美國無線通訊 (USM) 2024 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Thank you for saying me by. My name is Mandeep and I'll be your operator today. At this time, I'd like to welcome everyone to the TDS UScellular, third quarter, 2024 operating results conference call.

謝謝你對我說。我叫 Mandeep，今天我將擔任您的接線生。現在，我歡迎大家參加 TDS UScellular 2024 年第三季營運業績電話會議。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員說明）

Thank you. I would now like to turn the call over to Colleen Thompson, Vice President, Corporate Relations. You may begin.

謝謝。我現在想將電話轉給企業關係副總裁科琳湯普森 (Colleen Thompson)。你可以開始了。

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 section of the TDS and UScellular websites.

早安，感謝您加入我們。我們想讓大家都了解這次演示，我們已準備好今天早上的評論，您可以在 TDS 和 UScellular 網站的投資者關係部分找到這些評論。

With me today and offering prepared comments are from TDS, Vicky Villacrez, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer; from UScellular LT Therivel, President and Chief Executive Officer; Doug Chambers, Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer; and from TDS Telecom, Michelle Brukwicki, Senior Vice President of Finance and Chief Financial Officer.

今天與我一起提供準備好的評論的是 TDS 執行副總裁兼財務長 Vicky Villacrez；來自 UScellular 總裁兼執行長 LT Therivel；錢伯斯 (Doug Chambers)，執行副總裁、財務長兼財務長；以及來自 TDS Telecom 的高級財務副總裁兼財務長 Michelle Brukwicki。

This call is being simultaneously webcast on the TDS and UScellular Investor Relations website. 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 debt and adjusted earnings before interest taxes, depreciation and amortization or EBITDA to highlight the contributions of UScellular’ s wireless partnerships.

此次電話會議同時在 TDS 和 UScellular 投資者關係網站上進行網路直播。請參閱網站以取得本次電話會議中提及的投影片，包括非 GAAP 調整表。我們為調整後的折舊和攤銷前營業收入或債務以及調整後的利息稅、折舊和攤銷前利潤或 EBITDA 提供指導，以突出 UScellular 無線合作夥伴關係的貢獻。

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

如第二面所示，簡報中提出的資訊以及本次電話會議期間討論的資訊包含有關預期未來事件和財務業績的陳述，這些陳述是前瞻性的，並受到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以及我們向 SEC 提交的文件中包含的擴展版本。

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

現在，我將把電話轉給 Vicki Vilacrez。維姬？

Okay. Thank you, Colleen and good morning everyone. Before we begin, I do want to acknowledge the devastating impact of the recent hurricanes and the fires that swept through Ruidosa, New Mexico. Our hearts go out to all who are affected and suffered loss and I want to thank our teams especially who came together to offer support and assistance in all our affected communities when our customers and our communities needed us most. Thank you.

好的。謝謝你，科琳，大家早安。在我們開始之前，我確實想承認最近席捲新墨西哥州魯伊多薩的颶風和火災造成的毀滅性影響。我們的心與所有受影響和遭受損失的人同在，我要感謝我們的團隊，特別是在我們的客戶和社區最需要我們的時候，他們齊心協力為所有受影響的社區提供支持和幫助。謝謝。

As I turn to the results, I want to highlight that we had another quarter of execution on the priorities that we set out during the year. As LT will cover in more detail. UScellular has made nice progress on monetizing portions of the spectrum that were not included in the proposed transaction with T mobile. These transactions really highlight the significant value and demand for these licenses.

在談到結果時，我想強調的是，我們在今年制定的優先事項上又執行了一個季度。 LT 將更詳細地介紹。 UScellular 在將未包含在與 T mobile 擬議交易中的部分頻譜貨幣化方面取得了良好進展。這些交易確實凸顯了這些許可證的重要價值和需求。

We have looked across our enterprise entering into several other transactions that will help to focus our resources and further optimize our footprint. First, the sale of our OneNeck IT solutions closed in early September. The sale of OneNeck is accretive to free cash flow. We also reached agreements on divestitures of certain non strategic assets at TDS Telecom expected to close later this year.

我們已經在整個企業範圍內進行了幾項其他交易，這些交易將有助於集中我們的資源並進一步優化我們的足跡。首先，我們的 OneNeck IT 解決方案的銷售已於 9 月初結束。 OneNeck 的出售增加了自由現金流。我們也就剝離 TDS Telecom 的某些非戰略資產達成了協議，預計將於今年稍後完成。

Turning to results. I am pleased with our third quarter performance. Both business units are focused on meeting their financial objectives resulting in UScellular increasing its profitability outlook for adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA and TDS Telecom reaffirming its guidance.

轉向結果。我對我們第三季的業績感到滿意。兩個業務部門都專注於實現其財務目標，導致 UScellular 提高了調整後 EBITDA 的獲利前景，而 TDS Telecom 則重申了其指導方針。

We ended the quarter in a solid cash and liquidity position. Sequentially each quarter, our debt to EBITDA ratios have improved throughout 2024. Both businesses are continuing to generate positive free cash flow while continuing to invest in their networks.

本季結束時，我們的現金和流動性狀況良好。在整個 2024 年，我們的債務與 EBITDA 比率每季都有所改善。

We were pleased to see the fed cut interest rates in mid September as this drives modestly lower interest cost for us will continue to manage our balance sheet through a combination of primarily long dated debt maturities issued at historically low interest rates.

我們很高興看到聯準會在 9 月中旬降息，因為這會小幅降低利息成本，我們將繼續透過以歷史低利率發行的長期債務組合來管理我們的資產負債表。

We continue to maintain reasonable leverage and sufficient liquidity, all of which provides flexibility as we go into the fourth quarter and look forward to execute on our operational objectives of longer term strategic goals.

我們繼續保持合理的槓桿率和充足的流動性，所有這些都為我們進入第四季度提供了靈活性，並期待執行我們的長期策略目標的營運目標。

Before turning the call over, we recently announced that Michelle Brukwicki will be leaving TDS in December after 17 years with the enterprise. On behalf of the organization, I want to thank her for her leadership and wish her well in her next endeavors.

在轉交電話之前，我們最近宣布 Michelle Brukwicki 將於 12 月離開 TDS，此前她已在 TDS 工作了 17 年。我謹代表該組織感謝她的領導，並祝福她在接下來的工作中一切順利。

With Michelle's upcoming departure. Kris Bothfeld, who is currently TDS Telecom's Vice President, Financial Analysis and Strategic Planning will be stepping into the role of Vice President of Finance and CFO at TDS telecom. Michelle and Kris will be transitioning over the next month.

隨著米歇爾即將離開。現任 TDS Telecom 財務分析與策略規劃副總裁的 Kris Bothfeld 將接任 TDS Telecom 財務副總裁兼財務長。米歇爾和克里斯將在下個月進行過渡。

I'd also like to thank all of our associates for their hard work in these dynamic times and now L Theri, I'll turn it over to you.

我還要感謝我們所有的同事在這個充滿活力的時代所做的辛勤工作，現在 L Theri，我將把它交給你。

Thanks Vicki. Good morning everyone. I want to briefly echo Vicki sentiments regarding hurricane Helene. And I also want to pass along my sincere thanks to our network and operations teams that have worked tirelessly to restore our network and support our customers. Our operations have recovered, but it's going to take a long time for that area to fully recover and everyone that's affected is certainly in our thoughts.

謝謝維琪。大家早安。我想簡單地回應維琪對颶風海倫的看法。我也要向我們的網路和營運團隊致以誠摯的謝意，他們為恢復我們的網路並為客戶提供支援而不懈努力。我們的業務已經恢復，但該地區需要很長時間才能完全恢復，我們肯定會想到所有受影響的人。

With that, let's pivot to the materials. I'm going to take us to page 5 and that covers some recent highlights. First following our announcement back in May, the process to sell our wireless operations and select spectrum at T Mobile is proceeding as expected. As you may have seen, we filed our public interest statement with the SEC in September and we believe we're on track for a mid 2025 closing.

有了這個，讓我們轉向材料。我將帶我們進入第 5 頁，其中涵蓋了一些最近的亮點。首先，繼我們於 5 月宣布之後，出售我們的無線業務並選擇 T Mobile 頻譜的流程正在按預期進行。正如您可能已經看到的，我們在 9 月向 SEC 提交了公共利益聲明，我們相信我們預計在 2025 年中期完成交易。

We remain confident that the transaction with T Mobile is the best long term solution for our customers as it gives them the long term benefits of greater scale and a more competitive network. The T Mobile transaction will also provide us with an additional long term tower tenant and a strengthened tower business.

我們仍然相信，與 T Mobile 的交易對我們的客戶來說是最佳的長期解決方案，因為它為他們帶來了更大規模和更具競爭力的網路的長期利益。 T Mobile 交易還將為我們提供額外的長期鐵塔租戶並加強鐵塔業務。

If you recall, we began reporting separate wireless and tower segment information last quarter and we plan to continue to provide this detail going forward up to the expected close of the T mobile transaction. Also, as we talked about in our May announcement after the proposed T mobile transaction, we'll be left with approximately 70% of our spectrum.

