美國無線通訊 (USM) 2021 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Good day, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the TDS and U.S. Cellular First Quarter 2021 Conference Call. (Operator Instructions) It is now my pleasure to turn the call over to your speaker today, Ms. Jane McCahon. Please go ahead.

美好的一天，謝謝你的支持。歡迎參加 TDS 和 U.S. Cellular 2021 年第一季度電話會議。 （操作員說明）現在我很高興將今天的電話轉給您的發言人 Jane McCahon 女士。請繼續。

Thank you, Grain, and good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us. We hope that you and all your families are doing well. I want to make you all aware of the presentation we have prepared to accompany our comments this morning, which you can find on the Investor Relations section of the TDS and U.S. Cellular websites.

謝謝你，Grain，大家早上好，感謝你加入我們。我們希望您和您所有的家人都過得很好。我想讓大家知道我們為今天上午的評論準備的演示文稿，您可以在 TDS 和 US Cellular 網站的投資者關係部分找到這些演示文稿。

With me today and offering prepared comments are, from TDS: Pete Sereda, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer; from U.S. Cellular, LT Therivel, President and Chief Executive Officer; Doug Chambers, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer; and from TDS Telecom, Vicki Villacrez, Senior Vice President of Finance and Chief Financial Officer.

今天和我一起發表準備好的評論的有來自 TDS 的：Pete Sereda，執行副總裁兼首席財務官；來自 U.S. Cellular，LT Therivel，總裁兼首席執行官； Doug Chambers，執行副總裁兼首席財務官；來自 TDS Telecom 的財務高級副總裁兼首席財務官 Vicki Villacrez。

This call is being simultaneously webcast on the TDS and U.S. Cellular Investor Relations websites. Please see those 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 U.S. Cellular's wireless partnerships.

TDS 和 U.S. Cellular Investor Relations 網站上同時進行了此次電話會議的網絡直播。請參閱這些網站以獲取本次電話會議中提到的幻燈片，包括非 GAAP 對賬。我們為調整後的折舊和攤銷前營業收入 (OIBDA) 以及調整後的利息、稅項、折舊和攤銷前利潤 (EBITDA) 提供了指導，以突出美國移動無線合作夥伴關係的貢獻。

TDS and U.S. Cellular filed their SEC Forms 8-K, including the press releases and Forms 10-Q yesterday. As shown on Slide 2, the information set forth in the presentation and discussed during this call contain statements about expected future results 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 versions included in our SEC filings.

TDS 和 U.S. Cellular 昨天提交了 SEC 8-K 表格，包括新聞稿和 10-Q 表格。如幻燈片 2 所示，演示文稿中提出的信息和本次電話會議討論的信息包含有關預期未來結果和財務結果的前瞻性陳述，並受風險和不確定性的影響。請查看我們新聞稿中的安全港段落和我們向美國證券交易委員會提交的文件中包含的擴展版本。

In terms of our upcoming IR schedule, Slide 3, we're doing the JPMorgan Virtual Non-Deal Roadshow on May 11; and then on June 16, we are attending a Virtual Investor Corporate Access Event with the New York Stock Exchange. And as always, our open door policy remains an open phone or open video policy, so please reach out to us if you're interested in [meeting with us]. And I will now turn the call over to Pete Sereda. Pete?

關於即將到來的 IR 時間表，幻燈片 3，我們將在 5 月 11 日進行摩根大通虛擬非交易路演；然後在 6 月 16 日，我們將與紐約證券交易所一起參加虛擬投資者企業准入活動。與往常一樣，我們的門戶開放政策仍然是開放電話或開放視頻政策，所以如果您有興趣 [與我們會面]，請聯繫我們。我現在將把電話轉給 Pete Sereda。皮特？

Thanks, Jane, and good morning. Before speaking about the balance sheet and our funding strategies, I want to make you aware of the change present [to the TDS Telecom]. Starting this quarter (inaudible) disclosures will now be presented at the sales segment, and the wireline and cable segments will belong to reported (inaudible). We believe this change not only aligns with how we manage the business and evaluate operating performance today but also enhances the visibility into how TDS Telecom is performing against its strategic objectives. The combined view better depicts our progress and success in leveraging a single cost base to become the preeminent broad...

謝謝，簡，早上好。在談論資產負債表和我們的融資策略之前，我想讓您了解 [TDS Telecom] 目前的變化。從本季度開始（聽不清）披露現在將在銷售部門進行，而有線和電纜部門將屬於報告（聽不清）。我們相信，這一變化不僅符合我們管理業務和評估當今運營績效的方式，而且還增強了 TDS Telecom 如何實現其戰略目標的可見性。合併後的視圖更好地描述了我們在利用單一成本基礎成為卓越的廣泛……方面取得的進展和成功。

Operator...

操作員...

The change in segments -- I'm sorry. The change in -- yes, are you still there?

細分市場的變化——對不起。變化——是的，你還在那裡嗎？

Yes. You cut out for a minute.

是的。你停了一分鐘。

Okay. The combined view better depicts our progress and success in leveraging a single cost base to become the preeminent broadband provider in each market in which we operate. The change in segment reporting has no impact on the net income of TDS Telecom in prior periods and have been conformed -- and prior periods have been conformed to the current presentation.

好的。合併後的視圖更好地描述了我們在利用單一成本基礎成為我們運營所在的每個市場中卓越的寬帶提供商方面取得的進展和成功。分部報告的變化對 TDS Telecom 前期的淨收入沒有影響，並且已經符合 - 並且前期已經符合當前的列報。

You will notice that we have made enhanced disclosures of our progress in building out fiber-to-the-home in our presentation today so that you can more closely follow our progress in this very important initiative. Also, in terms of the results and impacting year-over-year comparisons, I want to remind everyone that we have a higher tax rate in 2021 compared to 2020 due to the income tax benefits of the CARES Act, which provided a onetime rate benefit in 2020 that does not recur in 2021.

您會注意到，我們在今天的演示中進一步披露了我們在建設光纖到戶方面的進展，以便您可以更密切地關注我們在這一非常重要的計劃中的進展。此外，就結果和影響的同比比較而言，我想提醒大家，由於 CARES 法案的所得稅優惠，我們在 2021 年的稅率比 2020 年更高，該法案提供了一次性稅率優惠在 2020 年不會在 2021 年重現。

Regarding our balance sheet, both TDS and U.S. Cellular are taking action to lower interest expense, given the favorable market environment. In April, TDS and U.S. Cellular both announced redemptions of select senior notes. TDS is redeeming $225 million of its 6.875% senior notes and $300 million of its 7% senior notes, and U.S. Cellular is redeeming $275 million of its 7.25% senior notes for a total of $800 million. We will continue to look for ways to avail ourselves of other low-cost financing vehicles to further lower our interest expense.

關於我們的資產負債表，鑑於有利的市場環境，TDS 和 US Cellular 都在採取行動降低利息支出。 4 月，TDS 和 US Cellular 均宣布贖回部分優先票據。 TDS 將贖回 2.25 億美元的 6.875% 優先票據和 3 億美元的 7% 優先票據，而 US Cellular 將贖回 2.75 億美元的 7.25% 優先票據，總計 8 億美元。我們將繼續尋找利用其他低成本融資工具的方法，以進一步降低我們的利息支出。

As we've discussed on prior calls, maintaining financial flexibility is one of the pillars of our corporate strategy. Over the years, we have worked to retain relatively low leverage levels, long-dated debt maturities, sufficient undrawn revolving credit facilities and significant cash balances while at the same time making sure we have the financial resources we need to fund our businesses.

正如我們在之前的電話會議上所討論的那樣，保持財務靈活性是我們公司戰略的支柱之一。多年來，我們一直努力保持相對較低的槓桿水平、長期債務期限、充足的未提取循環信貸額度和大量現金餘額，同時確保我們擁有為業務提供資金所需的財務資源。

As you see on Slide 4, at the end of the first quarter, TDS continues to have a good financial position, including ample available funding sources, consisting of cash and cash equivalents and available credit facilities. While we will be using some of our available cash and partially drawing on our TDS revolver to call the notes previously mentioned. We believe we will have ample remaining cash balances as well as excellent access to the debt markets if additional capital is required and as further steps to reduce our interest expense are taken.

正如您在幻燈片 4 中看到的那樣，在第一季度末，TDS 繼續擁有良好的財務狀況，包括充足的可用資金來源，包括現金和現金等價物以及可用的信貸額度。雖然我們將使用我們的一些可用現金並部分使用我們的 TDS 左輪手槍來調用前面提到的票據。我們相信，如果需要額外資本並採取進一步措施減少我們的利息支出，我們將擁有充足的剩餘現金餘額以及進入債務市場的絕佳渠道。

U.S. Cellular and TDS Telecom are currently both in investment cycles, with U.S. Cellular investing in network modernization, 5G and spectrum and TDS Telecom aggressively investing in fiber expansion. In March, TDS issued $420 million in perpetual preferred stock, which will be used primarily for funding fiber deployments and the repayment of debt. This transaction enabled us to raise significant proceeds while protecting our credit rating.

U.S. Cellular 和 TDS Telecom 目前都處於投資週期，U.S. Cellular 投資於網絡現代化、5G 和頻譜，而 TDS Telecom 則積極投資於光纖擴展。 3 月，TDS 發行了 4.2 億美元的永久優先股，主要用於資助光纖部署和償還債務。該交易使我們能夠籌集大量資金，同時保護我們的信用評級。

TDS continues to return value to its shareholders, primarily through dividends. Both TDS and U.S. Cellular each opportunistically purchased a small amount of their shares in the quarter. TDS purchased $3 million worth and U.S. Cellular purchased $2 million worth of shares.

TDS 主要通過股息繼續向其股東回報價值。 TDS 和 US Cellular 在本季度都趁機購買了少量股票。 TDS 購買了價值 300 萬美元的股票，而 US Cellular 購買了價值 200 萬美元的股票。

In sum, we are in a financially solid position to take advantage of growth opportunities in each of our businesses. I will now turn the call over to LT.

