Telephone and Data Systems Inc (TDS) 2025 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Hello, and welcome to the TDS and Array third-quarter 2025 operating results conference call. (Operator Instructions) I would now like to turn the call over to John Toomey. Please go ahead.

大家好，歡迎參加 TDS 和 Array 2025 年第三季經營業績電話會議。（操作員指示）現在我想把電話轉給約翰·圖米。請繼續。

Good morning, and thank you for joining us today. I'm pleased to be here in my new role as Treasurer and Vice President of Corporate Relations. I've been with TDS for 25 years, serving as Treasurer since 2018, and I look forward to meeting and talking with you as part of my expanded role.

早安，感謝各位今天收看我們的節目。我很高興能擔任財務主管兼企業關係副總裁這項新職務。我在 TDS 工作了 25 年，自 2018 年起擔任財務主管，我期待在新的職位上與您見面和交談。

We want to make you aware of the presentation that has been prepared to accompany our comments this morning, which you can find on the Investor Relations sections of the TDS and Array websites. With me today and offering prepared comments are: from TDS, Walter Carlson, President and CEO; Vicki Villacrez, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer; from TDS Telecom; Ken Dickson, President and CEO; Chris Botfeld, Vice President of Finance; and from Array Digital infrastructure, Doug Chambers, Interim President and CEO.

我們想讓您了解我們今天早上發言的配套演示文稿，您可以在 TDS 和 Array 網站的投資者關係部分找到該演示文稿。今天與我一起發表準備好的評論的有：來自 TDS 的總裁兼首席執行官 Walter Carlson；執行副總裁兼首席財務官 Vicki Villacrez；來自 TDS Telecom 的總裁兼首席執行官 Ken Dickson；財務副總裁 Chris Botfeld；以及來自 Array Digital infrastructure 的臨時總裁兼首席執行官 Doug Chambers。

This call is being simultaneously webcast on the TDS and Array Investor Relations websites. Please see the websites for the slides referred to on this call, including non-GAAP reconciliations. TDS and Array filed their SEC Forms 8-K, including the press releases and our 10-Qs earlier this morning.

本次電話會議將同時在TDS和Array投資者關係網站上進行網路直播。請參閱網站上關於本次電話會議中提到的投影片的內容，包括非GAAP調整表。TDS 和 Array 於今天早上早些時候提交了 SEC 8-K 表格，其中包括新聞稿和我們的 10-Q 表格。

Finally, as shown on slide 2, the information set forth in the presentation and discussed during this call contain 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.

最後，如投影片 2 所示，本次簡報中闡述和電話會議中討論的資訊包含有關預期未來事件和財務結果的陳述，這些陳述具有前瞻性，並存在風險和不確定性。請查閱我們新聞稿中的「安全港」條款以及我們提交給美國證券交易委員會的文件中包含的擴展版本。

I will now turn over the call to Walter Carlson.

現在我將把通話交給華特·卡爾森。

Thanks, John, and good morning, everyone. We are pleased to report to you on our third quarter performance and the progress we have made on our priorities for 2025. Our priorities for 2025 are set forth on slide 3. As we reported to you in August, the T-Mobile transaction closed on August 1. The close of that transaction and the subsequent transition activities have gone well and the successful close has enabled us to continue our progress on all our other priorities.

謝謝你，約翰，大家早安。我們很高興向您報告我們第三季的業績以及我們在2025年優先事項方面取得的進展。我們在投影片 3 中列出了 2025 年的優先事項。正如我們在 8 月報導的那樣，T-Mobile 的交易已於 8 月 1 日完成。該交易的完成以及隨後的過渡活動進展順利，交易的成功完成使我們能夠繼續推進所有其他優先事項。

Array digital infrastructure has seamlessly transitioned into an independent tower company and has hit the ground running, already showing nice growth, as Doug Chambers will highlight shortly. Doug has done an excellent job leading Array during this transition.

Array 數位基礎設施公司已順利轉型為獨立的鐵塔公司，並迅速發展壯大，已經取得了不錯的成長，Doug Chambers 稍後將重點介紹這一點。道格在這次過渡期間領導 Array 公司做得非常出色。

With Array established as a stand-alone tower company, we are pleased to name Anthony Carlson as the President and CEO to lead the Array team into the future. Anthony has an outstanding business background and has led significant teams at both US Cellular and TDS Telecom for the past six years. We are confident that he will be an excellent leader for Array.

隨著 Array 成為一家獨立的鐵塔公司，我們很高興任命 Anthony Carlson 為總裁兼首席執行官，帶領 Array 團隊走向未來。Anthony 擁有傑出的商業背景，在過去的六年裡，他曾在 US Cellular 和 TDS Telecom 領導過重要的團隊。我們相信他會成為Array公司的優秀領導者。

Turning to TDS Telecom. The third quarter was Ken Dixons first full quarter as its CEO. TDS Telecom continues to be laser-focused on its fiber transformation. In the quarter, the company achieved an important milestone of 1 million fiber addresses.

轉向TDS電信。第三季是肯·迪克森擔任執行長的第一個完整季度。TDS Telecom 持續全力推動其光纖轉型。本季度，該公司實現了光纖位址數量達到100萬的重要里程碑。

You'll hear more from Ken and Chris Barfield on this achievement and TDS Telecom's other accomplishments later in the presentation. TDS has also strengthened its capital structure, having received a $1.6 billion special dividend from Array in August and we expect to receive additional proceeds after the close of the pending spectrum transactions.

在稍後的演講中，您將聽到 Ken 和 Chris Barfield 就這項成就以及 TDS Telecom 的其他成就作更多介紹。TDS 也加強了其資本結構，8 月從 Array 獲得了 16 億美元的特別股息，我們預計在待決的頻譜交易完成後還將獲得額外收益。

The proceeds received to date have enabled the substantial paydown of debt and will support the existing fiber expansion program at TDS Telecom. As we receive the proceeds from the additional spectrum sales, we expect to further expand our fiber program, and to use a significant portion to support the new $500 million share repurchase program that the company announced this morning. Vicki Villacrez will provide additional details on our capital allocation program during her remarks.

迄今為止收到的收益已用於大幅償還債務，並將支持 TDS Telecom 現有的光纖擴建計劃。隨著我們收到額外頻譜銷售所得，我們預計將進一步擴大光纖計劃，並將其中很大一部分用於支持公司今天早上宣布的新的 5 億美元股票回購計劃。Vicki Villacrez 將在演講中提供有關我們資本分配計劃的更多細節。

And lastly, we are keenly focused on our culture. Transformational changes are never easy, but TDS has a strong culture and our associates are effectively executing against our objectives through their continued hard work, collaboration and professionalism.

最後，我們非常重視我們的文化。改變從來都不容易，但 TDS 擁有強大的企業文化，我們的員工透過持續的努力、協作和專業精神，有效地實現了我們的目標。

I want to personally thank all of the teams whose efforts to put the enterprise in this strong position heading into 2026.

我要親自感謝所有團隊，感謝他們的努力使公司在邁向 2026 年之際處於如此強大的地位。

I will now turn the call over to Vicki.

現在我將把通話轉給維姬。

Thank you, Walter, and good morning, everyone. At TDS, we are focusing heavily on capital allocation decisions in light of the US Cellular transaction to T-Mobile, the debt reduction at TDS and Array and the anticipated closing of Array Spectrum sales to AT&T and Verizon within the next year.

謝謝你，沃特，大家早安。鑑於美國行動通訊公司 (US Cellular) 被 T-Mobile 收購、TDS 和 Array 的債務削減以及預計在未來一年內完成 Array Spectrum 出售給 AT&T 和 Verizon 的交易，TDS 正在重點關注資本配置決策。

At Array, we anticipate, as we have disclosed previously that cash received upon closing of the AT&T and Verizon transactions will be used subject to the determination of the Array Board primarily to fund ongoing business operations and special dividends.

正如我們之前披露的那樣，Array預計，AT&T和Verizon交易完成後收到的現金將主要用於資助持續的業務運營和特別股息，具體用途由Array董事會決定。

We anticipate the pending AT&T transaction of $1 billion to close either in the fourth quarter of 2025 or the first half of 2026, depending on government approval. While any decision on dividends will be made by the Array Board, we anticipate that following the closing of the AT&T transaction, the Array Board would declare a special dividend in the amount of approximately $10 per share.

我們預計，AT&T 10 億美元的待決交易將於 2025 年第四季或 2026 年上半年完成，具體取決於政府的批准。雖然任何關於股息的決定都將由 Array 董事會做出，但我們預計在 AT&T 交易完成後，Array 董事會將宣布派發每股約 10 美元的特別股息。

At TDS, our capital allocation plan has three priorities. The first is to invest in our fiber business. As Walter highlighted, we continue to believe that our fiber business has numerous opportunities for investments with attractive return profiles. We will use a portion of the anticipated special dividend proceeds to fund both our current fiber program and additional fiber builds that are incremental to our current goals.

