美國無線通訊 (USM) 2022 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Good day, and welcome to the TDS and U.S. Cellular Third Quarter 2022 Operating Results Conference Call. Please note, today's conference is being recorded. (Operator Instructions) At this time, I would like to turn the conference over to Colleen Thompson, Vice President of Corporate Relations. Ms. Thompson, you may begin your conference.

美好的一天，歡迎參加 TDS 和 U.S. Cellular 2022 年第三季度運營結果電話會議。請注意，今天的會議正在錄製中。 （操作員說明）此時，我想將會議轉交給公司關係副總裁 Colleen Thompson。湯普森女士，你可以開始你的會議了。

Good morning, and thank you for joining us. We 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 sections of the TDS and U.S. Cellular websites. With me today and offering prepared comments are from TDS Vicki Villacrez, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer; from U.S. Cellular, LT Therivel, President and Chief Executive Officer; Doug Chambers, Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer; and from TDS Telecom, Michelle Brukwicki, Senior Vice President of Finance and Chief Financial Officer.

早上好，感謝您加入我們。我們想讓你們都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 U.S. Cellular 網站的投資者關係部分找到該演示文稿。執行副總裁兼首席財務官 TDS Vicki Villacrez 今天與我一起提供準備好的評論；來自 U.S. Cellular，LT Therivel，總裁兼首席執行官； Doug Chambers，執行副總裁、首席財務官兼財務主管；來自 TDS Telecom 的財務高級副總裁兼首席財務官 Michelle Brukwicki。

This call is being simultaneously webcast on the TDS and U.S. Cellular Investor Relations websites. Please see the websites for slides referred to on this call, including non-GAAP reconciliations. We provide guidance for both adjusted operating income before depreciation and amortization, or OIBDA, and adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, or EBITDA, to highlight the contributions of U.S. Cellular's wireless partnerships. TDS and U.S. Cellular filed their SEC Forms 8-K, including the press releases and our 10-Qs yesterday.

此次電話會議同時在 TDS 和 U.S. Cellular Investor Relations 網站上進行網絡直播。請參閱本次電話會議中提到的幻燈片的網站，包括非 GAAP 對賬。我們為折舊和攤銷前的調整後營業收入或 OIBDA 以及利息、稅項、折舊和攤銷前的調整後收益或 EBITDA 提供指導，以突出 U.S. Cellular 無線合作夥伴關係的貢獻。 TDS 和 U.S. Cellular 昨天提交了他們的 SEC 表格 8-K，包括新聞稿和我們的 10-Q。

As shown on Slide 2, the information set forth in the presentation and discussed during this call contains statements about expected future events and financial results that are forward-looking and subject to risks and uncertainties. Please review the safe harbor paragraphs in our press releases and the extended version included in our SEC filings. In terms of our upcoming IR schedule on Slide 3, we are attending the Raymond James Technology Conference in New York on December 7 and the City Communications, Media and Entertainment Conference in Scottsdale on January 5. And as always, our open-door policy can now be an open door, phone or video policy, so please reach out if you are interested in speaking with us. I will now turn the call over to Vicki Villacrez. Vicki?

如幻燈片 2 所示，演示文稿中列出並在本次電話會議期間討論的信息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提交給美國證券交易委員會的文件中的擴展版本。關於我們即將在幻燈片 3 上發布的 IR 日程安排，我們將參加 12 月 7 日在紐約舉行的 Raymond James 技術會議和 1 月 5 日在斯科茨代爾舉行的城市通信、媒體和娛樂會議。與往常一樣，我們的開放政策可以現在是開放的門，電話或視頻政策，所以如果您有興趣與我們交談，請與我們聯繫。我現在將把電話轉給 Vicki Villacrez。維姬？

Okay. Thanks, Colleen, and good morning, everyone. Both our business units are well positioned to take advantage of growth opportunities to enhance their competitive positions and have tightened guidance ranges as we enter the fourth quarter. As we discuss, both U.S. Cellular and TDS Telecom are in key investment cycles that are pressuring free cash flow near term. So with the goal to position us for growth and improved returns over time. Both businesses are effectively managing through inflationary and supply chain pressures through a number of mitigating actions to address these risks. Importantly, our business -- our balance sheet strength also positions us well to manage against the interest rate increases that we are currently seeing. We continue to be pleased with our financing strategy, which incorporates the combination of long-dated maturities and preferred equity. In addition to opportunistic short-term financing to help fund our network modernization investments in both businesses, and expansion into new markets at TDS Telecom. I also want to highlight that during the quarter, we repurchased a modest amount of stock at both companies. As a result, we have spent $55 million in stock buybacks this year, $26 million and $29 million at TDS and U.S. Cellular, respectively. Okay. And now I'll turn the call over to LT.

好的。謝謝，科琳，大家早上好。我們的兩個業務部門都處於有利地位，可以利用增長機會來提高他們的競爭地位，並在我們進入第四季度時收緊了指導範圍。正如我們所討論的，U.S. Cellular 和 TDS Telecom 都處於關鍵投資週期，短期內對自由現金流造成壓力。因此，我們的目標是讓我們隨著時間的推移實現增長並提高回報。兩家企業都通過一系列緩解措施來有效應對通脹和供應鏈壓力，以應對這些風險。重要的是，我們的業務——我們的資產負債表實力也使我們能夠很好地應對我們目前看到的加息。我們繼續對我們的融資戰略感到滿意，該戰略結合了長期到期和優先股。除了機會主義的短期融資，以幫助資助我們對這兩項業務的網絡現代化投資，並在 TDS Telecom 開拓新市場。我還想強調，在本季度，我們回購了兩家公司的少量股票。因此，我們今年在股票回購上花費了 5500 萬美元，在 TDS 和 U.S. Cellular 上分別花費了 2600 萬美元和 2900 萬美元。好的。現在我將把電話轉給 LT。

Thanks, Vicki. Good morning, everybody. If I think back to our last quarter call, we recently launched a number of new pricing and promo offers that were designed to address the subscriber challenges that we saw in the first and second quarter. And while I'm encouraged with the early results of these promotions, you can see our all-in postpaid subscriber results are still challenged. But we are seeing a number of leading indicators moving in the right direction, and I'm going to expand on that shortly. But since many of our promotional efforts are designed to address churn, we know it's going to take some time for those efforts to translate into overall improved subscriber results.

謝謝，維姬。大家早上好。如果我回想我們上個季度的電話會議，我們最近推出了一些新的定價和促銷優惠，旨在解決我們在第一季度和第二季度看到的訂戶挑戰。雖然我對這些促銷活動的早期結果感到鼓舞，但您可以看到我們的全包後付費用戶結果仍然面臨挑戰。但是我們看到一些領先指標朝著正確的方向發展，我將很快對此進行擴展。但由於我們的許多促銷活動旨在解決客戶流失問題，我們知道這些努力需要一些時間才能轉化為整體改進的訂戶結果。

Now we're seeing continued competitive intensity in that as well as the shifts in the macro economy are reflected in our numbers in this past quarter. And so let me touch on each of those briefly. From a competitive perspective, substantially more investment is required in promo expense compared to several years ago. We see that our carriers expanding into rural America. And although our exposure to cable is lower than the national average, bundled wireless with wireline adds another competitor into the mix in parts of our footprint. Doug is going to discuss the rise in bad debt expense in some more detail. What we're seeing is that although the percentage of defaults are consistent with prepandemic levels, the rate per default is greater than in the past. And we anticipate that these macro factors are going to continue through the remainder of the year, so we've lowered the high end of our service revenue and profitability guidance for 2022. We still expect to be within our original range. We remain confident that we have the right strategies in place to drive customer growth and improve returns over time.

現在，我們看到持續的競爭強度以及宏觀經濟的變化反映在我們上一季度的數據中。因此，讓我簡要介紹一下其中的每一個。從競爭的角度來看，與幾年前相比，促銷費用需要大量投資。我們看到我們的運營商正在向美國農村地區擴張。儘管我們對有線電視的曝光率低於全國平均水平，但無線與有線捆綁在我們的部分業務範圍內增加了另一個競爭對手。道格將更詳細地討論壞賬費用的上升。我們看到的是，儘管違約率與大流行前水平一致，但每次違約率高於過去。我們預計這些宏觀因素將持續到今年剩餘時間，因此我們已經降低了 2022 年服務收入和盈利能力指導的高端。我們仍然希望在我們原來的範圍內。我們仍然相信，我們制定了正確的戰略來推動客戶增長並隨著時間的推移提高回報。

As part of those strategies, during the third quarter of 2022, we've been executing our Any Phone Free For Anyone, new and existing customers, that's a mouthful. So we're just going to call it new and existing promotion for the rest of the call. We've been executing that. We've launched more aggressive flat rate pricing in certain markets. And those offers have led to improvements in several key areas. Let me just kind of talk about those each one by one.

作為這些戰略的一部分，在 2022 年第三季度，我們一直在為任何人、新客戶和現有客戶免費執行任何電話，這是滿口的。因此，我們將在接下來的電話會議中將其稱為新的和現有的促銷活動。我們一直在執行。我們在某些市場推出了更激進的統一費率定價。這些提議導致了幾個關鍵領域的改進。讓我一個一個地談論這些。

The first is we're seeing a 54% increase in upgrades. And we see a 6% increase in add-a-line gross as compared to the prior year. And as a result, our percentage of postpaid handset connections that are in contract is now at 62%. And not only is that up from 59% at the end just of last quarter when we initially launched the promotion, but it's also the highest percentage in contract that we've seen since 2019. And we expect that percentage of customers in contract to continue to increase. And this is significant because in-contract customers churn at a much lower rate than out-of-contract customers. We believe those moves should lead to lower churn in future periods.

首先是我們看到升級增加了 54%。與去年相比，我們看到附加線總收入增長了 6%。因此，我們簽約的後付費手機連接百分比現在為 62%。這不僅比我們最初推出促銷活動時的上個季度末的 59% 有所上升，而且這也是我們自 2019 年以來所看到的最高合同百分比。我們預計合同中的客戶百分比將繼續增加。這很重要，因為合同內客戶的流失率遠低於合同外客戶。我們認為這些舉措應該會導致未來期間的客戶流失率降低。

We've got a highlight in postpaid ARPU. It's growing nicely at 4% year-over-year. It's one of the highest in the industry. And that's despite a highly promotional environment where those device discounts are actually a headwind to ARPU. Team has done a really nice job of helping our customers realize the value of premium plans and services and that drives ARPU growth.

我們在後付費 ARPU 中有一個亮點。它以每年 4% 的速度增長。它是業內最高的之一。儘管在高度促銷環境下，這些設備折扣實際上是 ARPU 的逆風。團隊在幫助我們的客戶實現高級計劃和服務的價值方面做得非常好，這推動了 ARPU 的增長。

We also have a cost optimization program that remains strong, and it's helping to mitigate the effects of inflation, though it's not apparent in the face of the third quarter financials due to increased loss on equipment and bad debt expense in the quarter. Other areas of the business, we see momentum in our growth initiatives. Fixed wireless products remained strong. Gross additions were up 82% year-over-year. We've also launched promotional offers that bundle fixed wireless and mobility together, and we're going to have further opportunities to expand this product as we launch our mid-band spectrum in late 2023 and early 2024.