總之，我們在財務上處於穩固的地位，可以利用我們每項業務的增長機會。我現在將把電話轉給 LT。

Thanks, Pete, and good morning, everyone. Flip to Slide 6. Our strategic imperatives are simple. We're designed to drive growth and improve return on capital over time. I think we're off to a really good start this year. I'm going to let Doug cover the operational and financial highlights for the first quarter, then I'm going to provide a few thoughts on strategic priorities.

謝謝，皮特，大家早上好。翻到幻燈片 6。我們的戰略要求很簡單。我們旨在隨著時間的推移推動增長並提高資本回報率。我認為我們今年的開局非常好。我將讓道格介紹第一季度的運營和財務亮點，然後我將提供一些關於戰略重點的想法。

First, I stated on previous calls that one of our areas of opportunity is to enter into strategic partnerships, better leverage the value of our assets and to grow the business. We made progress on this objective in April by signing a tower MLA or a master lease agreement with DISH Wireless. We expect this agreement to contribute to our tower revenue growth beginning in 2022. Any details on the deal have to remain confidential, so please keep that in mind if you've got additional questions.

首先，我在之前的電話會議上說過，我們的機會領域之一是建立戰略合作夥伴關係，更好地利用我們的資產價值並發展業務。 4 月，我們通過與 DISH Wireless 簽署塔式 MLA 或主租賃協議，在實現這一目標方面取得了進展。我們預計該協議將從 2022 年開始為我們的塔式收入增長做出貢獻。交易的任何細節都必須保密，因此如果您有其他問題，請牢記這一點。

I spoke to you last quarter about some of our new initiatives to drive growth, including a regionalized approach to drive market share and plans for our business in government and prepaid segments. We have full steam on these, and I'm pleased with our progress. And you see that in year-over-year improvement in gross additions and improvements in churn for both postpaid and prepaid.

我在上個季度與您討論了我們推動增長的一些新舉措，包括推動市場份額的區域化方法以及我們在政府和預付費領域的業務計劃。我們在這些方面全力以赴，我對我們的進展感到滿意。你會看到，後付費和預付費的總增加量和流失率逐年提高。

I'm also excited for the next evolution of our brand journey and our new tagline, America's Locally Grown Wireless. U.S. Cellular has always been known for its outstanding network, its branding highlights, and strong local presence we have in our markets. I think this is what sets us apart from our competition and it reflects our culture and our values.

我也對我們品牌之旅的下一次演變和我們的新標語“美國本地種植的無線”感到興奮。 US Cellular 一直以其出色的網絡、品牌亮點以及我們在市場上強大的本地影響力而聞名。我認為這就是我們在競爭中脫穎而出的原因，它反映了我們的文化和價值觀。

More about competition. The competitive intensity of the wireless industry remains high, and we intend to respond as appropriate. Given the total spend on the C-band auction, I'm expecting continued rational pricing, and that most of the promotional activity will remain related to devices, and I think that's a world we can live in economically.

更多關於競爭。無線行業的競爭強度仍然很高，我們打算酌情應對。考慮到 C 波段拍賣的總支出，我預計價格將繼續保持理性，並且大部分促銷活動仍將與設備相關，我認為這是一個我們可以經濟地生活的世界。

A few words on our network position. Network performance continues to be a hallmark of our strategy. We're continuing our network modernization program and our multiyear 5G deployment. We've deployed 5G over each layer of spectrum, low, mid and millimeter wave. Our initial deployment for coverage is on clean low-band spectrum via 5G available to some degree in 18 states today.

關於我們的網絡位置的幾句話。網絡性能仍然是我們戰略的標誌。我們正在繼續我們的網絡現代化計劃和多年 5G 部署。我們已經在每一層頻譜、低波、中波和毫米波上部署了 5G。我們最初的覆蓋部署是通過今天在 18 個州某種程度上可用的 5G 在乾淨的低頻段頻譜上進行的。

We were largely satisfied with our C-band purchases. When combined with our CBRS holdings, we now have midband spectrum in nearly all of our operating footprint. Also, we deployed millimeter wave spectrum in order to offer fixed wireless access in 3 test markets. The pilot launch in those markets is expected to occur in the third quarter of this year, and we'll formalize and communicate our plans when the results become available.

我們對購買的 C 波段非常滿意。結合我們持有的 CBRS，我們現在幾乎所有的運營足跡都擁有中頻頻譜。此外，我們還部署了毫米波頻譜，以便在 3 個測試市場提供固定無線接入。這些市場的試點啟動預計將於今年第三季度進行，我們將在結果可用時正式確定並傳達我們的計劃。

We continue to be optimistic on the performance capabilities of millimeter wave spectrum. We recently performed additional millimeter wave spectrum testing with base station and radio enhancements and achieved line of sight propagation distances of 7 kilometers, with average speeds approaching 1 gigabit per second. This exceeds our results from last year where we achieved distances of 5 kilometers with average speeds of 100 megabits per second.

我們繼續看好毫米波頻譜的性能。我們最近通過基站和無線電增強功能進行了額外的毫米波頻譜測試，並實現了 7 公里的視距傳播距離，平均速度接近每秒 1 吉比特。這超過了去年的結果，去年我們以每秒 100 兆位的平均速度實現了 5 公里的距離。

Finally, I just want to say a word on talent. I'm more convinced than ever that attracting and retaining talent is a significant differentiator. This past year has stressed everyone's approach to people, but I'm really pleased with how U.S. Cellular has responded. I do believe that the drivers of talent of yesterday aren't the same as the drivers of tomorrow. Pay and benefits will continue to be important, but we're going to need to think even harder about work flexibility, a constant learning environment and a visible focus on diversity, equity and inclusion. We're really complete with a comprehensive strategy to help our team move to a more matrix work environment, splitting time between home and the office.

最後，我只想說一句天賦。我比以往任何時候都更加相信吸引和留住人才是一個重要的差異化因素。過去的一年強調了每個人待人接物的方式，但我對 US Cellular 的回應方式感到非常滿意。我確實相信，昨天的人才驅動因素與明天的驅動因素不同。薪酬和福利將繼續很重要，但我們將需要更加努力地考慮工作靈活性、持續學習環境以及對多樣性、公平性和包容性的明顯關注。我們真正完成了一項全面的戰略，以幫助我們的團隊遷移到更加矩陣化的工作環境，在家庭和辦公室之間分配時間。

Certain associates that are working from home will start returning to the office in June on a volunteer basis, but they'll be returning to a more flexible and smart environment. I expect this will help us increase engagement. I also think it's going to help us manage cost.

某些在家工作的員工將於 6 月開始自願返回辦公室，但他們將回到一個更加靈活和智能的環境中。我希望這將有助於我們提高參與度。我還認為這將幫助我們管理成本。

On the diversity front, we were recently ranked 75th, well above all of our peers by Forbes as one of America's Best Employers for Diversity in 2021. This award, and many others like it, provide us brand recognition as we compete to attract and retain the very best talent.

在多元化方面，我們最近被福布斯評為 2021 年美國多元化最佳雇主之一，排名第 75 位，遠高於我們所有的同行。這個獎項和許多其他類似獎項為我們提供了品牌知名度，因為我們正在努力吸引和留住人才最好的人才。

Now I'm going to turn it over to Doug and he's going to cover the details of the quarter. Doug?

現在我要把它交給道格，他將介紹本季度的細節。道格？

Thanks, LT. Good morning. As LT mentioned, we're off to a good start this year. Let's start with a review of customer results starting on Slide 7. Postpaid handset gross additions increased due to higher switch activity and our ability to capture a larger portion of that switcher group this year versus last year. The switcher group increase was driven primarily by March activity, which was severely depressed last year as a result of the unfolding pandemic and was bolstered this year by stimulus payments.

謝謝，LT。早上好。正如 LT 提到的，我們今年開局不錯。讓我們從幻燈片 7 開始的客戶結果回顧開始。後付費手機總增加量增加是由於更高的轉換活動以及我們今年與去年相比獲得該轉換組更大份額的能力。轉換組的增長主要是由 3 月份的活動推動的，該活動去年因大流行的蔓延而嚴重低迷，今年又因刺激支出而得到提振。

Our ability to attract switchers increased year-over-year due primarily to the success of our no requirements messaging and lead promotional offerings. We saw connected device gross additions decrease by 3,000 year-over-year. This was driven by lower gross additions of Internet products such as hotspots and routers compared to the prior year where we experienced an increase in demand due to COVID-19. The declines in hotspot and router sales was partially offset by an increase in connected watch gross additions.

我們吸引切換者的能力逐年增加，這主要是由於我們的無要求消息傳遞和主要促銷產品的成功。我們看到連接設備的總增加量同比減少了 3,000 台。與去年相比，由於 COVID-19 導致需求增加，熱點和路由器等互聯網產品的總增加量有所下降。熱點和路由器銷量的下降部分被聯網手錶總銷量的增加所抵消。

Wrapping up this slide, total smartphone connections increased by 13,000 during the quarter and by 56,000 over the course of the past 12 months. That helps to drive more service revenue, given that smartphone ARPU is about $20 higher than feature phone ARPU.

總結這張幻燈片，本季度智能手機連接總數增加了 13,000，在過去 12 個月中增加了 56,000。這有助於推動更多服務收入，因為智能手機 ARPU 比功能手機 ARPU 高出約 20 美元。

Next, I want to comment on the postpaid churn rate shown on Slide 8. Currently, churn on both handsets and connected devices continues to run at low levels. Postpaid handset churn, depicted by the blue bars, was 0.92%, down from 0.95% a year ago. This was due to lower involuntary churn, which continues to run lower year-over-year as a result of having acquired customers with a better credit mix and improved customer payment behavior. Total postpaid churn combining handsets and connected devices was 1.12% for the first quarter of 2021, also lower than a year ago.

