Q2 2025 Telephone & Data Systems Inc Earnings Call

Speaker #1: Thank you for standing by, and welcome to the TDS and ARRI second quarter 2025 operating results conference call. Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded.

Speaker #1: At the end of the presentation, there will be an opportunity to ask questions. To ask questions, please press star on a touch-tone phone, and to withdraw your question, please press star one again.

Speaker #1: I would now like to hand the conference over to your host, Colleen Thompson, Vice President of Corporate Relations. Ma'am, you may begin.

Speaker #2: 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.

Speaker #2: But you find on the investor relations sections of the TDS and ARRI websites. With me today and offering prepared comments are from TDS, Walter Carlson, President and Chief Executive Officer, Vicki Villacrez, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, from ARRI Digital Infrastructure, Doug Chambers, Interim President and CEO, from TDS Telecom, Chris Bothfeld, Vice President of Finance and Chief Financial Officer, Ms. Collins being simultaneously webcast on the TDS and RI Investor Relations websites.

Speaker #2: Please see the websites for slides referred to on this call, including non-GAAP reconciliations. TDS and ARRI filed their SEC forms AK, including the press releases and our 10Qs earlier this morning.

Speaker #2: As shown on slide 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.

Speaker #2: Please review the Safe Harbor paragraphs in our press releases and the extended version included in our SEC filings. And with that, I will now turn the call over to Walter Carlson.

Speaker #2: Walter?

Speaker #3: Thank you, Colleen. And good evening, everyone. We'll start on slide three and review the progress that we've made on our priorities for 2025. As we announced on August 1st, we are very pleased that we closed on the sale of U.S.

Speaker #3: Cellular wireless business and certain spectrum assets to T-Mobile. The teams at U.S. Cellular and TDS worked tirelessly over the last several years to negotiate and complete the $4.3 billion transaction.

Speaker #3: I also want to thank T-Mobile for their partnership in this transaction, and throughout the integration process. This transaction unlocks significant value for sure. Shareholders, and strengthens the balance sheets at both ARRI and TDS, as Vicki will discuss shortly.

Speaker #3: Equally important, completion of this sale will enable us to focus on our tower and fiber businesses, where we believe we are well positioned to win.

Speaker #3: Looking ahead, I am excited for a new chapter in the company's history. Going forward, we like the tower's business and our operating under a new name, ARRI Digital Infrastructure Inc. We believe ARRI has many opportunities; ARRI holds valuable assets: towers, spectrum, and equity method investment interests, all of which are the product of significant work and investment over the prior 40 years.

Speaker #3: Our tower's business at ARRI has an outstanding management team led by Douglas Chambers. We believe ARRI is uniquely and attractively positioned, and we look forward to running a tower company.

Speaker #3: With approximately 4,400 towers, ARRI has the strength and stability of the new master license agreement with T-Mobile. With the increasing demand for data and communication services in the United States, we believe we have a great opportunity to grow co-locations and margins over time.

Speaker #3: Turning to TDS Telecom, in June, we were pleased to announce Ken Dixon had joined us as the new CEO of TDS Telecom to lead that business going forward.

Speaker #3: Ken comes to us with decades of telecom and fiber experience. He has hit the ground running, and his deep knowledge and expertise in sales, marketing, customer satisfaction, and operations are already making a difference.

Speaker #3: I'm looking forward to you hearing from Ken on our XT earnings call. Kristina Bothfeld will report to you today on the progress that TDS Telecom made on our fiber business during the second quarter.

Speaker #3: Turning to the fourth item on our set of objectives, throughout the year we have made significant progress in strengthening our capital structure. This increases our financial flexibility and positions us to take advantage of opportunities as they present themselves.

Speaker #3: Vicki will highlight those accomplishments shortly. And lastly, with all of the changes in the organization, we remain focused on our culture, and TDS's culture is one of its greatest strengths.

Speaker #3: I want to thank all of the teams across the TDS Enterprise for their contributions to these accomplishments. And I'm excited about what lies ahead.

Speaker #3: I will now turn the call over to Vicki.