如果您還記得的話，我們從上個季度開始報告單獨的無線和塔式細分市場信息，並且我們計劃在 T mobile 交易預計完成之前繼續提供此詳細信息。此外，正如我們在 5 月的公告中所談到的，在擬議的 T mobile 交易之後，我們將剩下大約 70% 的頻譜。

We've been running a process to opportunistically monetize that spectrum in an October, we entered into agreements with multiple carriers to sell certain portions of those retained licenses in exchange for aggregate proceeds of over $1 billion.

我們一直在運行一個程序，以機會主義方式將該頻譜貨幣化，在10 月份，我們與多家運營商簽訂了協議，出售這些保留的許可證的某些部分，以換取超過10 億美元的總收益。

Slide 6 shows our progress on the monetization and includes the sale of our 850 megahertz spectrum and a portion of our AWS and PCS spectrum to Verizon, as well as the sale of small portions of our CBRS, C-band and 700 megahertz spectrum to two other smaller network mobile operators.

幻燈片 6 顯示了我們在貨幣化方面的進展，包括將我們的 850 兆赫頻譜以及部分 AWS 和 PCS 頻譜出售給 Verizon，以及將我們的一小部分 CBRS、C 頻段和 700 兆赫頻譜出售給兩家公司其他規模較小的網路行動營運商。

These license sale transactions are subject to regulatory approval and they're also contingent on the close of our proposed transaction with T Mobile.

這些許可證銷售交易需要監管部門的批准，也取決於我們與 T Mobile 擬議交易的完成情況。

We're really pleased that we worked with multiple buyers large and small and that we were able to enter into agreements to realize substantial value for these licenses. And that was well in excess of our book value.

我們非常高興與多個大大小小的買家合作，並且我們能夠簽訂協議以實現這些許可證的巨大價值。這遠遠超過了我們的帳面價值。

Doug will be providing more details on the expected gain and the tax impacts associated with these license transactions.

道格將提供有關這些許可交易相關的預期收益和稅收影響的更多詳細資訊。

Now we continue to work on opportunities for monetization of the remaining spectrum. But as this is an ongoing process, I won't be able to share any additional details today, but I will provide more updates as they become available. I'll talk about the quarter.

現在，我們繼續致力於剩餘頻譜的貨幣化機會。但由於這是一個持續的過程，我今天無法分享任何其他詳細信息，但我將在可用時提供更多更新。我會談談本季的情況。

The team remains highly focused on balancing improving subscriber momentum with delivering strong operational and financial performance. And you can see that in our results. As discussed last quarter, earlier this year, we made promotional changes that have improved our subscriber trajectory while executing cost reduction initiatives that have enabled us to maintain strong profitability.

該團隊仍然高度關注在提高用戶動力與提供強勁的營運和財務表現之間取得平衡。您可以在我們的結果中看到這一點。正如今年早些時候上季度所討論的，我們進行了促銷調整，改善了我們的訂戶軌跡，同時執行了成本削減計劃，使我們能夠保持強勁的盈利能力。

We've continued to see the momentum from these changes in the third quarter and we improved retail net losses by 20,000 subscribers year over year. In addition, we've been committed to caring for our existing customers and that includes conducting Us Days multiple times throughout 2024 and as a reminder, Us Days or periods where highly attractive promotional offers are made available to our existing customers.

第三季我們繼續看到這些變化帶來的勢頭，我們的零售淨虧損比去年同期減少了 20,000 名訂戶。此外，我們一直致力於關心我們的現有客戶，其中包括在 2024 年多次舉辦美國日，並提醒我們，在美國日或向我們現有客戶提供極具吸引力的促銷優惠的時期。

We believe this focus on our existing customers through Us Days and through other promotional investments has contributed to improved post pay handset churn for each of the first three quarters of 2024.

我們相信，透過美國日和其他促銷投資對現有客戶的關注有助於改善 2024 年前三個季度的後付費手機流失率。

We plan on continuing to reward our existing customers through Us Days other promotional offers in the fourth quarter and for the industry as a whole, while the pool of available subscribers was down again in the quarter on a year over year basis, our share of our share of gross ads increased and that allowed us to keep postpaid handset gross ads flat.

我們計劃在第四季度和整個行業繼續透過「美國日」其他促銷優惠來獎勵我們的現有客戶，儘管本季度可用訂閱者數量同比再次下降，但我們在訂閱者中所佔的份額廣告總額的份額增加，這使我們能夠保持後付費手機廣告總額的持平。

And this is particularly noteworthy in the context of our deal announcement, postpaid handset net losses improved by 10,000 year over year due to an improvement in churn again, partially attributable to our focus on rewarding our existing customers with attractive promotions and continuing to deliver a strong network experience.

在我們宣布交易的背景下，這一點尤其值得注意，由於客戶流失率再次改善，後付費手機淨虧損同比減少了10,000 部，部分原因是我們專注於透過有吸引力的促銷活動來獎勵現有客戶，並持續提供強勁的銷售業績。

We've also seen nice improvement in prepaid due to our competitive pricing and promotional strategies including our compelling multi line pricing which began in May of this year. And I'm really pleased with our improved subscriber momentum particularly given that we've seen no let up in competitive intensity and that's from either the large mobile network operators or the cable wireless players.

由於我們具有競爭力的定價和促銷策略，包括今年 5 月開始的引人注目的多線定價，我們也看到預付費方面有了很大的改善。我對我們用戶成長動能的改善感到非常滿意，特別是考慮到我們看到來自大型行動網路營運商或有線無線營運商的競爭強度沒有減弱。

Our postpaid ARPU also increased 2% partially due to customers realizing the value of our higher tier plans. We had 54% of our postpaid handset customers on the top two tier plans compared to 46% a year ago.

我們的後付費 ARPU 也成長了 2%，部分原因是客戶意識到我們更高層級方案的價值。我們有 54% 的後付費手機客戶選擇了頂級兩級套餐，而一年前這一比例為 46%。

And given the cost pressures associated with those continued promotional investments as well as inflation and the ongoing deployment of 5G, the teams have been doing an excellent job managing costs with expenses down year over year in all major categories.

考慮到與持續促銷投資以及通貨膨脹和 5G 持續部署相關的成本壓力，團隊在成本管理方面表現出色，所有主要類別的費用均逐年下降。

And I'm really proud of our efforts to balance subscriber growth with financial discipline and that's enabled us to raise our full year profitability guidance this quarter.

我對我們在用戶成長與財務紀律之間取得平衡的努力感到非常自豪，這使我們能夠提高本季的全年獲利指引。

Turning to the network, we currently have over 80% of our data traffic already handled by sites that have been upgraded with low band 5G and that provides strong five G coverage in our footprint.

談到網絡，我們目前超過 80% 的資料流量已由已升級為低頻段 5G 的網站處理，並在我們的足跡中提供強大的 5G 覆蓋範圍。

And so consistent with our 5G network investments in 2024, future 5G network investments will predominantly be dedicated to the deployment of mid band spectrum and that's going to enhance 5G speed and capacity.

因此，與我們 2024 年 5G 網路投資一致，未來 5G 網路投資將主要致力於中頻段頻譜的部署，這將提高 5G 速度和容量。

And we noted previously that we expected capital expenditures for the full year to trend toward the lower end of our guidance range and this quarter, we lowered our capital guidance to reflect that.

我們先前指出，我們預計全年的資本支出將趨向我們指導範圍的下限，本季我們降低了資本指引以反映這一點。

Before I turn the call over to Doug, I want to congratulate the team for UScellular being ranked number one in the North central region JD Power study reinforcing that our ongoing 5G network investments are resulting in a strong customer experience.

在將電話轉接給 Doug 之前，我要祝賀 UScellular 團隊在中北部地區 JD Power 研究中排名第一，這進一步證明我們正在進行的 5G 網路投資正在帶來強大的客戶體驗。

And as all these results demonstrate, we're executing on the strategic initiatives that we've laid out for the business earlier this year. And I believe we're well positioned heading into the busy holiday season.

正如所有這些結果所表明的那樣，我們正在執行今年稍早為業務制定的策略性舉措。我相信我們已經做好了進入繁忙假期的準備。

I want to thank the team for their hard work and I'll now turn the call over to Doug.

我要感謝團隊的辛勤工作，現在我將把電話轉給 Doug。

Thanks LT, good morning. Before discussing quarterly results. I want to provide some additional details on the proposed license sales transaction that LT previously highlighted and some broader impacts to our license portfolio. Subject to closing the pending T mobile transaction and regulatory approvals of the license transactions, we expect proceeds of just over $1.0 billion on the license sale transactions announcement in October and highlighted on slide 6.

謝謝LT，早安。在討論季度業績之前。我想提供一些關於 LT 之前強調的擬議許可銷售交易的更多細節，以及對我們的許可組合的一些更廣泛的影響。在完成懸而未決的 T mobile 交易和監管部門對許可交易的批准後，我們預計 10 月許可銷售交易公告的收益將略高於 10 億美元，如幻燈片 6 所示。

These licenses have a net book value of approximately $590 million and after transaction fees and transaction accounting adjustments, we expect to recognize a gain on the license sales upon the respective close dates.

這些許可證的帳面淨值約為 5.9 億美元，在扣除交易費用和交易會計調整後，我們預計將在各自的截止日期確認許可證銷售收益。

Further, we expect total cash taxes related to these recently announced spectrum transit transactions to be in the range of $200 million to $250 million for UScellular and $150 million to $200 million for TDS. This is in addition to estimated cash taxes on the pending T mobile transaction, which we expect to be in the range of $225 million to $325 million for UScellular and $150 million to $250 million for TDS.