接下來，我想評論一下幻燈片 8 中顯示的後付費用戶流失率。目前，手機和連接設備的用戶流失率繼續處於較低水平。藍色條表示的後付費手機流失率為 0.92%，低於一年前的 0.95%。這是由於非自願流失率較低，由於獲得了具有更好信貸組合的客戶和改善了客戶付款行為，因此非自願流失率繼續同比下降。 2021 年第一季度，結合手機和連接設備的後付費總流失率為 1.12%，也低於一年前。

Now let's turn to the financial results on Slide 9. Total operating revenues for the first quarter were $1.023 billion, an increase of $60 million or 6% year-over-year. Retail service revenues increased by $14 million to $685 million. The increase is primarily due to a higher average revenue per user, which I will discuss in a moment as well as an increase in average postpaid subscribers. Inbound roaming revenue was $28 million. That was a decrease of $9 million year-over-year, driven by a decrease in data volume.

現在讓我們轉到幻燈片 9 的財務結果。第一季度總營業收入為 10.23 億美元，同比增長 6000 萬美元或 6%。零售服務收入增加了 1400 萬美元，達到 6.85 億美元。這一增長主要是由於每個用戶的平均收入增加，我稍後將討論這一點，以及平均後付費用戶的增加。入境漫遊收入為 2800 萬美元。由於數據量減少，同比減少 900 萬美元。

One of the factors contributed to this data volume decrease is the merger of Sprint and T-Mobile and the migration of Sprint roaming traffic to T-Mobile's network. Other service revenues were $58 million, an increase of $4 million year-over-year, including a 9% increase in tower rental revenues. Finally, equipment sales revenues increased by $51 million year-over-year due to an increase in units sold and increase in sales of higher-priced units as well as an increase in accessory sales as a result of higher volume.

導致數據量減少的因素之一是 Sprint 和 T-Mobile 的合併以及 Sprint 漫遊流量遷移到 T-Mobile 的網絡。其他服務收入為 5800 萬美元，同比增長 400 萬美元，其中塔租賃收入增長 9%。最後，設備銷售收入同比增長 5100 萬美元，原因是銷量增加、高價設備銷量增加，以及銷量增加導致配件銷量增加。

Now a few more comments about postpaid revenue shown on Slide 10. Average revenue per user or connection was $47.65 for the first quarter, up $0.42 or approximately 1% year-over-year. On a per account basis, average revenue grew by $2.33 or 2% year-over-year. The increases were driven primarily by an increase in regulatory recovery revenues, favorable plan and product offering mix and an increase in device protection revenues.

現在更多關於幻燈片 10 上顯示的後付費收入的評論。第一季度每個用戶或連接的平均收入為 47.65 美元，同比增長 0.42 美元或約 1%。按帳戶計算，平均收入同比增長 2.33 美元或 2%。增長的主要原因是監管恢復收入的增加、有利的計劃和產品組合以及設備保護收入的增加。

Turning to Slide 11. As we continue our multiyear network modernization and 5G rollout, control of our towers remains very important. By owning our towers, we ensure we maintain the operational flexibility to add new equipment and make other changes to our cell sites without incurring additional costs, which is very important, particularly given our current technology evolution.

轉到幻燈片 11。隨著我們繼續多年的網絡現代化和 5G 推出，對我們的塔的控制仍然非常重要。通過擁有我們的塔，我們確保我們保持運營靈活性，以添加新設備並對我們的基站進行其他更改，而不會產生額外成本，這非常重要，特別是考慮到我們當前的技術發展。

As you can see on this slide, with the assistance of our third-party marketing agreement, we have seen steady growth in tower rental revenues. As I mentioned, first quarter tower rental revenues increased by 9% year-over-year. LT noted earlier the new master lease agreement we signed with DISH Wireless, and we will continue to focus on growing revenues for these strategic assets.

正如您在這張幻燈片上看到的，在我們第三方營銷協議的幫助下，我們看到了塔樓租金收入的穩步增長。正如我所提到的，第一季度塔樓租金收入同比增長 9%。 LT 早些時候注意到我們與 DISH Wireless 簽署了新的主租賃協議，我們將繼續專注於增加這些戰略資產的收入。

Moving to Slide 12. I want to comment on adjusted operating income before depreciation, amortization and accretion and gains and losses. To keep things simple, I'll refer to this measure as adjusted operating income. As shown at the bottom of the slide, adjusted operating income was $258 million, an increase of 12% year-over-year. As I commented earlier, total operating revenues were $1.023 billion, a 6% increase year-over-year.

轉到幻燈片 12。我想評論一下折舊、攤銷和增值前的調整後營業收入以及損益。為簡單起見，我將此衡量標準稱為調整後營業收入。如幻燈片底部所示，調整後營業收入為 2.58 億美元，同比增長 12%。正如我之前評論的那樣，總營業收入為 10.23 億美元，同比增長 6%。

Total cash expenses were $765 million, increasing $33 million or 5% year-over-year. Total system operations expense increased 3% year-over-year. Excluding roaming expense, system operations expense increased by 2% due to higher certain costs. Roaming expense increased $1 million or 4% year-over-year, resulting from an 80% increase in off-net data volume that was largely offset by a decrease in rates. Cost of equipment sold increased $58 million or 26% year-over-year due to an increase in units sold, an increase in sales of higher-priced smartphones as well as higher accessory sales volume.

總現金支出為 7.65 億美元，同比增加 3300 萬美元或 5%。總系統運營費用同比增長 3%。排除漫遊費用，由於某些成本較高，系統運營費用增加了 2%。漫遊費用同比增加 100 萬美元或 4%，這是由於網外數據量增加了 80%，但在很大程度上被費率下降所抵消。銷售設備成本同比增長 5800 萬美元或 26%，原因是銷量增加、高價智能手機銷量增加以及配件銷量增加。

Selling, general and administrative expenses decreased $30 million or 9% year-over-year, driven primarily by a decrease in bad debts expense. Bad debts expense decreased $26 million due to lower write-offs driven by fewer nonpaid customers as a result of better credit mix and improved customer payment behavior. We also recorded bad debts expense in the first quarter of 2020 related to the FCC Keep Americans Connected Pledge, which contributed to the year-over-year decrease. In addition, advertising expense decreased year-over-year.

銷售、一般和管理費用同比減少 3000 萬美元或 9%，這主要是由於壞賬費用減少所致。壞賬費用減少了 2600 萬美元，這是由於更好的信貸組合和改善的客戶支付行為導致未付款客戶減少導致註銷減少。我們還記錄了 2020 年第一季度與 FCC Keep Americans Connected Pledge 相關的壞賬支出，這導致了同比下降。此外，廣告費用同比下降。

Turning to Slide 13. I'll touch on adjusted EBITDA, which starts with adjusted operating income and incorporates the earnings from our equity method investments along with interest and dividend income. Adjusted EBITDA for the quarter was $302 million, an increase of $21 million or 8% year-over-year. Equity and earnings of unconsolidated entities decreased by $3 million or 7%.

轉到幻燈片 13。我將談談調整後的 EBITDA，它從調整後的營業收入開始，將我們權益法投資的收益與利息和股息收入結合起來。本季度調整後的 EBITDA 為 3.02 億美元，同比增長 2100 萬美元或 8%。未合併實體的股權和收益減少了 300 萬美元或 7%。

Next, I want to cover our guidance for the full year 2021. For comparison, we're showing our 2020 actual results. Our guidance assumes that COVID-19 does not cause any significant incremental economic consequences that would negatively impact our business. For total service revenues, we have increased our midpoint by $25 million to a range of $3.05 billion to $3.15 billion. This increase is driven by an increase in our projections for build revenues and miscellaneous service revenues.

接下來，我想介紹我們對 2021 年全年的指導。為了進行比較，我們展示了 2020 年的實際結果。我們的指南假設 COVID-19 不會造成任何會對我們的業務產生負面影響的重大增量經濟後果。對於總服務收入，我們將中點增加了 2500 萬美元，達到 30.5 億美元至 31.5 億美元的範圍。這一增長是由於我們對建築收入和雜項服務收入的預測增加所致。

We have raised the midpoint of our adjusted operating income and adjusted EBITDA range by $25 million by increasing the low end of the ranges with no change to the high end of the ranges, resulting in new ranges of $850 million to $950 million and $1.025 billion to $1.125 billion, respectively. In addition to the increase in our projections for service revenues, the updated ranges incorporate favorability in bad debts and selling and marketing expenses. This favorability is partially offset by an expected increase in loss on equipment for the remainder of the year compared to our earlier projections. For capital expenditures, we are maintaining our guidance range of $775 million to $875 million, and we have provided a breakdown by major category. I will now turn the call over to Vicki Villacrez. Vicki?

我們通過增加範圍的低端而不改變範圍的高端，將調整後的營業收入和調整後的 EBITDA 範圍的中點提高了 2500 萬美元，從而產生了 8.5 億美元至 9.5 億美元和 10.25 億美元至 10.25 億美元的新範圍分別為 11.25 億美元。除了我們對服務收入預測的增加外，更新後的範圍還包括壞賬和銷售和營銷費用方面的優惠。與我們早先的預測相比，今年剩餘時間設備損失的預期增加部分抵消了這種青睞。對於資本支出，我們維持 7.75 億美元至 8.75 億美元的指導範圍，並按主要類別提供了細分。我現在將把電話轉給 Vicki Villacrez。薇琪？

Thanks, Doug, and good morning, everyone. I'm very pleased with our results for the first quarter. We had strong growth in both broadband connections and revenue. Overall, we grew total organic connections for the third consecutive quarter. We added 13,000 fiber service addresses to our footprint and continue to execute on our fiber strategy. Overall, we grew our top line 4%.

謝謝，道格，大家早上好。我對我們第一季度的業績感到非常滿意。我們在寬帶連接和收入方面都有強勁增長。總體而言，我們連續第三個季度增加了有機連接總數。我們在足跡中增加了 13,000 個光纖服務地址，並繼續執行我們的光纖戰略。總體而言，我們的收入增長了 4%。

As Pete referenced earlier, the change to 1 segment reporting results in a combined presentation of our wireline and cable operations. We have been on a trajectory to integrate our businesses around the common strategy of providing superior broadband service and complementing that with value-added video and voice service bundling.