在TDS，我們的資本配置計畫有三個優先事項。首先，我們要投資我們的光纖業務。正如沃爾特所強調的，我們仍然相信，我們的纖維業務擁有眾多投資機會，並能帶來可觀的回報。我們將利用預期特別股息收益的一部分，為我們目前的光纖項目以及超出我們當前目標的額外光纖建設提供資金。

These additional opportunities are mostly edge-out communities adjacent to our markets and could be at least several hundred thousand service addresses or more. We believe there's an immediate window of opportunity to plant our flag and pursue investments in communities without a fiber provider. We are currently working through the business cases, and we'll update you in February.

這些額外的機會大多是與我們市場相鄰的邊緣社區，服務地址可能至少有數十萬個甚至更多。我們認為現在正是進入沒有光纖供應商的社區並進行投資的絕佳時機。我們目前正在研究商業案例，將於二月向您報告最新進展。

Our second priority is to achieve inorganic growth through M&A. We intend to be opportunistic and disciplined. Only considering those opportunities that are accretive and meet our return objectives. To that end, we would specifically be interested in smaller, highly synergistic, accretive M&A fiber opportunities, particularly adjacent to our existing markets.

我們的第二個優先事項是透過併購來實現非內生成長。我們打算抓住機會，同時保持紀律。只考慮那些能夠帶來收益成長並符合我們回報目標的投資機會。為此，我們特別感興趣的是規模較小、具有高度協同效應、能夠帶來增值效益的併購機會，尤其是在我們現有市場附近。

As we have demonstrated in the past, TDS will remain financially disciplined and business case-driven and any M&A pursuits. Clustering to achieve synergies will continue to be an important strategy at TDS Telecom. The company has recently divested ILEC markets that were not a strategic fit to its fiber objectives.

正如我們過去所證明的那樣，TDS 將繼續保持財務紀律，以商業案例為導向，並進行任何併購活動。透過叢集實現協同效應將繼續是 TDS Telecom 的一項重要策略。該公司最近剝離了與自身光纖戰略目標不符的本地交換運營商（ILEC）市場。

Our third priority is to return capital directly to shareholders. In September, TDS began repurchasing its stock and bought back a little over 1 million shares. During the third quarter under its existing stock repurchase authorization.

我們的第三項優先事項是將資本直接回饋給股東。9 月份，TDS 開始回購股票，回購了略多於 100 萬股。在第三季度，根據其現有的股票回購授權。

In addition, TDS' Board authorized a $500 million increase to our existing share repurchase program, leaving the remaining authorization intact. This authorization reflects the Board's confidence in the company's long-term strategy and the belief that repurchasing TDS shares at present valuation is an attractive use of the company's capital.

此外，TDS 董事會批准將現有股票回購計畫增加 5 億美元，其餘授權維持不變。這項授權反映了董事會對公司長期策略的信心，以及認為以當前估值回購 TDS 股票是公司資本的一種有吸引力的用途的信念。

The timing and manner will be determined at the company's discretion and will be dependent on closings of the announced spectrum transactions as well as general business and market conditions. We believe share repurchase is tax-efficient for our shareholders, while also providing flexibility for the company.

時間和方式將由公司自行決定，並將取決於已公佈的頻譜交易的完成情況以及一般的商業和市場狀況。我們認為股票回購對股東來說是一種節稅方式，同時也為公司提供了彈性。

To be clear, TDS also expects to retain its current regular quarterly dividend. All decisions regarding dividends in future quarters, of course, are subject to the determination of our Board. I think these balanced capital allocation priorities will make TDS stronger, both operationally as we make investments in our fiber business and by returning capital to our shareholders in a measured way.

需要明確的是，TDS 也預計將維持其目前的常規季度股息。當然，未來幾季的股利發放事宜，最終由董事會決定。我認為這些平衡的資本配置優先事項將使 TDS 更加強大，無論是在營運方面（因為我們對光纖業務進行投資），還是透過有條不紊地向股東返還資本。

Thank you, and I now will turn the call over to Ken Dickson to discuss his vision for TDS' fiber business. Ken?

謝謝，現在我將把電話交給 Ken Dickson，讓他來談談他對 TDS 光纖業務的願景。肯？

Thank you, Vicki. Good morning, everyone. My first quarter at TDS Telecom has been fantastic. One highlight, of course, was achieving 1 million fiber passings. It was a significant milestone for the business and years in the making.

謝謝你，維姬。各位早安。我在TDS電信的第一個季度非常棒。當然，其中一個亮點是實現了 100 萬根光纖通過。這是公司發展歷程中的重要里程碑，也是多年努力的成果。

I have also enjoyed traveling to our markets and listening to our TDS frontline associates who are executing every day on our fiber build plans and growth strategy. Before we get into the slides, I'd like to take a moment to reaffirm our strategic priorities. These include executing on our build plan accelerating fiber penetration, advancing our business transformation program and delivering an excellent customer experience. These pillars are central to our long-term growth strategy and will continue to shape our path forward.

我也很喜歡走訪我們的市場，聆聽我們TDS第一線員工的回饋，他們每天都在執行我們的光纖建設計劃和成長策略。在開始播放投影片之前，我想花一點時間重申我們的策略重點。這些措施包括執行我們的建設計劃，加快光纖普及率，推進我們的業務轉型計劃，以及提供卓越的客戶體驗。這些支柱是我們長期成長策略的核心，並將繼續塑造我們未來的道路。

Turning to slide 6. We delivered 42,000 fiber addresses in the quarter, which puts us just over halfway to our goal of 150,000 service addresses for the full year. Consistent with historical trends, we expect to have our strongest address delivery here in the fourth quarter. We generated 11,200 residential fiber net adds in the quarter, contributing to a 19% growth in residential fiber connections since last year. Fiber net adds have improved sequentially every quarter this year.

翻到第6張投影片。本季我們交付了 42,000 個光纖位址，距離全年 150,000 個服務地址的目標已完成一半以上。與歷史趨勢一致，我們預計第四季度該地區的地址投遞量將達到最高水準。本季我們新增住宅光纖用戶 11,200 戶，讓住宅光纖連線數比去年同期成長了 19%。今年以來，光纖網路新增流量每季都在逐季成長。

On the sales and build front, we recognize that performance isn't where we want it to be. We are taking actions to change this trajectory. Since the end of the second quarter, we have nearly doubled the number of construction crews we have across our markets and are continuing to increase crew counts through the end of the year.

在銷售和生產方面，我們意識到業績還沒有達到我們預期的水平。我們正在採取措施改變這一趨勢。自第二季末以來，我們在各個市場的施工隊伍數量幾乎翻了一番，並且我們將繼續增加施工隊伍數量，直到年底。

We are focused on executing our build plan so we have a large funnel of addresses to sell into and increasing penetration rates in our existing launched fiber areas. And lastly, our enhanced ACAM or EA-CAM builds are very well underway, which will help bring fiber to the most rural markets in our footprint over the next several years.

我們正專注於執行我們的建設計劃，以便擁有大量的銷售地址，並提高我們已推出光纖區域的滲透率。最後，我們增強型 ACAM 或 EA-CAM 的建設工作進展順利，這將有助於在未來幾年內將光纖帶到我們業務覆蓋範圍內最偏遠的農村市場。

On the next slide, I want to share a little bit more about EA-CAM which will be absolutely a transformative program to our network, our business and our customers. First, this program enables us to replace a substantial portion of legacy copper infrastructure.

下一張投影片，我想更詳細地介紹 EA-CAM，它將徹底改變我們的網路、業務和客戶。首先，該計劃使我們能夠替換大部分原有的銅質基礎設施。

This will add approximately 300,000 new fiber addresses, which includes EA-CAM addresses as well as addresses that will be picked up along the route. This directly supports our long-term goal of reducing copper to less than 5% of our total network footprint. This will greatly improve network reliability and the customer experience.

這將新增約 30 萬個光纖位址，其中包括 EA-CAM 位址以及沿途收集的地址。這直接支持了我們將銅材使用量減少到網路總使用量 5% 以下的長期目標。這將大大提高網路可靠性和客戶體驗。

As construction activity ramps up, we expect to see strong copper to fiber conversions as well as new customer growth throughout our rural footprint. Second, the program delivers over $1.2 billion in regulatory revenue support over a 15-year period, providing a funding stream that supports this continued investment in fiber.

隨著建築活動的增加，我們預計在我們農村地區的業務範圍內，銅纜到光纖的轉換率將大幅提升，新客戶數量也將成長。其次，該計劃在 15 年內提供超過 12 億美元的監管收入支持，為持續投資光纖提供了資金來源。

Third, these markets are uniquely positioned for success. With no gig capable competitors, we anticipate penetration rates between 65% and 75%, which translates into very attractive returns. In short, ACAM is an outstanding program strategically, operationally and financially. It allows us to bring world-class fiber services to communities that were previously cost-prohibitive, while delivering meaningful value to both our customers and to our business.

第三，這些市場具有獨特的成功優勢。由於沒有能夠提供零工服務的競爭對手，我們預計滲透率將在 65% 到 75% 之間，這意味著非常可觀的回報。簡而言之，ACAM 在策略、營運和財務方面都是一個傑出的專案。它使我們能夠為以前成本過高的社區帶來世界一流的光纖服務，同時為我們的客戶和我們的業務帶來有意義的價值。

Before turning over the call, I want to say how much I've enjoyed my first quarter here. We have a lot of work to do, but I'm excited about the direction we're heading and the opportunities ahead as we transform TDS Telecom into a fiber-centric company.