此外，我們預計與這些最近宣布的頻譜傳輸交易相關的現金稅總額將為 UScellular 2 億至 2.5 億美元，TDS 為 1.5 億至 2 億美元。這還不包括待定 T mobile 交易的預期現金稅，我們預計 UScellular 的現金稅為 2.25 億至 3.25 億美元，TDS 的現金稅為 1.5 億至 2.5 億美元。

Additionally, as a result of our efforts to monetize spectro assets, not subject to the securities purchase agreement with T Mobile, UScellular was required to review and update the groupings of licenses or units of accounting for purposes of impairment testing.

此外，由於我們努力將頻譜資產貨幣化，因此不受與 T Mobile 的證券購買協議的約束，UScellular 需要審查和更新許可證分組或會計單位以進行減損測試。

As a result of this review, our millimeter wave licenses in the 28 gigahertz, 37 gigahertz and 39 gigahertz bands were identified as a separate unit of accounting. Due in part to industry wide challenges related to operationalizing this millimeter spectrum, UScellular estimated the fair value of these licenses to be less than the corresponding carrying value. And this was the primary driver of UScellular recording a loss on impairment of licenses of $136 million or $102 million net of tax in the third quarter of 2024.

根據本次審查，我們的 28 GHz、37 GHz 和 39 GHz 頻段的毫米波授權被確定為單獨的核算單位。部分由於與營運該毫米頻譜相關的行業廣泛挑戰，UScellular 估計這些許可證的公允價值低於相應的帳面價值。這是 UScellular 在 2024 年第三季錄得 1.36 億美元牌照減損損失（稅後淨額 1.02 億美元）的主要原因。

After recognition of the loss on impairment of licenses, the carrying value of our millimeter wave spectrum not subject to the T mobile transaction is $161 million.

確認牌照減損損失後，不受 T mobile 交易影響的毫米波頻譜的帳面價值為 1.61 億美元。

Now let's review the financial results starting on slide 10. Service revenues declined 2% driven by declines in the average subscriber base partially offset by a higher post pay ARPU as LT discussed previously, system operations expense decreased 2% as cost optimization actions including the shutdown of our CDMA network in the first quarter of 2024 more than offset increases that resulted from our ongoing mid band 5G deployment.

現在讓我們回顧一下從幻燈片10 開始的財務表現。是包括關閉在內的成本優化措施2024 年第一季我們的 CDMA 網路的容量超過了我們正在進行的中頻 5G 部署帶來的成長。

Further, selling, general and administrative expenses decreased 3%. And excluding the impact of strategic alternative expenses included in this expense category, decreased 5% due to decreases in sales related expenses, bad debt expense as well as decreases across various other general and administrative categories due to cost optimization initiatives. This led to an improvement in adjusted operating income before depreciation and amortization of 1% and an improvement in adjusted EBITDA which incorporates the earnings from our equity method investments along with interest and dividend income of 3%.

此外，銷售、一般及管理費用下降了 3%。排除該費用類別中包含的策略替代費用的影響，由於銷售相關費用、壞帳費用的減少以及由於成本優化措施而導致其他各種一般和行政類別的減少，該費用下降了 5%。這使得調整後的折舊和攤銷前營業收入提高了 1%，調整後的 EBITDA 也提高了 3%，其中調整後的 EBITDA 包括權益法投資收益以及利息和股息收入。

Slides 11 and 12 present the separate results for the wireless and power segments. How are revenue from third parties increased 1% in the third quarter as colocation growth has slowed relative to recent years and was also impacted by defections including sprint related defections.

幻燈片 11 和 12 分別展示了無線和電源部分的結果。第三季來自第三方的營收成長了 1%，原因是託管成長相對近年來有所放緩，並且還受到包括 sprint 相關的流失在內的流失的影響。

As we have discussed on prior calls, the wireless industry has moderated capital expenditures beginning in 2023 and we experienced a corresponding slowdown in new tenant and amendment activity which is impacting tower revenue growth rates in 2024.

正如我們在之前的電話會議中討論的那樣，無線行業從 2023 年開始已經放緩了資本支出，新租戶和修改活動也相應放緩，這影響了 2024 年鐵塔收入增長率。

Again, we remain bullish on the long term outlook for our tower business and the long term capacity needs of the industry that will drive demand for towers. Further the pending transaction with T Mobile which is subject to regulatory approval and their commitment to these 2015 incremental towers for an initial term of 15 years is expected to significantly increase third party tower revenues.

再次，我們仍然看好我們塔架業務的長期前景以及行業的長期產能需求，這將推動對塔架的需求。此外，與 T Mobile 的待決交易尚待監管部門批准，而且他們對這些 2015 年增量塔的承諾，初始期限為 15 年，預計將顯著增加第三方塔收入。

Briefly on free cash flow on a year-to-date basis through September 30, due to improved profitability and moderated capital expenditures, we generated free cash flow of $331 million a $94 million increase over the prior year. This has allowed us to repay $163 million of debt in the first nine months of 2024 and an additional $40 million of debt in October which has further improved our leverage ratios.

簡要介紹截至 9 月 30 日的年初至今的自由現金流，由於盈利能力提高和資本支出減少，我們產生了 3.31 億美元的自由現金流，比上一年增加了 9400 萬美元。這使我們能夠在 2024 年前 9 個月償還 1.63 億美元的債務，並在 10 月額外償還 4,000 萬美元的債務，這進一步提高了我們的槓桿率。

Our 2024 financial guidance is on slide 13 given this late stage of the year relative to the guidance we initially issued in February 2024, we are narrowing the ranges of our guidance for service revenues to $2.95 billion to $3.0 billion and capital expenditures from $550 million to $600 million.

我們的2024 年財務指引位於投影片13 上，考慮到相對於我們最初於2024 年2 月發布的指引，已進入今年後期，我們將服務收入指引範圍縮小至29.5 億美元至30 億美元，資本支出指引範圍從5.5 億美元至5.5 億美元。

Further, we are narrowing and raising the ranges of our guidance for adjusted income before depreciation and amortization to $800 million to $875 million and adjusted EBITDA to $970 million to $1.045 billion, reflecting the successful cost management results that we expect to achieve in the full year 2024. I will now turn the call over to Michelle Brukwicki.

此外，我們還將調整後的折舊和攤銷前收入指引範圍縮小並提高至8 億美元至8.75 億美元，調整後的EBITDA 至9.7 億美元至10.45 億美元，反映了我們預計全年將取得的成功的成本管理成果2024 年。

Thank you Doug and good morning everyone. Let's turn to slide 15 for our third quarter highlights. This quarter, we reached an important milestone in that 50% of our service addresses are now served by fiber. We continue to grow our footprint, expanding service addresses 9% year over year, the team delivered 32,000 new marketable fiber addresses in the quarter, bringing our year-to-date total to 87,000 making progress on our 125,000 marketable fiber service address goal for the year.

謝謝道格，大家早安。讓我們轉向幻燈片 15，了解第三季的亮點。本季度，我們實現了一個重要的里程碑，50% 的服務地址現在由光纖提供服務。我們繼續擴大我們的足跡，服務地址同比增長9%，該團隊在本季度交付了32,000 個新的可銷售光纖地址，使我們年初至今的總數達到87,000 個，在實現125,000 個可銷售光纖服務地址的目標方面取得了進展。

Our fiber broadband strategy is continuing to deliver good results contributing to a 2% increase in total operating revenue and a 21% increase in adjusted EBITDA for the quarter.

我們的光纖寬頻策略持續取得良好成果，本季總營業收入成長 2%，調整後 EBITDA 成長 21%。

We also grew total residential broadband connections 4% year over year. Our fiber strategy is extremely important. Fiber in our expansion and incumbent markets is providing growth, helping to overcome industry wide competitive pressures facing our copper and cable markets.

我們的住宅寬頻連線總數也較去年同期增加了 4%。我們的纖維戰略極為重要。光纖在我們的擴張和現有市場中提供了成長，有助於克服我們的銅纜和電纜市場面臨的全行業競爭壓力。

Moving to 16, you can see where we are on our longer term scorecard. We are targeting $1.2 million marketable fiber service addresses. We ended the quarter with 886,000, this reflects progress in growing fiber through our expansion markets as well as fibering up our incumbent market.

轉到 16，您可以看到我們在長期記分卡上的位置。我們的目標是 120 萬美元的可銷售光纖服務地址。本季結束時，我們的產量為 886,000 根，這反映了我們透過擴張市場以及增強現有市場在纖維成長方面的進展。

We are also targeting 60% of our total service addresses to be served by fiber. We ended the quarter with 50% and finally, we are expecting to offer speeds of one gig or higher to at least 80% of our footprint. We finished the quarter with 74% at gig speeds.

我們也計劃將 60% 的服務地址由光纖提供服務。本季結束時，我們的利用率為 50%，最後，我們預計至少 80% 的足跡能夠提供一次或更高的速度。本季結束時，我們的演出速度為 74%。

These goals do not include fiber deployments that will be completed through the enhanced A-CAM program. Therefore, these goals will increase once we add in E-CAM fiber addresses, we're working closely with the FCC to finalize our precise service address obligations. Our original offer required building to approximately 270,000 addresses. But we expect the final obligation to be lower. We will provide updated goals when we have more certainty on the final address reconciliation.