正如皮特之前提到的，對 1 段報告的更改導致我們的有線和電纜業務的組合呈現。我們一直在圍繞提供優質寬帶服務並通過增值視頻和語音服務捆綁作為補充的共同戰略來整合我們的業務。

Whether it is our markets where we have upgraded copper or building fiber or provided DOCSIS 3.1 capability, we are striving to increase Internet speeds to better serve our customers. On a combined basis, we are able to offer 1-gigabyte speeds to 55% of our total service addresses. We remain committed to our strategic priorities we've been invested in for several years.

無論是我們升級銅纜或構建光纖還是提供 DOCSIS 3.1 功能的市場，我們都在努力提高互聯網速度以更好地為我們的客戶服務。綜合來看，我們能夠為我們總服務地址的 55% 提供 1 GB 的速度。我們仍然致力於我們多年來投資的戰略重點。

Our primary strategic objective is to provide growth by investing in our high-speed broadband services. We have a multifaceted approach to this growth that includes leveraging our existing networks and constructing greenfield fiber in opportunistic locations. With support from the FCC's A-CAM program and state broadband grants, TDS Telecom is also deploying high-speed broadband to customers in rural areas within our incumbent market.

我們的主要戰略目標是通過投資我們的高速寬帶服務來實現增長。我們對這種增長採取了多方面的方法，包括利用我們現有的網絡和在機會主義地點建設綠地光纖。在 FCC 的 A-CAM 計劃和國家寬帶撥款的支持下，TDS Telecom 還在現有市場中為農村地區的客戶部署高速寬帶。

If you turn to Slide 17 of the earnings presentation, total residential connections increased 4% due to residential broadband growth in new and existing markets, partially offset by a decrease in voice connections. Total telecom broadband residential connections grew 9% in the quarter as we continue to fortify our network with fiber and expand into new markets. Bolstered by this growth, wireline broadband residential connections grew 10% and cable increased 8%.

如果您轉到收益演示文稿的幻燈片 17，由於新市場和現有市場的住宅寬帶增長，住宅連接總數增加了 4%，部分被語音連接的減少所抵消。隨著我們繼續用光纖加強我們的網絡並擴展到新市場，本季度電信寬帶住宅連接總數增長了 9%。在這一增長的推動下，有線寬帶住宅連接增長了 10%，有線電視增長了 8%。

Total broadband penetration continue to increase, up 100 basis points to 38%. Overall, higher value product mix and price increases drove a 5% increase in average residential revenue per connection. Cable average residential revenue per connection reflects a higher mix of video connections relative to wireline. Our investment in TDS TV+ and our expansion into new markets will drive video connection growth.

寬帶總普及率繼續增加，上升 100 個基點至 38%。總體而言，更高價值的產品組合和價格上漲推動每個連接的平均住宅收入增長了 5%。每個連接的有線電視平均住宅收入反映了相對於有線線路而言更高的視頻連接組合。我們對 TDS TV+ 的投資以及我們向新市場的擴張將推動視頻連接的增長。

On Slide 18, you can see the broadband connection growth across all markets. This quarter, we achieved a major milestone, reaching 0.5 million total broadband subscribers. Residential broadband revenue grew 16% in total in the quarter. We are offering up to 1-gigabyte broadband speeds in both our fiber and DOCSIS 3.1 markets. The 1-gigabyte product is an important tool that allows us to defend markets and win over customers in new markets. In areas where we offer 1-gig service, we are seeing 17% of our new customers taking this superior product.

在幻燈片 18 上，您可以看到所有市場的寬帶連接都在增長。本季度，我們實現了一個重要的里程碑，寬帶用戶總數達到 50 萬。本季度住宅寬帶收入總計增長了 16%。我們在光纖和 DOCSIS 3.1 市場提供高達 1 GB 的寬帶速度。 1GB 產品是一個重要的工具，它使我們能夠保衛市場並在新市場贏得客戶。在我們提供 1-gig 服務的地區，我們看到 17% 的新客戶使用了這種優質產品。

Now turning to Slide 19. We have augmented our success, growing broadband with our TDS TV+ offering. Our next-generation video platform enhances the customer viewing experience and, as a bundle, these products provided best-in-class customer service and help us to increase our broadband market share and reduce churn. Residential video connections held nearly flat. Wireline growth of 7%, driven by our expansion markets, nearly offset losses in the cable market. Video continues to remain important to our customers. Our strategy is to increase our video connections through the offering of our cloud-based TDS TV+ product. This rollout of this product currently covers about 60% of our total operations.

現在轉到幻燈片 19。我們擴大了我們的成功，通過我們的 TDS TV+ 產品發展寬帶。我們的下一代視頻平台增強了客戶的觀看體驗，並且作為捆綁產品，這些產品提供了一流的客戶服務，幫助我們增加了寬帶市場份額並減少了客戶流失。住宅視頻連接幾乎持平。在我們擴張市場的推動下，有線線路增長了 7%，幾乎抵消了電纜市場的損失。視頻對我們的客戶仍然很重要。我們的戰略是通過提供基於雲的 TDS TV+ 產品來增加我們的視頻連接。該產品的推出目前覆蓋了我們總運營的 60% 左右。

We continue to be bullish on our fiber strategy, which is shown on Slide 20. Fiber is the most economical long-term solution to deliver the best broadband experience. Selecting the right markets remains key and we have an attractive funnel of markets identified. In fact, Coeur d'Alene, Idaho and Spokane, Washington topped the list of the country's hottest emerging housing markets. This is according to the recent ranking by the Wall Street Journal.

我們繼續看好我們的光纖戰略，如幻燈片 20 所示。光纖是提供最佳寬帶體驗的最經濟的長期解決方案。選擇正確的市場仍然是關鍵，我們已經確定了一個有吸引力的市場漏斗。事實上，愛達荷州的科達倫和華盛頓州的斯波坎在該國最熱門的新興房地產市場中名列前茅。這是根據《華爾街日報》最近的排名得出的。

Our marketing and sales techniques enable us to effectively market at a neighborhood level. This gives us tremendous flexibility over timing and execution to consistently target a high broadband take rate. Our strategy to cluster our market is critical as it gives us economies of scale and better returns over time. Additionally, our strategy capitalizes on strong macroeconomic trends such as growing work-at-home environment, strong population migration in our chosen markets, favorable advances in technology and bipartisan support for rural broadband funding.

我們的營銷和銷售技術使我們能夠在社區層面有效地進行營銷。這使我們在時間安排和執行方面具有極大的靈活性，可以始終如一地以高寬帶採用率為目標。我們的市場集群戰略至關重要，因為隨著時間的推移，它可以為我們帶來規模經濟和更好的回報。此外，我們的戰略利用了強勁的宏觀經濟趨勢，例如不斷增長的在家工作環境、我們所選市場的人口遷移、技術的有利進步以及兩黨對農村寬帶資金的支持。

Slide 21 shows the progress we are making this year on our multiyear fiber footprint expansion, which includes fiber into incumbent markets and also expansion into new markets. As a result of this strategy over the last several years, 321,000 or 38% of our wireline service addresses are now served by fiber, which is up from 32% a year ago. This is driving revenue growth while also expanding the total wireline footprint 6% to 855,000 service addresses.

幻燈片 21 顯示了我們今年在多年光纖足跡擴展方面取得的進展，其中包括光纖進入現有市場以及擴展到新市場。由於過去幾年的這一戰略，現在有 321,000 個或 38% 的有線服務地址由光纖提供服務，高於一年前的 32%。這推動了收入增長，同時也將有線總足跡擴大了 6% 至 855,000 個服務地址。

Moving on to Slide 22. We've highlighted the total service addresses for the clusters that are in construction and we are actively marketing. We have completed 321,000 fiber service addresses through the first quarter and are working to build out the footprint in these announced markets to 620,000 service addresses by 2024. We have identified other attractive opportunities where we can be first to market and expect to plant our flag in these markets in the near future, which will increase these numbers.

轉到幻燈片 22。我們突出顯示了正在建設中的集群的總服務地址，我們正在積極營銷。截至第一季度，我們已經完成了 321,000 個光纖服務地址，並正在努力到 2024 年將這些已公佈市場的足跡擴大到 620,000 個服務地址。我們已經確定了其他有吸引力的機會，我們可以率先將其推向市場，並期望將我們的旗幟插在其中這些市場在不久的將來，這將增加這些數字。

We continue to be pleased with overall take rate in the areas we have launched to date. Our preregistration rate, which indicates the demand we are trying to satisfy, are even higher than our expectations. And we have a very high conversion rate when construction is completed. We are scaling up and are expecting our fiber service address delivery to double in 2021 from the prior year.

我們對迄今為止推出的領域的總體採用率仍然感到滿意。我們的預註冊率（表明我們正在努力滿足的需求）甚至高於我們的預期。而且我們在施工完成後的轉化率非常高。我們正在擴大規模，預計 2021 年我們的光纖服務地址交付量將比上一年翻一番。

On Slide 23, total revenues increased 4% to $249 million, largely driven by the strong growth in residential revenues, which increased 9% in total. The chart includes residential revenue mix, which highlights the increasing contribution of our expansion market. Incumbent wireline markets also showed impressive growth of 6% due to increases in broadband and video connections as well as increases from within the broadband product mix. This was partially offset by a 2% decrease in residential voice connections.

在幻燈片 23 中，總收入增長 4% 至 2.49 億美元，這主要是由於住宅收入的強勁增長，總收入增長了 9%。該圖表包括住宅收入組合，突出了我們擴展市場的貢獻越來越大。由於寬帶和視頻連接的增加以及寬帶產品組合的增加，現有有線市場也出現了 6% 的驚人增長。這部分被住宅語音連接減少 2% 所抵消。

Cable residential revenues grew 9% due to an 8% increase in broadband connections. Commercial revenues, which continue to be impacted by CLEC declines, decreased 6% to $47 million in the quarter. And wholesale revenues decreased 3% to $45 million due primarily to reductions in special access in the incumbent wireline market.

