們的獲利能力調整今年的資本支出。在接下來的幾年中，我們將平衡光纖擴展計劃和增強型 A-CAM 計劃的優先順序。我們正在仔細規劃和設計這兩個項目，以確保它們的進展速度能夠滿足我們的建設承諾，這也與我們的融資能力相稱。

In closing, I want to thank all of the TDS Telecom associates for their focus on our strategic priorities. This quarter's strong results reflect the hard work of our entire team. We have good momentum after the first quarter, and I continue to be excited about the opportunities ahead.

最後，我要感謝所有 TDS Telecom 員工對我們策略重點的關注。本季的強勁業績反映了我們整個團隊的辛勤工作。第一季之後我們勢頭良好，我仍然對未來的機會感到興奮。

I'll now turn the call back over to Colleen.

我現在將把電話轉回給科琳。

Okay. We will now open up the call to your questions. As a reminder, today, our focus is on the quarter, and we'll not be taking questions on the review of strategic alternatives for UScellular. Operator, we're ready for the first question.

好的。我們現在將開放式電話詢問您的問題。提醒一下，今天我們的重點是本季度，我們不會回答有關 UScellular 戰略替代方案審查的問題。接線員，我們準備好回答第一個問題了。

(Operator Instructions) Your first question comes from the line of Rick Prentiss with Raymond James.

（操作員說明）您的第一個問題來自 Rick Prentiss 和 Raymond James 的線路。

A couple of questions. First, LT, I think last quarter, we talked a little bit about the Tower segment. Doug, you talked about how there's growth, but obviously, the industry is moderating. I wanted to just check in, last quarter, LT, you said if you were to create Tower segment reporting and create an anchor contract between the Tower company or the Tower business and their wireless business, you couldn't go back, I think this was kind of your phraseology. Any update on that thoughts? And then what would be the problems of you can't go back on that front?

有幾個問題。首先，LT，我想上個季度，我們討論了一些關於塔式部分的問題。道格，您談到瞭如何成長，但顯然，該行業正在放緩。我想在上個季度檢查一下，LT，您說如果您要創建塔段報告並在塔台公司或塔台業務與其無線業務之間創建錨定合同，您就無法回去，我認為這這是您的措辭。這些想法有更新嗎？那麼在這方面你無法回頭會出現什麼問題呢？

And an associated question maybe over to Vicki. Have you thought about -- I'm sure you have, but what are they thinking on lending against the Tower segment, particularly vis-à-vis the most recent debt you brought on, which is so far plus 7%, which has got to be in the 12% range?

相關問題可能會交給 Vicki。你有沒有想過——我相信你有，但他們對塔樓部分的貸款有什麼想法，特別是你最近帶來的債務，到目前為止，利率是 7%，已經有在12%的範圍內？

Rick, so I'll take your first question about segment reporting around towers. It continues to be something that we look at. One of the things that we've tried to do in response to both your questions and others is to provide a little bit more detail on the towers. You can see that again in our slides as well as us Doug's comments, and we're going to try to continue to do that moving forward.

里克，我將回答你關於塔周圍分段報告的第一個問題。它仍然是我們關注的事情。為了回答您的問題和其他問題，我們嘗試做的事情之一是提供有關塔樓的更多詳細資訊。您可以在我們的幻燈片以及道格的評論中再次看到這一點，我們將繼續努力繼續這樣做。

My comment about not going back, I mean, one of the things that we've noticed is once you provide certain level of information, it's not -- it's not a great idea to start to reel that back. And so one of the things we want to do is we want to be deliberate, we want to be disciplined when we start to share more detailed financials on those towers.

我關於不回去的評論，我的意思是，我們注意到的一件事是，一旦你提供了一定程度的信息，就開始收回信息並不是一個好主意。因此，我們想做的一件事就是我們要深思熟慮，當我們開始分享這些塔的更詳細的財務數據時，我們希望遵守紀律。

We continue to work through it. I would expect that you can see more detailed financials in coming quarters, but I'm going to stop a little bit short of providing an actual delivery date on that. The broad trends on towers, by the way, I mean, they remain consistent with what you've seen in past quarters. So not to reiterate too much, what you heard from us last quarter. But near term, we continue to see that slowdown in terms of overall capital spending across the industry. And so we're seeing a bit of a slowdown in new applications and in colocations and so on.