我們還有一個成本優化計劃仍然很強大，它有助於減輕通貨膨脹的影響，儘管由於該季度設備損失和壞賬費用增加，第三季度財務狀況並不明顯。在其他業務領域，我們看到了增長計劃的勢頭。固定無線產品依然強勁。總增加量同比增長 82%。我們還推出了將固定無線和移動性捆綁在一起的促銷優惠，隨著我們在 2023 年末和 2024 年初推出我們的中頻頻譜，我們將有更多機會擴展該產品。

Towers produced another quarter of double-digit revenues, up 14%, that's due principally to a 17% increase in the number of colocators. Brief comment on the network, our network modernization program and our multiyear 5G deployment has progressed nicely. We currently have 45% of our POPs covered with 5G. We've completed the modernization of sites that carry 75% of our total traffic, and we have plans to expand 5G coverage to over 60% of our POPs by the end of 2023. And where we've modernized our network to 5G, we see better performance and better customer perception of network quality.

Towers 又創造了四分之一的兩位數收入，增長了 14%，這主要是由於託管者數量增加了 17%。對網絡的簡要評論、我們的網絡現代化計劃和我們多年的 5G 部署進展順利。我們目前有 45% 的 POP 覆蓋了 5G。我們已經完成了承載我們總流量 75% 的站點的現代化改造，我們計劃到 2023 年底將 5G 覆蓋範圍擴大到超過 60% 的 POP。在我們將網絡現代化到 5G 的地方，我們看到更好的性能和更好的客戶對網絡質量的感知。

In addition, we successfully won 34 wireless licenses in auction 108, and that helped us fill in some mid-band gaps at a really attractive price.

此外，我們在 108 次拍賣中成功贏得了 34 個無線許可證，這幫助我們以極具吸引力的價格填補了一些中頻段空白。

I also want to highlight that U.S. Cellular is once again refreshing its Board, appointing Xavier Williams to the Board effective January 1, 2023. With over 30 years of telecommunications experience, the U.S. Cellular Board will benefit from Xavier's significant experience, and we really look forward to his contributions.

我還想強調，U.S. Cellular 再次更新其董事會，任命 Xavier Williams 為董事會成員，自 2023 年 1 月 1 日起生效。憑藉 30 多年的電信經驗，U.S. Cellular 董事會將從 Xavier 的重要經驗中受益，我們真的期待轉發他的貢獻。

I want to end with a comment about the associates at U.S. Cellular. We recently completed our annual culture survey, and the results, once again, underscore the amazing culture and the high associate satisfaction that we have.

最後，我想對 U.S. Cellular 的員工發表評論。我們最近完成了年度文化調查，結果再次強調了我們所擁有的令人驚嘆的文化和高度的員工滿意度。

And so to summarize, while we've seen postpaid subscriber growth challenges, I'm optimistic we have the right strategy and we have the right initiatives underway, especially as we head into the busy holiday season. And I'm pleased with the trajectory of ARPU in our growth areas like fixed wireless and towers. So I'll now turn the call over to Doug, who's going to take you through the operating and financial results in more detail. Doug?

總而言之，雖然我們已經看到後付費用戶增長面臨挑戰，但我很樂觀，我們有正確的戰略，我們正在採取正確的舉措，尤其是在我們進入繁忙的假日季節時。我對固定無線和鐵塔等增長領域的 ARPU 軌跡感到滿意。因此，我現在將電話轉給 Doug，他將帶您更詳細地了解運營和財務結果。道格？

Thanks, LT. Good morning. Let's start with a review of customer results on Slide 8. Postpaid handset gross additions increased by 2,000, driven by increased out-of-line activity, as LT mentioned previously. Postpaid handset net additions were down 17,000 driven by an increase in churn, which I will discuss in a moment. However, compared to the first and second quarter our ongoing promotions drove improvements in both gross and net additions.

謝謝，LT。早上好。讓我們先回顧一下幻燈片 8 上的客戶結果。正如 LT 之前提到的，由於線外活動的增加，後付費手機的總增加量增加了 2,000 部。由於客戶流失率的增加，後付費手機的淨增加量下降了 17,000 部，我稍後會討論這個問題。然而，與第一季度和第二季度相比，我們正在進行的促銷活動推動了總增加值和淨增加值的改善。

Connected device gross additions increased by 4,000 driven by fixed wireless additions, while net additions decreased by 6,000, primarily due to higher defections, which I will discuss on the next slide.

在固定無線增加的推動下，連接設備的總增加量增加了 4,000，而淨增加量減少了 6,000，主要是由於更高的缺陷，我將在下一張幻燈片中討論。

Overall, we are very pleased with our momentum in fixed wireless, and we now have a base of 66,000 customers with this product, up 40% from the prior year and 16% from the prior quarter.

總體而言，我們對我們在固定無線領域的發展勢頭感到非常滿意，我們現在擁有該產品的 66,000 名客戶，比去年同期增長 40%，比上一季度增長 16%。

Let's turn to the postpaid churn rate shown on Slide 9. Postpaid handset churn increased from the prior year fairly evenly between voluntary and involuntary. Voluntary churn increased as a result of increased switching activity and aggressive industry-wide competition. Involuntary churn also increased as the frequency of nonpay customers increased to prepandemic norms. Total postpaid churn, combining handsets and connected devices, increased due to higher handset churn and certain business and government customers disconnecting connected devices, many of which were originally activated during the pandemic in conjunction with government and agency funding that has subsequently ended.

讓我們看看幻燈片 9 中顯示的後付費用戶流失率。後付費手機用戶流失率較前一年在自願和非自願之間相當均勻地增加。由於轉換活動的增加和激烈的全行業競爭，自願流失增加。隨著非付費客戶的頻率增加到大流行前的標準，非自願流失也增加了。由於更高的手機流失率以及某些企業和政府客戶斷開連接的設備，包括手機和聯網設備在內的總後付費客戶流失率有所增加，其中許多設備最初是在大流行期間與隨後結束的政府和機構資金一起啟動的。

Moving to Slide 10. Postpaid gross additions declined 12,000 and prepaid net additions decreased 9,000. Both declines were due to continued aggression in the competitive environment. In response, we've launched new pricing for certain prepaid plans in July, which is driving sequential improvement in both gross and net additions, which were positive in Q3 for the first time in 2022.

轉到幻燈片 10。後付費總增加量下降了 12,000，預付淨增加量減少了 9,000。兩次下降都是由於競爭環境中的持續侵略。作為回應，我們在 7 月為某些預付費計劃推出了新定價，這推動了總增加和淨增加的連續改善，這在 2022 年第三季度首次出現正數。

Now let's turn to the financial results, starting on Slide 11. Total operating revenues for the third quarter increased 7% from the prior year. Retail service revenues were relatively flat as higher average revenue per user was offset by a decrease in average postpaid connections, combined with the discrete adjustment related to the timing of recognition of regulatory fee billings that increased revenue in 2021.

現在讓我們看看財務業績，從幻燈片 11 開始。第三季度的總營業收入比去年同期增長了 7%。零售服務收入相對持平，因為較高的每位用戶平均收入被平均後付費連接的減少所抵消，加上與監管費用賬單確認時間相關的離散調整增加了 2021 年的收入。

Inbound roaming revenue declined 43% due to lower rates. The largest driver of this rate decrease is the renegotiation of terms with other carriers, which also has the impact of decreasing our roaming expense. Equipment sales revenue increased by 32% due primarily to an increase in volume as a result of strong promotional activity that drove the 54% increase in handset upgrades.

由於費率下降，入境漫遊收入下降了 43%。這種費率下降的最大驅動因素是與其他運營商重新談判條款，這也對降低我們的漫遊費用產生了影響。設備銷售收入增長 32%，主要是由於強勁的促銷活動推動手機升級增加了 54%，導致銷量增加。

Turning to Slide 12. LT mentioned the strong increase in average revenue per user, and this increase, along with the increase in ARPOM, was driven primarily by favorable plan and product offering mix, an increase in cost recovery surcharges and an increase in device protection revenues. These increases were partially offset by an increase in promotional costs. At the end of the quarter, 38% of our handset customers are on our 2 highest tiers of unlimited plans, and we are very pleased with the consistent growth that we've seen in this area.

轉到幻燈片 12。LT 提到每用戶平均收入的強勁增長，這種增長以及 ARPOM 的增長主要是由有利的計劃和產品組合、成本回收附加費的增加和設備保護的增加推動的收入。這些增長部分被促銷成本的增加所抵消。在本季度末，我們 38% 的手機客戶使用我們的 2 個最高級別的無限計劃，我們對該領域的持續增長感到非常滿意。

Our overall financial results for the quarter are shown on Slide 14. For this discussion, I will refer to adjusted operating income before depreciation and amortization as adjusted operating income. Adjusted operating income declined 23%, driven by increases in loss in equipment and bad debt expense. As LT commented earlier, we ran our new and existing promotion throughout the third quarter in the majority of our footprint. This promotion is designed to reward our existing customers, reduce churn and ultimately increase service revenue from increased customer volumes and ARPU over time. As previously discussed, in the near term, this promotion drove a high upgrade rate in the third quarter and was the primary driver of a $28 million increase in loss on equipment.

我們本季度的總體財務結果顯示在幻燈片 14 中。在本次討論中，我將折舊和攤銷前的調整後營業收入稱為調整後營業收入。由於設備損失和壞賬費用增加，調整後的營業收入下降了 23%。正如 LT 之前評論的那樣，我們在整個第三季度的大部分足跡中都進行了新的和現有的促銷活動。此促銷旨在獎勵我們現有的客戶，減少客戶流失，並最終通過增加客戶數量和 ARPU 來增加服務收入。如前所述，在短期內，這一促銷推動了第三季度的高升級率，並且是設備損失增加 2800 萬美元的主要驅動力。

Further, bad debt expense increased $29 million as our involuntary churn rate has returned to prepandemic levels and the average write-off has increased as a result of customers selecting higher-priced devices, partially attributable to promotional incentives. As a reminder, bad debt expense was unusually low throughout 2021 as a result of the continuing impacts of the pandemic, including government stimulus payments and high consumer savings rates, which resulted in strong customer payment behavior in the prior year.

此外，由於我們的非自願流失率已恢復到大流行前的水平，並且由於客戶選擇價格更高的設備（部分歸因於促銷激勵措施）而導致平均沖銷增加，壞賬費用增加了 2900 萬美元。提醒一下，由於大流行的持續影響，包括政府刺激支付和高消費者儲蓄率，整個 2021 年的壞賬費用異常低，這導致上一年的客戶支付行為強勁。

We expect loss on equipment and bad debt expense to remain at higher levels than the prior year in the fourth quarter as we plan to continue our new and existing promotion, and we expect involuntary churn and bad debt expense to continue to follow prepandemic trends. LT mentioned our ongoing cost optimization program, and this continues to deliver results. Despite our current inflationary environment, excluding cost of equipment sold and bad debt expense, other cash expenses decreased $14 million year-over-year.