在把電話交給對方之前，我想說我非常享受在這裡的第一個季度。我們還有很多工作要做，但我對我們前進的方向以及將 TDS Telecom 轉型為以光纖為中心的公司所帶來的機會感到興奮。

I'll now let Chris Baufeld take us through the quarter results. Chris?

現在，我將請克里斯·鮑菲爾德為我們介紹季度業績。克里斯？

Thanks, Ken. Turning to slide 8. You can see our progress towards the long-term fiber goals we shared earlier this year. We are targeting 1.8 million marketable fiber service addresses and we crossed the 1 million fiber address mark this quarter. Across our entire footprint, our goal is to have 80% of total addresses served by fiber compared to 55% today.

謝謝你，肯。翻到第8張幻燈片。您可以看到我們在今年稍早提出的長期光纖目標方面取得的進展。我們的目標是180萬個可銷售的光纖服務位址，本季​​我們已經突破了100萬個光纖位址大關。在我們整個業務覆蓋範圍內，我們的目標是使 80% 的地址都能享受到光纖服務，而目前這一比例為 55%。

We expect this percentage to grow as our EA-CAM deployments ramp. And finally, we expect to offer speeds of 1 gig or higher to at least 95% of our footprint. We finished the quarter with 76% of our footprint at gig speeds. As a reminder, we will use a combination of fiber and coax technologies to reach this target.

我們預計隨著 EA-CAM 部署的增加，這一比例將會成長。最後，我們預計至少 95% 的覆蓋區域將提供 1 Gbps 或更高的速度。本季末，我們76%的業務範圍實現了千兆速度。再次提醒大家，我們將採用光纖和同軸電纜技術結合的方式來實現這一目標。

Turning to slide 9. The graph on the left shows the most recent 5 quarters of fiber service address delivery. Address delivery typically increases throughout the year given seasonality impacts. As Ken said, we are behind schedule for the year, and we are working to get our build plan back on track and are expecting the fourth quarter to be the strongest of the year.

翻到第9張投影片。左側圖表顯示了最近 5 個季度的光纖服務地址交付情況。考慮到季節性因素的影響，地址投遞量通常會在一年中逐年增加。正如肯恩所說，我們今年的進度落後於計劃，我們正在努力使我們的建設計劃重回正軌，並預計第四季度將是今年最強勁的季度。

The graph on the right shows the significant growth in our fiber footprint nearly doubling over the last three years. Turning to Slide 10. The graph on the left shows the last five quarters of residential fiber net additions. We delivered 11,200 this quarter, up 8% year-over-year. We have seen year-over-year and sequential improvement in residential fiber net adds this quarter and we expect to see improvement in fiber net adds in the fourth quarter. The graph on the right highlights our residential fiber connection growth. Connections have nearly doubled over the last three years, driven by our expansion efforts and copper to fiber conversions.

右側圖表顯示，我們的光纖覆蓋範圍顯著增長，在過去三年中幾乎翻了一番。翻到第10張投影片。左側圖表顯示了過去五個季度住宅光纖網路新增量。本季我們交付了 11,200 件，較去年同期成長 8%。本季住宅光纖網路新增量年比均有所改善，我們預計第四季光纖網路新增量將持續改善。右側圖表顯示了我們住宅光纖連接的成長。過去三年，在我們的擴張努力和銅纜到光纖轉換的推動下，連接數幾乎翻了一番。

As we continue to invest in fiber, we expect broadband connection growth to continue. Broadband penetration remains a key metric for our fiber program. with our expansion markets hitting 20% to 25% penetration on average within the first 12 months of launch and approximately 40% in steady state by year four to five.

隨著我們對光纖的持續投資，我們預計寬頻連線數將繼續成長。寬頻普及率仍然是我們光纖專案的關鍵指標。我們的擴張市場在推出後的前 12 個月內平均達到 20% 至 25% 的普及率，並在第四到第五年穩定達到約 40% 的普及率。

On slide 11, average residential revenue per connection was up slightly year-over-year. Consistent with industry trends, fewer broadband customers are bundling with our video product, which dilutes this metric. As we shared earlier this year, we anticipate more modest growth in residential revenue per connection as we focus on driving penetration. The chart on the right shows our revenue comparison year-over-year. As a reminder, divested markets accounted for a $6 million decrease in revenues compared to the prior year.

第 11 頁顯示，每戶住宅用戶的平均收入較去年同期略有成長。與行業趨勢一致，將寬頻服務與我們的視訊產品捆綁銷售的客戶越來越少，這削弱了這一指標。正如我們今年稍早所分享的那樣，由於我們將重點放在提高滲透率上，我們預計每戶住宅用戶的收入成長將較為溫和。右側圖表顯示了我們同比收入對比情況。需要提醒的是，剝離的市場導致收入比前一年減少了 600 萬美元。

Now let's talk about revenues on slide 12. Total operating revenues were down 3% in the quarter compared to prior year.

現在我們來看第 12 張投影片，內容是關於收入的。本季總營業收入較上年同期下降3%。

Excluding the impact of divestitures, revenues were down 1%, driven by continued declines in our legacy cable and copper markets, partially offset by growth from our fiber investments. Adjusted EBITDA is down 3% year-over-year, which is pressured by the divestitures and legacy revenue stream declines offset in part by disciplined cost control.

不計剝離業務的影響，收入下降了 1%，主要原因是傳統電纜和銅纜市場的持續下滑，但部分被光纖投資帶來的成長所抵消。經調整的 EBITDA 年比下降 3%，主要受資產剝離和傳統收入來源下降的影響，但部分被嚴格的成本控制所抵消。

A key priority for the company is to drive business transformation, and we are starting to see benefits from these efforts to improve our cost structure. Capital expenditures are up compared to the same period last year due to spending on the EA-CAM program as well as higher expansion address delivery. We expect both CapEx and service address delivery to continue to increase in the fourth quarter as we accelerate construction to meet our full year address target. Over 80% of our 2025 capital expenditures will be focused on fiber. Slide 13 shows our 2025 guidance. which remains unchanged from last quarter.

公司的一個關鍵優先事項是推動業務轉型，我們已經開始看到這些改善成本結構的努力所帶來的好處。由於 EA-CAM 專案的支出以及更高的擴展地址交付量，資本支出比去年同期有所增加。我們預計，隨著我們加快建設以實現全年地址目標，第四季度資本支出和服務地址交付量將繼續增長。2025年，我們超過80%的資本支出將用於光纖領域。第 13 張投影片展示了我們對 2025 年的業績指引，與上季相比保持不變。

In closing, Ken and I want to thank the entire TDS Telecom team. We have significant opportunities and transformation ahead of us and it would not be possible without the hard work and dedication of our associates.

最後，我和 Ken 想感謝 TDS Telecom 的全體團隊成員。我們面前有很多機會和變革，而這一切都離不開員工的辛勤工作和奉獻精神。

I will now turn the call over to Doug.

現在我將把電話交給道格。

Thanks, Chris. Good morning. The third quarter was momentous as we closed the sale of our wireless operations and returned significant value to shareholders in the form of a special dividend. We also launched our operations as an independent tower company, and the team has done an outstanding job of executing a seamless transition and delivering strong results which were bolstered by the new T-Mobile MLA that commenced on August 1.

謝謝你，克里斯。早安.第三季意義重大，我們完成了無線業務的出售，並以特別股息的形式向股東返還了大量價值。我們也以獨立鐵塔公司的身份開展了業務，團隊出色地完成了無縫過渡，並取得了強勁的業績，這得益於 8 月 1 日生效的新的 T-Mobile MLA。

In addition, we continue to make progress on our process to opportunistically monetize our spectrum as we entered into additional agreements to sell spectrum. As a reminder, Arrays business has three significant value drivers: retained wireless spectrum, tower operations and noncontrolling investment interests.

此外，我們繼續推進頻譜變現的進程，並簽訂了更多出售頻譜的協議。需要提醒的是，Arrays 業務有三個重要的價值驅動因素：保留的無線頻譜、鐵塔營運和非控制投資權益。

Further, our strategic imperatives included on slide 17 and continued to be focused on fully optimizing our tower operations and monetizing our spectrum. I will discuss these value drivers and progress on our strategic imperatives as I walk through our third quarter results.

此外，我們在第 17 頁投影片中列出的策略要務，將繼續專注於全面優化我們的鐵塔營運和頻譜貨幣化。在介紹我們第三季業績時，我將討論這些價值驅動因素以及我們在策略要務方面的進展。

From a financial reporting standpoint, given the divestiture of our wireless business in the third quarter, results from wireless operations, including the book loss on sale of such operations are presented as discontinued operations in our financial statements. This discussion is solely focused on our continuing operations and therefore excludes wireless operations results and the related book loss on sale.