我們將繼續努力解決這個問題。我預計您可以在未來幾季看到更詳細的財務數據，但我將不再提供實際的交貨日期。順便說一句，我的意思是，塔樓的總體趨勢與您在過去幾季看到的情況保持一致。因此，不要過多重申您上季度從我們那裡聽到的消息。但短期內，我們持續看到整個產業整體資本支出放緩。因此，我們看到新應用程式和主機託管等方面出現了一些放緩。

Long run, we remain really bullish on those towers for 2 reasons. The first is, as you get into future iterations of Gs, whether it's a 5G advanced or a 6G, that's going to be driven by 1 of 2 things. It's going to be driven by more spectrum or it's going to be driven by network densification. And the FCC, as you know, does not have stream authority right now. I think that's a problem. But nonetheless, we do not have a mechanism right now to put new spectrum to work.

從長遠來看，我們仍然非常看好這些塔樓，原因有兩個。首先，當你進入 G 的未來迭代時，無論是 5G 高級版還是 6G，都將由以下兩點之一驅動。它將由更多頻譜或網路緻密化驅動。如您所知，FCC 目前沒有串流媒體授權。我認為這是一個問題。但儘管如此，我們目前還沒有一種機制可以讓新頻譜發揮作用。

NTIA has their spectrum plan in place, but there's not necessarily a new spectrum that's targeted to be auctioned off for a long time. Spectrum sharing appears to be where they're focusing their efforts. And so what that means is that if you're going to go towards 6G, you're going to need to be focusing more on densification than you will on new spectrum. And that's good news for towers.

NTIA 已經制定了頻譜計劃，但不一定有長期拍賣的新頻譜。頻譜共享似乎是他們重點關注的領域。這意味著，如果您要邁向 6G，您將需要更多地關注緻密化，而不是新頻譜。這對塔樓來說是個好消息。

The other reason we're bullish in the long run on this is just our overall colocation rate remains low relative to some of the other players. We've increased it steadily over time. So I'm pleased with the momentum. We still have a lot of room to grow. And so broadly optimistic on the segment, more detailed financials to come, but not exactly sure when. Vicki, let me turn to you for your question.

從長遠來看，我們看好這一點的另一個原因是，相對於其他一些參與者，我們的整體託管率仍然較低。隨著時間的推移，我們穩步增加了它。所以我對這種勢頭感到滿意。我們還有很大的成長空間。人們對這一領域普遍持樂觀態度，更詳細的財務數據即將公佈，但具體時間仍不確定。維基，讓我來回答你的問題。

Yes. Thank you, LT. Rick, first off, let me just level set. This borrowing was done at the TDS level. And it's largely for general corporate purposes, but primarily for the advancement of our fiber program. So you commented on the price, I think it's marginally more expensive. For sure, in this high interest rate environment, it -- but in the grand scheme of our total structure, capital structure, it's increasing our weighted average cost of debt by just 30 basis points, [6.5% to 6.8%].

是的。謝謝你，LT。瑞克，首先，讓我調整一下水平。此借用是在 TDS 層級完成的。它主要用於一般企業目的，但主要是為了推進我們的纖維計劃。所以你評論了價格，我認為它稍微貴一些。當然，在這種高利率環境下，但從我們整體結構、資本結構的宏偉計劃來看，它只會使我們的加權平均債務成本增加 30 個基點，[6.5% 至 6.8%]。

It's -- what I'm excited about here is that it's giving us the flexibility that we need and the optionality that we need to continue to advance our fiber program. We're very pleased with the fiber program, as you heard Michelle talked about today, and I think that's demonstrated by TDS Telecom's strong growth in the first quarter, as well as the guidance that they set out for themselves for the year.

讓我感到興奮的是，它為我們提供了繼續推進纖維計劃所需的靈活性和選擇性。正如您今天聽到米歇爾談到的那樣，我們對光纖計劃非常滿意，我認為 TDS Telecom 第一季的強勁增長以及他們為自己制定的今年指導證明了這一點。

Okay. And speaking which -- a question for Michelle as well, obviously, really strong numbers on the OIBDA line for TDS Telecom, demonstrating hopefully, the fiber is working, as you said. The guidance for OIBDA for the year, $310 million to $340 million, you put up low 90s in the quarter. Were you expecting maybe some costs that are coming in, in the next 3 quarters? I mean what would be different as we kind of look at this saying, hopefully, we see continued penetration gains on the costs that have already been spent OpEx and CapEx? What would cause EBITDA pacing to slow down the rest of the year, I guess?