這些目標不包括將透過增強型 A-CAM 計畫完成的光纖部署。因此，一旦我們添加 E-CAM 光纖位址，這些目標就會增加，我們正在與 FCC 密切合作，以最終確定我們的精確服務地址義務。我們最初的報價需要建立大約 270,000 個地址。但我們預計最終義務會較低。當我們對最終地址調節有更多確定性時，我們將提供更新的目標。

On slide 17, you can see we are growing our footprint with a 9% increase in total service addresses year over year. As shown on the right side of the slide, we see increased demand for higher broadband speeds with 79% of our customers taking 100 megabits per second or greater up from 75% a year ago.

在投影片 17 上，您可以看到我們的足跡不斷擴大，服務地址總數年增了 9%。如投影片右側所示，我們看到對更高寬頻速度的需求不斷增加，79% 的客戶每秒使用 100 兆位元或更高速度，而一年前這一比例為 75%。

We continue to increase the availability of gig plus speeds and customer take rates of these speeds are growing with 20% of our customer base on 1 gig or higher at the end of the quarter. Turning to slide 18, we had 2,700 residential broadband net ads in the quarter which contributed to 4% growth in residential broadband connections year over year. As we deliver new fiber service addresses, our teams are marketing and selling into those addresses.

我們持續增加演出加速度的可用性，這些速度的客戶使用率正在成長，截至本季末，我們的客戶群中有 20% 使用 1 演出或更高速度。轉向投影片 18，本季我們有 2,700 個住宅寬頻網路廣告，推動住宅寬頻連線年增 4%。當我們提供新的光纖服務地址時，我們的團隊正在行銷和銷售這些地址。

This quarter, we added 7,600 residential broadband net ads in our expansion markets. While this is providing growth, the pace of net ads has been slower than expected. We remain focused on driving up penetrations in our new expansion markets. Specifically, we've been working to increase the number of door to door sales reps including augmenting our internal staff with external resources, leading indicators are showing improvement in our sales.

本季度，我們在擴展市場中添加了 7,600 個住宅寬頻網路廣告。雖然這帶來了成長，但網路廣告的步伐卻慢於預期。我們仍專注於提高新擴張市場的滲透率。具體來說，我們一直在努力增加上門銷售代表的數量，包括利用外部資源來增加我們的內部員工，領先指標顯示我們的銷售有所改善。

Looking at the big picture, we are confident in the fundamentals of our fiber program and still targeting approximately 40% broadband penetration once markets hit a steady state.

從大局來看，我們對光纖計畫的基本面充滿信心，一旦市場達到穩定狀態，我們仍將寬頻普及率目標定為約 40%。

In addition, these markets are operating efficiently and contributing to both revenue and adjusted EBITDA growth. Our expansion markets are more cost effective than our business case is expected. And we're seeing that fiber markets are the most efficient networks to run.

此外，這些市場運作高效，對收入和調整後 EBITDA 成長做出了貢獻。我們的擴張市場比我們的業務案例預期更具成本效益。我們發現光纖市場是運作效率最高的網路。

Now, moving on to our incumbent ILEC markets. Where we have upgraded our network from copper to fiber, we've been able to effectively defend and compete. We had positive fiber broadband net ads in the quarter which did not fully offset net losses in our copper areas.

現在，轉向我們現有的 ILEC 市場。當我們將網路從銅纜升級到光纖時，我們已經能夠有效地進行防禦和競爭。本季我們有正面的光纖寬頻網路廣告，但這並沒有完全抵銷我們銅纜區域的淨虧損。

With support from the enhanced A-CAM program, we will get even more fiber into our ILEC over the next few years, which will help us defend these markets in our cable markets. Consistent with the industry, we experienced net broadband losses primarily due to lex upgrading and fiber overbuilder increasing their presence in our markets. To mitigate these impacts, we continue to promote our strong product capable of delivering gig speeds using Doxa 3.1.

在增強型 A-CAM 計劃的支持下，我們將在未來幾年內將更多光纖引入我們的 ILEC，這將有助於我們捍衛這些電纜市場的市場。與業界一致，我們經歷了寬頻淨損失，主要是由於 lex 升級和光纖過度建設增加了它們在我們市場中的影響力。為了減輕這些影響，我們繼續推廣能夠使用 Doxa 3.1 提供演出速度的強大產品。

We also strategically overbuild our networks with fiber in certain areas and we put fiber in all new Greenfield builds. In addition, we implement strategies to attract and save customers to mitigate market specific competitive challenges.

我們也在某些地區策略性地使用光纖過度建造我們的網絡，並且我們在所有新的新建專案中都安裝了光纖。此外，我們也實施吸引和挽救客戶的策略，以緩解市場特定的競爭挑戰。

Now, a couple more comments on that ads. We continued to see impacts from two discrete items that we also mentioned in the second quarter. First, we experienced additional ACP disconnects this quarter 600 in ILEC and 500 in cable. Second, we had an additional 1,000 cable net losses this quarter due to the wildfire in Ruidoso, New Mexico that occurred in June.

現在，關於該廣告的更多評論。我們繼續看到我們在第二季度提到的兩個離散項目的影響。首先，本季我們在 ILEC 中經歷了 600 次 ACP 斷線，在電纜中經歷了 500 次斷線。其次，由於 6 月發生的新墨西哥州魯伊多索山火，本季我們的電纜網損失增加了 1,000 個。

Now turning to the middle graph, average residential revenue per connection increased 5%. This was due primarily to price increases. With increases in broadband connections and revenue per user, we saw 5% growth in residential revenues. Specifically expansion markets delivered $29 million of residential revenues in the quarter compared to $20 million a year ago.

現在轉向中間的圖表，每次連接的平均住宅收入增加了 5%。這主要是由於價格上漲。隨著寬頻連線和每用戶收入的增加，我們看到住宅收入增加了 5%。具體來說，擴張市場在本季帶來了 2,900 萬美元的住宅收入，而去年同期為 2,000 萬美元。

As expected commercial revenues decreased 4% in the quarter as we continued to decommission our CLEK markets. Lastly, wholesale revenues decrease 3% as customers migrate to lower cost products.

正如預期的那樣，隨著我們繼續停用 CLEK 市場，本季商業收入下降了 4%。最後，隨著客戶轉向成本較低的產品，批發收入下降了 3%。

On slide 19, you can see our quarterly performance. Operating revenues were up 2% in the quarter as the growth in residential revenues was partially offset by the decline in commercial and wholesale revenues. As our fiber connections and revenues grow coupled with a 4% decrease in cash expenses for the quarter, we are seeing nice growth in adjusted EBITDA up 21%. Capital expenditures were $78 million in the quarter down 55% from last year as planned.

在投影片 19 上，您可以看到我們的季度業績。本季營業收入成長 2%，住宅收入的成長部分被商業和批發收入的下降所抵消。隨著我們的光纖連接和收入的成長，加上本季現金支出減少 4%，我們看到調整後 EBITDA 成長了 21%。本季資本支出為 7,800 萬美元，按計畫比去年下降 55%。

Slide 20 shows our 2024 guidance which is unchanged from last quarter. In closing, I want to thank all of the TDS Telecom associates for their energy and passion as they care for our customers and communities.

幻燈片 20 顯示了我們的 2024 年指導，與上季度相比沒有變化。最後，我要感謝所有 TDS Telecom 員工在關心我們的客戶和社區時所展現的精力和熱情。

As Vicki mentioned, this is my last earnings call at TDS. It has been my privilege to work with so many talented people during my time here. Thank you all. I'm proud of what we have accomplished and I believe TDS Telecom has a bright future and is in good hands with Kris Bothfeld, as CFO.

正如 Vicki 所提到的，這是我在 TDS 的最後一次財報電話會議。我很榮幸能夠在任職期間與這麼多才華橫溢的人一起工作。謝謝大家。我對我們所取得的成就感到自豪，我相信 TDS Telecom 擁有光明的未來，並且在財務長 Kris Bothfeld 的精心管理下。

I will now turn the call back over to Colleen.

我現在將把電話轉回給科琳。

Okay, operator, we are now ready for the first question.

好的，接線員，我們現在準備好回答第一個問題。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員說明）

Rick Prentiss, Raymond James.

瑞克普倫蒂斯，雷蒙德詹姆斯。

Thanks. Good morning, everybody.

謝謝。大家早安。

Good morning Ric.

早上好，里克。

A couple questions. Thanks for the color on some of the tax, cash taxes impacts. Wanted to probe a little further on the T mobile sale and the Verizon Spectrum sale. Are those fully using the net of NOLs and other tax shields or is that kind of the gross liabilities that you might be applying more shields to them?

有幾個問題。感謝您對一些稅收、現金稅影響的描述。想進一步探討 T 行動銷售和 Verizon Spectrum 銷售。那些人是否完全使用了 NOL 和其他稅盾的淨額，或者是您可能對他們應用更多盾牌的總負債？

Yes, Ric, Doug here. On that question, that is net of what we expect to use for both NOLs and for interest carryforward. And that's the reason why the TDS cash taxes are estimated to be lower because they have more of those attributes, NOLs and interest carryforwards than UScellular does.