從財務報告的角度來看，鑑於我們在第三季剝離了無線業務，無線業務的業績（包括出售此類業務的帳面虧損）在我們的財務報表中作為終止經營業務列示。本討論僅聚焦於我們的持續經營業務，因此不包括無線業務的績效以及相關的出售帳面損失。

Further, now that we are an independent tower company, we have adjusted our reporting to include relevant tower company financial measures, including adjusted free cash flow, which is similar to the adjusted funds from operations or AFFO measure reported by other tower companies and also includes the cash flows from our noncontrolling investment interest which are a significant portion of Array's total cash flows.

此外，由於我們現在是一家獨立的鐵塔公司，我們已經調整了報告，納入了相關的鐵塔公司財務指標，包括調整後的自由現金流，這類似於其他鐵塔公司報告的調整後營運資金或 AFFO 指標，並且還包括來自我們少數股東投資權益的現金流，這些現金流佔 Array 總現金流的很大一部分。

Starting with an update on our spectrum monetization process, as shown on slide 18, we have made substantial progress and to date, have reached agreements to monetize 70% of our spectrum holdings. In conjunction with the sale of our wireless operations on August 1, we conveyed 30% of our spectrum to T-Mobile.

首先，讓我們來看看我們的頻譜貨幣化進程的最新進展，如幻燈片 18 所示，我們已經取得了實質進展，迄今為止，我們已經達成協議，將我們 70% 的頻譜資產貨幣化。8 月 1 日，在出售無線業務的同時，我們將 30% 的頻譜轉讓給了 T-Mobile。

In addition, as previously announced, we signed agreements to sell spectrum to Verizon and AT&T in separate transactions in exchange for $1 billion on each transaction. In August and October of 2025, we signed additional agreements with T-Mobile to sell spectrum for total gross proceeds of $178 million.

此外，正如先前宣布的那樣，我們已簽署協議，分別向 Verizon 和 AT&T 出售頻譜，每筆交易的金額為 10 億美元。2025 年 8 月和 10 月，我們與 T-Mobile 簽署了額外的協議，出售頻譜，總收益達 1.78 億美元。

This primarily includes the sale of 700 megahertz A-Block and the exercise of approximately 80% of T-Mobile's call option on the 600 megahertz spectrum. The pending spectrum transactions are subject to regulatory approval and closing conditions.

這主要包括出售 700 兆赫 A 頻段以及 T-Mobile 對 600 兆赫頻譜行使約 80% 的認購選擇權。待完成的頻譜交易須獲得監管機構批准並滿足成交條件。

As it relates to expected close dates on the pending spectrum transactions we expect the timing of regulatory approval to be impacted by the ongoing federal government shutdown. Given this, as mentioned by Vicki, we expect the pending AT&T transaction to close in either the fourth quarter of 2025 or the first half of 2026 and the remaining transactions to close in 2026.

至於待決頻譜交易的預期完成日期，我們預計監管部門的批准時間將受到當前聯邦政府停擺的影響。有鑑於此，正如 Vicki 所提到的，我們預計 AT&T 的待決交易將於 2025 年第四季或 2026 年上半年完成，其餘交易將於 2026 年完成。

Our remaining spectrum principally consists of C-band spectrum, and we continue to believe that this is attractive beachfront spectrum for 5G and there is an existing ecosystem, so carriers are easily able to put this spectrum to use. And although there are build-out requirements for this spectrum, the first one does not apply until 2029. So there's plenty of time to monetize this spectrum.

我們剩餘的頻譜主要由 C 波段頻譜組成，我們仍然認為這是極具吸引力的 5G 前緣頻譜，並且已經存在一個生態系統，因此營運商可以輕鬆利用該頻譜。雖然該頻譜有建設要求，但第一個要求要到 2029 年才會生效。所以，我們還有足夠的時間將這個頻譜資源貨幣化。

Turning to slide 21. The T-Mobile MLA significantly increases our revenue and we are focused on partnering with T-Mobile to ensure the integration process is well executed. Growing colocation revenue outside of the T-Mobile MLA also remains a priority in both revenue growth and new colocation application volume remains strong.

翻到第21張幻燈片。T-Mobile MLA 顯著提高了我們的收入，我們專注於與 T-Mobile 合作，以確保整合過程順利執行。在 T-Mobile MLA 之外增加託管收入仍然是收入成長的優先事項，新的託管申請量也保持強勁。

Overall, site rental revenue, excluding noncash amortization components grew 68% on a year-over-year basis in the third quarter of 2025 and excluding the impact of T-Mobile revenue and interim sites grew 46%. This reflects both the significant impact of the MLA with T-Mobile as well as strong revenue growth from other tenants.

總體而言，2025 年第三季站點租賃收入（不包括非現金攤銷部分）年增 68%，若不計入 T-Mobile 收入和臨時站點的影響，則同比增長 46%。這不僅反映了與 T-Mobile 簽訂的 MLA 協議的重大影響，也反映了其他租戶帶來的強勁收入成長。

Further, our decision to in-source our sales and intake operations at the beginning of 2025 has helped enhance our sales results as new colocation applications excluding T-Mobile applications, which are subject to the MLA have increased 125% on a year-to-date basis through September 30, 2025 relative to 2024.

此外，我們決定在 2025 年初將銷售和接收業務收回內部運營，這有助於提高我們的銷售業績，因為截至 2025 年 9 月 30 日，除 T-Mobile 應用外，受 MLA 約束的新託管應用數量較 2024 年同期增長了 125%。

Related to site rental revenues, we received a letter dated September 2025 from DISH Wireless whereby DISH asserts its master lease agreement with Array has been impacted by unforeseeable actions by the FCC, and therefore, DISH believes it is relieved of its obligations under the MLA. And despite this, DISH plans to continue to operate certain sites for a period of time.

關於場地租賃收入，我們收到了一封日期為 2025 年 9 月的 DISH Wireless 來信，信中 DISH 聲稱其與 Array 的主租賃協議受到了 FCC 不可預見的行動的影響，因此，DISH 認為它已免除了其在 MLA 下的義務。儘管如此，DISH 仍計劃在一段時間內繼續營運某些站點。

Array believes DISH's assertions are completely without merit, and DISH's obligations under the MLA remain intact. Array plans to enforce DISH's performance and payment obligations under the MLA. Array expects to recognize approximately $7 million of site rental revenue from the DISH MLA in 2025, and DISH's obligations at similar levels from 2026 through 2031 and with the declining revenue commitment in 2032 through 2035.

Array 認為 DISH 的說法完全沒有根據，DISH 在 MLA 下的義務仍然有效。Array計劃強制DISH履行其在MLA下的履約和付款義務。Array 預計在 2025 年將從 DISH MLA 獲得約 700 萬美元的場地租賃收入，DISH 在 2026 年至 2031 年期間的義務水準與此類似，而 2032 年至 2035 年期間的收入承諾將逐漸下降。

Slide 22 summarizes a raised financial results. In the third quarter of 2025, we estimate approximately 40% of selling, general and administrative or SG&A expenses include costs to support the following activities wireless operations prior to divestiture that are not reflected as discontinued operations, wireless operations wind-down costs incurred after the August 1 close date administrative expenses associated with managing spectrum assets and expenses associated with the ongoing strategic alternatives review.

第 22 張投影片總結了財務表現的提升。預計到 2025 年第三季度，銷售、一般及行政或 SG&A 費用中約有 40% 包括支援以下活動的成本：剝離前未反映為終止經營的無線業務運營成本、8 月 1 日交割日後發生的無線業務終止成本、與管理頻譜資產相關的行政費用以及與正在進行的戰略選擇審查相關的費用。

We expect legacy wireless operations wind down expenses to persist into the first half of 2026 at levels similar to the third quarter of 2025 and while some wind-down expenses will remain after that time, we expect such expenses to begin declining in the second half of 2026.

我們預計，傳統無線業務的逐步淘汰費用將持續到 2026 年上半年，水準與 2025 年第三季類似；雖然此後仍會有一些逐步淘汰費用，但我們預計這些費用將在 2026 年下半年開始下降。

Turning to slide 24. T-Mobile has until January 2028 to finalize the selection of 2015 committed sites under the new MLA. Based on these final selections, Array expects to have between 800 to 1,800 tenantless or naked towers. We are aggressively continuing our efforts to lease these Daka towers and we'll also plan on working with our ground lessors to rationalize ground rents based on the economics associated with naked towers.

翻到第24張投影片。T-Mobile 必須在 2028 年 1 月之前根據新的 MLA 完成 2015 年承諾站點的選擇。根據這些最終選擇，Array 預計將擁有 800 至 1800 座空置或裸露的塔樓。我們正在積極推動達卡大廈的租賃工作，同時我們也計劃與土地出租方合作，根據裸塔的經濟效益來合理化土地租金。

Over time, based on the results of these efforts, and the projected future lease potential of each tower, we will assess the economics of each naked tower and evaluate alternatives, including potential decommissioning.

隨著時間的推移，根據這些努力的結果以及每座塔樓預計的未來租賃潛力，我們將評估每座裸塔的經濟效益，並評估各種替代方案，包括可能的退役。

Slide 25 summarizes the result of noncontrolling investment interest. As noted, historically, greater than 80% of our investment income and related distributions are attributable to four wireless operating entities operated and managed by Verizon and AT&T. Investment income and distributions for the nine months ended September 30, 2025, were impacted by several events, including the following two items: First, we own noncontrolling interest in three additional entities that had wireless operations and have tower operations in the state of Iowa. These three entities sold their wireless operations to T-Mobile in three separate transactions on August 1, 2025, the same date that Array sold its wireless operations to T-Mobile.