好的。說到這一點，米歇爾也有一個問題，顯然，TDS Telecom 的 OIBDA 線路上的數據非常強勁，希望證明光纖正在工作，正如您所說的那樣。 OIBDA 今年的指導值為 3.1 億至 3.4 億美元，本季的預測為 90 多美元。您是否預計未來 3 個季度可能會產生一些成本？我的意思是，當我們看待這句話時，希望我們看到已經花費的營運支出和資本支出的成本持續滲透成長，會有什麼不同？我猜是什麼會導致 EBITDA 成長速度在今年剩餘時間內放緩？

Rick, thanks for the question. Yes, we are really pleased with our adjusted EBITDA in the first quarter. The 38% increase that we saw compared to last year. So that increase was a result of revenue increases, but it's also a result of very diligent cost management and the entire telecom team is focused on expenses. So we are really trying to time our expenses very prudently in terms of like our hiring in the new markets just in time for when we need those resources, the timing of our spending of marketing and advertising to just be right when we need to optimize the benefits of that spend. And being very prudent with things like travel and entertainment and finding ways to cut back.

里克，謝謝你的提問。是的，我們對第一季調整後的 EBITDA 感到非常滿意。與去年相比，我們看到了 38% 的成長。因此，這種成長是收入增加的結果，但也是非常勤奮的成本管理的結果，整個電信團隊都專注於支出。因此，我們確實在努力非常謹慎地安排我們的開支，例如我們在新市場招募人員，以便我們需要這些資源時，我們的行銷和廣告支出的時機恰到好處，當我們需要優化該支出的好處。對旅行和娛樂等事情要非常謹慎，並想辦法減少開支。

So there is an element of the cost management that is timing. We're doing a great job at managing our costs, but there is some that's timing and then you're going to see happen throughout the year. So at this point, we've reaffirmed our guidance range for adjusted EBITDA at that $310 million to $340 million range that you mentioned. And at the midpoint of that range, $325 million, that implies about a 14% increase in adjusted EBITDA year-over-year, which is still a very healthy increase. But we don't expect to see the first quarter, the, 38% turn through the entire year. So that's why at this point we're maintaining our guidance range where it is.

因此，成本管理中有一個要素就是時間安排。我們在管理成本方面做得很好，但有些事情是在時機上發生的，然後你會看到全年都會發生這種情況。因此，目前，我們重申了調整後 EBITDA 的指導範圍為您獲得的 3.1 億至 3.4 億美元。該範圍的中點為 3.25 億美元，這意味著調整後 EBITDA 年成長約 14%，這仍然是一個非常健康的成長。但我們預計第一季不會出現 38% 的情況，全年都會出現這種情況。這就是為什麼我們目前維持指導範圍不變的原因。

Our next question comes from the line of Michael Rollins with Citi.

我們的下一個問題來自花旗銀行的 Michael Rollins。

I have an operational question and then a strategic question. So first, the operational question. Just curious if you could share some additional perspective on the potential and timing to turn around the gross add trajectory. And whether it's the effort on gross adds or churn on the postpaid phone side. Do you share the path to get back to a neutral or positive condition on phone subscriptions?

我有一個操作問題，然後是一個戰略問題。首先是操作問題。只是好奇您是否可以分享一些關於扭轉總成長軌跡的潛力和時機的額外觀點。無論是在總增加的努力還是在後付費電話方面的流失。您是否分享了電​​話訂閱恢復到中性或積極狀態的途徑？

And then on the strategic side, I'm curious, as you're continuing to push forward with the fiber strategy, have you contemplated at the TDS side the idea of going from a retail business to a wholesale business, and offering broadband access to other providers, wireless -- other firms that can help TDS continue to push forward and penetrate the market?

然後在策略方面，我很好奇，當您繼續推進光纖策略時，您是否在 TDS 方面考慮過從零售業務轉向批發業務，並為其他無線提供者- 其他可以幫助TDS 繼續推進並滲透市場的公司嗎？

Mike, it's LT. I'll take your first question and then I'll probably hand the second question to Michelle to answer about wholesale and fiber. So I mean, clearly, the path to positive net adds needs to be driven by both improvements in churn and improvements in gross adds. I'm not telling anything you don't know. Let's start with improvements in churn. I'm really pleased with the progress that we've made in churn. As you can see in the quarter, churn is down pretty significantly. I think that's driven by 2 things. One, it's driven by the pool being down. But it's also being driven by some pretty aggressive upgrade actions that we've taken both late last year as well as in the first quarter.