是的，瑞克、道格在這裡。在這個問題上，這還不包括我們預期用於 NOL 和利息結轉的淨值。這就是為什麼 TDS 現金稅估計較低的原因，因為它們比 UScellular 具有更多的這些屬性、NOL 和利息結轉。

Makes sense. And on the Verizon spectrum sale, you mentioned that there also be some fees and other items. For the non cash tax items, is it probably a couple percent that we're thinking that would be the fee related items. So we take the bill a couple percent for fees, et cetera and then the $200 to $250 million cash taxes, is that the way broadly to think about it?

有道理。關於 Verizon 頻譜銷售，您提到還有一些費用和其他項目。對於非現金稅項目，我們認為可能是與費用相關的項目的百分之幾。因此，我們將帳單中的百分之幾用於費用等，然後收取 200 至 2.5 億美元的現金稅，這是廣泛考慮的方式嗎？

Yeah. Well, there's two things to think about the game. One is transaction fees. And the other thing that we have to account for is there is a lease of the spectrum that we offered a Verizon before the regulatory close of the Verizon deal. For accounting purposes, we need to ascribe value to that piece and that's also going to impact the eventual gain that we recognize upon close of that transaction.

是的。嗯，關於這款遊戲，有兩件事需要考慮。一是交易費用。我們必須考慮的另一件事是，在 Verizon 交易監管結束之前，我們向 Verizon 提供了頻譜租賃。出於會計目的，我們需要賦予該部分價值，這也會影響我們在交易結束時確認的最終收益。

Okay. That makes sense. And so the lease before closing, is that implying that the T-Mobile deal closes, but then you can't free up the spectrum immediately?

好的。這是有道理的。因此，成交前的租約是否意味著 T-Mobile 交易已完成，但您不能立即釋放頻譜？

Well, it implies that the T-Mobile deal may close and we may not yet have -- we may not have regulatory approval for the Verizon spectrum deal.

嗯，這意味著 T-Mobile 交易可能會完成，而我們可能還沒有——我們可能尚未獲得 Verizon 頻譜交易的監管批准。

Okay. Because I would assume there's going to be some integration time for T-Mobile to kind of migrate the customers off of the USM network over to the T-Mobile network. Is that like a year's time frame or something?

好的。因為我認為 T-Mobile 需要一些整合時間才能將客戶從 USM 網路遷移到 T-Mobile 網路。是不是一年的時間範圍之類的？

Correct. There is a spectrum lease for up to a year after the close of the T-Mobile deal, where T-Mobile may lease most of our spectrum for that period of time.

正確的。 T-Mobile 交易結束後，頻譜租賃期長達一年，T-Mobile 可能會在此期間租賃我們的大部分頻譜。

Makes sense. Okay. And then when you think about the spectrum sales of Verizon and the gain that, that would imply, obviously, philosophical, assuming things go through, what would -- the use of proceeds would be?

有道理。好的。然後，當你考慮 Verizon 的頻譜銷售和收益時，這顯然意味著哲​​學上的收益，假設事情順利進行，而收益的用途會是什麼？

Is that like a special dividend thought? And if it is special dividend thought, what are the thoughts of TDS? Is that to reduce leverage? Is that to start applying more CapEx? Just philosophically, knowing that we've got a lot of bridges to still cross.

這就像特別股息的想法嗎？如果是特別股息的想法，那麼TDS的想法是什麼？是為了降低槓桿嗎？這是為了開始應用更多的資本支出嗎？只是從哲學上來說，知道我們還有很多橋樑需要跨越。

Yeah. Good morning Ric. Obviously, first and foremost, right now, we're focused on getting these transactions closed. And I would like to say and repeat, we're very pleased with the value these transactions are unlocking for our shareholders. And so our top priority is to get to a successful close. When we get closer to that closing, I expect discussions on use of proceeds to begin. And any use of proceeds would be the decision of the UScellular Board of Directors.

是的。早上好，里克。顯然，首先也是最重要的是，我們現在的重點是完成這些交易。我想說並重複一遍，我們對這些交易為我們的股東帶來的價值感到非常高興。因此，我們的首要任務是圓滿結束。當我們接近完成時，我預計將開始討論收益的使用。所得款項的任何用途將由 UScellular 董事會決定。

If there is a special dividend and TDS got its share, it would be an opportunity for TDS to do a number of things that would include paying down -- the potential to pay down debt, improve leverage, healthy advancement and potential acceleration of the fiber deployment program that we have in place at TDS Telecom as we continue to be bullish on that and really pleased with the results that we're seeing across our markets as well as the expansion into new markets. And TDS may look at returning value to shareholders.

如果有特別股息並且 TDS 獲得了自己的份額，那麼 TDS 將有機會做很多事情，包括償還債務——償還債務的潛力、提高槓桿率、健康發展和光纖的潛在加速我們在TDS Telecom 實施的部署計劃，我們繼續看好這一點，並對我們在整個市場看到的結果以及向新市場的擴張感到非常滿意。 TDS 可能會考慮為股東回報價值。

So more to come. It's early. Again, our focus is on getting to close.

未來還會有更多。現在還早。同樣，我們的重點是接近目標。

Makes sense. One other more long-term question for LT on the wireless side. A lot of people, beginning of the year, were worried would there be a super cycle, was the iPhone refresh going to drive competitive changes on loss on equipment or what would happen in the switcher pool. How are you viewing AI broadly from a wireless operator standpoint of what it could help you do, but also what might do as far as on the handset side?

有道理。 LT 在無線方面面臨的另一個更長期的問題。今年年初，許多人擔心是否會出現超級週期，iPhone 的更新是否會導致設備損失等競爭變化，或者交換器池中會發生什麼。從無線營運商的角度來看，您如何看待人工智慧可以幫助您做什麼，以及它在手機方面可以做什麼？

Yeah, good morning, Ric. I guess I'll give you two viewpoints on it. Let me start with the handset side. Jury is still completely out, right? So we, like every other operator, actually saw a decline in upgrade rates. People are hanging on to their devices for longer.

是的，早上好，瑞克。我想我會給你兩個觀點。讓我從手機方面開始。陪審團還沒有完全定論，對吧？因此，與其他所有運營商一樣，我們實際上看到了升級率的下降。人們使用設備的時間越來越長。

And it's unclear to me if that is because their -- consumers still see relatively little differentiation between next generations of devices or if they're waiting for this most recent upgrade, in this case, from Apple, where some of the AI capabilities for the device are beginning to kind of become unveiled. And I just think it's too early to tell.

我不清楚這是否是因為他們的消費者仍然認為下一代設備之間的差異相對較小，或者他們是否正在等待最新的升級，在這種情況下，來自蘋果，其中一些人工智慧功能設備開始被揭開面紗。我只是認為現在下結論還為時過早。

We certainly have not seen a super cycle to date, but I think it's too early, right? This is -- a lot of the AI capabilities can now be delivered via software upgrades. So it's not going to require those customers who have already purchased the new device to go get a new one.

到目前為止，我們當然還沒有看到超級週期，但我認為現在還為時過早，對吧？這是——許多人工智慧功能現在可以透過軟體升級來提供。因此，它不會要求那些已經購買了新設備的客戶去購買新設備。

And so we'll see, right? I played around with some of the capabilities. They're pretty interesting. And I think that those -- and I think they'll mature over time. And so I think from a, let's call it, a consumer-facing standpoint, AI truly changing the customer experience, it hasn't yet, but it may. And I think it displays a lot of promise.

我們拭目以待吧？我嘗試了一些功能。他們很有趣。我認為這些——而且我認為它們會隨著時間的推移而成熟。因此，我認為，從面向消費者的角度來看，人工智慧真正改變了客戶體驗，目前還沒有，但可能會。我認為它顯示出很大的希望。

Where we are seeing impact is on the cost side of our operations. And so I see a lot of promise in AI, for example, in care, being able to provide a better customer experience in our care centers, not necessarily replacing humans, but providing them with better prompts, next best offers, here's what we suggest, here's how we propose you into that customer, here's how you can do it more effectively and more efficiently.

我們看到的影響是我們營運的成本方面。因此，我看到人工智慧有很多前景，例如在護理方面，能夠在我們的護理中心提供更好的客戶體驗，不一定取代人類，但為他們提供更好的提示、下一個最佳報價，這就是我們的建議，這是我們如何向該客戶推薦您的方式，這是您如何更有效、更有效率地做到這一點的方法。

One of the things we're seeing is it's taking us a lot less time to ramp up care associates because of some of these AI capabilities. And so that can help us from attrition, it can help us in training, it can help us be more efficient.

我們看到的一件事是，由於其中一些人工智慧功能，我們花在培養護理人員上的時間少了很多。這樣可以幫助我們避免人員流失，可以幫助我們訓練，可以幫助我們提高效率。

Over time, I expect that same level of efficiency to translate into our stores, into our digital experience. And so from a cost perspective, I do think we are already seeing a fair amount of benefit. And that's reflected, in some cases, in some of the year-over-year expense savings that we've seen.

隨著時間的推移，我希望同樣程度的效率能夠轉化為我們的商店和數位體驗。因此，從成本角度來看，我確實認為我們已經看到了相當多的好處。在某些情況下，這反映在我們所看到的一些同比費用節省中。

Some of the -- a lot of those expense savings are driven by our care team. They're doing a fantastic job managing expenses, and AI is helping there. So consumer side, jury is still out. I'm long-term bullish. Near-term operational efficiency, we're already seeing the benefits of it.