第 25 張投影片總結了少數股東權益投資的結果。如前所述，從歷史上看，我們超過 80% 的投資收入和相關分配都歸因於 Verizon 和 AT&T 營運和管理的四個無線營運實體。截至 2025 年 9 月 30 日的九個月的投資收益和分配受到以下兩項事件的影響：首先，我們持有另外三家實體的非控股權益，這些實體在愛荷華州開展無線業務和鐵塔業務。這三家實體於 2025 年 8 月 1 日分三筆交易將其無線業務出售給了 T-Mobile，而 Array 也在同一天將其無線業務出售給了 T-Mobile。

As a result of these three separate transactions, Array recognized $34 million of equity income and received $42 million of distributions in the third quarter of 2025. Second, in the first half of 2025, Array received distributions from Verizon managed entities of $25 million related to proceeds from Verizon's prepaid tower lease transaction with Vertical Bridge.

由於這三筆獨立的交易，Array 在 2025 年第三季確認了 3,400 萬美元的股權收入，並收到了 4,200 萬美元的分配。其次，在 2025 年上半年，Array 從 Verizon 管理的實體獲得了 2,500 萬美元的分配款，這筆款項與 Verizon 與 Vertical Bridge 的預付費鐵塔租賃交易的收益有關。

I want to thank the entire array and TDS teams who have worked tirelessly to close the sale of our wireless operations and stand up an independent tower company. It has been a transformational and highly successful quarter. I also want to thank the Array board for their trust in me to lead Array for the past several months. It has been an absolute pleasure to lead our outstanding array team.

我要感謝整個 Array 和 TDS 團隊，他們不懈地努力，完成了無線業務的出售，並成立了一家獨立的鐵塔公司。這是一個具有變革意義且非常成功的季度。我還要感謝 Array 董事會對我的信任，讓我在過去的幾個月裡領導 Array。領導我們優秀的陣列團隊是一件非常愉快的事。

Lastly, I am pleased to turn the reins over to Anthony. I had the pleasure of working alongside Anthony, while we are both members of the US Cellular leadership team and have great confidence in Anthony as both an outstanding strategic thinker and leader and combined with the existing array team, I am confident that Array has a very bright future.

最後，我很高興將領導權交給安東尼。我很榮幸能與 Anthony 共事，我們同為 US Cellular 領導團隊的成員，我對 Anthony 充滿信心，他是一位傑出的策略思想家和領導者。再加上現有的 Array 團隊，我相信 Array 的未來一片光明。

I will now turn the call back to Walter.

現在我將把電話轉回給沃特。

Thank you, Doug. As you can see, TDS is in a vital period of transformative change. The successful close of the T-Mobile transaction has unlocked tremendous value enabling us to expand and deepen our fiber program, stand up a strong and growing tower business and strengthen our capital structure. We are making good progress but there is much more to do.

謝謝你，道格。如您所見，TDS 正處於變革的關鍵時期。成功完成對 T-Mobile 的交易釋放了巨大的價值，使我們能夠擴展和深化我們的光纖計劃，建立一個強大且不斷增長的鐵塔業務，並加強我們的資本結構。我們取得了不錯的進展，但還有很多工作要做。

Let me again thank all of the outstanding associates across the TDS enterprise for the fine work you do every day to serve our customers and advance our business.

讓我再次感謝TDS企業所有傑出的同事們，感謝你們每天為服務客戶和推進業務所做的出色工作。

Operator, please now open the line for questions.

接線員，請開通提問通道。

(Operator Instructions) Rick Prentiss, Raymond James & Associates.

（操作說明）里克·普倫蒂斯，雷蒙德·詹姆斯及合夥人公司。

A lot of moving pieces, but a lot of interesting things going on here. First, Doug, I have enjoyed working with you good luck in the future, and I appreciate the adjusted free cash flow similar to AFFO calculation that we've been asking for. So thanks for that, again, thanks for working with you.

情況錯綜複雜，但這裡發生了很多有趣的事。首先，Doug，我很高興與你共事，並祝你未來一切順利。另外，我非常感謝你提供的類似 AFFO 計算的調整後自由現金流，這正是我們一直要求的。再次感謝，謝謝你們的合作。

Thanks, Rick. I appreciate it.

謝謝你，里克。謝謝。

Yes. Vicki, I think one of the more interesting things is obviously we're looking for an update in February on the fiber plan. You mentioned several hundred thousand or more might be added. So that helps us frame it a little bit. One of the other things we're interested in is, can you give us some cohort analysis or something to take a look at how the older markets of fiber, say, one, two, three, four years ago are doing because it's kind of blurred, right?

是的。Vicki，我認為比較有趣的事情之一是，我們顯然希望在二月得到光纖計劃的最新進展。您提到可能會增加幾十萬甚至更多。這樣有助於我們對這個問題做一些梳理。我們還感興趣的另一件事是，您能否給我們一些隊列分析或其他信息，看看一、二、三、四年前的光纖市場發展情況如何，因為現在的情況有點模糊，對吧？

You guys are spending CapEx, you're spending OpEx and trying to understand the progress towards those penetration rates. So any thoughts on -- when you give that update in February, can we start getting some maybe some cohort analysis or some thoughts on how the prior markets are doing?

你們投入了資本支出和營運支出，並試圖了解在實現這些滲透率方面取得的進展。那麼，關於您在二月發布的最新情況，您有什麼想法嗎？我們能否開始獲得一些隊列分析，或一些關於先前市場表現的看法？

Yes. Thank you, Rick. Two piece parts to your question. Let me take the first one and then -- and address the several hundred thousand fiber opportunity. First of all, we are a fiber a fiber-centric company, and we love the markets that we're operating in. And so we see a lot of opportunity, and I'm going to have -- can talk about some of the opportunities he sees as he's joined the company.

是的。謝謝你，里克。你的問題包含兩個部分。讓我先談談第一個問題，然後再談數十萬根光纖的機會。首先，我們是一家以光纖為中心的公司，我們熱愛我們所經營的市場。因此我們看到了很多機會，我將有機會——可以談談他加入公司後看到的一些機會。

We are currently right now in the process of evaluating our business cases and our engineering designs as we evaluate those opportunities. And we do see several hundred thousand or more, and we'll come back and update investors in February on that on what that looks like from a capital allocation perspective.

我們目前正在評估我們的商業案例和工程設計，同時也評估這些機會。我們確實看到了幾十萬甚至更多的資金，我們將在二月回來向投資者報告從資本配置角度來看的情況。

Second, on the cohort penetration. We've heard you loud and clear, for sure. And to be honest, we did go back and we looked at what the industry is reporting. And we didn't find a lot. There seems to be little reporting out there. And quite frankly, it wasn't enough information really to set a clear industry standard for us.

其次，關於隊列滲透率。我們已經清楚地聽到你們的聲音了。說實話，我們確實回顧並查看了行業報告。我們沒找到很多東西。似乎很少有相關報道。坦白說，這些資訊不足以讓我們制定一個明確的行業標準。

With that said, with Ken just coming on board, we are internally aligned as a team as we're ramping up our fiber builds in a number of markets. Evaluating our edge-out opportunities. And so we're aligning on what the appropriate success measures are going to look like.

也就是說，隨著 Ken 的加入，我們團隊內部目標一致，正在多個市場加強光纖建設。評估我們的競爭優勢。因此，我們正在就合適的成功衡量標準達成一致。

As Vicki said, I'm very bullish on the markets that we selected. I think they're fantastic the ATM program, along with our expansion program gives us tremendous fiber opportunities going forward, especially to convert our copper to fiber transition -- so great programs all along.

正如維姬所說，我對我們選擇的市場非常看好。我認為他們的 ATM 項目非常棒，加上我們的擴展計劃，為我們未來的光纖發展提供了巨大的機會，尤其是在將我們的銅纜過渡到光纖方面——所以一直以來都是很棒的項目。

But as Vicki said, when we look at these expansion markets as we've been first to fiber and have planted our flag we look around and we see adjacent neighborhoods, adjacent communities that candidly do not have a fiber provider and we can continue to be first to fiber. And so we're evaluating all those markets now, and -- but we do see several hundred thousand as an opportunity.

但正如維姬所說，當我們審視這些擴張市場時，因為我們一直走在光纖領域的前沿，並已佔據一席之地，我們環顧四周，發現鄰近的社區，坦率地說，還沒有光纖供應商，我們可以繼續保持光纖領域的領先地位。因此，我們現在正在評估所有這些市場，而且——但我們確實認為幾十萬是一個機會。

I think one of the other interesting and exciting things actually, Vicki, was the stock buyback program. Historically, TDS USM, AD, have not done a lot of buybacks except for really kind of handling stock comp kind of creep. So it sounds like this is something a big change for you guys, that you are seeing. You did some in September, you're seeing value in the stock. How should we think about that sizing of the $500 million, the execution of that? And am I right to interpret that this is actually a pretty big change for TDS.