由於寬帶連接增加了 8%，有線住宅收入增長了 9%。商業收入繼續受到 CLEC 下降的影響，本季度下降 6% 至 4700 萬美元。批發收入下降 3% 至 4500 萬美元，這主要是由於現有有線市場的特殊接入減少。

So let me sum up. The combined financial results for the quarter as shown on Slide 24. Revenues increased 4% from the prior year as growth from our fiber expansions and increases in cable broadband subscribers exceeded the declines we experienced in our legacy business. Cash expenses increased 5% due to additional employee and advertising expense related to our expansion market. We also saw increases in video programming costs and information processing expenses, where we are making IT investments to simplify and consolidate our support systems.

所以讓我總結一下。本季度的合併財務結果如幻燈片 24 所示。由於我們的光纖擴展和有線寬帶用戶的增長超過了我們在傳統業務中經歷的下降，收入比上一年增長了 4%。現金支出增加了 5%，原因是與我們擴展市場相關的額外員工和廣告費用。我們還看到視頻編程成本和信息處理費用有所增加，我們正在這方面進行 IT 投資以簡化和整合我們的支持系統。

Adjusted EBITDA declined 1% to $81 million on lower interest income compared to last year. Capital expenditures increased 30% from last year to $70 million as we continue to increase our investment in fiber deployment and success-based spend for new customer installs.

調整後的 EBITDA 下降 1% 至 8100 萬美元，原因是與去年相比利息收入較低。隨著我們繼續增加對光纖部署和新客戶安裝成功支出的投資，資本支出比去年增加了 30%，達到 7000 萬美元。

And finally, moving to Slide 25. We have presented guidance, which is unchanged from what we shared in February. We have had strong broadband connection growth across all our markets of operation, combined with increased average residential revenue per connection. We continue the rapid advancement of our fiber deployment in new markets, but we have portions of our fiber build that depend on third parties, which may impact our ability to stay on our very aggressive service address delivery schedule. I will continue to update you as we move through the year.

最後，轉到幻燈片 25。我們提供了指南，與我們在 2 月份分享的內容相同。我們在所有運營市場的寬帶連接都實現了強勁增長，同時每個連接的平均住宅收入也有所增加。我們繼續在新市場中快速推進我們的光纖部署，但我們的部分光纖構建依賴於第三方，這可能會影響我們保持非常激進的服務地址交付時間表的能力。隨著我們這一年的進展，我將繼續為您更新。

And with that, I want to thank all our associates for their continued dedication to our challenging growth agenda. We have had a successful start to the year and look forward to updating you on the second quarter. And with that, now I'll turn the call back over to you, Jane.

就此，我要感謝我們所有的員工一直致力於我們具有挑戰性的增長議程。我們今年的開局很成功，期待在第二季度為您更新。有了這個，現在我會把電話轉回給你，簡。

Thanks, Vicki. And operator, we're ready to take questions.

謝謝，趙薇。接線員，我們準備好接受提問了。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員說明）

Your first question comes from Rick Prentiss from Raymond James.

你的第一個問題來自 Raymond James 的 Rick Prentiss。

I want to take a look first at the guidances. At U.S. Cellular, came in strong in the quarter. And as we think about run rating that, obviously, increased the low end but kept the high end flat. I think Doug, you mentioned you're expecting maybe higher loss on equipment promotions. So as you think through that, is process service kind of at a good run rate level? And with the competitive environment, do you think you'll be able to achieve positive postpaid phone adds in future quarters and maybe for the year?

我想先看看指南。在 US Cellular，本季度表現強勁。當我們考慮運行評級時，顯然提高了低端但保持高端持平。我想道格，你提到你預計設備促銷可能會造成更高的損失。因此，當您仔細考慮時，流程服務是否處於良好的運行率水平？在競爭激烈的環境下，您認為您能否在未來幾個季度甚至今年實現積極的後付費電話增長？

Yes. And so with respect to the run rate of our guidance, and we mentioned it in the call, the reasons we took it out with service revenue increase, resulting to miscellaneous revenues as well as favorability and regulatory revenues and rate plan mix. From a run rate perspective, selling and marketing expenses are a little bit back-end loaded towards the end of the year. And we also have some peaks in some operations expenses in the second and third quarter with heavy construction and maintenance season. So the run rate is not quite uniform throughout the year when we look at that.

是的。因此，關於我們指導的運行率，我們在電話中提到了它，我們將其與服務收入增加一起刪除的原因，導致雜項收入以及有利和監管收入以及費率計劃組合。從運行率的角度來看，銷售和營銷費用在年底前會有所增加。我們在第二和第三季度的一些運營費用也有一些高峰，因為施工和維護季節很重。因此，當我們看到這一點時，全年的運行率並不十分均勻。

And -- so again, I think we said it the reasons for the guidance in the comments. With respect to -- with the increase in subscribers, we don't guide specifically to subscribers, but we certainly -- we've stated that we are very focused on growing market share as well as growing our sub base. So I think the answer to that question is yes.

而且 - 再一次，我認為我們在評論中說了指導的原因。關於 - 隨著訂戶的增加，我們不會專門針對訂戶進行指導，但我們肯定 - 我們已經表示我們非常專注於增加市場份額以及擴大我們的子基數。所以我認為這個問題的答案是肯定的。

Okay. And for Vicki, on the TDS side, similar question then. Strong quarter, $81 million of adjusted EBITDA. What should we think as far as why you wouldn't be headed towards the high end of that guidance or why couldn't guidance go up? I assume there is some sales and marketing cost of service increases as you roll out more markets. But just wondering, the trends on TDS Telecom.

好的。對於 Vicki，在 TDS 方面，類似的問題。強勁的季度，調整後的 EBITDA 為 8100 萬美元。至於為什麼你不會走向該指導的高端，或者為什麼指導不能上升，我們應該怎麼想？我假設隨著您推出更多市場，服務的銷售和營銷成本會增加。但只是想知道 TDS 電信的趨勢。

Yes. Thank you for that question. We did have a strong quarter. Very pleased with our quarter and where we're headed. And it's certainly -- the strong start has given us some headroom on the year. As you know, we're ramping up our construction in our fiber deployment, both within our incumbent market and in new expansion markets. And that's going to ramp up through the year. And so while I expect new growth revenue to come in for the year, we are also going to be experiencing higher costs with the launches of these new markets. Every day, we're turning up new neighborhoods. And as these come into the fold, we have the upfront costs associated with that. But we're well on track for hitting and staying within our range of guidance at this point.

是的。謝謝你提出這個問題。我們確實有一個強勁的季度。對我們的季度和我們的發展方向非常滿意。這當然是 - 強勁的開端給了我們今年的一些空間。如您所知，我們正在加強現有市場和新擴展市場的光纖部署建設。這將在今年逐步增加。因此，雖然我預計今年會有新的增長收入，但隨著這些新市場的推出，我們也將經歷更高的成本。每天，我們都會發現新的社區。隨著這些進入折疊，我們有與之相關的前期成本。但我們目前有望達到並保持在我們的指導範圍內。

And then following on, last question would be supply chain. On the U.S. Cellular side, any issues. We've heard other get on their conference calls, talked about being skittish on the supply chain. Any concerns on handset supplies, network supplies? I know LG is out of the handset business. But just as from a supply chain standpoint from U.S. Cellular, both at the network side and from TDS Telecom, it does seem like given the 150,000 service addresses added this year, it might be tough. Just kind of talk to that.

然後接下來，最後一個問題是供應鏈。在美國移動電話方面，任何問題。我們聽說其他人在他們的電話會議上談到了對供應鏈的不安。手機耗材、網絡耗材有什麼顧慮？我知道 LG 退出了手機業務。但就像從 U.S. Cellular 的供應鏈角度來看，無論是在網絡端還是從 TDS 電信，考慮到今年增加的 150,000 個服務地址，這似乎確實很艱難。只是談談那個。

Rick, it's LT. Two drivers on the supply chain side that you mentioned, I think they're the 2 big ones that we're paying attention to. LG is the first. We are well prepared for that. Mostly, LG -- most of the LG sales are in the prepaid side of our business and we've got a fairly robust device ecosystem, so that does not concern me. I think we're well prepared that we can serve the demand that's out there.

里克，是 LT。你提到的供應鏈方面的兩個驅動因素，我認為它們是我們關注的兩大驅動因素。 LG是第一個。我們為此做好了充分準備。大多數情況下，LG——LG 的大部分銷售都在我們業務的預付費方面，我們有一個相當強大的設備生態系統，所以這與我無關。我認為我們已經做好充分準備，可以滿足那裡的需求。

Chipset side of the house, I pay a lot of attention to. Thus far, I'm not seeing effects on our business thus far. If there are impacts, we think we can manage it. But that one, I'm paying a lot more attention to. I'm not sure if I would use the word skittish, but concerned certainly. So that one, we're kind of looking more closely at. Thus far, no impact, but that's not to say that it couldn't -- if we start to see that ramp up. Vicki, you want to answer the telecom infrastructure set?

房子的芯片組方面，我非常注意。到目前為止，我還沒有看到對我們業務的影響。如果有影響，我們認為我們可以管理它。但是那個，我更加關注。我不確定我是否會使用膽怯這個詞，但肯定會擔心。所以那個，我們正在更仔細地觀察。到目前為止，沒有影響，但這並不是說它不能——如果我們開始看到這種影響的話。 Vicki，你想回答電信基礎設施的問題嗎？

Yes, sure. We've been watching the supply chain very carefully, and we're in constant touch with many of our suppliers. And in some cases, we've diversified our suppliers where it's made sense. And having those choices helps. But right now, I think the biggest risk I see is the lead times are getting longer. And therefore, we have to be more diligent in our forecasting and our sourcing of our product needs much further in advance.