麥克，我是 LT。我會回答你的第一個問題，然後我可能會把第二個問題交給米歇爾來回答有關批發和纖維的問題。因此，我的意思是，顯然，實現正淨增加的道路需要透過客戶流失率的改善和總增加的改善來推動。我不會告訴你任何你不知道的事。讓我們從客戶流失率的改進開始。我對我們在客戶流失方面取得的進展感到非常滿意。正如您在本季所看到的，客戶流失率顯著下降。我認為這是由兩件事驅動的。第一，它是由泳池下降所驅動的。但這也是由我們去年年底和第一季採取的一些相當激進的升級行動所推動的。

So I referenced Us Days, this is a program that we kicked off this year to help drive upgrades and to help bring churn down. We're very pleased with the success that we've seen. It's a small set of -- it's -- I think we run it over about 2 weeks. Special offers for existing customers to come in and take advantage of, upgrade their devices to get back at them back in contract and thus reduce churn. And that back in contract element is really the biggest driver of churn reduction. More customers we can get in contract, the lower the churn, the better the path to positive net adds.

所以我提到了“美國日”，這是我們今年啟動的計劃，旨在幫助推動升級並幫助減少客戶流失。我們對所看到的成功感到非常高興。這是一小部分——我想我們運行它大約需要兩週。為現有客戶提供特別優惠，讓他們進來利用，升級他們的設備，以恢復合同，從而減少客戶流失。而合約元素確實是減少客戶流失的最大動力。我們可以簽約的客戶越多，客戶流失率越低，實現正淨成長的途徑就越好。

The second element is around improving gross add. First quarter slow, and not just slow for UScellular, but it's slow for the industry as a whole, right? The overall pool of available subscribers down 16%, I mentioned that in my comments. Probably the biggest drop that I've seen, I think, since COVID, and I think that's really driven by a few things. One is perversely positive in that we and other carriers have done a good job getting customers back in contract. I think people are satisfied. I think they're pleased with their services. And so there aren't as many people looking to churn. Those contracts that we're offering are also being done over a longer period of time. And again, that's not just us, that's the industry as a whole.

第二個要素是圍繞提高總附加價值。第一季成長緩慢，不僅是美國移動的成長緩慢，整個產業也成長緩慢，對嗎？我在評論中提到，可用訂戶總數下降了 16%。我認為，這可能是自新冠疫情以來我所見過的最大跌幅，我認為這確實是由一些因素推動的。一個反常的正面因素是，我們和其他業者在讓客戶重新簽訂合約方面做得很好。我認為人們很滿意。我想他們對他們的服務很滿意。因此，沒有那麼多人想要流失。我們提供的那些合約也是在更長的時間內完成的。再說一次，這不僅是我們，而是整個產業。

The other piece, though, is if you're going to go drive postpaid gross adds is you have to get the network and the price equation right. And 1 of the things that we've done here in the first quarter is we got a lot more aggressive on the back end of the quarter with promotions, particularly around trade-ins. So we lifted trade-in requirements and the plan requirements. And by lifting those planned requirements and those trade-in requirements on the very back end of the first quarter and going into early second quarter, we've seen some improvements that I'm optimistic about. And so you put those things together, continuing to see meaningful improvements in churn that we've seen so far. And if we can maintain the momentum that we're seeing late in the quarter and so far, going into April. I think we're heading in the right direction in terms of overall net adds.

不過，另一件事是，如果你要推動後付費總增加，你必須確保網路和價格等式正確。我們在第一季所做的事情之一是，我們在季度末採取了更積極的促銷活動，特別是在以舊換新方面。因此，我們取消了以舊換新要求和計劃要求。透過在第一季末和第二季初取消這些計劃要求和以舊換新要求，我們看到了一些我樂觀的改進。因此，您將這些東西放在一起，繼續看到我們迄今為止所看到的客戶流失方面有意義的改進。如果我們能夠保持本季末和迄今為止所看到的勢頭，進入四月。我認為就整體淨增量而言，我們正朝著正確的方向前進。

I'll highlight one other dynamic, though. And it doesn't really show up as much in overall subscriber net adds, but I think it's going to be an increasingly meaningful one as we go into the back end of this year, so into the second half and into next, and that has to do with the business segment. One of the things we've observed with 5G is that the really interesting new use cases are not coming up to your consumer. Fixed wireless is a great business for us, but we've talked in the past about it's difficult to sustain fixed wireless. It doesn't pay for itself, right? It doesn't pay for the capital necessary. And so what we need to find is those other use cases that help to monetize 5G over and above just positive consumer net adds.