維姬，我覺得另一件有趣又令人興奮的事情是股票回購計畫。從歷史上看，TDS USM、AD 並沒有進行過很多股票回購，只是在處理股票價格上漲等問題時才進行回購。聽起來這對你們來說是一個很大的改變。你在九月做了一些投資，你看到了這支股票的價值。我們該如何考慮這5億美元的規模以及如何執行？我的理解是否正確，這對TDS來說實際上是一個相當大的變化。

Yes. Well, thanks, Rick. First off, I think that this move and the authorization, the recent authorization by the Board really demonstrates the Board's confidence in the company's long-term strategy and belief that repurchasing its shares is an attractive use of capital. I see it as a really important part of our capital allocation plan, and we are going to balance that with investment back into the business.

是的。謝謝你，里克。首先，我認為這項措施以及董事會最近的授權，真正體現了董事會對公司長期策略的信心，以及回購公司股票是一種有吸引力的資本運用方式的信念。我認為這是我們資本配置計畫中非常重要的一部分，我們將透過對業務的再投資來平衡這部分支出。

So first and foremost is investing into the business. We see a lot of fiber opportunity. We're in the process of evaluating and quantifying that. But I think this is a real balance. And it's going to be something that's balanced with timing and the opportunity and the timing of our builds over time.

所以首要任務是投資企業。我們看到了光纖領域的巨大機會。我們正在對此進行評估和量化。但我認為這才是真正的平衡。這需要我們隨著時間的推移，在時機、機會和建立時機之間取得平衡。

Execution of it, I would say, certainly to the management's discretion, but the timing and matter first and foremost, is dependent on the successful closing of our spectrum transactions. And that is a priority. It's a top focus for the leadership team. And then, of course, we'll execute in a disciplined opportunistic manner as we evaluate the current business environment and the market environment.

至於具體執行，我認為當然由管理層酌情決定，但時機和內容首先取決於我們頻譜交易的成功完成。這是當務之急。這是領導團隊的首要任務。當然，接下來我們會根據目前的商業環境和市場環境，採取有紀律、有把握的策略來執行。

Great. Okay. And last one for me, more mundane question back to Doug. Obviously, calling out the SG&A at array 40% kind of not your tower operating kind of numbers. Can you help us understand how much was that wind-down component, so we can understand a little more what run rate going forward might be for the next couple of quarters?

偉大的。好的。最後一個問題，比較瑣碎，問道格。顯然，將銷售、一般及行政費用 (SG&A) 佔比提高到 40% 並不是你這種塔式營運類型的數字。您能否幫助我們了解其中有多少是過渡期的支出，以便我們更了解未來幾季的營運速度？

And I got to admit, I'm just wanting to understand a little bit more about spectrum management. What is that? How long will that go on as you kind of wind down your spectrum position? Because I think there was some spectrum management up in cost of service as well.

我必須承認，我只是想多了解一些頻譜管理的知識。那是什麼？在你逐步減少頻譜資源投入的過程中，這種情況會持續多久？因為我認為頻譜管理方面的一些因素也導致了服務成本的上升。

Yes. Thanks, Rick. So with respect to the 40%, we're not going to break down those four components individually. What I would say about that, though, if you're trying to triangulate to a run rate is -- there's at 40%. But in addition, there's structural costs that we have being a large wireless company that we also have to work on within the SG&A infrastructure.

是的。謝謝你，里克。所以這 40%，我們就不逐一分析這四個組成部分了。不過，我想說的是，如果你想透過三角測量法得出運行率，那就是——運行率為 40%。但除此之外，作為一家大型無線公司，我們還必須在銷售、管理及行政費用（SG&A）基礎設施方面解決結構性成本問題。

So it's not just at 40%. It goes beyond that, think about IT platforms that we use to support wireless and the related IT support we had for that. That's an example of additional opportunity that is beyond the 40%. So just keep that in mind as you're thinking about a run rate for SG&A. There's still quite a bit of work for us to do on SG&A.

所以不只是 40%。不僅如此，想想我們用來支援無線網路的IT平台以及我們為此獲得的IT支援。這是 40% 之外的額外機會的一個例子。所以在考慮銷售、一般及行政費用的運行率時，請記住這一點。我們在銷售、一般及行政費用方面還有很多工作要做。

We completely expected the SG&A cost to be high in Q3, we expect them to be high through the first half of next year, as we indicated. Spectrum management costs, I mean, we still hold spectrum, as you know. And so we incur costs. So we're still fulfilling coverage requirements for certain spectrum incurring some cell site rental costs and that. We have legal costs, we have personnel that manage the spectrum.

我們完全預料到第三季的銷售、一般及行政費用會很高，而且正如我們之前所指出的，我們預計明年上半年也會很高。頻譜管理成本，我的意思是，如你所知，我們仍然持有頻譜。因此，我們會產生費用。因此，我們仍在滿足某些頻譜的覆蓋要求，這會產生一些基地台租賃費用等等。我們有法律費用，我們有管理光譜的人員。

All that is owning of costs for incurring ultimately be temporary as we're, of course, in a process of opportunistically monetizing the spectrum. So with time, those will eventually go away.

所有這些最終都會產生成本，因為我們當然正處於一個機會主義地將頻譜貨幣化的過程中，所以這些成本最終都是暫時的。所以隨著時間的推移，這些問題最終都會消失。

Eric Lucha, Wells Fargo. (Operator Instructions)

埃里克·盧查，富國銀行。（操作說明）

Vikash Harlalka, New Street Research.

維卡什·哈拉爾卡，新街研究。

I have a couple of questions on the Array side and then some on the TDS Telecom side. On the Array side, what is the Naked tower strategy from a go-to-market standpoint but also from a sale or decommissioning standpoint, how long is too long to wait and do you have exit rights on the land leases. And then I'll ask the PD questions after this.

我有一些關於 Array 方面的問題，還有一些關於 TDS Telecom 方面的問題。從陣列的角度來看，裸塔策略從市場進入、出售或退役的角度來看是什麼？等待多久才算太長？你們對土地租賃有退出權嗎？之後我會向PD提問。

So with respect to the naked towers, in the slide that we included is, at a high level, particulate strategy, which, obviously, we're working hard to lease up all our towers. That continues, and we hope over time, that minimize the naked towers.

所以，關於裸露的辦公大樓，我們在幻燈片中概述了高層次的顆粒物策略，顯然，我們正在努力出租我們所有的辦公大樓。這種情況會持續下去，我們希望隨著時間的推移，能夠最大限度地減少裸露的鐵塔。

The other thing we're doing is an initiative going to our ground lessors, and we obviously can't rationalize the rents we're paying on a lot of our naked towers, and we're going to seek to reduce those rents over time. We also have fairly robust analysis, and we're continuing to refine it on future leasability of the towers.

我們正在做的另一件事是向我們的地面租賃方提出一項倡議，顯然我們無法合理化我們為許多裸露的塔樓支付的租金，我們將尋求隨著時間的推移降低這些租金。我們也進行了相當可靠的分析，並且正在繼續改進對未來塔樓租賃情況的分析。

So where competitor towers are using crowdsourced traffic, understanding our view of what the leasability is. And then after going through all those steps, and this will be a multiyear process, and it will be on a tower-by-tower basis, we will make decisions as to what to do with each tower hold some other strategic option and then potentially decommission some as well.

因此，當競爭對手的基地台利用眾包流量時，了解我們對可租賃性的看法。然後，在完成所有這些步驟之後（這將是一個多年的過程，而且將逐座塔進行），我們將決定如何處理每座塔，持有其他戰略選擇，然後可能還會退役一些塔。

And then Vikash, sorry, you asked the question, what was your second question?

然後，維卡什，不好意思，你問了問題，你的第二個問題是什麼？

My question was, do you have exit rights on the land leases?

我的問題是，你們對土地租賃有退出權嗎？

The land commitments by and large, we have some that are extended, but they're fairly minimal. A large portion of our ground leases, we're able to terminate upon very short notice. So those are not significant commitments overall in our portfolio. There's some, but they're minor.

總的來說，土地承諾方面，我們有一些延期，但金額相當少。我們的大部分土地租賃合約都可以在很短的時間內終止。因此，這些投資在我們整體投資組合中並不佔很大。有一些，但都是次要的。

Got it. And then I have one sort of financial question on the -- on TDS side and then 1one strategic question on the on your leverage target of 1.5 times for TDS telecom, it's probably the lowest that I've heard from any of the wireline operators. One, does it include the impact from the several hundred thousand fiber passing that you're going to announce next year in February? And then two, just help us understand like how did you land on this target? And I mean why not just lever more in return more capital to shareholders?

知道了。然後我還有一個關於TDS方面的財務問題，還有一個關於你們為TDS電信設定的1.5倍槓桿目標的戰略問題，這可能是我從所有固網運營商那裡聽到的最低槓桿率了。第一，這是否包括您明年二月將宣布的數十萬支光纖鋪設工程的影響？其次，請幫我們了解一下，你是如何鎖定這個目標的？我的意思是，為什麼不透過增加槓桿來為股東帶來更多資本呢？

Okay. Thank you, yes, let me -- this is Vicki. Let me address the leverage target question. First off, let me just say, we're really pleased with where our current leverage is and our balance sheet strength with our preferreds. We think it maximizes our future flexibility and we feel comfortable with where our leverage is at currently.