我們預計第四季度的設備損失和壞賬費用將保持在高於去年同期的水平，因為我們計劃繼續進行新的和現有的促銷活動，並且我們預計非自願流失和壞賬費用將繼續遵循大流行前的趨勢。 LT 提到了我們正在進行的成本優化計劃，這將繼續產生成果。儘管我們目前的通貨膨脹環境，不包括設備銷售成本和壞賬費用，其他現金費用同比減少了 1400 萬美元。

Turning to Slide 15. I will cover our guidance for the full year 2022. Our guidance remains within the original ranges that we have provided all year. However, we are lowering the top end of the range for service revenues, adjusted operating income and adjusted EBITDA. All of these ranges are negatively impacted by our subscriber growth challenges in 2022. Further, the adjusted operating income and adjusted EBITDA ranges are also impacted by the promotional investment we are making in our new and existing promotion and relatively higher levels of bad debt expense. We believe it will take time for our promotional offers to drive subscriber results, but we are encouraged with the positive trends we've discussed previously.

轉到幻燈片 15。我將介紹我們對 2022 年全年的指導。我們的指導保持在我們全年提供的原始範圍內。但是，我們正在降低服務收入、調整後營業收入和調整後 EBITDA 範圍的上限。所有這些範圍都受到我們在 2022 年的訂戶增長挑戰的負面影響。此外，調整後的營業收入和調整後的 EBITDA 範圍還受到我們在新的和現有的促銷活動中進行的促銷投資以及相對較高水平的壞賬費用的影響。我們相信我們的促銷優惠需要時間來推動訂閱者的結果，但我們對我們之前討論過的積極趨勢感到鼓舞。

We are committed to staying the course, and we are planning to continue our aggressive promotional activity during the holiday season, which is reflected in these estimates. Further, we have been taking actions to mitigate bad debts and, as always, are balancing those measures with our subscriber growth objectives. As a result, we have narrowed our guidance by decreasing the high end of the range of service revenues by $50 million and both adjusted operating income and adjusted EBITDA by $75 million.

我們致力於堅持到底，併計劃在假期期間繼續我們積極的促銷活動，這反映在這些估計中。此外，我們一直在採取行動減少壞賬，並且一如既往地在這些措施與我們的訂戶增長目標之間取得平衡。因此，我們通過將服務收入範圍的高端降低了 5000 萬美元，將調整後的營業收入和調整後的 EBITDA 降低了 7500 萬美元，從而縮小了我們的指導範圍。

For capital expenditures, we are maintaining our guidance range as our investments in 5G and network modernization, targeted millimeter wave build-out and initial preparation for mid-band spectrum deployments remain on track.

對於資本支出，我們將維持我們的指導範圍，因為我們對 5G 和網絡現代化的投資、有針對性的毫米波建設和中頻頻譜部署的初步準備工作仍在進行中。

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

我現在將把電話轉給 Michelle Brukwicki，Michelle？

Thanks, Doug, and good morning, everyone. We are pleased with our results at TDS Telecom for the third quarter, and I'm also pleased to report that we are continuing to grow our business by providing quality, high-speed broadband. Our strategy is working. TDS Telecom grew its footprint by 7% from a year ago, now serving 1.5 million service addresses across our markets. This quarter, we added 33,000 marketable fiber service addresses to our footprint. We are directing our investments to expand our fiber footprint in new and existing markets and to enhance our product offerings. These investments are driving revenue and broadband connection growth.

謝謝，道格，大家早上好。我們對 TDS Telecom 第三季度的業績感到滿意，我也很高興地報告說，我們正在通過提供高質量的高速寬帶來繼續發展我們的業務。我們的策略正在奏效。 TDS Telecom 的足跡比一年前增長了 7%，現在為我們市場的 150 萬個服務地址提供服務。本季度，我們的足跡增加了 33,000 個適銷對路的光纖服務地址。我們正在引導我們的投資，以擴大我們在新市場和現有市場的纖維足跡，並增強我們的產品供應。這些投資正在推動收入和寬帶連接的增長。

In our expansion markets, we began offering service in Billings, Montana, and Green Bay, Wisconsin, and announced fiber expansion into 18 additional Wisconsin communities. In total, today, we have nearly 100 communities in our fiber expansion program at various stages of development.

在我們的擴展市場中，我們開始在蒙大拿州比林斯和威斯康星州格林貝提供服務，並宣布將光纖擴展到另外 18 個威斯康星州社區。今天，我們總共有近 100 個社區在我們的光纖擴展計劃中處於不同的發展階段。

In our cable markets, we have upgraded to offer 1 gig speed across our footprint and have achieved superior market share. In these markets, we are also deploying fiber in opportunistic areas. Likewise, in our incumbent wireline markets, we are very pleased that we have achieved superior market share where we've invested in fiber. In addition to our own funding, we drive faster speeds in our more rural markets by building to meet our A-CAM obligations and utilizing state broadband grants. In fact, TDS Telecom just successfully won a grant in Tennessee. This spring, the FCC issued a notice seeking comment on a proposed extension of the federal A-CAM program, which we fully support. We anticipate an extension would provide 6 additional years of revenue support in exchange for deploying higher broadband speeds. We have been working through the comment process and remain engaged with the FTC and hope to have a final rule later this year or early next year.

在我們的電纜市場，我們已經升級為在我們的足跡中提供 1 gig 的速度，並取得了卓越的市場份額。在這些市場中，我們還在機會主義領域部署光纖。同樣，在我們現有的有線市場中，我們很高興我們在光纖投資方面取得了卓越的市場份額。除了我們自己的資金外，我們通過建設以滿足我們的 A-CAM 義務和利用州寬帶贈款，在我們更多的農村市場推動更快的速度。事實上，TDS Telecom 剛剛在田納西州成功獲得了一筆資助。今年春天，FCC 發布了一份通知，就聯邦 A-CAM 計劃的擬議擴展徵求意見，我們完全支持該計劃。我們預計延期將提供 6 年額外的收入支持，以換取部署更高的寬帶速度。我們一直在通過評論流程並繼續與 FTC 保持聯繫，並希望在今年晚些時候或明年初制定最終規則。

Extending the current federal ACAM program first and then pursuing BD program funding would provide the fastest path for TDS Telecom to take fiber deeper into our communities.

首先擴展當前的聯邦 ACAM 計劃，然後尋求 BD 計劃資金將為 TDS Telecom 將光纖深入我們的社區提供最快的途徑。

Now Vicki alluded to this, and let me make some comments on the macroeconomic environment. As we do continue to face challenges that present cost pressures and stress our ability to meet our address delivery timelines in the short term, we are actively managing and mitigating the impacts of inflationary increases, labor shortages and supply chain challenges. And with the actions we are taking, we are well positioned to achieve our longer-term strategic plans.

現在 Vicki 提到了這一點，讓我對宏觀經濟環境發表一些評論。由於我們確實繼續面臨帶來成本壓力的挑戰，並強調我們在短期內滿足地址交付時間表的能力，我們正在積極管理和減輕通貨膨脹增加、勞動力短缺和供應鏈挑戰的影響。通過我們正在採取的行動，我們可以很好地實現我們的長期戰略計劃。

Now turning to Slide 18. We highlight the achievements we've made this quarter. Year-to-date, we completed construction of 72,000-marketable-fiber service addresses, deploying 33,000 in the quarter. We now serve 36% of our total footprint with fiber. And as we've previously shared, we expect to serve approximately 60% of our total footprint with fiber by 2026.

現在轉到幻燈片 18。我們重點介紹本季度取得的成就。年初至今，我們完成了 72,000 個適銷光纖服務地址的建設，本季度部署了 33,000 個。現在，我們 36% 的總足跡都使用了纖維。正如我們之前分享的那樣，我們預計到 2026 年，我們將使用光纖服務約 60% 的總足跡。

In line with our growth objectives, service addresses grew 7% year-over-year. In the third quarter, we increased our availability of 1 gig speed to 64% of our total service addresses, up from 57% a year ago. We also see positive trends in our broadband penetration rates for fully developed markets, and we still anticipate 40% to 50% consumer penetration in a steady state.

根據我們的增長目標，服務地址同比增長 7%。在第三季度，我們將 1 gig 速度的可用性提高到了總服務地址的 64%，高於一年前的 57%。我們還看到完全發達市場的寬帶普及率呈積極趨勢，我們仍預計穩定狀態下的消費者普及率將達到 40% 至 50%。

Now although we're pleased with the 72,000-fiber service addresses, we deployed so far this year, our service address delivery is slower than planned due to some industry-wide headwinds, such as labor shortages and permitting complexities, which are putting pressure on our service address targets. If we continue on our current trajectory, we will deliver around 120,000 addresses for the year, a 40% increase over last year.

現在，儘管我們對 72,000 個光纖服務地址感到滿意，但今年到目前為止，我們的服務地址交付速度比計劃要慢，這是由於勞動力短缺和許可複雜性等行業範圍內的一些不利因素，這給我們帶來了壓力我們的服務地址目標。如果我們繼續目前的發展軌跡，我們今年將提供大約 120,000 個地址，比去年增加 40%。

As we've previously mentioned, our fiber program is a long-term strategy. And although service address delivery might shift between years, we're still confident of meeting our goal of 1.2 million fiber service addresses by 2026.

正如我們之前提到的，我們的光纖計劃是一項長期戰略。儘管服務地址交付可能會在幾年之間發生變化，但我們仍然有信心在 2026 年之前實現 120 萬個光纖服務地址的目標。

On Slide 19, you can see the broadband connection growth across all markets. Total broadband residential connections grew 4% in the quarter as we fortify our networks with fiber and expand into new markets. Shown on the graph on the right, we see demand for greater broadband speeds, with 69% of our customers taking 100 megabits per second or greater, up from 65% a year ago. Our 1-gig product, along with our 2-gig product in certain markets are important tools that will allow us to defend and win new customers. We are working on a path to additional multi-gig products and expect to offer even higher speeds in 2023 and beyond.

在幻燈片 19 上，您可以看到所有市場的寬帶連接增長。隨著我們用光纖加強我們的網絡並擴展到新市場，本季度寬帶住宅連接總數增長了 4%。如右圖所示，我們看到對更高寬帶速度的需求，我們 69% 的客戶每秒使用 100 兆比特或更高，高於一年前的 65%。我們的 1-gig 產品以及我們在某些市場中的 2-gig 產品是重要的工具，可以讓我們捍衛和贏得新客戶。我們正在努力開發更多的多演出產品，並希望在 2023 年及以後提供更高的速度。

In areas where we offer 1-gig service, we are seeing 24% of our new customers taking the superior product. And finally, our focus on fast, reliable service has generated a 10% increase in total residential broadband revenue.