Speaker #2: Okay. Good morning, everyone. As you heard from Walter, closing the T-Mobile transaction earlier this month was a major step to unlock shareholder value.

Speaker #1: With Ken Dixon on board, we are working to size these investments. Second, M&A. We are currently evaluating this space to identify where it might make sense to accelerate growth at the right price.

Speaker #1: Particularly for the fiber program. And third, shareholder returns. Once we've quantified our growth opportunities, we will look for ways to increase returns to our shareholders.

Speaker #1: Before I turn it over to Doug. More detail. I wanted to highlight that on August 1st, S&P raised TDS's credit rating to triple B minus from double B and removed the ratings from credit watch.

Speaker #1: We are very pleased with this rating and believe it reflects our strong balance sheet, valuable assets, and growth outlook for our businesses going forward.

Speaker #1: I will now turn the call over to Doug. Doug?

Speaker #2: Thanks, Vicki. Good morning. I would like to start off by thanking the board for placing its confidence in me to lead a raid during this interim period, and I would also like to thank LT and the US Cyber Leadership Team that have guided us through the process to the successful close of the T-Mobile transaction.

Speaker #2: Slide six summarizes the proceeds received from the T-Mobile transaction, along with various transaction-related costs and other items that impacted our cash available for distribution.

Speaker #2: We are pleased to return these funds to shareholders through the special dividend previously mentioned by Vicki. Further, as we have discussed previously, the sale of our wireless operations to T-Mobile is a win for our customers and for our associates.

Speaker #2: Our customers will have enhanced connectivity with the combined networks of the two companies, access to lower prices, more features, and a significant number of our associates accepted positions with T-Mobile.

Speaker #2: We are very pleased that our customers and associates are in great hands as part of the T-Mobile family. Further, the sale of portions of our Spectrum to T-Mobile along with the pending Spectrum sales to AT&T and Verizon are wins for rural America as this Spectrum will be deployed to serve customers across our nation.

Speaker #2: And we look forward to opportunistically monetizing our remaining spectrum to ensure this spectrum can also be put to use to serve customers across America.

Speaker #2: With that, I am excited to discuss our business going forward, a raid digital infrastructure. Slide seven and eight summarize the status of our efforts to opportunistically monetize our Spectrum.

Speaker #2: As previously announced, we have reached agreements to monetize approximately 70% of a raid's total spectrum holdings, including the T-Mobile transaction and agreements with AT&T and Verizon.

Speaker #2: The AT&T and Verizon transactions will result in additional gross proceeds of $2.0 billion. We expect cash taxes on the AT&T and Verizon transactions of approximately $125 million and in the range of $200 to $250 million, respectively.

Speaker #2: Further, we expect the AT&T and Verizon transactions to close in the second half of 2025 and the third quarter of 2026, respectively, subject to regulatory approval and other closing conditions.

Speaker #2: Also, following the closing of each of the AT&T and Verizon transactions, we anticipate that the array board will declare special dividends to distribute a substantial portion of the resulting net proceeds.

Speaker #2: The large majority of the remaining Spectrum is CBAM Spectrum, and we believe these licenses are attractive beachfront Spectrum for 5G and there's an existing infrastructure ecosystem so carriers are easily able put this CBAM Spectrum to use.

Speaker #2: And although there are build-out requirements associated with this band, the first one does not apply until 2029. So there's plenty of time for us to monetize this spectrum.

Speaker #2: Turning to slide nine, following the close of the T-Mobile transactions and divestiture of our wireless operations, our going-forward business has three components: the fifth largest U.S. tower business with 4,400 owned towers, non-controlling investment interests which primarily consist of investments in wireless operating companies managed by Verizon and AT&T, and the retained spectrum.

Speaker #2: Turning to slide 10, I would like to discuss the strategic priorities of a raid to position the business for a continued success. Two key priorities will be to close the pending Spectrum transactions with AT&T and Verizon and to continue to opportunistically monetize the remaining Spectrum.

Speaker #2: Focusing on the tower business, now that we are set up as an independent tower company and have the strong team in place from our existing business, we have two key strategic priorities going forward.