好的。謝謝，好的，讓我來——這位是維姬。讓我來回答槓桿目標的問題。首先，我想說的是，我們對目前的槓桿水平以及優先股帶來的資產負債表實力非常滿意。我們認為這能最大限度地提高我們未來的靈活性，我們對目前所處的優勢地位感到滿意。

When you think about our leverage at TDS currently as of the end of the quarter, on a gross basis, we're at 1.4 times. And we intend to stay under that leverage ratio. Now we've got cash on the balance sheet as we're anticipating the funding the fiber builds through the rest of the fourth quarter and into 2026 and through 2026.

截至本季末，TDS 目前的槓桿率（以總額計算）為 1.4 倍。我們打算將槓桿率保持在那個水平以下。現在，我們的資產負債表上有現金，因為我們預計光纖建設的資金將持續到第四季末以及 2026 年。

And at the same time, we also have tax obligations that are -- that will come due with the closing in the sale of the transaction to T-Mobile. So our leverage targets are intended to -- with the principle that we're going to put our cash to use over time. And therefore, that plays into our philosophy on our capital allocation strategy.

同時，我們也有一些稅務義務，這些義務將在將公司出售給 T-Mobile 的交易完成時到期。因此，我們的槓桿目標旨在——其原則是我們將隨著時間的推移利用我們的現金。因此，這與我們的資本配置策略理念相契合。

Vikash, he did ask about, does this include the updated fiber goals? What we publicly stated so far is that we plan to double our fiber addresses from where we ended 2024 from around $900,000 to $1.8 million, and we said we will do that over roughly a five-year period. What that doesn't include are the additional edge-out opportunities that we've been discussing that we believe are several hundred thousand or more. And in February, we will come back and update everyone on our new goals.

Vikash問道，這是否包括更新後的纖維目標？我們目前公開表示，我們計劃將光纖地址數量從 2024 年底的約 90 萬美元增加到 180 萬美元，並且我們表示將在大約五年內完成這一目標。但這還不包括我們一直在討論的其他一些優勢超越機會，我們認為這些機會有幾十萬甚至更多。二月我們會回來，向大家報告我們的新目標。

Got it. That's super helpful. And my last question, sort of a strategic question. So you obviously gave us some color on potential fiber targets, that's helpful. Just flipping that a little bit, would you be open to getting acquired by someone like a Verizon or AT&T?

知道了。這太有幫助了。我的最後一個問題，算是策略性問題。所以你顯然給我們提供了一些關於潛在纖維靶點的信息，這很有幫助。換個角度來說，您是否願意被像 Verizon 或 AT&T 這樣的公司收購？

Vikash, this is Walter, and thank you for the question. TDS has been in business for a long time. Our objective is to remain in business and be very successful for all of our shareholders for a long time going forward.

Vikash，我是Walter，感謝你的提問。TDS公司已經營多年。我們的目標是長期經營下去，並為所有股東取得巨大成功。

Eric Luebchow, Wells Fargo. (Operator Instructions)

艾瑞克‧盧布喬，富國銀行。（操作說明）

Let me try that again, I apologize. Just a couple of questions for Doug on the tower side. Doug, I know you talked about getting to a 45% to 50% margin longer term. Maybe you could just talk about some of the moving parts there between the decommissioning of the towers, the expense rationalization, your ability to bring down ground rents. Like how should we think about the patient of that over the next couple of years as we kind of think about the growth, not just at the top line but at the bottom line as well.

讓我再試一次，抱歉。關於塔架方面，我還有幾個問題想問道格。道格，我知道你之前說過要長期達到 45% 到 50% 的利潤率。或許您可以談談其中的一些環節，例如大樓的拆除、費用合理化以及您降低地租的能力。例如，在接下來的幾年裡，我們應該如何看待這家公司的發展，才能更好地成長，不僅要考慮營收成長，還要考慮利潤成長。

You hit on a lot of them in your question. So when we think about increasing margins over time, obviously, growing our colo revenue is a priority and that we're very focused on. I talked about the SG&A expenses. We expected them to be high in Q3. We expect to be high through the first half of next year.

你的問題中提到了很多這類問題。因此，當我們考慮如何隨著時間的推移提高利潤率時，很顯然，增加託管收入是我們的首要任務，也是我們非常關注的重點。我談到了銷售、一般及行政費用。我們預計第三季它們會很高。我們預計明年上半年將保持在高位。

But also over time, need those to go down, obviously, as wind down and other cost side as well as what I talked about in response to Rick's question, making structural changes as well to some of our SG&A infrastructure. So focused on that. Ground rents, there's really two components of that. One is, I talked about rent rationalization with our ground lessors and that initiative. So we're focused on that.

但隨著時間的推移，這些也需要減少，顯然，隨著業務的逐步結束和其他成本方面的減少，以及我在回答 Rick 的問題時提到的，還需要對我們的一些銷售、一般及行政費用基礎設施進行結構性調整。所以就專注於此。地租其實包含兩個部分。第一點是，我與我們的土地出租方討論了租金合理化以及這項措施。所以我們專注於此。

And then at the end of the day, if towers are uneconomical, making the decision as to potentially decommissioning them to again, rationalize ground rents. Offsetting that somewhat, I mean, on I think recognized that the interim revenues on the T-Mobile sites are going to go away over time. T-Mobile has the ability to cancel those on fairly short notice in the third month period.

最後，如果信號塔不經濟，就需要決定是否將其拆除，以便再次合理化地租。在某種程度上抵消這一點的是，我認為大家都意識到，T-Mobile 網站的臨時收入會隨著時間的推移而消失。T-Mobile 可以在第三個月內以較短的通知時間取消這些服務。

But certainly, margins we're looking to increase over time, and we expect that as we launched Array because of all the reasons I just went through, that margins were going to be lower and will increase over time.

當然，我們希望利潤率能夠隨著時間的推移而提高，而且我們預計，由於我剛才提到的所有原因，在我們推出 Array 時，利潤率會較低，但隨著時間的推移，利潤率將會提高。

Great. I appreciate that. And maybe just one follow-up. I know you're looking at potential spectrum monetization, and you still have some extended build-out time frames for the C-band kind of the bulk of your remaining spectrum assets.

偉大的。我很感激。或許只需要一次後續跟進。我知道你們正在考慮頻譜貨幣化的可能性，而且你們剩餘頻譜資產的大部分（C 頻段）還有一些較長的建設週期。

I guess given there's an auction plan in the upper C band in a couple of years, how does that kind of influence the timing of when you may look to monetize that just in terms of the supply of spectrum coming to market?

我想，考慮到幾年後上 C 頻段將進行拍賣，這會對你何時考慮將頻譜貨幣化（即頻譜供應進入市場）的時間產生怎樣的影響？

Eric, all one, our objective has been to get the best price. I mean certainly, injections of supply may impact that. But the reality is mobile traffic is still increasing at a rate of 30% per year. Our spectrum is available now and can be deployed immediately and the carriers have the ecosystem from an equipment standpoint to do that. So we still think our spectrum has a lot of value, notwithstanding the fact that supply has been dynamic with that and Equistar sales and so forth.

艾瑞克，我們大家的目標都是爭取最優惠的價格。我的意思是，當然，注入資金可能會對此產生影響。但現實情況是，行動流量仍在以每年 30% 的速度成長。我們的頻譜現在即可使用，可以立即部署，營運商從設備角度來看也具備相應的生態系統來實現這一點。因此，儘管供應情況和 Equistar 的銷售等因素一直在變化，但我們仍然認為我們的頻譜產品很有價值。

Sergey Dluzhevskiy, Gamco Investors.

Sergey Dluzhevskiy，Gamco 投資者。

First of all, Doug, it has been a pleasure working with you over the years, and good luck to is everything going forward.

首先，道格，這些年來與你共事非常愉快，祝你未來一切順利。

Likewise. Sergey, thank you.

同樣地。謝爾蓋，謝謝你。

Great. And maybe my first question is for you. So you talked a lot about the kind of organic opportunity for the tower business. I guess my question is, -- what role do you expect M&A to play in the tower business strategy what types of assets could potentially amplify or accelerate your strategy?

偉大的。也許我的第一個問題是想問你的。所以你談了很多關於鐵塔業務的自然成長機會。我想問的是，──您認為併購在鐵塔業務策略中將扮演什麼角色？哪些類型的資產有可能增強或加速您的策略？

And also -- on the flip side, are there disposal opportunities? Obviously, you're going to look at naked towers, but just looking maybe at cluster of towers. I mean, you have some towers in California, Oregon, Washington, that appear to be not as clusters, maybe as others. So I was wondering if there is a monetization opportunity there.

另一方面，是否存在處置機會？顯然，你會去看那些裸露的塔樓，但也許只是去看一群塔樓。我的意思是，在加利福尼亞州、俄勒岡州、華盛頓州，有些信號塔看起來不像是集群，而像是其他類型的信號塔。所以我想知道這其中是否存在盈利機會。

Yes, Sergey. Thanks for the question. So with respect to our inorganic acquisition and our disposals, that's not a strategic focus right now. We have so much on our plate operationally and really great things on with integrating the T-Mobile MLA. I mentioned you saw our tenant growth on a cash basis -- cash revenue basis for the quarter grew 8% this quarter, and our apps are up year-to-date, 125%.