在我們提供 1-gig 服務的地區，我們看到 24% 的新客戶採用了優質產品。最後，我們對快速、可靠服務的關注使住宅寬帶總收入增長了 10%。

Moving to Slide 20. Total revenues increased 2% from the prior year as broadband growth offset legacy declines. Residential revenues increased 5% across all markets. Price increases and overall product mix changes drove a 4% increase in average residential revenue per connection. As shown in the chart on the left, expansion market revenues increased year-over-year following the timing of service address delivery. Residential wireline incumbent and cable revenues increased year-over-year due to price increases and growth in broadband connections, partially offset by declines in video and voice connections.

轉到幻燈片 20。由於寬帶增長抵消了傳統下降的影響，總收入比上一年增長了 2%。所有市場的住宅收入增長了 5%。價格上漲和整體產品組合變化推動每個連接的平均住宅收入增長 4%。如左圖所示，隨著服務地址交付的時間安排，擴展市場收入同比增長。由於價格上漲和寬帶連接的增長，住宅有線和有線電視收入同比增長，部分被視頻和語音連接的下降所抵消。

Commercial revenues decreased 5% in the quarter, primarily driven by lower CLEC connections, and wholesale revenues decreased 2%.

本季度商業收入下降 5%，主要是由於 CLEC 連接減少，批發收入下降 2%。

As shown on Slide 21, cash expenses increased 9% year-over-year due to additional cost to support current and future growth, which is not yet reflected in our revenues. Cost to support our fiber expansion includes direct costs such as sales, marketing, real estate and technicians in addition to shared service costs. As anticipated, the increase in cash expenses resulted in an adjusted EBITDA decline of 13% from the prior year.

如幻燈片 21 所示，現金支出同比增長 9%，原因是支持當前和未來增長的額外成本尚未反映在我們的收入中。除了共享服務成本外，支持我們光纖擴展的成本還包括銷售、營銷、房地產和技術人員等直接成本。正如預期的那樣，現金支出的增加導致調整後的 EBITDA 比上一年下降 13%。

Capital expenditures increased 82% from last year as we increased our investment in fiber deployments, including accelerated equipment purchases.

由於我們增加了對光纖部署的投資，包括加快設備採購，資本支出比去年增加了 82%。

On Slide 22, we've provided our updated 2022 guidance. Our revenue and adjusted EBITDA are in line with our expectations. Now that we're closer to the end of the year, we are narrowing our range for adjusted EBITDA to be between $270 million and $290 million. Capital expenditures are also in line with our expectations despite our lower service address delivery estimate. Delayed spending on fiber builds will be offset by accelerated equipment purchases we are making to manage supply chain lead times.

在幻燈片 22 上，我們提供了更新的 2022 年指南。我們的收入和調整後的 EBITDA 符合我們的預期。現在我們已經接近年底，我們正在將調整後 EBITDA 的範圍縮小到 2.7 億美元至 2.9 億美元之間。儘管我們的服務地址交付估計較低，但資本支出也符合我們的預期。我們為管理供應鏈交貨時間而進行的加速設備採購將抵消光纖製造的延遲支出。

In closing, I want to thank all of our associates for their continued dedication and hard work, and I look forward to sharing our final 2022 results with everyone in February.

最後，我要感謝我們所有員工的持續奉獻和辛勤工作，我期待在 2 月份與大家分享我們 2022 年的最終結果。

Now I will turn the call back over to Colleen.

現在我將把電話轉回給科琳。

Erika, we are now ready for questions.

Erika，我們現在可以提問了。

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

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

Good morning, Rick.

早上好，瑞克。

A couple of questions. We'll start on the wireless side. LT, Doug, you guys mentioned you've seen increasing in upgrades. Where were upgrades at in the quarter? And where do you think they're headed as we look into the next year?

幾個問題。我們將從無線方面開始。 LT，Doug，你們提到你們已經看到升級的增加。本季度的升級在哪裡？在我們展望明年時，您認為他們將走向何方？

Yes, Rick, our upgrade rate in Q3 was 8.2%. I would look for a similar trend in the fourth quarter. As we mentioned, we're running our new and existing promo throughout the end of the year, and that's driving a lot of upgrades.

是的，瑞克，我們在第三季度的升級率為 8.2%。我會在第四季度尋找類似的趨勢。正如我們所提到的，我們將在整個年底運行我們新的和現有的促銷活動，這推動了很多升級。

Right. And one of the things you called out was also expanded competition in rural America. When you think about the voluntary churn side of things, where were you losing customers to if you think of the porting ratio kind of stats? Are you losing it to Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile or the cable bundles?

正確的。你提到的其中一件事是美國農村地區的競爭加劇。當您考慮事情的自願流失方面時，如果您考慮移植率這種統計數據，您將客戶流失到哪裡？您是否將其輸給了 Verizon、AT&T、T-Mobile 或有線電視捆綁包？

Yes, I'll start by saying we've always lost and gained more customers from Verizon just by virtue of their market share. But with respect to trajectory as far as how that's headed, the loss share and win share, it very much reflects what you're seeing in the national trends. When you see the carriers report the winners and losers on a national basis, I would say are also -- that's reflective in our markets as well.

是的，我首先要說的是，我們總是因為 Verizon 的市場份額而失去並獲得了更多的客戶。但就發展軌跡而言，損失份額和獲勝份額，它在很大程度上反映了你在國家趨勢中看到的情況。當您看到運營商在全國范圍內報告贏家和輸家時，我想說的是——這也反映了我們的市場。

Okay. So you are seeing some build out -- increasing build out of AT&T and Verizon into your markets?

好的。所以你看到了一些擴張——增加 AT&T 和 Verizon 進入你的市場？

I would -- increasing -- well, a little bit from AT&T, what I would say is that, on a relative basis, we're losing less to Verizon than we have historically.

我會 - 增加 - 好吧，一點點來自 AT&T，我想說的是，相對而言，我們對 Verizon 的損失比歷史上要少。

Yes. A couple of quick ones. On the fixed wireless side, obviously, some nice success there as others in the are starting to tap that. Who do you see is taking those services? On the opposite side of that first question, who are you gaining share from on the fixed wireless side? And I think I've seen some reports that you'd like to see some change in equipment. Help us understand kind of the trajectory there of fixed wireless, and who you're grabbing share from?

是的。幾個快速的。顯然，在固定無線方面，那裡取得了一些不錯的成功，因為其他人開始利用這一點。你看到誰在接受這些服務？在第一個問題的另一面，您在固定無線方面從誰那裡獲得份額？而且我想我已經看到一些報告，您希望看到設備發生一些變化。幫助我們了解固定無線的發展軌跡，以及您從誰那裡搶占份額？

It's LT. So I think, generally, where we're selling this product and where we're seeing success, if you think about the product that we're selling, much of the sales is still on LTE-based product. Some of it is 5G, where we've upgraded our network, but much of it is LTE. And so that product generally competes against DSL, against satellite. And so although we don't have the exact figures because we don't see kind of reporting in the same way that we do -- the wireless moves, my expectation is that's generally who we're taking share from. Next year, when we fire up mid-band, which will be at the end of next year, I expect that mix to move more towards taking share from cable companies. But at least, right now, it's primarily, I would say, DSL and so.

是LT。所以我認為，一般來說，我們在哪裡銷售這個產品以及我們在哪裡看到成功，如果你想想我們銷售的產品，大部分銷售仍然是基於 LTE 的產品。其中一些是 5G，我們已經升級了我們的網絡，但大部分是 LTE。因此，該產品通常與 DSL、衛星競爭。因此，儘管我們沒有確切的數字，因為我們沒有看到與我們相同的報告方式——無線移動，但我的期望是，我們通常會從誰那裡獲得份額。明年，當我們在明年年底推出中頻時，我預計這種組合將更多地轉向從有線電視公司手中奪取市場份額。但至少，現在，我會說，它主要是 DSL 等。

Okay. And the last one, we've seen a lot of movement on the DISH side as they look to hit their bogey for population coverage. Any updated thoughts on just specifically, but other partnership agreements that you might be looking into working with as we think about capital efficiency in this wireless -- competitive wireless world?

好的。最後一個，我們已經看到 DISH 方面發生了很多變化，因為他們希望在人口覆蓋方面達到目標。當我們考慮在這個無線競爭激烈的無線世界中的資本效率時，您可能正在考慮與之合作的其他合作協議的最新想法？

I mean, I'd kind of answer that question in 2 ways. I mean, certainly, from the tower side of our business, we continue to see increased interest, both from DISH, from other players as well. I've mentioned before, we kind of opened the towers up for business about 1.5 years, 2 years ago, and we're seeing the benefits of that. And you see it in the revenue growth on the tower side.

我的意思是，我會以兩種方式回答這個問題。我的意思是，當然，從我們業務的塔方面來看，我們繼續看到來自 DISH 和其他參與者的興趣增加。我之前提到過，我們在大約 1.5 年、2 年前開始營業，我們看到了這樣做的好處。你可以在塔端的收入增長中看到它。

From a deeper partnership perspective, I think things like network sharing and so on, we continue to engage in those conversations. I do think, in the long run, this concept of building out 4 or 5, duplicative 5G or duplicative 6G networks in rural America doesn't make sense economically. And so I think there will be opportunity there. We continue to have conversations with players in the industry, but probably nothing specific to report beyond that.

從更深層次的合作夥伴關係的角度來看，我認為網絡共享等事情，我們會繼續參與這些對話。我確實認為，從長遠來看，在美國農村建立 4 或 5 個重複的 5G 或重複的 6G 網絡的概念在經濟上沒有意義。所以我認為那裡會有機會。我們繼續與業內人士進行對話，但除此之外可能沒有具體的報告。

Operator next question?

接線員下一個問題？

It's from the line of Simon Flannery with Morgan Stanley.

它來自摩根士丹利的西蒙弗蘭納里。

Great. LT, just continuing on, you talked about the mid-band, so perhaps you can just give us some more color around how long it will take you to sort of fully deploy the mid-band across your footprint? And is that mostly 2023 CapEx, how does that look versus '22?

偉大的。 LT，繼續說下去，你談到了中頻，所以也許你可以給我們更多的顏色，關於你需要多長時間才能在你的足跡上完全部署中頻？這主要是 2023 年的資本支出，與 22 年相比如何？

And then just a broader point on capital allocation. I think you started the call talking about this is a period of investment, both on the fiber side and on the wireless side, but that's putting strain on the balance sheet on leverage. So how do you think about capital allocation here about what target leverage should be, about the dividend, about your CapEx sort of levels and considering asset sales and other options to raise capital to pay for this?