其中許多費用節省都是由我們的護理團隊推動的。他們在管理開支方面做得非常出色，人工智慧正在這方面提供幫助。因此，消費者方面，目前尚無定論。我長期看好。就近期營運效率而言，我們已經看到了它的好處。

Great. Thanks everybody.

偉大的。謝謝大家。

You bet.

你打賭。

Thanks Ric. Operator your next question.

謝謝里克。接線生回答您的下一個問題。

Sebastian Petti, JP Morgan.

塞巴斯蒂安‧佩蒂，摩根大通。

Hi, thank you for taking the question. Just a quick clarification, housekeeping here. In terms of -- in the TDS press release, I think you called out just agreements to sell ILEC and cable properties. Is that above and beyond what you've kind of already identified? Or is there anything else perhaps in process there?

您好，感謝您提出問題。只是快速澄清一下，這裡是客房服務。就 TDS 新聞稿而言，我認為您只是提出了出售 ILEC 和電纜資產的協議。這是否超出了您已經確定的範圍？或者還有其他事情正在進行中嗎？

In addition, I guess, LT, thinking about the RemainCo tower portfolio pro forma for all the different transactions out there, I mean, as you think about it, do you see USM as a net acquirer perhaps of towers or the tower portfolio expanding over time? Has that perhaps come to the operating business? Or is it more about increasing tenancies, preparing the business for further densification in some of the tailwinds that you'll see across the wireless ecosystem from there? Thanks.

此外，我想，LT，考慮到所有不同交易的RemainCo 塔式投資組合，我的意思是，正如您所思考的那樣，您是否認為USM 是塔式建築的淨收購者，或者塔式投資組合擴展到時間？這可能涉及到營運業務了嗎？或者更多的是增加租戶，為業務進一步密集化做好準備，以應對無線生態系統中的一些順風車？謝謝。

Thanks, Sebastiano. Michelle, do you want to tackle the first one?

謝謝，塞巴斯蒂亞諾。米歇爾，你想解決第一個問題嗎？

Yeah, hi Sebastiano. Yeah, the divestitures that Vicki mentioned, the nonstrategic ILEC and cable divestitures; are the same ones that we have disclosed over the last few months. We had a couple of small Virginia ILECs that we are divesting. We announced that in the second quarter. And we also announced in the third quarter the sale of our Texas cable property and those are the that Vicki was referring to. And those are the ones that we expect to close here very soon in the fourth quarter.

是的，嗨塞巴斯蒂亞諾。是的，Vicki 提到的資產剝離，非策略性的 ILEC 和有線電視資產剝離；與我們過去幾個月所揭露的內容相同。我們正在剝離幾個弗吉尼亞小型 ILEC。我們在第二季宣布了這一點。我們也在第三季宣佈出售我們德州的有線電視資產，這些就是維基所指的。這些是我們預計在第四季度很快完成的項目。

Let me tackle question number two. So let me talk a bit about kind of how we see our current tower portfolio. Job one is to improve colocation rates on the assets we have today. So one of the interesting things about our portfolio is that we only really started treating it as a revenue center, as a profit center a few years ago. And that's driven some increase in colocation rates over time.

讓我解決第二個問題。那麼讓我談談我們如何看待我們目前的塔式產品組合。第一項工作是提高我們現有資產的託管率。因此，我們的投資組合的一個有趣的事情是，我們幾年前才真正開始將其視為收入中心、利潤中心。隨著時間的推移，這推動了主機託管率的增加。

As Doug mentioned, we're in a bit of a slowdown right now in wireless industry, in terms of capital spending. And we've reduced our capital guidance. A lot of our competitors have as well. That reflects then in terms of new colocation opportunities, new amendment opportunities and so on onto our tower business. And so we have seen a slower rate of growth in the last year or two.

正如道格所提到的，就資本支出而言，我們無線產業目前正處於有點放緩的狀態。我們也降低了資本指導。我們的許多競爭對手也有。這反映了我們的塔業務的新託管機會、新修改機會等。因此，我們在過去一兩年看到成長速度放緩。

But long run, we're still very bullish because our colocation rates are considerably below a lot of our competitors. We think there's opportunity. The tower portfolio is geographically relatively unique. We have a small number of towers that are within a mile, within 1.5 miles within 3, 5 miles of our towers. And so over time, as carriers densify, we see an opportunity to increase those colocation rates, and that's job one.

但從長遠來看，我們仍然非常樂觀，因為我們的託管率遠低於許多競爭對手。我們認為有機會。該塔樓組合在地理上相對獨特。我們有一英里以內、1.5 英里以內、距離我們的塔 3、5 英里以內的少量塔樓。因此，隨著時間的推移，隨著營運商的密集化，我們看到了提高託管率的機會，而這就是首要任務。

A second question then when you think about our tower business, and I'm getting to your question of would we look at acquisition opportunities, is this business -- is this a business that operates at scale? And my perspective on the tower business is yes.

第二個問題是，當你考慮我們的塔式業務時，我正在回答你的問題，即我們是否會考慮收購機會，而這項業務是規模化運營的業務嗎？我對鐵塔業務的看法是肯定的。

One of the issues that we've had with the wireless business and why we -- no small reason why we pursued the transaction with T-Mobile is because we really struggled with the scale. Wireless is a national business. A lot of the spend is national, and we were disadvantaged against the larger players.

我們在無線業務方面遇到的問題之一以及我們尋求與 T-Mobile 交易的重要原因是我們確實在規模方面遇到了困難。無線是一項全國性的事業。大部分支出都是全國性的，我們在與規模較大的企業競爭時處於不利地位。

That's not the case in towers, right? Towers, you can operate much more locally on a much more granular level. And we do think that we are at a scale where we can operate our tower portfolio efficiently over time. And what that also then means is that if there is an opportunity, we can tuck other towers and other tower portfolios underneath that operating expense.

在塔樓中情況並非如此，對吧？透過塔樓，您可以在更細粒度的層級上進行更本地化的操作。我們確實認為，隨著時間的推移，我們的規模可以有效地運作我們的塔式投資組合。這也意味著，如果有機會，我們可以將其他塔樓和其他塔樓組合計入營運費用之下。

And so the long answer to your question is yes, but it's yes but. Yes, we would look at potential opportunities to expand that portfolio, whether it's organic, building new tower; or inorganic, acquiring portfolios. But valuations are pretty rich right now, right? You look at the latest transaction between Verizon and Vertical Bridge, Shentel sold their towers, and these are some pretty rich valuations.

所以你的問題的長答案是肯定的，但它是肯定的但是。是的，我們會尋找擴大該投資組合的潛在機會，無論是有機的、建造新的塔樓；或無機收購投資組合。但現在的估值相當高，對吧？你看看 Verizon 和 Vertical Bridge 之間的最新交易，Shentel 出售了他們的塔樓，這些都是一些相當高的估值。

And so we'll be thoughtful as we approach these opportunities. And I think we -- it's a business that we're long-term bullish on. We'll look for opportunities to grow. We'll look for opportunities to grow in a way that makes sense and where we're not having to spend too much to acquire assets. Hopefully, that gives you a sense about how we're thinking about it.

因此，我們在抓住這些機會時會深思熟慮。我認為我們長期看好這是一項業務。我們將尋找成長的機會。我們將尋找以有意義的方式成長的機會，並且我們不必花費太多來獲取資產。希望這能讓您了解我們是如何思考這個問題的。

No, that's super helpful. We appreciate that. And then I guess one more question back to TDS. I know last quarter, you announced an MVNO agreement or the launch of an MVNO.

不，這非常有幫助。我們對此表示讚賞。然後我想還有一個問題想問 TDS。我知道上個季度，你們宣布了 MVNO 協議或推出 MVNO。

As you're thinking about the space, obviously, in terms of focus on convergence, in terms of focus on fiber assets and where perhaps that could go over time, and given the company's -- given TDS' fiber efforts, fiber road map and targets longer term, I guess, number one, obviously, not to -- maybe that makes sense to continue to operate on a standalone basis.

當你考慮這個空間時，顯然，在對融合的關注、對光纖資產的關注以及隨著時間的推移，考慮到公司的光纖工作、光纖路線圖和可能的發展方向方面，我想，第一個目標顯然不是長期目標——也許繼續獨立運作是有意義的。

But I mean would you entertain unique, perhaps, agreements with scaled wireless operators? There are some regional ILEC assets. I think Windstream and AT&T, for example, have an agreement. But is that within perhaps the longer-term road map perhaps, although you have stood up the MVNO? I mean I guess the better way to ask the question, is the fact that you stood up the MVNO now preclude you from perhaps entering into agreements with perhaps scaled national wireless operators to combine your [efforts] for converged bundle offer? Thank you.

但我的意思是，您是否願意與規模化的無線營運商達成獨特的協議？有一些區域性 ILEC 資產。例如，我認為 Windstream 和 AT&T 已經達成協議。但是，儘管你們已經支持了 MVNO，但這可能是在長期路線圖之內嗎？我的意思是，我想問這個問題的更好方法是，您支持 MVNO 的事實是否使您無法與可能規模較大的國家無線運營商簽訂協議，以結合您的[努力]提供融合捆綁服務？謝謝。

Hi Sebastiano. So yeah, let me talk a little bit about our MVNO. We are in the process of getting that all rolled out. And as we've mentioned in the past, we are launching our MVNO through our participation in the NCTC. So we're part of that industry cooperative.