不過，我將強調另一項動態。它在整體用戶淨增加中並沒有真正體現出來，但我認為隨著我們進入今年下半年，進入下半年和明年，這將變得越來越有意義。我們在 5G 方面觀察到的一件事是，真正有趣的新用例並沒有呈現給您的消費者。固定無線對我們來說是一項偉大的業務，但我們過去曾討論過維持固定無線的困難。它本身不值得，對吧？它不支付必要的資本。因此，我們需要找到那些除了積極的消費者淨增加之外還有助於將 5G 貨幣化的其他用例。

And business revenues and business use cases are key. So I referenced what we did with Rockwell, I referenced what we did with Cape. We had a series of interesting IoT deals and flow. We've been investing in this segment. We've been investing in the distribution around business and our solutioning around business. I think it's going to help us in the long run, because those 5G investments will be paid for much more with enterprise than the 4G investments. Mobile video, paid for 4G. You're going to need enterprise to pay for 5G.

業務收入和業務用例是關鍵。所以我參考了我們對羅克威爾所做的事情，我參考了我們對開普所做的事情。我們有一系列有趣的物聯網交易和流程。我們一直在這個領域進行投資。我們一直在圍繞業務的分銷和圍繞業務的解決方案進行投資。我認為從長遠來看這將對我們有所幫助，因為企業對這些 5G 投資的回報將比 4G 投資高得多。行動視頻，4G付費。你將需要企業支付 5G 費用。

So I think you put those things together, improved churn that we've seen so far already. We're already seeing in our results. Recent improvements in overall gross adds by getting more promotional, and layer on top of that some of the investments we're making in enterprise, and I think you have a path towards more attractive, not just subscribers, but also more attractive financials. Michelle, let me hand it to you to answer the question around how we're thinking about wholesale on the fiber side.

所以我認為你把這些東西放在一起，改善了我們迄今為止已經看到的流失。我們已經在結果中看到了。最近，透過更多的促銷活動，以及我們在企業中進行的一些投資，整體總增加額有所改善，我認為您有一條通往更具吸引力的道路，不僅是訂戶，而且是更具吸引力的財務狀況。米歇爾，讓我來回答有關我們如何考慮光纖方面批發的問題。

Yes. Thanks, LT, and thanks, Mike, for the question. So yes, we're building our fiber networks, Mike. I mean we have thought about all the different ways to leverage those networks. We certainly do work with wireless companies. If there's a way for us to provide fiber to towers and for things like that, we certainly do that. But in terms of opening it up and being a wholesale provider, that's not where we're going with these at this point. Our business model, our long-term vision, is to own our networks and to serve our customers on those networks.

是的。謝謝 LT，也謝謝麥克提出的問題。所以，是的，我們正在建立我們的光纖網絡，麥克。我的意思是，我們已經考慮了利用這些網路的所有不同方法。我們當然與無線公司合作。如果我們有辦法為塔和類似的事情提供光纖，我們當然會這樣做。但就開放並成為批發供應商而言，這不是我們目前要做的。我們的商業模式、我們的長期願景是擁有我們的人脈並在這些網路上為我們的客戶提供服務。

And we think that we can do a really great job of serving those customers and offering them the products and services that they need and want at competitive prices. And so we think that we do that in a very high-quality way. And so at this point, we're not considering opening up our networks to others.

我們認為，我們可以在服務這些客戶方面做得非常出色，並以有競爭力的價格為他們提供他們需要和想要的產品和服務。所以我們認為我們以非常高品質的方式做到了這一點。因此，目前我們還沒有考慮向其他人開放我們的網路。

Next question comes from the line of Sergey Dluzhevskiy with GAMCO Investors.

下一個問題來自 GAMCO Investors 的 Sergey Dluzhevskiy。

My first question is for LT around competition with cable. So as you said, cable -- you're competing with cable across about 2/3 of your footprint. And they have been quite aggressive. Obviously, you're using these larger companies which -- who are in turn responding to even larger players in the wireless industry. So in this environment, what could you sell or do effectively as a regional provider to improve its competitive position over medium term? And specifically in competition with cable, what has been working better for you over the past few quarters based on your experience?