然後是關於資本配置的更廣泛的觀點。我認為您在電話會議開始時談到這是一個投資時期，無論是在光纖方面還是在無線方面，但這會給資產負債錶帶來槓桿壓力。那麼，您如何看待這裡的資本配置，目標槓桿應該是多少，股息，您的資本支出水平，以及考慮資產出售和其他籌集資金的選擇來支付這筆費用？

Thanks for the question. So let me start. I'll give you kind of a high-level thought about mid-band and mid-band deployment. And we've got Mike Irizarry, our CTO here, he'll add some more color and specifics, and then let me answer briefly the question on leverage, and then I'll ask Vicki to chime in since I imagine she'll have more specifics. So let me start with the question on leverage. We went through a substantive rebalancing of our balance sheet earlier this year. Overall cost of debt down substantively I think we're in a very good position to fund the investments that we're making. Yes, we spent a lot of money on C-band and 3.45 spectrum, for example. I think we also got that spectrum at a fairly attractive rate relative to the rest of the auction prices. And we were able to pay for it with, I think, very reasonably priced debt.

謝謝你的問題。那麼讓我開始吧。我會給你一個關於中頻和中頻部署的高級想法。我們有 Mike Irizarry，我們的首席技術官，他會添加更多顏色和細節，然後讓我簡要回答有關槓桿的問題，然後我會請 Vicki 插話，因為我想她會有更多細節。那麼讓我從關於槓桿的問題開始。今年早些時候，我們對資產負債表進行了實質性的重新平衡。總體債務成本大幅下降我認為我們處於非常有利的位置來為我們正在進行的投資提供資金。是的，例如，我們在 C 波段和 3.45 頻譜上花了很多錢。我認為我們也以相對於其他拍賣價格相當有吸引力的價格獲得了該頻譜。我認為，我們能夠用價格非常合理的債務來支付它。

And so I think, from an overall balance sheet health perspective, I believe we're in good shape, and that was reinforced by conversations that we had here fairly recently with the rating agencies. I think that we're in a position to be able to fund the requisite 5G investments mid-band build-out in a way that doesn't particularly further strain the balance sheet, but I'm sure Vicki can give more details.

因此，我認為，從整體資產負債表健康的角度來看，我相信我們的狀況良好，最近我們與評級機構的對話加強了這一點。我認為我們有能力為必要的 5G 投資中頻段建設提供資金，而不會進一步加重資產負債表的壓力，但我相信 Vicki 可以提供更多細節。

Let me talk briefly about mid-band and then I'll have Mike go into more detail. So, Simon, the strategy is that we will be starting to roll out that mid-band to our towers now. So you can -- we'll be putting those radios on towers throughout 2023. However, that spectrum does not clear until the end of 2023. And so our goal is to be able to, for lack of a better word, flip a switch towards the end of '23, early '24 and already have a substantive amount of that mid-band spectrum deployed that will help us in 2 areas. The first, it will help us from an overall wireless perspective, improved speed, improved quality. And so we're excited to get that out for our wireless customers.

讓我簡單談談中頻，然後讓 Mike 更詳細地介紹。所以，西蒙，我們的策略是現在我們將開始在我們的塔中推出中頻。所以你可以——我們將在整個 2023 年將這些無線電安裝在發射塔上。但是，直到 2023 年底，該頻譜才會明確。因此，我們的目標是能夠，因為沒有更好的詞，翻轉開關到 23 年底，24 年初，已經部署了大量的中頻帶頻譜，這將在兩個領域為我們提供幫助。首先，它將從整體無線角度幫助我們，提高速度，提高質量。因此，我們很高興為我們的無線客戶提供這一服務。

Where I also expect to see a really substantive lift is on the high-speed Internet side of the equation. We'll be able to start marketing a product. We haven't exactly decided the speeds will market at (inaudible) given that we're seeing gig speeds in trials. And we do have our millimeter wave-enabled product out there in the marketplace of 300 megs, you can expect to see something similar from a mid-band enabled product. And we think it can be highly competitive in the marketplace. And so excited about that mid-band deployment and switching that on at the end of the year, but for both sides of that business.

我還希望看到真正實質性的提升是在等式的高速互聯網方面。我們將能夠開始營銷產品。鑑於我們在試驗中看到了演出速度，我們還沒有完全確定市場的速度（聽不清）。我們在市場上確實有 300 megs 的毫米波產品，您可以期待從中頻產品中看到類似的東西。我們認為它在市場上具有很強的競爭力。對於中頻部署並在年底將其啟用感到非常興奮，但對於該業務的雙方而言。

Mike, maybe you can give a little bit more detail about the deployment timeline and when we expect to see what from the mid banner.

Mike，也許您可以提供更多關於部署時間表的詳細信息，以及我們希望何時從中間橫幅中看到什麼。

So LT gave a number for the end of 2023, and we're on track to light those sites up. We've started to design, purchase order and all the design stuff to launch those up. And as we've done with other large capital-intensive complex project, we break it over multiple years. This project will be very similar. We will pick up speed after 2023 and look to activate anywhere between 800 to 1,000 sites per year, very strategically targeted where we can improve the customer experience, offload capacity and also synergize that with the fixed wireless opportunity that LT talked about. So we're excited about it and on track to meet that plan.

因此，LT 給出了 2023 年底的數字，我們正在按計劃點亮這些站點。我們已經開始設計、採購訂單和啟動這些的所有設計材料。正如我們對其他大型資本密集型複雜項目所做的那樣，我們將其打破多年。這個項目將非常相似。我們將在 2023 年之後加快速度，並希望每年激活 800 到 1,000 個站點，非常具有戰略意義，我們可以改善客戶體驗、卸載能力，並與 LT 談到的固定無線機會協同增效。因此，我們對此感到興奮，並有望實現該計劃。

Thanks, Mike. And, Simon, I'll just jump in here on the leverage. As you know, TDS is always had a disciplined financial policy and maintained a conservative balance sheet. And that's really characterized with a significant portion of long-dated debt and preferred equity. And as I think about leverage, we don't have targeted leverage ratios per se. We need to balance that with the needs of the business. And as LT said, and I said in my opening comments, both our businesses are going through an investment cycle at the same time because they're taking advantage of a window of opportunity that we think is really important to position us for the long-term growth that both -- that everybody has been talking about going forward.

謝謝，邁克。而且，西蒙，我會在這裡利用槓桿作用。如您所知，TDS 一直有嚴格的財務政策，並保持著保守的資產負債表。這確實具有很大一部分長期債務和優先股的特點。當我想到槓桿時，我們本身並沒有目標槓桿率。我們需要在這與業務需求之間取得平衡。正如 LT 所說，我在開場評論中也說過，我們的兩個業務都在同時經歷一個投資週期，因為他們正在利用一個機會之窗，我們認為這對於長期定位我們非常重要——兩者的長期增長 - 每個人都在談論未來。

The balance sheet has -- strength is really providing us with that room. And we've got the spectrum purchases paid for and behind us. They're really good spectrum. And now we need to stay focused on our fiber buildouts and our 5G modernization. I'd also say that we have increased our leverage to support our businesses, but our intent is to stay at levels that we feel comfortable managing the business at, which is moderate really for our industry overall. And as LT mentioned, our -- Moody's and S&P reaffirmed our credit rating because they're supportive of the type of investments that we're making.

資產負債表有——實力確實為我們提供了那個空間。我們已經為頻譜購買付費並支持我們。他們真的是很好的頻譜。現在，我們需要繼續專注於我們的光纖建設和 5G 現代化。我還要說，我們增加了支持我們業務的槓桿，但我們的目的是保持在我們對管理業務感到滿意的水平，這對我們整個行業來說確實是適度的。正如 LT 所提到的，我們的穆迪和標準普爾重申了我們的信用評級，因為他們支持我們正在進行的投資類型。

It's -- these investments are for the long-term sustainability of our business, and they're critical. We're well within our bank covenants. We've got room, and our plans incorporate the capital spending that we've got going forward.

這是 - 這些投資是為了我們業務的長期可持續性，它們至關重要。我們完全遵守我們的銀行契約。我們有空間，我們的計劃包含了我們未來的資本支出。

Okay. Operator, we're ready for the next question.

好的。接線員，我們準備好回答下一個問題了。

Philip Cusick from JPMorgan.

摩根大通的菲利普·庫斯克。

LT, maybe you can just talk about where you see this market going, the wireless market growing? AT&T was aggressive for the last few years. Now Verizon is matching them, giving away handsets to existing customers. T-Mobile is only going to get wider footprint and cable is taking share as well. I see you fighting hard, and I see the creativity, but this doesn't seem to be working out. So without going back through your script, help investors understand why they should have faith that you can turn the direction of subscriber growth without destroying profitability in the business?

LT，也許你可以談談你認為這個市場的發展方向，無線市場的增長？過去幾年，AT&T 非常激進。現在 Verizon 正在匹配它們，將手機贈送給現有客戶。 T-Mobile 只會獲得更廣泛的足跡，而有線電視也將佔據份額。我看到你在努力奮鬥，我看到了創造力，但這似乎並沒有奏效。因此，無需回頭看你的劇本，幫助投資者理解為什麼他們應該相信你可以在不破壞業務盈利能力的情況下改變用戶增長的方向？

Phil, you don't want me to go back through my script, I'm disappointed. I was really looking forward to moving back to it.

菲爾，你不想讓我重溫我的劇本，我很失望。我真的很期待回到它。

And I heard the whole thing. And I listened to it.

我聽到了整件事。我聽了。

(inaudible) it over again. So if I take a step back and I think about the strategy that I articulated a couple of years ago and that we have reinforced every time we're on one of these calls. It's a strategy that has at a really high level of 3 components. It is how do we try to stabilize the postpaid consumer side of the business, while investing in growth areas of the business and while driving increased levels of operating efficiency and capital efficiency. Let me take those one by one.

（聽不清）再來一遍。因此，如果我退後一步，想想我幾年前闡明的戰略，並且每次我們接到這些電話之一時，我們都會加強這一戰略。這是一個包含 3 個組件的非常高水平的策略。這是我們如何嘗試穩定業務的後付費消費者方面，同時投資於業務的增長領域，同時提高運營效率和資本效率水平。讓我一一拿下。

The first, stabilizing postpaid. Last year, and up until the first 2 quarters of this year, we struck, I believe, a really good balance of profitability and subscriber growth. The first 2 quarters of this year, coming out of the pandemic, we saw substantive increase in voluntary churn. And so we felt that we needed to address that and address it aggressively. So what we've done in the past quarter is we've gotten much more aggressive on the upgrade side of the house. The more you can get customers under contract at a really high level, you can think of in-contract customers churning at half the rate of out-of-contract customers. And so the calculus is, we need to go get more aggressive of getting customers upgraded, and you've seen that in our numbers. 54% increase in upgrades, and that's driven a substantive growth in the number of customers in contract, 59% to 62%. So there's a bear case and a bull case for that strategy. The bear case is, well, these are customers that would have upgraded anyway, and consequently, we simply accelerated those upgrades. The bull case is these are customers that might have churned in the future, but, instead, now that we have them in contract, they will not churn. And it is a long-term strategy. It's something that we generally, as a company invested, in the long term. We've been comfortable with long-term strategies, and that's what we're doing.