是的，當然。我們一直在非常仔細地觀察供應鏈，並與我們的許多供應商保持聯繫。在某些情況下，我們在合理的情況下使我們的供應商多樣化。擁有這些選擇會有所幫助。但現在，我認為我看到的最大風險是交貨時間越來越長。因此，我們必須更加勤奮地進行預測，並且我們的產品採購需求要提前得多。

And so some of the capital spend starts to go towards building up inventory. Not significant yet but definitely something we're watching. We're sensitive to the availability of electronics and gear that's associated with our fiber build. You're thinking about heads, connectors, drives, ONTs, modems, the chipsets are in modems. And so these are kind of the areas where we're seeing longer lead times. And so our partnership with our suppliers is really important. Thus far, we haven't had any issues with sourcing fiber, and we do secure that inventory with a longer lead time.

因此，一些資本支出開始用於建立庫存。尚不重要，但絕對是我們正在關注的事情。我們對與我們的光纖構建相關的電子設備和設備的可用性很敏感。您正在考慮磁頭、連接器、驅動器、ONT、調製解調器，芯片組在調製解調器中。因此，這些是我們看到交貨時間更長的領域。因此，我們與供應商的合作關係非常重要。到目前為止，我們在採購光纖方面沒有遇到任何問題，而且我們確實以更長的交貨時間確保了庫存。

Now as I think about your second part of your question, which is we delivered 13,000 service addresses in the first quarter, but we're looking to scale up and double down on the full year of delivering 150,000 service addresses. And our construction is not without challenges or obstacles, but we expect that really to ramp up. These are complex, large projects. And so securing the contractors and the labor for building out the fiber is also a critical component of our sourcing. And as we think about planting flags in new markets, working and contracting with those suppliers continues to be critical.

現在我想到你問題的第二部分，即我們在第一季度提供了 13,000 個服務地址，但我們希望在全年提供 150,000 個服務地址的基礎上擴大規模和翻倍。我們的建設並非沒有挑戰或障礙，但我們希望它能真正加速。這些都是複雜的大型項目。因此，確保建造光纖的承包商和勞動力也是我們採購的重要組成部分。當我們考慮在新市場插旗時，與這些供應商合作和簽訂合同仍然至關重要。

Your next question comes from Phil Cusick from JPMorgan.

你的下一個問題來自摩根大通的 Phil Cusick。

A couple if I can. First, LT, you talked about the market going to promotions on handset discounts. I heard you that churn remains low and then involuntary, in particular, is low. Are you seeing involuntary churn ticking up at all as the world sort of reopens? And any shifting where customers are going when they leave?

如果可以的話一對夫婦。首先，LT，您談到了市場將進行手機折扣促銷。我聽說你流失率仍然很低，尤其是非自願流失率很低。隨著世界重新開放，您是否看到非自願的流失在增加？客戶離開時的去向有任何變化嗎？

Slight upticks, involuntary churn, but I think completely in line with what you would expect when you start to see a little bit of a larger switcher pool. Answer to the second question is no, there's not a big shift in where they're going. So the -- we don't publish it but our win share and our loss share and our port ratios to different carriers has remained generally constant. So not a big shift there.

輕微的上升，不由自主的流失，但我認為完全符合您開始看到更大的切換器池時的期望。第二個問題的答案是否定的，他們的去向沒有太大變化。所以 - 我們沒有發布它，但我們的贏利份額和損失份額以及我們與不同運營商的港口比率總體上保持不變。所以那裡沒有大的轉變。

No impact from sort of cable getting more aggressive with T-Mobile showing up a little bit more in these markets?

隨著 T-Mobile 在這些市場中出現更多，有線電視變得更加激進，這沒有影響嗎？

We're not seeing it yet. I mean, I'm not suggesting that there's 0 impact. But in terms of incremental impact, I mean, thus far, we're not seeing it.

我們還沒有看到它。我的意思是，我並不是說影響為零。但就增量影響而言，我的意思是，到目前為止，我們還沒有看到它。

Okay. And then, Vicki, under the categories of what have you done for us lately, I heard you say that new fiber addresses will double this year versus last. I think, 150,000 you said. Can you accelerate that fiber construction further? And any sign of incumbent telcos building in some of the areas that you find attractive outside of the LEC footprint?

好的。然後，Vicki，在你最近為我們所做的類別下，我聽說你說今年新的光纖地址將比去年翻一番。我想，你說的150,000。你能進一步加速光纖建設嗎？在 LEC 足蹟之外的一些您認為有吸引力的地區，是否有現有電信公司建設的跡象？

Yes. So great question. We're very focused on scaling up our operations. Doubling our fiber -- the number of constructed fiber locations over last year, I think, definitely shows that the organization is scaling up. And last year, we more than doubled the prior year's. So we are very much focused on how can we go faster, how can we accelerate these builds.

是的。這麼好的問題。我們非常專注於擴大我們的業務。將我們的光纖增加一倍——我認為，去年建造的光纖位置的數量肯定表明該組織正在擴大規模。去年，我們比前一年翻了一番多。所以我們非常關注我們如何才能走得更快，我們如何才能加速這些構建。

And it's a real partnership, quite frankly, with the city -- the cities that we're building in, the support that we need from the city officials, the partnership with our suppliers and our construction contractors and then our own teams. And we're learning and we take those learnings and we put them into the next build. And of course, there's always going to be challenges as we run into different obstacles throughout the way. But we're learning and pushing our way through those.

坦率地說，這是與城市的真正夥伴關係——我們正在建設的城市，我們需要來自城市官員的支持，與我們的供應商和建築承包商以及我們自己的團隊的伙伴關係。我們正在學習，我們吸取了這些經驗，並將它們投入到下一個構建中。當然，隨著我們在整個過程中遇到不同的障礙，總會有挑戰。但我們正在學習並努力解決這些問題。

In terms of -- good question around the ILEC competitors. We were very confident in our fiber strategy, and we feel we've got a significant headstart over the other telcos that are just starting to now focus on deploying fiber. We've been doing this for a long time. We've fibered up 1/3 of our own footprint or overbuilt our own markets and we learned from that. And I think we're just continuing to accelerate our program and we've got a headstart.

關於 - 關於 ILEC 競爭對手的好問題。我們對我們的光纖戰略非常有信心，並且我們認為我們已經領先於其他剛剛開始專注於部署光纖的電信公司。我們已經這樣做了很長時間。我們已經增加了自己足蹟的 1/3 或過度建設了自己的市場，我們從中吸取了教訓。而且我認為我們只是在繼續加速我們的計劃，我們已經取得了領先優勢。

Your next question comes from Simon Flannery from Morgan Stanley.

你的下一個問題來自摩根士丹利的西蒙弗蘭納里。

LT, you talked a little about some of the new initiatives on to focus on growth. Give us a sense of where we are in the rollout of these and the impact. When do you think we'll see the full benefits of these programs coming through in the results? Obviously, some good progress this quarter. But do you think we'll see more as we go through the year? And maybe any thoughts on just what's driving the total industry adds that we've seen here. I think you mentioned stimulus checks on one level, but any other thoughts would be great.

LT，您談到了一些專注於增長的新舉措。讓我們了解我們在這些方面的推出及其影響。您認為我們什麼時候才能看到這些計劃的全部好處在結果中體現出來？顯然，本季度取得了一些不錯的進展。但是你認為我們會在今年看到更多嗎？也許我們在這裡看到的關於推動整個行業增長的任何想法。我認為你在一個層面上提到了刺激檢查，但任何其他想法都會很棒。

And then, Vicki, perhaps some thoughts on the infrastructure bill and broadband funding from municipalities and others, how you think about -- is there opportunity for TDS there? Any thoughts would be great.

然後，Vicki，也許市政當局和其他人對基礎設施法案和寬帶資金的一些想法，你如何看待——那裡有 TDS 的機會嗎？任何想法都會很棒。

Simon, in terms of growth drivers, I would -- I pointed 4 and let me just kind of give you a bit of an update on each one of these. So part of the ones I talked about on previous calls was regionalization or taking a regional approach. We've started doing that, and so we started trialing different promotional activity in different regions. Frankly, think of it as doing a de-testing on a regional basis and it's working.

西蒙，就增長動力而言，我會 - 我指出了 4，讓我給你一些關於其中每一個的更新。因此，我在之前的電話會議上談到的部分內容是區域化或採取區域方法。我們已經開始這樣做了，所以我們開始在不同地區嘗試不同的促銷活動。坦率地說，將其視為在區域基礎上進行的反測試，並且它正在發揮作用。

We think we're able to pretty quickly hone down on which promotions resonate, which ones don't, which drive traffic. And so from a regional perspective, I think that, that one is working nicely. It's where I would expect it to be. And you can see some of the results in our postpaid, what we're doing from a postpaid perspective.

我們認為我們能夠很快確定哪些促銷活動會引起共鳴，哪些不會，哪些會增加流量。因此，從區域的角度來看，我認為那個工作很好。這是我期望的地方。你可以在我們的後付費中看到一些結果，我們從後付費的角度來看正在做的事情。

We talked about prepaid. You're already starting to see some of the results of the greater focus on prepaid in our results in this quarter, and I expect that's going to pick up for the rest of the year. The initial focus was around life cycle management. I talked about, initially, we would reach out to our prepaid customers pretty irregular in the sense that we'd send them a note when they joined the network. We'd send them a note when they run out of eligibility, and we'd send them a note when they were no longer a customer.

我們談到了預付費。您已經開始在本季度的業績中看到更加關注預付費的一些結果，我預計今年剩餘時間會有所增加。最初的重點是生命週期管理。我談到，最初，我們會非常不定期地聯繫我們的預付費客戶，因為我們會在他們加入網絡時向他們發送一張便條。當他們的資格用完時，我們會向他們發送通知，當他們不再是客戶時，我們會向他們發送通知。

We're starting to become much more active around that and reaching out to our prepaid customers more often, gives us the opportunity to bring down churn. You see that in the results, gives us the opportunity to expand ARPU. And what it also allows you to do when you have churn that goes down and you have an expanded ARPU, you can get more aggressive from an acquisition perspective. So I'm comfortable with where we're at from a prepaid perspective.