嗨塞巴斯蒂亞諾。那麼，讓我來談談我們的 MVNO。我們正在將其全部推出。正如我們過去所提到的，我們正在透過參與 NCTC 推出我們的 MVNO。所以我們是該行業合作社的一部分。

And they have partnered with very strong partners that are coming together and integrating and offering that MVNO opportunity to companies that participate in NCTC like us. And so we are taking advantage of that. And the wireless partner that NCTC is working with, is a national 5G player.

他們與非常強大的合作夥伴合作，這些合作夥伴聚集在一起進行整合，並為像我們這樣參與 NCTC 的公司提供 MVNO 機會。所以我們正在利用這一點。 NCTC 合作的無線合作夥伴是國內 5G 廠商。

So we do have that available to us through the NCTC MVNO arrangement. And we're in the process of getting that launched right now. We've been doing associate trials over the last couple of months, and we're now in customer trials. And as soon as we are comfortable with how those trials are going, then we will go to a full commercial launch and eventually get that launched across our entire footprint.

因此，我們確實可以透過 NCTC MVNO 安排來實現這一點。我們現在正在啟動該專案。過去幾個月我們一直在進行合作試驗，現在正在進行客戶試驗。一旦我們對這些試驗的進展感到滿意，我們就會進行全面的商業發布，並最終在我們的整個業務範圍內推出。

So that's how we're thinking about the MVNO. And we're very excited to get that launched in a bigger way, hopefully coming up very soon.

這就是我們對 MVNO 的看法。我們很高興能以更大的方式推出這項項目，希望很快就能推出。

Thank you again.

再次感謝您。

Sergey Dluzhevskiy, GAMCO Investors.

Sergey Dluzhevskiy，GAMCO 投資者。

Good morning guys. Thanks for taking the questions. My first question is for LT on the tower business. So I understand that the industry is in a slower CapEx cycle, and that impacts new customer additions and amendments. But to the degree -- I guess looking at the things that you can control, I guess, what is working well to the degree that things are moving along? And what still needs to be improved in order for you to increase your colocation ratio?

早安，夥計們。感謝您提出問題。我的第一個問題是關於塔業務的 LT。因此，我了解到該行業正處於較慢的資本支出週期，這會影響新客戶的添加和修改。但在某種程度上——我想看看你可以控制的事情，我想，在事情進展順利的程度上，什麼是有效的？為了提高託管率，您還需要改進哪些方面？

And also maybe your thoughts on what kind of third-party colocation ratio is realistic for your company on a medium-term trajectory?

也許您對您的公司在中期發展軌跡上什麼樣的第三方主機代管比例是現實的想法有什麼看法？

Yes. Thanks, Sergey. So I mean a few thoughts on the slowdown and then why I do believe over time that we're going to see a pivot to that.

是的。謝謝，謝爾蓋。所以我的意思是對經濟放緩的一些想法，以及為什麼我相信隨著時間的推移，我們將看到這一點的轉變。

So I referenced the slowdown in capital spending. This is one area where it's helpful to be running a wireless business at the same time you're running a tower business because you kind of get visibility into exactly what's driving the trends. And for us, right, what's driving the trend is we've completed our coverage -- not completed, but we're well down the path of our coverage build, most of our investments going into capacity.

所以我提到了資本支出的放緩。在這一領域，在經營塔業務的同時經營無線業務會很有幫助，因為您可以準確地了解推動趨勢的因素。對我們來說，推動這一趨勢的是我們已經完成了我們的覆蓋範圍——尚未完成，但我們正在沿著覆蓋範圍建設的道路前進，我們的大部分投資都投入了產能。

And the next big round of investment is going to be triggered by one of two things, right? The first will be 6G and any densification or new spectrum that needs to be brought to bear in order to enable the 6G build.

下一輪大投資將由兩件事之一觸發，對吧？第一個是 6G 以及為實現 6G 建設而需要實施的任何緻密化或新頻譜。

But the second, interestingly enough, is going to be driven, I believe, by a paucity of spectrum, right? There's not really a road map for carriers to get access to new spectrum anytime in the near future, absent, of course, some spectrum that we're marketing. So we do -- we're kind of bullish on that part -- that piece of the equation.

但有趣的是，我相信第二個將由頻譜匱乏驅動，對嗎？對於營運商來說，在不久的將來隨時獲得新頻譜並沒有真正的路線圖，當然，缺少我們正在行銷的某些頻譜。所以我們確實 - 我們有點看好這部分 - 等式的這一部分。

But broadly, right, if you're a carrier, the most obvious way to get access to spectrum is via a spectrum auction. The SEC doesn't have spectrum auction authority right now. There's a notional road map that the NTIA has put forward, and I commend them for doing it, that identified bands for analysis. But we've been analyzing bands as a country for a long time, and we haven't been able to take action. We haven't taken action in granting the FCC spectrum authority back.

但從廣義上講，如果您是運營商，獲得頻譜的最明顯方法是透過頻譜拍賣。美國證券交易委員會目前沒有頻譜拍賣權。 NTIA 提出了一個概念性路線圖，我讚揚他們這樣做，該路線圖確定了分析頻段。但我們長期以來一直將樂團視為一個國家進行分析，但一直未能採取行動。我們尚未採取行動重新授予 FCC 頻譜授權。

And so -- which I've said publicly, I think, is preposterous. And so right now there's no road map for new spectrum to come to bear from the government.

因此，我認為我公開說過的這句話是荒謬的。因此，目前政府還沒有提供新頻譜的路線圖。

In the private market, I think there was some speculation that DISH might be in the market selling some spectrum. But I think the recent announcements, both in terms of their access to liquidity as well as the extension that they received from the FCC, it means DISH spectrum is not going to be on the market.

在私人市場上，我認為有人猜測 DISH 可能會在市場上出售一些頻譜。但我認為最近的公告，無論是在獲得流動性方面還是從 FCC 獲得的延期方面，都意味著 DISH 頻譜不會投放市場。

So you don't see carriers with access to spectrum. And if you don't have access to new spectrum, how do you satisfy increases in capacity? Because whether we bring new spectrum to bear as an industry or not, users are still going to use between 20% to 25% more data every single year, that has not slowed. And so the only way that you support that is with densification.

所以你看不到運營商可以使用頻譜。如果您無法獲得新的頻譜，您如何滿足容量的增加？因為無論我們是否為業界帶來新的頻譜，用戶每年仍會使用 20% 到 25% 的更多數據，而且這一趨勢並沒有放緩。因此，支持這一點的唯一方法就是緻密化。

And so over time, you're going to see more builds. I do think more of that will focus on small cells, on C-RAN. It's going to be more in urban environments. But even in suburban and towards rural, you're going to have that same capacity problem. And so carriers are going to need to densify.

因此，隨著時間的推移，您將看到更多的構建。我確實認為更多的關注將集中在小型基地台和 C-RAN 上。在城市環境中這種情況會更多。但即使在郊區和農村，您也會遇到相同的容量問題。因此，營運商需要提高密度。

And so they're going to need to get access to new towers and towers that are in places where they haven't been before. And I do think that's going to drive attractive usage of our towers and demand for our towers.

因此，他們將需要訪問新的塔樓和位於他們以前從未去過的地方的塔樓。我確實認為這將推動我們的塔樓的有吸引力的使用和對我們塔樓的需求。

And so I'm coming back around to your question of what do I think we're doing well, what I think we're doing well right now is establishing agreements and establishing relationships with the carriers, where I do believe we are a tower provider of choice for carriers.

所以我回到你的問題，我認為我們在哪些方面做得很好，我認為我們現在做得很好是與運營商建立協議並建立關係，我確實相信我們是一座塔運營商的首選提供商。

I've been in the business for a long time. And there's usually a bit of a contentious relationship between tower providers and carriers. And we've worked hard to ensure that, that is not the case.

我從事這個行業已經很久了。鐵塔提供者和營運商之間通常存在一些有爭議的關係。我們一直在努力確保情況並非如此。

And so we have good agreements in place, whether they're -- whether the MLA with T-Mobile or similar agreements with Verizon or AT&T. I think we're well positioned as a business to support that growth when it comes.

因此，我們已經制定了良好的協議，無論是與 T-Mobile 的 MLA 還是與 Verizon 或 AT&T 的類似協議。我認為，作為一家企業，我們處於有利地位，可以在這種成長到來時支持這種成長。

The other thing I'm pleased about is we are working on buying back ground leases. So a not insignificant expense in the tower business over time is landlords, people who actually own the land, increasing the rates on their ground leases. And so we've had a robust program in place, and we're actually putting that program a bit more on steroids going into next year to try to buy back some of these ground leases and get those expenses into a more manageable situation in the future.

另一件令我高興的事情是我們正在努力購買土地租賃權。因此，隨著時間的推移，鐵塔業務中一項不小的支出是房東（實際擁有土地的人）提高了地面租賃費用。因此，我們已經制定了一項強有力的計劃，實際上，我們將在明年對該計劃進行更多的加強，以嘗試回購其中一些土地租賃，並使這些費用處於更易於管理的狀態。 。

And so I think we're turning this business into an attractive profit center. I think we're well positioned to take advantage of that growth in the future.