一是穩定後付費。去年，直到今年前兩個季度，我相信，我們在盈利能力和用戶增長之間取得了非常好的平衡。今年前兩個季度，在大流行之後，我們看到自願流失大幅增加。所以我們覺得我們需要解決這個問題並積極地解決它。因此，我們在過去一個季度所做的是，我們在房子的升級方面變得更加積極。您越能以非常高的水平獲得合同客戶，您可以認為合同客戶的流失率是合同外客戶的一半。所以計算是，我們需要更加積極地讓客戶升級，你已經在我們的數字中看到了這一點。升級增加了 54%，這推動了合同客戶數量的實質性增長，從 59% 增加到 62%。因此，該策略有熊市和牛市兩種情況。熊的情況是，這些客戶無論如何都會升級，因此，我們只是加速了這些升級。牛市的情況是，這些客戶可能會在未來流失，但相反，既然我們與他們簽訂了合同，他們就不會流失。這是一項長期戰略。這是我們作為一家公司長期投資的東西。我們對長期戰略感到滿意，這就是我們正在做的事情。

I hoped to have seen better improvements in voluntary churn this quarter. That being said, the leading indicators, I think, are strong for bringing customers in contract, and thus bringing churn down over time, couple that with some more aggressive gross add actions. Where we've run flat rate pricing, for example, in some of our lower share markets, we've seen very good progress. Ad aligns up substantively. ARPU up substantively. And so the one piece of the equation that I think is disappointing for this quarter, and you see it in our numbers, is our LOE is up because we've had to spend to get those upgrades, and we haven't yet seen the improvement in voluntary churn.

我希望本季度的自願流失能有更好的改善。話雖這麼說，我認為，領先指標對於吸引客戶簽訂合同非常有效，因此隨著時間的推移會降低客戶流失率，再加上一些更積極的總體添加行動。例如，在我們一些較低的股票市場，我們已經進行了統一定價，我們已經看到了非常好的進展。廣告基本上對齊。 ARPU大幅上升。因此，我認為本季度令人失望的一個方程式，你可以從我們的數據中看到，我們的 LOE 上升了，因為我們不得不花錢來進行這些升級，而我們還沒有看到自願流失的改善。

I expect it to come, and so I'm confident in the strategy, and we're going to stick with it.

我預計它會到來，所以我對這個策略很有信心，我們會堅持下去。

The second piece of the strategy is, okay, while you are working to stabilize postpaid, we have growth areas of the business. And I won't go through the script, but just to tick them off quickly, right? We invested in towers, 14% increase year-over-year in revenue. We increased in prepay. We invested in prepaid, 2,000 positive net adds. We invested in high-speed Internet; 82% up gross adds year-over-year. Digital, B2B, we're seeing growth in those areas as well. And finally, where, other than LOE, which Doug talked about in his comments, we're seeing continued improvement in overall expense discipline and expenses across the company. And so the challenge, as you've accurately highlighted is, from a competitive perspective, stabilizing postpaid. The best way to do that is to bring churn down. I think we have the right offers in the marketplace to do that. We're seeing those leading indicators. And so I do expect churn to improve going into the fourth quarter, going into next year, while we continue to improve gross adds.

策略的第二部分是，好吧，當你努力穩定後付費時，我們有業務的增長領域。而且我不會通過腳本，而只是快速勾選它們，對嗎？我們投資了鐵塔，收入同比增長 14%。我們增加了預付款。我們投資了預付費的 2,000 正淨增加值。我們投資了高速互聯網；同比增長 82%。數字、B2B，我們也在這些領域看到了增長。最後，除了道格在評論中談到的 LOE 之外，我們看到整個公司的整體開支紀律和開支持續改善。因此，正如您準確強調的那樣，從競爭的角度來看，挑戰在於穩定後付費。最好的方法是降低流失率。我認為我們在市場上有合適的報價來做到這一點。我們看到了這些領先指標。因此，我確實預計到第四季度，到明年，客戶流失率會有所改善，而我們會繼續改善總增加量。

Now you talked about competitive intensity. It's up. AT&T used FirstNet to expand a bit more aggressively into rural America. T-Mobile certainly marketing more aggressively. Cable companies are expanding, but there hasn't been a dramatic change in competitive intensity in this last quarter. Doug mentioned, it's fairly steady and it's fairly consistent with trends we've seen in the past. The change is, we've decided to go invest heavily in upgrading our customers and get that back -- get them back into contract, and you see that in our results.

現在你談到了競爭強度。它起來了。 AT&T 使用 FirstNet 更積極地向美國農村地區擴張。 T-Mobile 肯定會更積極地進行營銷。有線電視公司正在擴張，但上個季度的競爭強度並沒有發生顯著變化。道格提到，它相當穩定，與我們過去看到的趨勢相當一致。變化是，我們決定投入巨資升級我們的客戶並讓他們恢復 - 讓他們重新簽訂合同，你會在我們的結果中看到這一點。

That's helpful. Two follow-ups, if I can. One is on upgrades. At this pace of upgrades, when does that start to impact ARPU because it sort of builds over time, and we've seen that at AT&T for the last few years? We're starting to see it horizon this year. I anticipate that you're going to see a -- sort of a drag down of that ARPU growth in the next year. Is that fair?

這很有幫助。兩個後續，如果可以的話。一是關於升級。以這種升級速度，什麼時候開始影響 ARPU，因為它會隨著時間的推移而構建，我們在過去幾年中已經在 AT&T 看到了這一點？今年我們開始看到它的地平線。我預計你會在明年看到 ARPU 增長的拖累。這公平嗎？

We do not expect to see that. So yes, there are dilutive impacts to ARPU from the offer in the form of those trailing ARPU credits. However, the way that we've structured the offer, and if I take you back to the regional strategy, we trialed a number of these types of approaches in our different regions before we launched this across the majority of our footprint. And the reason that we did that is we wanted to strike the right balance between aggressiveness and driving upgrades but also bringing customers up to rate stack. And so what you've seen is an expansion in ARPU due in no small part to the promotion. And our teams are doing a really nice job selling things like insurance and moving people up to rate stack irrespective of the promotion. But the promotion is moving people up the rate stack, and that is having -- that is offsetting some of that negative future ARPU trend. So no, we do not forecast further dilution in ARPU just because of this. In fact, we think we're going to be able to continue to expand ARPU. Maybe not exactly at the rate that you've seen this year, but we don't forecast ARPU dilution.

我們不希望看到這種情況。所以，是的，這些尾隨 ARPU 積分的形式對 ARPU 有稀釋性影響。但是，我們構建報價的方式，如果我帶你回到區域戰略，我們在我們的大部分足跡推出之前，在我們的不同區域嘗試了許多這些類型的方法。我們這樣做的原因是我們希望在積極性和推動升級之間取得適當的平衡，同時也讓客戶達到評級堆棧。因此，您所看到的是 ARPU 的擴展，這在很大程度上歸功於促銷活動。我們的團隊在銷售保險等產品方面做得非常好，並且無論促銷活動如何，都可以將人們提升到評級堆棧。但是促銷正在使人們提高利率水平，這正在抵消一些負面的未來 ARPU 趨勢。所以不，我們不預測 ARPU 會因此而進一步稀釋。事實上，我們認為我們將能夠繼續擴大 ARPU。也許不完全按照你今年看到的速度，但我們不預測 ARPU 稀釋。

That's helpful. And then finally, you mentioned bad debt. It sounds like a similar rate but higher losses. Should I interpret that to mean that you're losing more per customer? And is that a function of the very large handset subsidies you've offered over the last 2 years. How have you changed -- if that's correct, how have you changed your credit scoring, maybe address that going forward?

這很有幫助。最後，你提到了壞賬。這聽起來像一個相似的速度，但更高的損失。我是否應該將其解釋為您的每位客戶損失更多？這是您在過去 2 年中提供的超大手機補貼的一項功能。你是如何改變的——如果那是正確的，你是如何改變你的信用評分的，也許可以解決這個問題？

Yes. So we always -- we have done some credit tightening strategically recently. We are looking at doing potentially more of that. We're always balancing our credit policy against the gross add potential of the good ads. And so we're very surgical in how we do that. And so we think we're in the right place. The reality is, as LT and I both mentioned during the call, the frequency of write-offs is back to prepandemic levels, and the rate per write-off is up about 15% since prepandemic levels. And so we have been making adjustments to our credit policy. We've been implementing additional anti-fraud measures in our stores, and we've been changing some of our collections strategies and tactics as well. So we are all over it, but there is a macro environment -- a macroeconomic aspect of this that is driving the majority of the increase.

是的。所以我們總是——我們最近在戰略上進行了一些信貸緊縮。我們正在考慮做更多這樣的事情。我們一直在平衡我們的信用政策與好廣告的總增加潛力。因此，我們在如何做到這一點上非常具有外科手術性。所以我們認為我們來對了地方。現實情況是，正如 LT 和我在電話會議中提到的那樣，核銷的頻率又回到了大流行前的水平，而且自大流行前的水平以來，每次核銷的比率上升了約 15%。因此，我們一直在調整我們的信貸政策。我們一直在我們的商店實施額外的反欺詐措施，我們也一直在改變我們的一些收藏策略和策略。所以我們已經結束了，但有一個宏觀環境——推動大部分增長的宏觀經濟方面。

Next question, please?

請問下一個問題？

Your next question comes from the line of Michael Rollins.

您的下一個問題來自 Michael Rollins。

Two questions. First, I think back to the history of U.S. Cellular, I think back to a time where the company should Chicago and St. Louis because the performance in those markets weren't matching other parts of the portfolio. Do you have a similar situation today where there's a tale of 2 cities where there's a certain percentage of your markets that are operating at one level, and then another subset of the markets operating at a different level, different trend, different level of competitiveness? And if you can -- if that's the case, if you could maybe unpack some of those details, that would be great?

兩個問題。首先，我回想起 U.S. Cellular 的歷史，我回想起公司應該在芝加哥和聖路易斯的時代，因為這些市場的表現與投資組合的其他部分不匹配。您今天是否有類似的情況，有兩個城市的故事，您的一定比例的市場在一個級別上運行，然後另一個市場子集在不同的級別、不同的趨勢、不同的競爭力水平上運行？如果可以的話——如果是這樣的話，如果你可以解開其中的一些細節，那會很棒嗎？

And then just separately, just kind of curious, LT, where you're standing on the strategic front these days in terms of the urgency to try to take some strategic actions along the lines of ideas you've talked about in the past to try to change the narrative for U.S. Cellular over the longer term?

然後只是單獨地，有點好奇，LT，就緊迫性而言，你現在站在戰略前沿，按照你過去談到的想法嘗試採取一些戰略行動從長遠來看，改變美國蜂窩的敘述？

Mike, so -- as in any business, you're going to see some variability in terms of the profitability of our geographies. There isn't a 80-20 or some obvious delineation line. There's a range of profitability. Generally, that profitability correlates to 2 factors. The first -- and you will find neither of these surprising. The first factor is market penetration, where we have higher share, we generally have higher profitability. And the second is availability of high-quality spectrum. So where we have a strong spectrum position and we deliver a strong network experience because of it, we generally see higher profitability, better levels of network efficiency and so on. And so there's certainly a range, but I don't think there's anything surprising in terms of what's driving that range.