我的第一個問題是關於 LT 與有線電視的競爭。正如您所說，電纜——您正在與大約 2/3 佔地面積的電纜競爭。他們非常具有侵略性。顯然，您正在使用這些更大的公司，這些公司反過來又對無線行業中更大的參與者做出反應。那麼，在這種環境下，作為區域供應商，您可以有效銷售或採取哪些措施來提高其中期內的競爭地位？特別是在與有線電視的競爭中，根據您的經驗，過去幾季什麼對您來說效果更好？

Sergey, yes, so I mean you put out a bit of numbers, I know I mentioned these in the intro. But the interesting challenge that we're facing with the cable players is -- the first is something that we saw in Europe in the LTE days, which is cross subsidizing wireless with wireline. So using wireline profits to help subsidize the wireless business. And that's a challenging dynamic to fight against from a pricing perspective, right? In some cases, we've got cable in the marketplace for $29 unlimited with 1 line free for a year, so you're talking about $15 a month on the Verizon network. And so it's a challenging pricing dynamic to fight against.

謝爾蓋，是的，所以我的意思是你提供了一些數字，我知道我在介紹中提到了這些。但我們與有線營運商面臨的有趣挑戰是——第一個是我們在 LTE 時代在歐洲看到的情況，即對無線和有線進行交叉補貼。因此，利用有線利潤來幫助補貼無線業務。從定價角度來看，這是一個具有挑戰性的動態，對吧？在某些情況下，我們在市場上提供的有線電視價格為 29 美元，無限制，其中 1 條線路免費一年，因此您所說的 Verizon 網路每月 15 美元。因此，這是一個需要應對的具有挑戰性的定價動態。

Then I mentioned the WiFi offloading dynamics. In many cases, they're using -- their WiFi offload is much higher than ours. And so the correspondingly, their use of cellular is lower. So what do we do to compete? At its core our industry still competes on network and price. And so the first thing that you can do is you can bring the price of the bundle down to compete against wireless -- excuse me, compete against cable, and we're doing that with fixed wireless, right? So one of the things that I'm very pleased about is the success of our fixed wireless business and a lot of those customers come with bundled lines.

然後我提到了 WiFi 卸載動態。在許多情況下，他們使用的 WiFi 負載比我們高得多。因此，相應地，他們對蜂窩網路的使用也較低。那我們要做些什麼來競爭呢？從本質上講，我們行業的競爭仍然是網路和價格。因此，您可以做的第一件事就是降低捆綁包的價格，以與無線競爭 - 對不起，與有線競爭，我們正在通過固定無線來做到這一點，對嗎？因此，我非常高興的一件事是我們的固定無線業務的成功，許多客戶都使用捆綁線路。

And so kind of go back at them, fight the war on their turf, so to speak. And I think the success of our fixed wireless business is proof around that strategy being a good one. I think the second thing that you can do is make sure that you're paying a lot of attention to your existing customer base and you're insulating them as best you can. And so our in-contract rates going up, and consequently, our churn rate is going down is another good dynamic around our ability to compete successfully with cable.

可以這麼說，反擊他們，在他們的地盤上打仗。我認為我們固定無線業務的成功證明了這項策略的良好性。我認為你可以做的第二件事是確保你非常專注於現有的客戶群，並盡可能地隔離他們。因此，我們的合約費率上升，因此我們的客戶流失率下降，這是我們與有線電視成功競爭的能力的另一個良好動態。

The third piece, Sergey, is I also think that this is a long game, right? In the long run, it is very difficult to compete in our industry, if you don't have owner's economics. In the short to medium term, I referenced, right, they've got -- they have a share of gross adds that is much higher than their existing market share. And so there's still room -- plenty of room to grow. But in the long run, investing in a really high-quality network experience is another insulating factor to be able to help you compete successfully. And so we have to invest. And we have to invest behind a mid-band, we have to invest behind high speeds, quality 5G and making sure that we have a highly competitive network.

第三塊，謝爾蓋，我也覺得這是一場漫長的比賽，對吧？從長遠來看，如果沒有所有者經濟學，就很難在我們的行業中競爭。在中短期內，我提到，對，他們的總增加份額遠高於現有的市場份額。所以仍然有很大的成長空間。但從長遠來看，投資真正高品質的網路體驗是能夠幫助您成功競爭的另一個隔離因素。所以我們必須投資。我們必須投資中頻段，我們必須投資高速、高品質的 5G，並確保我們擁有一個極具競爭力的網路。

And so your ability as a wireless player to invest not just in low prices, but also in high speeds and high quality to me in the long run is the best way to compete against the cable wireless players. They have plenty of room to grow, but we think we can compete aggressively.