因此，我認為我們正在將這項業務變成一個有吸引力的利潤中心。我認為我們處於有利地位，可以在未來利用這種成長。

The interesting challenge for us over the next year, Sergey, is going to be we have to turn that into a truly independent company, right? We need to be in a position when the T-Mobile deal closes, where that tower business can completely stand on its own.

謝爾蓋，明年對我們來說有趣的挑戰將是我們必須將其變成一家真正獨立的公司，對嗎？當 T-Mobile 交易完成時，我們需要處於一個能夠完全獨立運作的鐵塔業務的位置。

It certainly is already standing on its own operationally. But from an overhead perspective, from a systems perspective and so on, that's going to require some work in the next 6 or so months, 6, 9 months between now and close. And that's where another portion of our operational focus will be.

當然，它在運作上已經是獨立的。但從管理角度、系統角度等角度來看，這將需要在接下來的 6 個月左右（即從現在到結束之間的 6、9 個月）內進行一些工作。這就是我們營運重點的另一部分。

So sorry for the lengthy dive -- drive there, but hopefully, that gives you a sense about how we're thinking macro about towers, but also micro where we see the opportunity.

很抱歉花了這麼長時間——開車去那裡，但希望這能讓你了解我們如何從宏觀上思考塔樓，同時也從微觀上我們看到了機會。

Got it. Thank you. My second question is in regards to wireless partnerships. So Verizon has been buying in minority stakes in their partnerships over the past three years. Obviously, one of the larger transactions there was with consolidated communications . But UScellular obviously has an even larger minority interest in terms of size in the LA market.

知道了。謝謝。我的第二個問題是關於無線合作關係。因此，威瑞森在過去三年中一直在其合作關係中購買少數股權。顯然，其中一項較大的交易是綜合通訊。但就洛杉磯市場的規模而言，UScellular 顯然擁有更大的少數股權。

So if you could maybe share with us your latest thinking on the partnership interest, and what could move you closer to monetizing those assets?

那麼，您是否可以與我們分享您對合夥權益的最新想法，以及什麼可以讓您更接近將這些資產貨幣化？

Well, we've had a couple of things on our plate over the last couple of quarters when it comes to strategic deals and monetizing assets. Certainly, getting those deals done, not just getting them structured, but also getting them over the goal line remains our focus.

嗯，在過去的幾個季度中，在策略交易和資產貨幣化方面，我們有幾件事要做。當然，完成這些交易，不僅是讓它們結構化，而且讓它們超越目標線仍然是我們的重點。

We're pleased with those partnerships to generate attractive cash flow. That cash flow has helped our wireless business. It helps us continue to pay down debt. And so we're not in any hurry to change direction with those partnerships.

我們對這些合作關係產生有吸引力的現金流感到滿意。這些現金流對我們的無線業務有幫助。它幫助我們繼續償還債務。因此，我們並不急於改變這些合作關係的方向。

I mean that being said, right, we're -- there's -- as part of the strategic review that we mentioned, I mean we took a really comprehensive view across the business. And as you can see, from what we did with the wireless business, what we're doing with spectrum, how we established the tower business; there aren't any sacred cows. And we did take a really comprehensive look, short term and long term, about what we wanted the enterprise to look like. And we'll continue to do that moving forward.

我的意思是，話雖如此，我們——有——作為我們提到的策略審查的一部分，我的意思是我們對整個業務進行了真正全面的看法。正如你所看到的，從我們在無線業務方面所做的事情，我們在頻譜方面所做的事情，我們如何建立塔業務；沒有什麼聖牛。我們確實對企業的短期和長期目標進行了非常全面的檢視。我們將繼續這樣做。

And so if there's an opportunity for a really good deal to monetize those partnerships, we'd certainly be open to it, but we're not in any hurry. I think it's -- we're happy with how they're performing. We're happy with the relationship that we have within those partnerships. They're attractive financially. And at least right now, we've got plenty on our plate in terms of getting our wireless our wireless T-Mobile (technical difficulty) plus getting a lot of incremental spectrum monetized as well.

因此，如果有機會透過這些合作夥伴關係達成一項非常好的交易，我們當然會對此持開放態度，但我們並不著急。我認為我們對他們的表現感到滿意。我們對這些合作關係感到滿意。他們在經濟上很有吸引力。至少現在，我們在讓我們的無線技術成為 T-Mobile 無線技術（技術難度）以及將大量增量頻譜貨幣化方面有很多工作要做。

Got it. And my next question is for Michelle on TDS Telecom side. You provided distribution for your residential [broadband] customer base. In the slide deck, I think about 20% are on gig plus, 10% on 600 meg and so on. How does the distribution differ for incoming customers?

知道了。我的下一個問題是問 TDS Telecom 方面的 Michelle。您為住宅[寬頻]客戶群提供了分配。在幻燈片中，我認為大約 20% 是在 gig plus 上，10% 是在 600 meg 上，等等。新客戶的分佈有何不同？

So this is your entire base, but how would it look for your incoming customers maybe for the last quarter or year-to-date?

這就是您的整個基地，但是上個季度或今年迄今為止的新客戶會是什麼樣子呢？

Yeah. Hi, Sergei. Yes. Yes, so for our incoming customers, I would say I think we're at about -- 20% is on gig service today for our whole base. But for incoming customers, we're at about 40% coming in on gig service. So that's why you continue to see quarter-over-quarter, we keep moving our customers up that stack of speeds. And that's also helping drive a bit of our ARPU increase and, of course, improving the customer experience and meeting the customer demand for broadband

是的。嗨，謝爾蓋。是的。是的，所以對於我們的新客戶來說，我認為今天我們整個基地的 20% 的客戶都在使用零工服務。但對於新來的客戶，我們大約有 40% 是透過零工服務來的。因此，這就是為什麼您會繼續看到，我們不斷提高客戶的速度。這也有助於推動我們的 ARPU 成長，當然，還可以改善客戶體驗並滿足客戶對寬頻的需求

Got it. Great. And my last question, going back to some of your comments about things that you are doing to improve enrollment net additions, including either door-to-door sales force that you have in your markets, maybe if you could provide more color on that front?

知道了。偉大的。我的最後一個問題，回到您對為提高註冊淨增加所做的事情的一些評論，包括您在市場中擁有的上門銷售人員，也許您可以在這方面提供更多的信息？

And also what are the things that you are pursuing to -- in addition to, I guess, door-to-door sales force that would improve conversion of your [passings] into paying customers over the next 6 to 12 months?

我想，除了上門推銷的銷售團隊之外，您還追求什麼，以提高您的[路過]在未來 6 到 12 個月內轉化為付費客戶的轉換率？

Yes. So we -- this is a huge focus of our organization. We've got lots of people working on this and focused on this. So yes, last year, we turned up a lot of service addresses. We're turning up a lot this year as well.

是的。所以我們——這是我們組織的一個重點。我們有很多人致力於此並專注於此。所以，是的，去年我們發現了很多服務地址。今年我們也出現了很多。

And so it is our top priority to sell into those addresses and get our broadband penetration up.

因此，我們的首要任務是向這些地址銷售產品並提高我們的寬頻普及率。

And so we did have 7,600 broadband net adds this quarter in our expansion markets. And that's fantastic that we're getting that because that's providing the growth in our broadband net adds in total.

因此，本季我們的擴張市場中確實新增了 7,600 個寬頻網路。我們能做到這一點真是太棒了，因為這推動了我們寬頻網路總量的成長。

But it is coming in a little bit slower than we had expected. And what we're finding is that we need to enhance our door-to-door sales representatives and get more people out there selling. About half of our sales come from door-to-door, and we just needed more resources out there.

但它的到來比我們預期的要慢一些。我們發現，我們需要加強我們的上門銷售代表，讓更多的人出去銷售。我們大約一半的銷售額來自送貨上門，我們只是需要更多的資源。

And so we've been working on that for the last few months. And as I mentioned, we're starting to see some really nice leading indicators telling us that our efforts are working and that we're on the right track, based on what we're seeing so far come through in October.

因此，過去幾個月我們一直在努力解決這個問題。正如我所提到的，我們開始看到一些非常好的領先指標，這些指標告訴我們，根據 10 月迄今為止所看到的情況，我們的努力正在發揮作用，並且我們走在正確的軌道上。

So that's where our focus is right now, is on getting those sales really ramped up and making sure we've got all of the resources there that are required to do so.

因此，這就是我們現在的重點，就是讓銷售額真正增加，並確保我們擁有實現這一目標所需的所有資源。

Got it. Thank you.

知道了。謝謝。

Thanks, Sergey.

謝謝，謝爾蓋。

Thanks.

謝謝。

This concludes today's Q&A session. I'd like to now turn the call back over to Colleen Thompson for closing remarks.

今天的問答環節到此結束。我現在想將電話轉回給科琳·湯普森，讓其致閉幕詞。

Okay. Thanks, everyone, for all your time today. Please reach out to Investor Relations with any additional questions, and have a great weekend.

好的。謝謝大家今天抽出寶貴的時間。如有任何其他問題，請聯絡投資者關係部，祝週末愉快。

This concludes today's call. You may now disconnect.

今天的電話會議到此結束。您現在可以斷開連線。