是的，謝爾蓋。謝謝你的提問。所以就我們的非有機收購和資產處置而言，這目前並不是我們的策略重點。我們在營運方面有很多事情要處理，而且在整合 T-Mobile MLA 方面也取得了非常好的進展。我之前提到過，你們看到了我們租戶的現金成長——本季現金收入成長了 8%，而我們的應用程式今年迄今成長了 125%。

So operationally, things are going so well, and we have so much to execute on. That is our sole focus. Longer term, after a few years, whether we start focusing on inorganic M&A or disposing towers, that's always something that what we looked at over time. But right now, that's not our strategic focus.

所以從營運層面來看，一切進展順利，我們有很多事情需要執行。這是我們唯一關注的重點。從長遠來看，幾年之後，無論我們開始專注於非有機併購還是出售高架塔，這始終是我們一直在關注的問題。但目前，這並非我們的戰略重點。

Got it. Great. And my next question is for Walter or for kind of also on the M&A side, but also related to edge-out opportunities that you're considering at telecom. So you mentioned that you see a number of edge-outs where you have the ability to be first to fiber but you're not the only one looking obviously at those spaces and a number of larger companies are looking at remaining white space as well.

知道了。偉大的。我的下一個問題是問沃特的，或​​者說也是關於併購方面的，但同時也與你在電信領域考慮的競爭機會有關。所以您提到您看到了一些邊緣地帶，您有能力率先接入光纖，但顯然您不是唯一一家關注這些地區的公司，許多大型公司也在關注剩餘的空白地帶。

So maybe I understand that you're going to provide more guidance in February, but maybe if you could provide more color on how you think about those opportunities in terms of age outs, what is realistic for the company the size of TDS Telecom. And in regards to M&A, what would be the primary determining factors for you to in choosing to buy something versus doing and are gaining fiber build.

所以，我理解您會在二月提供更多指導，但如果您能更詳細地說明一下您是如何看待這些機會的，例如員工年齡增長帶來的機遇，以及對於像 TDS Telecom 這樣規模的公司來說，哪些機會是現實的，那就太好了。至於併購，您選擇收購而非自主創業的主要決定因素是什麼？

All right. From an edge perspective, the areas that we're really looking at are the areas that are adjacent to current operations. So think of these as Tier 2, Tier 3 markets, what we would refer to as not urban areas, but rural markets where we already operate, already have facilities already have garages and candidly already have a brand and customers, and we see the opportunity to edge out into additional communities because we've already been first to plant the fiber flag in these rural markets. It's just extending our plant to these additional communities.

好的。從邊緣運算的角度來看，我們真正關注的是與目前營運相鄰的區域。所以，你可以把這些看作是二線、三線市場，我們稱之為鄉村市場，而不是城市地區。在這些農村市場，我們已經開展業務，擁有設施，擁有車庫，坦白說，我們已經擁有品牌和客戶。我們看到了拓展到更多社區的機會，因為我們已經率先在這些農村市場插上了光纖的大旗。這只是將我們的工廠擴展到這些其他社區而已。

And the advantage that we have is because we were first in fiber, these are opportunities we already have the transport, we already have our operations there. So it's just a natural extension. So those are -- when we talk about agile opportunities, it's expanding and flexing from where we're today already operating in the Tier 2 and Tier 3 markets. Okay?

我們的優勢在於，我們率先涉足光纖領域，這些機會我們已經擁有了傳輸能力，我們已經在那裡開展了營運。所以這只是一個自然而然的延伸。所以，當我們談到敏捷機會時，指的是我們目前已在二線和三線市場營運的基礎上進行擴展和調整。好的？

Got it. And in terms of kind of buying something versus building organically. What are the primary determining reasons for it.

知道了。還有購買現有資產與自主建設之間的差異。造成這種情況的主要原因是什麼？

So Serge, this is Walter. I think your question is, in addition to the potential edge out opportunities, what sort of possible M&A opportunities and without getting into specifics, as Vicki described, we are very much focused on those types of ILEC or other owners who are proximate to our existing footprint where we believe that in a disciplined way, we could expand our footprint in a clustered basis -- we don't know whether that's going to be successful, but there are opportunities there, and they are being very closely looked at.

塞爾吉，這位是沃特。我認為你的問題是，除了潛在的競爭優勢之外，還有哪些可能的併購機會？不談具體細節，正如 Vicki 所描述的，我們非常關注那些靠近我們現有業務範圍的本地交換運營商 (ILEC) 或其他所有者，我們相信，通過有條不紊的方式，我們可以以集群的方式擴大我們的業務範圍——我們不知道這是否會成功，但那裡存在機會，我們正在密切關注這些機會。

Yes, Sergey, I would just follow up and say again, with respect to M&A, we're going to be highly disciplined -- it will be accretive to our business. And it fits in with the organic cluster strategy that Ken was describing. We've embarked on this fiber strategy out of footprint and our selection of our markets. We're very centered around where we saw clusters of growth. And so whether it's organic or we see a synergistic M&A opportunity, that's how the whole picture will fit together. So it's really executing on that strategy going forward.

是的，謝爾蓋，我還要補充一點，關於併購，我們將保持高度的自律——這將對我們的業務產生積極影響。這與肯所描述的有機集群策略相吻合。我們根據業務覆蓋範圍和市場選擇情況啟動了這項光纖策略。我們主要集中在那些我們看到成長集群的地方​​。因此，無論是自然成長或協同併購機會，最終都會匯聚成一幅完整的圖景。所以，接下來它真的要貫徹執行這項戰略了。

Great. And my last question is for Ken. So I think earlier this year, TDS Telecom has been making investments in sales and marketing, including door-to-door sales force. I guess with you coming in, what are your thoughts on kind of the level of success an improvement in gross additions that you could attribute to some of those efforts? And what other initiatives as part of your go-to-market day that -- do you expect to improve and contribute to kind of improving your conversion rate of fiber pricings into paying customers?

偉大的。我的最後一個問題是問肯的。所以我認為今年早些時候，TDS Telecom 一直在銷售和行銷方面進行投資，包括組成上門銷售團隊。我想，隨著你的加入，你認為這些努力在總成長方面取得了怎樣的成功和進步？作為您市場推廣日活動的一部分，您還有哪些措施旨在提高光纖定價轉換為付費客戶的轉換率？

Yes. Thank you. One of the things that I've noticed is that a lot of our sales activity is based on address delivery. So if we have a quarter where we don't deliver the addresses, we see sales suffer. So mission number one is to get our build plan to execute and to deliver service address delivery in the markets that we're building.

是的。謝謝。我注意到的一點是，我們的許多銷售活動都是基於送貨地址的。所以，如果我們有一個季度沒有準時送達地址，銷售額就會受到影響。因此，首要任務是執行我們的建設計劃，並在我們正在建造的市場中提供服務地址交付。

And I will tell you that we have doubled our crew counts in our expansion markets here in the third quarter. So we had a record amount of crew counts for 2025. And we actually increased our crew counts here in October of '25, and that's key in delivering on our targets in the fourth quarter.

我可以告訴大家，第三季我們在擴張市場的員工人數翻了一番。因此，我們2025年的船員人數創下了歷史新高。事實上，我們在 2025 年 10 月增加了員工人數，這對於實現我們第四季的目標至關重要。

So we will execute on that new open for sale when it comes in. We also are looking at additional vendors that we've brought on to Canvas our different communities and help us with presale and also with our door-to-door efforts. And I think that variable cost model will help us win penetration. And we're also, as part of our transformation efforts, we are putting a lot of time, effort and energy into our dot-com business.

所以，一旦有新的待售房源，我們就會立即執行。我們也正在尋找其他供應商，他們已經加入我們在 Canvas 上的不同社區，幫助我們進行預售以及挨家挨戶的推銷工作。我認為變動成本模式將有助於我們贏得市場滲透率。同時，作為轉型努力的一部分，我們也在網路業務上投入了大量的時間、精力和心血。

As you know, website is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week and we think that's a big opportunity for us as well to penetrate some of these new cohorts. But also, we recognize that we have a lot of ILEC fiber that we can still sell into. So a tremendous amount of initiatives in place. I believe we have some nice momentum but that is a key focus, is go-to-market strategy, executing on the fundamentals and delivering sales and penetration goals.

如您所知，網站每週 7 天、每天 24 小時開放，我們認為這對我們來說也是接觸這些新群體的絕佳機會。但同時，我們也意識到我們還有很多本地交換運營商（ILEC）的光纖資源可以出售。因此，目前已推出了大量措施。我認為我們目前勢頭良好，但關鍵在於市場進入策略，做好基本工作，實現銷售和滲透目標。

There are no further questions at this time. This concludes today's call. Thank you for attending. You may now disconnect.

目前沒有其他問題了。今天的電話會議到此結束。謝謝各位的出席。您現在可以斷開連線了。