因此，作為無線播放器，您不僅要投資低價，而且要投資於高速度和高質量，從長遠來看，這對我來說是與有線無線播放器競爭的最佳方式。他們有很大的成長空間，但我們認為我們可以積極競爭。

Got it. Another question is on towers. If you could maybe summarize your primary objectives for the Tower business for this year or maybe over the next 2 years. Obviously, you mentioned the current environment as wireless companies, a lot of that depends on mid-band deployments and lowering the capital spending plans, that impacted overall revenue trajectory in the near term. But even in this environment, I guess, what are the opportunities to improve revenue trajectory? And what are the primary objectives over the next few years?

知道了。另一個問題是關於塔的。您能否總結今年或未來兩年塔式業務的主要目標？顯然，您提到了無線公司當前的環境，其中很大一部分取決於中頻部署和降低資本支出計劃，這影響了短期內的整體收入軌跡。但我想，即使在這種環境下，改善收入軌跡的機會是什麼？未來幾年的主要目標是什麼？

Yes. So I would -- Sergey, I would chunk it up a little bit in terms of, let's call it, a 1- to 2-year time frame versus a 3- to 5-year time frame. For the next 1 to 2 years, I mean, the objective is simple, it's continue to grow revenue. And the easiest way to do that is to be a colocation partner of choice. And so we continue to market those towers aggressively, the ones that we already have in place. But we've talked in the past about potentially being able to open up other assets on those towers to people to collocate with us. And so colocation rate and continuing to improve that colocation rate is probably our primary objective. We think we are well positioned to do so.

是的。所以我會 - 謝爾蓋，我會把它分成一點，我們稱之為 1 到 2 年的時間框架與 3 到 5 年的時間框架。我的意思是，在接下來的一到兩年裡，目標很簡單，就是繼續增加收入。最簡單的方法就是成為首選的託管合作夥伴。因此，我們繼續積極推銷那些我們已經擁有的塔樓。但我們過去曾討論過有可能向人們開放這些塔上的其他資產，以便與我們合作。因此，託管率並繼續提高託管率可能是我們的首要目標。我們認為我們有能力做到這一點。

The challenge is in the next 1 to 2 years, how much colocation activity, how much new Tower build activity will there be for operators. And so there's kind of a secondary objective in the next 1 to 2 years, which is to make sure that we're financially healthy and we're built for the long term. That's something that we've always focused on as a business. Not just in our tower business but more broadly. And so I feel good about the long-term trajectory and our ability to, let's call it, weather the storm of the next year or 2 as operators, not just UScellular, but others kind of pull back a little bit on capital.

挑戰在於，在未來 1 到 2 年內，營運商將會有多少主機託管活動、多少新塔建設活動。因此，未來 1 到 2 年內還有一個次要目標，即確保我們的財務狀況良好，並且我們的目標是長期發展。這是我們身為企業一直在關注的事情。不僅在我們的鐵塔業務中，而且在更廣泛的領域。因此，我對長期發展軌跡以及我們作為運營商（不只是美國移動公司，還有其他一些稍微縮減資本的運營商）（我們可以這樣稱呼它）經受未來一兩年風暴的能力感到滿意。

What we want to be positioned for is that 3- to 5-year time frame, when, if I -- as I talked about a little bit in my answer to Rick's question. If we don't see more spectrum come online, operators are going to have to densify. And if they densify, we think we're in a very good position. In past earnings call, we've shared how our Tower portfolio, in many cases, a large portion of our Tower portfolio, doesn't have another Tower within a mile, 2 miles, 3 miles of its Tower. So it's not 1 of these situations. Most of our towers don't have these situations where you have one tower and there's another one right next to it. And so it's very difficult to differentiate yourself other than by price.

我們想要定位的是 3 到 5 年的時間框架，當時，如果我——正如我在回答里克的問題時談到的那樣。如果我們看不到更多頻譜上線，營運商將不得不進行密集化。如果它們變得密集，我們認為我們處於一個非常有利的位置。在過去的財報電話會議中，我們分享了我們的塔樓投資組合（在許多情況下，我們的塔樓投資組合的很大一部分）如何在其塔樓1 英里、2 英里、3 英里範圍內沒有另一座塔樓。所以這不是其中一種情況。我們大多數的塔都不會出現這樣的情況：一座塔旁邊還有另一座塔。因此，除了價格之外，很難讓自己脫穎而出。

In our case, we're differentiated by location. And as some of our competitors have to densify into rural America, we think that portfolio is really well situated. And so in the long run, we see some really attractive growth on that. So colocation rate, and let's call it a healthy financial profile would be the metric for the next year or 2. Long term, it would be overall top line revenue growth and potentially even new tower expansion when we can invest to support other people's densification efforts.