邁克，所以 - 就像在任何業務中一樣，你會看到我們地區的盈利能力存在一些變化。沒有 80-20 或一些明顯的分界線。有一系列的盈利能力。一般來說，這種盈利能力與兩個因素相關。第一個——你會發現這些都不令人驚訝。第一個因素是市場滲透率，我們有更高的份額，我們通常有更高的盈利能力。其次是高質量頻譜的可用性。因此，在我們擁有強大的頻譜地位並因此提供強大的網絡體驗的地方，我們通常會看到更高的盈利能力、更好的網絡效率等。所以肯定有一個範圍，但我認為驅動這個範圍的因素並不令人驚訝。

From a strategic perspective, that's a really broad question. In terms of sense of urgency, I think we have a consistent sense of urgency in terms of executing the strategy that I articulated in my answer earlier. And so in terms of investing in areas of the business where we see attractive growth, we absolutely have urgency behind that. And so a continued focus on digital, for example. If we are going to serve customers with lower costs in a more variable fashion, serve people the way they want to be served, certainly coming out of the pandemic we have to invest more in a strong digital experience. And we're seeing that. Two years ago, our average score on the App Store was 1.5 stars, we are north of 4 now. And so that's an example of an area where we have urgency behind it.

從戰略的角度來看，這是一個非常廣泛的問題。就緊迫感而言，我認為我們在執行我之前在回答中闡述的戰略方面有著一致的緊迫感。因此，就投資於我們認為具有吸引力增長的業務領域而言，我們絕對有緊迫感。例如，繼續關注數字化。如果我們要以更多樣化的方式以更低的成本為客戶提供服務，以人們想要的方式為他們服務，當然從大流行中走出來，我們必須在強大的數字體驗上投入更多。我們看到了這一點。兩年前，我們在 App Store 上的平均得分是 1.5 星，現在已經超過 4 星。這就是我們背後有緊迫感的一個領域的例子。

Certainly, high-speed Internet, we have the same urgency, opening up our towers, the same urgency. There's two more macro factors that I've discussed in the past. One is the network-sharing partnerships. It takes two to tango. And I think the last thing that you want to be doing is being desperate when you enter into that, and we're not. We think we have a really strong set of assets. We've compiled a really nice spectrum position. We own our own towers. We think we provide a really high-quality network experience. And so although I'm eager to find ways to reduce capital intensity over time, we're not going to do so hastily. We're in a position that doesn't benefit our shareholders and our customers and our employees.

當然，高速互聯網，我們有同樣的緊迫感，打開我們的塔，同樣的緊迫感。我過去討論過另外兩個宏觀因素。一是網絡共享夥伴關係。一個巴掌拍不響。而且我認為你最不想做的事情就是當你進入那個狀態時感到絕望，而我們不是。我們認為我們擁有一套非常強大的資產。我們已經編制了一個非常好的頻譜位置。我們擁有自己的塔。我們認為我們提供了真正高質量的網絡體驗。因此，儘管我渴望隨著時間的推移找到降低資本密集度的方法，但我們不會倉促行事。我們的處境不利於我們的股東、客戶和員工。

Another area that I've talked about, however, is government infrastructure funding. That's a strategic opportunity for us, particularly because the administration has been very clear. They want to invest more in broadband. And specifically, they want to invest more in broadband in the rural America. And so both companies, I'll speak here for -- briefly for TDS Telecom as well. Both companies are investing in finding opportunities to leverage that funding. Michelle mentioned A-CAM in her discussions. We certainly are in discussions around the existing USF funding. But the really exciting opportunity is the upcoming bead funding that's being discussed. So the current timeline around that, it looks like the maps will come out later this year. There probably will be some discussion around those. I think the FCC has mentioned a challenging information process. And so I'm sure providers will engage robustly in that. But I expect at some point in the middle towards the back end of the year -- of next year, you'll start to see those funds flowing from the states. And we're optimistic that a chunk of those funds will go to rural fiber, where I think telecom is well positioned.

然而，我談到的另一個領域是政府基礎設施資金。這對我們來說是一個戰略機會，特別是因為政府已經非常清楚了。他們希望在寬帶上進行更多投資。具體來說，他們希望在美國農村地區加大對寬帶的投資。因此，我將在這里為兩家公司發言——也簡要介紹一下 TDS Telecom。兩家公司都在投資尋找利用這筆資金的機會。 Michelle 在討論中提到了 A-CAM。我們當然正在圍繞現有的 USF 資金進行討論。但真正令人興奮的機會是正在討論的即將到來的珠子資金。所以目前的時間表，看起來地圖將在今年晚些時候發布。可能會圍繞這些進行一些討論。我認為 FCC 提到了一個具有挑戰性的信息流程。所以我相信供應商會積極參與其中。但我預計在今年年底的某個時候——明年，你會開始看到這些資金從各州流出。我們樂觀地認為，這些資金中的大部分將用於農村光纖，我認為電信在這方面處於有利地位。

And also to fixed wireless, where we are well positioned. We see it in some state grants. We recently won a state grant from the State of Nebraska, for example, $6 million to go to new towers. So states see the benefit of investing in more infrastructure and co-investing with us. And in those investment conversations, we think we do so with credibility, and you talked about the history of U.S. Cellular. The history of U.S. Cellular is one of investing in these areas and providing connections where others don't, and states value that. And so you see that in the state grant from Nebraska. We're in similar conversations with a variety of states across our footprint. And by the way, that's before they even have some of the clarity of the bead funding and before those dollars start to flow. And so I do view that as another opportunity to transform our business particularly around capital intensity.

還有固定無線，我們在這方面處於有利地位。我們在一些國家撥款中看到了這一點。我們最近從內布拉斯加州獲得了一筆國家撥款，例如，600 萬美元用於建造新塔樓。因此，各州看到了投資更多基礎設施並與我們共同投資的好處。在那些投資對話中，我們認為我們這樣做是有信譽的，你談到了 U.S. Cellular 的歷史。 U.S. Cellular 的歷史就是在這些領域進行投資並提供其他人沒有的連接，並且各州重視這一點。因此，您可以在內布拉斯加州的州撥款中看到這一點。我們正在與我們足跡中的各個州進行類似的對話。順便說一句，那是在他們甚至還沒有明確的珠子資金以及這些資金開始流動之前。所以我確實認為這是改變我們業務的另一個機會，尤其是圍繞資本密集度。

I've talked in the past the average tower costs between $600,000 and $1 million in rural America. And you have to have a certain density of customers if you're going to offset that investment. And where we don't have towers, it's not because we don't want to have towers. It's because the economics are challenging. Well, if the government can help co-invest and take $600,000 and make it $100,000, now we have the opportunities to serve customers in a very different way and do so at a much more attractive capital intensity. Michelle, I'm not sure if you want to chime in any more about how you guys are thinking about those programs, but I know telecoms invested in them as well. And I don't want to speak clumsily for telecom here.

我過去曾說過，美國農村的塔的平均成本在 600,000 美元到 100 萬美元之間。如果你要抵消這項投資，你必須擁有一定的客戶密度。在我們沒有塔的地方，並不是因為我們不想擁有塔。這是因為經濟具有挑戰性。好吧，如果政府可以幫助共同投資，將 600,000 美元變成 100,000 美元，那麼現在我們就有機會以一種非常不同的方式為客戶提供服務，並且以更具吸引力的資本密集度來提供服務。米歇爾，我不確定你是否想再談一談你們對這些項目的看法，但我知道電信也投資了這些項目。我不想在這裡笨拙地談論電信。

Yes. No, thanks, LT. Actually, you did a great job articulating the position of both of our companies. As I mentioned in my comments, TDS Telecom is very excited about the funding that is available, both at the state level and at the federal level. We are part of the A-CAM program today and are very excited about where that A-CAM extension program could take us that certainly could provide additional funds to take even higher speeds to many, many customers in our most rural areas. And then outside of the A-CAM, we, too, see opportunity with the bead program. And as LT mentioned, we anticipate and hope that a lot of that money does go towards funding fiber for those unserved or underserved customers that are out in our territories. But there will be a place also we see for fixed wireless. Fiber might not be economical to go everywhere and so this could be a nice blend of helping fund fiber and helping fund fixed wireless for the enterprise.

是的。不，謝謝，LT。實際上，您在闡明我們兩家公司的立場方面做得很好。正如我在評論中提到的，TDS Telecom 對州一級和聯邦一級的可用資金感到非常興奮。我們今天是 A-CAM 計劃的一部分，並且對 A-CAM 擴展計劃可以把我們帶到哪裡感到非常興奮，這肯定可以提供額外的資金，為我們大多數農村地區的許多客戶提供更高的速度。然後在 A-CAM 之外，我們也看到了珠子程序的機會。正如 LT 所提到的，我們預計並希望其中大部分資金確實用於為我們領土內那些未得到服務或服務不足的客戶提供光纖。但是我們也會看到固定無線的地方。光纖在任何地方都可能不經濟，因此這可能是幫助為光纖提供資金和幫助為企業提供固定無線資金的完美結合。

Operator, we are ready for the next question.

接線員，我們準備好下一個問題了。

Your next question comes from the line of Sergey Dluzhevskiy with Gamco Investors.

您的下一個問題來自 Gamco Investors 的 Sergey Dluzhevskiy。

LT, maybe the first question is on your differentiated market approach and some of the offers that you try in those markets. And it seems like what you trialed before now you rolled out to a wider base in the third quarter. But I guess my question is, how are those local offers performed in the third quarter? And what do you need to take a greater step forward this local market approach so that it has a more meaningful impact on your customer intake and share?

LT，也許第一個問題是關於您的差異化市場方法以及您在這些市場中嘗試的一些優惠。看起來你之前嘗試過的東西現在在第三季度推廣到了更廣泛的基礎。但我想我的問題是，這些本地報價在第三季度的表現如何？您需要怎樣才能在這種本地市場方法上邁出更大的一步，以便它對您的客戶吸收和份額產生更有意義的影響？

Sergey, so if I break out our local offers since we -- just put a bit of math behind it to give you a sense of how much trialing we do. Since we regionalized about 18 months ago, I think we've run over 75 different promotional permutations of whether it's upgrade offers, or whether it's offers that are more designed to drive gross adds. We currently have a variety of different offers running across our footprint. In our lower-share markets, where we're running our flat rate offers, we're seeing very good performance from a gross add perspective. In our existing same as new markets, we've seen attractive add-a-line improvements. And I won't rehash since Rick already gave me a hard time about requoting things from my script, I won't do it again. But you get a sense of what we're seeing from an upgrade perspective and an ad align perspective in the areas where we're running our existing same as new promotion.