我們開始變得更加活躍，更頻繁地接觸我們的預付費客戶，讓我們有機會降低客戶流失率。您在結果中看到，這讓我們有機會擴大 ARPU。當您的客戶流失率下降並且您的 ARPU 增加時，它還允許您做的事情是，從收購的角度來看，您可以變得更加積極。因此，從預付費的角度來看，我對我們所處的位置感到滿意。

Business and government is still a work in progress. I'm comfortable with what we put in place. But this is a longer-term initiative. So we hired (inaudible) who's from (inaudible) Sprint. I think she's done a lot of really good initiatives in place around expanding channels. So we started to get a bit more aggressive on the indirect side, partnering with value-added resellers, partnering with master agents. Those things take time and I expect that, that's going to be picking up. And you'll probably start to see results late this year, early next in terms of seeing a bit more increase in activity from the business and government sector. It has a longer lead time than and I would expect it to.

企業和政府仍在進行中。我對我們所做的一切感到滿意。但這是一項長期舉措。所以我們聘請了（聽不清）來自（聽不清）Sprint 的人。我認為她在擴展渠道方面做了很多非常好的舉措。因此，我們開始在間接方面變得更加積極，與增值經銷商合作，與主要代理商合作。這些事情需要時間，我預計，這會有所回升。你可能會在今年晚些時候開始看到結果，明年初就會看到商業和政府部門的活動有所增加。它的交貨時間比我預期的要長。

And the final one that I'd talked about is increase in partnerships. And so you've already seen the impact of us taking a more aggressive approach to partnerships with the DISH in LA. And then I can't get into the details on the contract itself, but just to kind of give you an idea about what that means, "Okay, that's nice, LT. What does it mean to be more aggressive from a partnership perspective?"

我談到的最後一個是增加合作夥伴關係。所以你已經看到了我們採取更積極的方式與洛杉磯的 DISH 建立夥伴關係的影響。然後我無法深入了解合同本身的細節，但只是想讓你了解這意味著什麼，“好吧，這很好，LT。從合作夥伴關係的角度來看，更具侵略性意味著什麼？ “

We hired [Austin Sommer] to come and run that portfolio as well as other things, roaming, business development strategy. And one of the things that we've looked at is how can we become a more attractive partner to people that are interested in getting access to our towers, right? No secret, our co-location rate has been lower than the industry average and we've got to fix that. While there's things that you can do that are fairly tactical to make yourself more attractive and could bring your cycle time down processing applications, we've done that. Cycle times are down considerably over the last 6 months.

我們聘請了 [Austin Sommer] 來運營該產品組合以及其他東西，漫遊，業務發展戰略。我們研究的其中一件事是，我們如何才能成為對有興趣進入我們的塔樓的人更有吸引力的合作夥伴，對嗎？不是秘密，我們的託管率一直低於行業平均水平，我們必須解決這個問題。雖然您可以採取一些戰術性的措施來讓自己更具吸引力，並且可以縮短處理申請的周期時間，但我們已經做到了。在過去 6 個月中，週期時間大幅縮短。

The thing that we did is we took a look at just some of the policies in our towers. So in the past, right, we would reserve a pretty significant amount of [data] center space or overall tower space for a potential network expansion. We're still reserving it. We brought that down a little bit so that we could expand the amount of capacity with our available partners.

我們所做的是，我們只查看了塔樓中的一些政策。所以在過去，對，我們會為潛在的網絡擴展預留大量的 [數據] 中心空間或整個塔空間。我們還在保留它。我們將其降低了一點，以便我們可以與可用的合作夥伴一起擴展容量。

The thing we did is we said, look, we've got assets at those towers in the form of generators and shelters and backhaul, and we're willing to share that with our partners if the economics make sense. And so we've taken those actions. I think the DISH deal is the first example of those actions bearing fruit and I expect to see more. So hopefully, that gives you some flavor about how we're doing from a growth perspective. I'm encouraged. I expect to see those efforts continue to bear fruit, certainly throughout the rest of this year and particularly going into next.

我們所做的是我們說，看，我們在這些塔上擁有發電機、避難所和回程形式的資產，如果經濟合理，我們願意與我們的合作夥伴分享。所以我們採取了這些行動。我認為 DISH 交易是這些行動取得成果的第一個例子，我希望看到更多。因此，希望這能讓您從增長的角度了解我們的工作方式。我很受鼓舞。我希望看到這些努力繼續取得成果，尤其是在今年餘下的時間裡，尤其是明年。

Vicki, let me want to hand it over to you for the other question.

Vicki，讓我想把它交給你來解決另一個問題。

Sure. On the infrastructure proposal, we're watching this as it develops. We've seen the summary information, but I think the details are still forthcoming. I think critics are taking aim at different elements. But I expect the broadband portion to likely survive the process. The total spending where it ends up may be scaled back a bit. I'm not sure, but I think it's too early right now to speculate on how specifically the build is going to drive further growth at TDS Telecom, but we're definitely watching its development.

當然。關於基礎設施提案，我們正在關注它的發展。我們已經看到了摘要信息，但我認為詳細信息仍未公佈。我認為批評家針對的是不同的因素。但我預計寬帶部分可能會在這個過程中倖存下來。最終的總支出可能會有所縮減。我不確定，但我認為現在推測構建將如何具體推動 TDS Telecom 的進一步增長還為時過早，但我們肯定會關注它的發展。

But standing back, just from additional funding from government programs, we have a long history of participating. And right now, we're currently active, as you know, in the FCC's A-CAM program. And without that level of support, we would not be able to make the economics work to build for the very remote areas that we're building right now. And as we're in the fifth year of that program, we build out to half of the 160,000 location obligation under that program. And we have more work to do under that.

但退一步說，僅靠政府項目的額外資金，我們就有很長的參與歷史。現在，如您所知，我們目前正積極參與 FCC 的 A-CAM 計劃。如果沒有這種水平的支持，我們將無法使我們現在正在建設的非常偏遠地區的經濟發揮作用。由於我們已進入該計劃的第五個年頭，我們已經完成了該計劃下 160,000 個位置義務的一半。我們還有更多工作要做。

But we're also in active discussions with the FCC and others on extending the A-CAM program because if you recall, the star of that program was about 25-megabit speeds. And through the pandemic and the acceleration of broadband adoption and growth that we're seeing and the adoption of higher speeds, we're talking about maybe extending that program to build out to even higher speeds longer term. So -- and we're also participating in state broadband programs, the FCC's Lifeline broadband program, EBB. And so -- and also the American Rescue Plan. We're evaluating participation in that. So lots of opportunities that are in play and we can update you as we move forward.

但我們也在與 FCC 和其他機構就擴展 A-CAM 計劃進行積極討論，因為如果你還記得的話，該計劃的明星大約是 25 兆比特的速度。通過大流行和我們看到的寬帶採用和增長的加速以及更高速度的採用，我們正在談論可能擴展該計劃以建立更長期的更高速度。所以——我們也參與了國家寬帶計劃，即 FCC 的生命線寬帶計劃 EBB。所以——還有美國救援計劃。我們正在評估參與情況。有很多機會在起作用，我們可以在前進的過程中為您更新。

Your question comes from Michael Rollins from Citi.

你的問題來自花旗銀行的 Michael Rollins。

I want to go back to the comments, LT, you're making about partnerships. Just curious if you're also considering alternative strategic relationships with the industry. If you look at the direction of competition in your markets, is there an opportunity to improve the structure of your markets and to be able to just help that longer-term competitive positioning?

我想回到評論，LT，你正在談論合作夥伴關係。只是好奇您是否也在考慮與該行業建立替代戰略關係。如果你看看你所在市場的競爭方向，是否有機會改善你的市場結構並能夠幫助實現長期競爭定位？

Simple answer is yes, Mike. I've been fairly clear on even on past calls that we're interested in a variety of different ways for us to better serve our customers, better improve return on capital. And I think that if you look at C-band, the amount of money that was spent in the industry on C-band, the amount of money that's going to be required to deploy that C-band spectrum, I think it's incumbent upon us as an industry to be creative on the way that we think about deploying that, the way we think about getting the best speeds and the best experiences to our customers in the most capital-efficient way. And so the simple answer is yes, right? We're certainly evaluating those options. These things take a lot of time. They don't just happen overnight, but that's something we're looking at.

簡單的回答是肯定的，邁克。即使在過去的電話會議上，我也很清楚我們對各種不同的方式感興趣，以便我們更好地為客戶服務，更好地提高資本回報率。而且我認為，如果你看看 C 波段，行業在 C 波段上花費的金額，部署 C 波段頻譜所需的金額，我認為這是我們的責任作為一個行業，我們考慮部署的方式要有創意，我們考慮以最具資本效率的方式為客戶提供最佳速度和最佳體驗的方式。所以簡單的答案是肯定的，對吧？我們當然正在評估這些選項。這些事情要花很多時間。它們不會在一夜之間發生，但這是我們正在關注的事情。

Your next question comes from Sergey Dluzhevskiy from GAMCO Investors.

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

My first question is for LT. Obviously, it's great to see our lease agreement with DISH Wireless, and I understand that you guys are limited as far as what you could say. But could you maybe talk a little bit about the background of this deal, how it got to that point? And also maybe just, in general, talk about other conversations with other companies. What types of companies are you talking about potential lease agreements? Are there any nontraditional players that you're talking to?

我的第一個問題是關於 LT。顯然，很高興看到我們與 DISH Wireless 簽訂的租賃協議，而且我知道你們能說的有限。但你能否談談這筆交易的背景，它是如何走到這一步的？也可能只是，一般來說，談論與其他公司的其他對話。您在談論哪些類型的公司可能簽訂租賃協議？有沒有你正在與之交談的非傳統玩家？

Yes. Sergey, so I mean, how the deal came about. I mean, obviously, I'm fairly limited on what I can share. But I mean, just broadly, I think that we tried to make it fairly clear that we were open for business as far as our tower assets. I think that we have a relatively attractive value proposition. So I mean, my traditional competitors, from a wireless business perspective, I think about AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile. And the tower business, obviously, have a different set of competitors.