就我們而言，我們透過位置進行區分。由於我們的一些競爭對手必須向美國農村地區密集發展，我們認為我們的投資組合確實處於有利位置。因此，從長遠來看，我們看到了一些非常有吸引力的成長。因此，主機代管率（我們稱之為健康的財務狀況）將成為未來一兩年的衡量標準。支持其他人的緻密化努力時。

Got it. Great. And my last question is for Michelle. I think a few quarters ago, you highlighted a pickup in overbuilding in your ILEC markets. Maybe if you could provide an update where the situation is now, how do you typically respond to an overbuilder, your approach in 2024? And also as you think about your fiber build, if you could talk about how you prioritize your build, keeping lower building activity in mind and other factors that you kind of prioritize.

知道了。偉大的。我的最後一個問題是問米歇爾的。我認為幾個季度前，您強調了 ILEC 市場過度建設的加劇。也許您可以提供目前情況的最新情況，您通常如何應對過度建設者，以及您在 2024 年的做法？當您考慮光纖建置時，您是否可以談談如何確定建置的優先順序、記住較低的建置活動以及您優先考慮的其他因素。

Sergey, thank you for the question. So yes if we kind of take our markets individually. We certainly have been balancing our fiber spending over the last few years. It's heavily gone into expansion markets. But we've also put a significant amount of investment into our ILEC markets. So our ILEC's are 44% fibered up at this point. So that goes a long way to defending areas in our ILEC properties. At the moment, we're not a lot of spending in our ILEC markets this year because we've got EA-CAM coming.

謝爾蓋，謝謝你的提問。所以，如果我們單獨對待我們的市場的話，是的。在過去的幾年裡，我們當然一直在平衡我們的光纖支出。它大力投入擴張市場。但我們也對 ILEC 市場投入了大量投資。因此，我們的 ILEC 此時已完成 44% 的光纖化。因此，這對於保衛我們的 ILEC 財產區域大有幫助。目前，我們今年在 ILEC 市場的支出並不多，因為 EA-CAM 即將推出。

So this year, we're focusing on engineering and getting our plans lined up so that those builds can start going in 2025, and we'll be fulfilling our EA-CAM commitments over the next few years. That's going to take a lot more fiber into our ILEC as well. And so that is going to serve as another great defense mechanism in our ILEC markets on top of all of the investment that we've already put in ourselves over the last many years, like over the last decade, really. So that's our plan for the ILEC.

因此，今年，我們將重點放在工程設計上並製定計劃，以便這些構建可以在 2025 年開始實施，並且我們將在未來幾年內履行我們的 EA-CAM 承諾。這也將需要更多的光纖進入我們的 ILEC。因此，這將成為我們的 ILEC 市場的另一個強大的防禦機制，除了我們在過去多年（例如過去十年）投入的所有投資之外，真的。這就是我們對 ILEC 的計劃。

There is competitive overbuilding that is happening in certain areas of our ILEC, that certainly is present. But we have tried to defend as much as possible with being preemptive in getting our fiber there as quickly as possible and with going into the enhanced A-CAM program to help fortify our ILEC even further.

我們的 ILEC 的某些領域正在發生競爭性過度建設，這是確實存在的。但我們已嘗試盡可能多地進行防禦，先發製人，盡快將光纖運送到那裡，並進入增強型 A-CAM 計劃，以幫助進一步加強我們的 ILEC。

There are no further questions at this time. Ms. Colleen Thompson, I turn the call back over to you.

目前沒有其他問題。科琳·湯普森女士，我將電話轉回給您。

Okay. Thanks, everyone, for your time today. Please reach out to IR if you have additional questions and have a great weekend. Operator, we can close out the call.

好的。謝謝大家今天抽出時間。如果您還有其他問題，請聯絡 IR，祝您週末愉快。接線員，我們可以結束通話了。

Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes today's conference call. You may now disconnect.

女士們、先生們，今天的電話會議到此結束。您現在可以斷開連線。