謝爾蓋，所以如果我打破我們的本地報價，因為我們 - 只是在它背後加上一些數學，讓你了解我們做了多少試驗。自從我們在大約 18 個月前進行區域化以來，我認為我們已經運行了超過 75 種不同的促銷組合，無論是升級優惠，還是更多旨在推動總增加的優惠。我們目前在我們的足跡中運行各種不同的優惠。在我們提供統一費率的低份額市場中，從總附加值的角度來看，我們看到了非常好的表現。在我們現有的和新的市場中，我們已經看到了有吸引力的附加線改進。而且我不會重複，因為里克已經讓我很難重新引用我的劇本中的內容，我不會再這樣做了。但是，您會從升級的角度和廣告調整的角度了解我們在運行現有促銷活動的領域中所看到的內容。

The key dynamic is, are those promotions going to drive the desired churn -- the voluntary churn performance that we need them to? In the markets that we trialed them in previously, it took us 6 months or so, 6, 7 months to see the improvements in voluntary churn. And so if you forecast that forward, that helps explain why we are cautiously optimistic that we're going to see that voluntary churn trend turn in the fourth quarter and into early next year. But you don't know.

關鍵的動力是，這些促銷活動是否會推動預期的流失——我們需要它們的自願流失表現？在我們之前試用過的市場中，我們花了 6 個月左右、6 個月、7 個月的時間才看到自願流失的改善。因此，如果您預測這一趨勢，這有助於解釋為什麼我們謹慎樂觀地認為，自願流失趨勢將在第四季度和明年初轉變。但你不知道。

The bet on upgrades is that the bull case will prevail and not the bear case, and that the people that are upgrading are doing so, they might have been future churners, but we've been able to put an attractive offer in front of them. They have confidence in our network. They have confidence in the customer experience that we provide, and they're choosing to stick with us. And we've seen that in the markets that we trialed this in, and we expect to see it across the footprint.

升級的賭注是牛市將佔上風，而不是熊市，正在升級的人正在這樣做，他們可能是未來的攪局者，但我們已經能夠在他們面前提出有吸引力的報價.他們對我們的網絡充滿信心。他們對我們提供的客戶體驗充滿信心，並且選擇堅持使用我們。我們已經在我們嘗試過的市場中看到了這一點，我們希望在整個足跡中看到它。

There's the possibility that what we've done instead is accelerate upgrades. And so meaning they would have upgraded, and we've accelerated them. And so that helps explain a little bit of the variability that we've put in our guidance for the rest of the year, is because you're never going to have exact certainty around that. But the beautiful thing about this regional approach that we have is that we can trial these things. And I'll bring you back to the conversation around ARPU and ARPU balance that was asked earlier. There's a reason why we've been able to drive the ARPU performance that we have. Some of it is really good execution by our retail teams. But some of it is because we're structuring these promotions in a way that helps expand ARPU. And we've done that because of the regional trials, and you can expect to see that continue through the rest of the year.

我們所做的可能是加速升級。所以這意味著他們會升級，我們已經加速了他們。因此，這有助於解釋我們在今年餘下時間的指導中提出的一些可變性，因為你永遠不會對此有確切的把握。但我們所擁有的這種區域方法的美妙之處在於我們可以試驗這些東西。我將帶你回到前面提到的關於 ARPU 和 ARPU 餘額的對話。我們能夠推動我們擁有的 ARPU 性能是有原因的。其中一些是我們零售團隊的出色執行。但其中一些是因為我們正在以有助於擴大 ARPU 的方式構建這些促銷活動。由於區域試驗，我們已經這樣做了，你可以期待在今年剩下的時間裡繼續看到這種情況。

When we get into the holiday season, we tend to have ubiquitous offers across the footprint. So we kind of hit pause for a little bit on the trials. The whole goal is to enter into the holiday season with a consistent approach and one that we think works and strikes the right balance between financial and subscriber results. And then as we get into early next year, you can expect to see those regional trials kick back off again so that we're operating with a strong information as we possibly can.

當我們進入假日季節時，我們往往會在整個足跡中提供無處不在的優惠。所以我們在試驗中暫停了一下。整個目標是以一致的方法進入假日季節，我們認為這種方法可行並在財務和訂戶結果之間取得適當的平衡。然後當我們進入明年初時，您可以期待看到這些區域試驗再次開始，以便我們盡可能利用強大的信息進行操作。

Got it. Maybe I'll ask a follow-up question to Mike's question around strategic actions, but maybe just a different permutations of that. So obviously, the turnaround is taking a bit longer than you would like. And I guess, in light of the current competitive environment and capital markets environment, how do you view financial engineering moves that may surface value or highlight value of your various assets, whether it's towers investments in wireless partnerships and new spectrum that could provide you with additional capital to invest in growth and also just provide broader strategic flexibility?

知道了。也許我會問一個關於邁克關於戰略行動的問題的後續問題，但也許只是一個不同的排列。所以很明顯，周轉時間比你想要的要長一些。而且我想，鑑於當前的競爭環境和資本市場環境，您如何看待可能使您的各種資產表面價值或突出價值的金融工程舉措，無論是對無線合作夥伴關係的塔樓投資和可以為您提供的新頻譜額外的資本投資於增長並提供更廣泛的戰略靈活性？

So in terms of the timing, I'm actually -- I think that, from a strategic perspective, if I look at the growth investments that we've made and the performance of those growth investments, I think it's right on track. I think from a stabilizing postpaid, it's a very challenging competitive environment out there. And I think that we're trying to navigate it about as best as we can. You used the word financial engineering, and that's what I want to avoid. I want to make sure that we have the financial capacity to make the investments that we need. I think that the corporate team and our finance team did a really nice job of restructuring our balance sheet to give us the flexibility that we need to purchase the mid-band spectrum that we did. I don't see, in the near term, new spectrum auctions on the immediate horizon. They're going to further stress that. We have a good plan that Mike articulated about building out C-band, making those investments on the network modernization that we need to make. And I think our balance sheet is in a good place to do that.

所以就時間而言，我實際上 - 我認為，從戰略角度來看，如果我看看我們所做的增長投資以及這些增長投資的表現，我認為它是正確的。我認為從穩定的後付費來看，這是一個非常具有挑戰性的競爭環境。我認為我們正在盡我們所能地駕馭它。你使用了金融工程這個詞，這就是我想要避免的。我想確保我們有足夠的財務能力進行我們需要的投資。我認為公司團隊和我們的財務團隊在重組我們的資產負債表方面做得非常好，為我們提供了購買中頻頻譜所需的靈活性。在短期內，我認為近期不會出現新的頻譜拍賣。他們將進一步強調這一點。我們有一個很好的計劃，邁克明確提出了建設 C 波段，對我們需要進行的網絡現代化進行投資。我認為我們的資產負債表是這樣做的好地方。

And so, luckily, I don't feel the need to engage in that financial engineering because we took advantage of an environment of cheap debt. And I think we now have a position to continue to execute the strategy and do so in a way that helps us take share in the marketplace and helps us continue to drive those growth areas. And so I'm happy with the flexibility that we have. I think we're in a good place from a balance sheet and an asset perspective. And now it's time to continue to execute that strategy and start to see the benefits in the marketplace. So thanks for the question, Sergey.

因此，幸運的是，我覺得沒有必要參與金融工程，因為我們利用了廉價債務的環境。而且我認為我們現在有能力繼續執行該戰略，並以一種有助於我們在市場中佔據份額並幫助我們繼續推動這些增長領域的方式這樣做。所以我對我們擁有的靈活性感到滿意。我認為從資產負債表和資產的角度來看，我們處於一個很好的位置。現在是繼續執行該戰略並開始看到市場收益的時候了。所以謝謝你的問題，謝爾蓋。

Okay. And my last question, could you talk a little bit about the progress that you've made over the last quarter or two in terms of business and government sector as far as kind of revenue growth, in terms of share? And what are the top objectives, maybe for next year? And where do you see this going in terms of size and impact from the company over the next few years?

好的。我的最後一個問題，你能否談談你在上一兩個季度在商業和政府部門方面取得的進展，就收入增長而言，就份額而言？什麼是最高目標，也許是明年？您認為這在未來幾年公司的規模和影響方面會如何發展？

Yes. Sorry, I'll be quick because I think we're out of time. But briefly, we continue -- I talked in the last quarter in more specifics about some of the momentum that we were seeing on the private networking side, on the IoT side. We continue to see good demand for those products from our customers. At a very high level, we have 3 trends that we're working through on the business side. The first is a negative trend, which is we have connected devices that were gross adds that were driven by government subsidies that happened during the pandemic, and we're seeing people disconnect those. They're not porting them. They were to port them to a competitor, I would be worried, but they're not porting them. These were subsidy-driven devices and the subsidies have gone away and those devices are churning off.

是的。抱歉，我會很快，因為我覺得我們沒時間了。但簡而言之，我們繼續 - 我在上個季度更詳細地談到了我們在私有網絡方面看到的一些動力，在物聯網方面。我們繼續看到客戶對這些產品的良好需求。在非常高的層面上，我們在業務方面正在努力解決 3 個趨勢。第一個是負面趨勢，即我們已經連接了由大流行期間發生的政府補貼推動的總增加的設備，我們看到人們斷開了這些設備的連接。他們沒有移植它們。他們要把它們移植給競爭對手，我會擔心，但他們沒有移植它們。這些是補貼驅動的設備，補貼已經消失，這些設備正在大量生產。

On the postpaid handset side, we want to see revenue stability, and, generally, we're seeing that -- and then where we're seeing -- where we want to have upside is on those new areas of growth, IoT, private networking. And you want those areas of growth to offset the challenges that you have in connected devices. And we're seeing that. So we're seeing the interest from enterprise clients, from small business clients. We're being brought into deals that I don't think we would have been brought into before, before we had invested in that distribution and invest in those operational capabilities. And so I'm comfortable with that balance because if you think about the negative drag, we're on the back end of that negative drag in terms of connected device disconnects from the pandemic, whereas, I believe, we're only at the beginning of what we're seeing from IoT, private networking and some of these enterprise 5G use cases. So I remain optimistic about where we're going from a B2B perspective.

在後付費手機方面，我們希望看到收入穩定，一般來說，我們看到這一點——然後是我們看到的地方——我們希望在這些新的增長領域、物聯網、私人領域有上行空間聯網。您希望這些增長領域能夠抵消您在連接設備方面面臨的挑戰。我們看到了這一點。因此，我們看到了企業客戶和小型企業客戶的興趣。在我們投資於分銷並投資於這些運營能力之前，我們正在參與我認為以前不會參與的交易。因此，我對這種平衡感到滿意，因為如果您考慮負面阻力，就連接設備與大流行斷開連接而言，我們處於負面阻力的後端，而我相信，我們只是處於我們從物聯網、專用網絡和其中一些企業 5G 用例中看到的開始。因此，從 B2B 的角度來看，我仍然對我們的發展方向持樂觀態度。

Thanks for the questions, everybody.

謝謝大家的提問。

That was our last question, operator.

這是我們的最後一個問題，接線員。

Thank you for participating in today's conference. You may disconnect at this time.

感謝您參加今天的會議。此時您可以斷開連接。