是的。謝爾蓋，我的意思是，這筆交易是如何達成的。我的意思是，很明顯，我能分享的東西相當有限。但我的意思是，從廣義上講，我認為我們試圖相當清楚地表明，就我們的塔資產而言，我們對業務是開放的。我認為我們有一個相對有吸引力的價值主張。所以我的意思是，從無線業務的角度來看，我的傳統競爭對手是 AT&T、Verizon 和 T-Mobile。顯然，鐵塔業務有一組不同的競爭對手。

And so I think about our value proposition vis-à-vis those competitors a little bit differently. I think we've got the opportunity to provide better levels of customer service, faster cycle times, talked about that. I also think we have a set of assets that we can share in the form of shelters and generators and so on that some of our competitors can't.

因此，我對我們相對於那些競爭對手的價值主張的看法略有不同。我認為我們有機會提供更好的客戶服務水平，更快的周期時間，談到了這一點。我還認為我們擁有一系列資產，我們可以以避難所和發電機等形式共享，而我們的一些競爭對手則不能。

And frankly, I think that as a wireless operator, I'm also a customer of towers, and I understand what my customers want. And we're trying to take a fairly customer-friendly approach that some of our competitors don't always do. And so you put all that together, I think we're able to offer a pretty good value proposition, and clearly, that value proposition resonated with DISH. And I fully expect that, that's going to resonate with others as well.

坦率地說，我認為作為無線運營商，我也是塔的客戶，我了解客戶的需求。我們正在努力採取一種相當對客戶友好的方法，而我們的一些競爭對手並不總是這樣做。所以你把所有這些放在一起，我認為我們能夠提供一個非常好的價值主張，而且很明顯，這個價值主張與 DISH 產生了共鳴。我完全希望，這也會引起其他人的共鳴。

I mean we're fairly actively marketing those assets. We have a partnership with a marketing firm to help us with that. They do a pretty good job beating the bushes for potential customers, and I expect those co-location rates to go up over time. And those are dollars that drop right to the bottom line in the form of positive cash flow. So I'm optimistic about that business and we're going to keep pushing.

我的意思是我們相當積極地營銷這些資產。我們與一家營銷公司建立了合作夥伴關係，以幫助我們實現這一目標。他們在為潛在客戶提供服務方面做得非常好，我預計這些託管率會隨著時間的推移而上升。這些美元以正現金流的形式直接下降到底線。所以我對這項業務持樂觀態度，我們將繼續努力。

Great. And on a related question, your sister company, TDS Telecom has meaningfully improved its growth profile through fiber builds. And with the tower business maybe running it more like a tower company, potentially become a similar growth vehicle for U.S. Cellular, potentially enhancing revenue and profitability profile and helping increase valuation multiple on the stocks.

偉大的。關於一個相關問題，您的姊妹公司 TDS Telecom 通過光纖建設顯著改善了其增長狀況。隨著塔式業務的運營，它可能更像是一家塔式公司，有可能成為 US Cellular 類似的增長工具，有可能提高收入和盈利能力，並有助於提高股票的估值倍數。

I mean in terms of the strategic opportunity for the tower business, I agree. I mean that's a reason we're investing in this. I think it can be an attractive driver of growth. From a revenue perspective, I would argue more importantly from the cash flow perspective, right? It's an attractive vehicle for growth for us.

我的意思是，就塔業務的戰略機遇而言，我同意。我的意思是這就是我們投資於此的原因。我認為它可以成為一個有吸引力的增長動力。從收入的角度來看，我認為從現金流的角度來看更重要，對吧？這對我們來說是一個有吸引力的增長工具。

I mean, we talked about -- I think we've kind of covered the separate company question in the past and that's not something that we're interested in doing. I think we see a lot of benefits in the operational synergies it provides us. The interesting thing is, in the past, we really looked at those operational synergies as primarily one-sided, meaning we own towers and they provide benefit to our network organization.

我的意思是，我們討論過——我認為我們過去已經討論過單獨的公司問題，而這不是我們有興趣做的事情。我認為我們在它為我們提供的運營協同效應中看到了很多好處。有趣的是，在過去，我們確實主要將這些運營協同效應視為主要是單方面的，這意味著我們擁有塔樓，它們為我們的網絡組織帶來好處。

What we're realizing is that there's another side benefit that being a network company that uses those towers, you can provide benefit to your customers differentially. I talked about that already but I think there's upside in both sides of the tower business. And you can expect to see us continue to push on that asset.

我們意識到，作為一家使用這些塔的網絡公司還有另一個好處，您可以為您的客戶提供不同的好處。我已經談到了這一點，但我認為塔式業務的雙方都有好處。你可以期待看到我們繼續推動這項資產。

Great. My next question is for Pete. So there were some buybacks in the quarter, minor buybacks at both U.S. Cellular and TDS. But if one marks your cellular stake to market, TDS Telecom, which is transforming into growing fiber, and cable broadband business is trading, still at implied multiple of around 3.5x EBITDA, so why isn't this a level where you guys could do a more meaningful buyback or maybe a more consistent repurchase while still balancing your other capital allocation objectives?

偉大的。我的下一個問題是給皮特的。因此，本季度有一些回購，US Cellular 和 TDS 都有少量回購。但是，如果你將你的手機股份投入市場，TDS 電信正在轉型為不斷增長的光纖，而有線寬帶業務正在交易，其隱含倍數仍約為 3.5 倍 EBITDA，那麼為什麼這不是你們可以做到的水平更有意義的回購或更一致的回購，同時仍能平衡您的其他資本配置目標？

Sergey, thanks for the question. We've talked about, in the past, the balance that we're trying to maintain between having the dry powder to invest in all the things that Vicki and LT have been talking about today and returning cash to our shareholders through both the dividend. Don't forget about the dividend and share repurchase. And you saw this quarter that we went out and we raised some capital in a rating agency-friendly way. I'm talking about those perpetual preferred securities.

謝爾蓋，謝謝你的提問。過去，我們已經討論過，我們試圖在讓幹火藥投資於 Vicki 和 LT 今天一直在談論的所有事情與通過股息向股東返還現金之間保持平衡。不要忘記股息和股票回購。你看到這個季度我們出去了，我們以評級機構友好的方式籌集了一些資金。我說的是那些永久優先證券。

So the rating is very important to TDS. It's part of our long-term sustainability of the enterprise. And so again, it's just a balance that we have to maintain. And as we ramp up the funnel that -- the fiber funnel that Vicki has discussed, we have to make sure that we've got the funds to make those investments, all the significant investments that we've been talking about here. So we're going to continue to look at that balance. And it probably will never satisfy you, but we'll do as much as we can maintaining that balance.

所以評級對TDS來說非常重要。這是我們企業長期可持續發展的一部分。同樣，這只是我們必須保持的平衡。當我們增加漏斗時——Vicki 討論過的纖維漏斗，我們必須確保我們有足夠的資金來進行這些投資，我們在這裡一直在談論的所有重大投資。所以我們將繼續研究這種平衡。它可能永遠不會讓您滿意，但我們會盡我們所能保持這種平衡。

Great. And my last question is for Vicki, kind of on the competitive environment in the markets, particularly in the expansion fiber markets. You're certainly seeing nice broadband connection growth in those expansion markets. And I was wondering, what kind of competitive response have you seen so far from the incumbent players? And has anyone gotten particularly aggressive in some of those markets?

偉大的。我的最後一個問題是關於市場競爭環境的問題，特別是在膨脹纖維市場。您肯定會在這些擴展市場中看到不錯的寬帶連接增長。我想知道，到目前為止，您從現任玩家那裡看到了什麼樣的競爭反應？有沒有人在其中一些市場變得特別激進？

Right now, competitive response has been at minimal levels right now, Sergey. And I'm watching for a number of things. One, it's response from the cable company. As we go into these new markets with fiber expansion, quite frankly, we expect to share the market with the incumbent cable company. What if they've upgraded their network, we're both able to offer 1-gig speeds and we're even aiming, down the road to, offer multi-gig speeds.

眼下，競爭反應一直處於最低水平，謝爾蓋。我正在觀察一些事情。第一，這是有線電視公司的回應。當我們通過光纖擴展進入這些新市場時，坦率地說，我們希望與現有的有線電視公司分享市場。如果他們升級了他們的網絡，我們都能夠提供 1 千兆的速度，我們甚至打算在未來提供多千兆的速度。

The ILEC or the incumbent telephone company, for the most part, we've not seen any significant competitive response from them. Now I know some companies are now talking about fiber deployment plans, but in these markets, we get in there, we finish our construction. And with our preregistration sign-ups, we have -- we get significant market share early in the first 12 months. So that strategy is working very well.

ILEC 或現任電話公司，在大多數情況下，我們沒有看到他們做出任何重大的競爭性反應。現在我知道一些公司現在正在談論光纖部署計劃，但在這些市場中，我們進入了那裡，我們完成了我們的建設。通過我們的預註冊註冊，我們在頭 12 個月的早期就獲得了可觀的市場份額。所以這個策略運作良好。

The third thing we watch for, certainly, is other fiber overbuild -- overbuilders, whether they're coming into the same market or they're beating us to a new market that we have our eyes set on. And right now, that's -- I think that's the biggest focus. There's a lot of opportunity in the U.S. Our funnel, our fiber funnel is wide. And as we're looking at our most attractive markets, I thinks getting to market first is key.

當然，我們關注的第三件事是其他光纖過度建設——過度建設者，無論他們是進入同一個市場，還是在我們關注的新市場上搶先一步。而現在，那是——我認為這是最大的焦點。美國有很多機會。我們的漏斗，我們的纖維漏斗很寬。當我們關注最具吸引力的市場時，我認為首先進入市場是關鍵。

There's no further questions at this time. I would now like to turn the call over back to Jane for closing remarks.

目前沒有其他問題。我現在想將電話轉回給 Jane 以作結束語。

I'd like to thank everybody for joining us today, and we look forward to further updates.

我要感謝大家今天加入我們，我們期待進一步的更新。

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

女士們，先生們，今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝您的參與。您現在可以斷開連接。