Speaker #2: Brownlee's optimization has been and remains a key priority as we seek to expand our long-term ownership easement and lease agreements with our ground lessors.

Speaker #2: The other key priority of the tower business is continued strong revenue growth, which we have been achieving through robust new colocations and will be further bolstered by the new T-Mobile Master License Agreement (MLA), which commenced on August 1st upon the close of the larger transaction.

Speaker #2: Turning to slide 11, the implementation of the new MLA between T-Mobile and Array will be a significant near-term focus, as T-Mobile has committed to 2,000 15-colocation sites for 15 years, beginning August 1st. T-Mobile has also extended the term on 600 existing colocations by 15 years from the same August 1st date.

Speaker #2: Also, effective August 1st, T-Mobile will have interim leases on 1,800 sites for a period of 30 months, which they may cancel at their discretion during this period.

Speaker #2: We expect this MLA with T-Mobile to significantly strengthen our tower business with substantial increases in long-term revenue and profitability. Turning to our tower operations and results on Slides 12 and 13, third-party tower revenues increased by 12%, and the number of third-party colocations increased by 6% year over year.

Speaker #2: One area that we believe will continue to drive momentum is our decision in the fourth quarter of 2024 to bring our sales function in-house.

Speaker #2: We have built strong sales leadership and have hired an outstanding sales team that we believe will position us well for future revenue growth. We also benefit from MLAs with all three major U.S. carriers, which provide compelling pricing and ease of doing business with Array that benefits.

Speaker #2: And our large carrier tenants. In addition, as we have discussed in the past, one-third of our towers have no competing tower structure within a two-mile radius.

Speaker #2: And we believe this attribute positions our tower portfolio well for future colocation growth. Going forward, upon divestiture of our wireless operations, Array will lose U.S. Cellular as a tenant on every owned tower, as reported historically in our tower segment, and gain T-Mobile as a tenant on a significant amount of incremental towers, subject to the MLA.

Speaker #2: As a result, Array's reported tenancy rate will decline from a reported amount of 1.57 at June 30, 2025, to approximately 1.0 at August 1 upon close of the T-Mobile transaction and commencement of the related MLA.

Speaker #2: This 1.0 tenancy rate excludes T-Mobile interim tower sites. Further, intercompany revenues allocated to the tower segment from U.S. Cellular's wireless business will be reduced to zero in future periods, and this will be partially offset by incremental revenues from the T-Mobile MLA.

Speaker #2: Shifting to our equity method investments, distributions from our non-controlling investment interests increased from $58 million in the second quarter of 2024 to $77 million in the second quarter of 2025.

Speaker #2: Of this increase, approximately $23 million was related to non-recurring distributions from Verizon Wireless partnerships related to their tower transaction with Vertical Bridge that closed in December 2024.

Speaker #2: As we have indicated previously, we are not providing guidance on Array's expected operational and financial results for 2025. We expect to incur additional wind-down costs for the remainder of 2025 and into 2026 as the business transforms from primarily wireless service provider to an independent tower company, and we expect these wind-down expenses to negatively impact profitability and adjusted EBITDA during this period.

Speaker #2: We expect to provide additional tower-related financial and operational metrics in the third quarter of 2025 which will represent our initial quarter reporting as an independent tower company.

Speaker #2: Regulatory approvals on the sale of the wireless operations occurred in the third quarter; therefore, discontinued operations reporting will be applicable and presented in the third quarter filings.

Speaker #2: Lastly, the details of the T-Mobile transaction are discussed in the subsequent events footnote in our second quarter Form 10-Q. I would like to convey my deepest appreciation and gratitude to all of the U.S. Cellular associates who have provided many years of dedicated service to carry out our mission of connecting our customers to what matters most.

Speaker #2: We would not be here today without your outstanding service, dedication, determination, and enthusiasm. U.S. Cellular was a special carrier with special people for many years.

Speaker #2: And we will all remember U.S. Cellular proudly and fondly. I would like to also express my thanks to the Array employees who are operating the tower business.

Speaker #2: They have worked extremely hard and have made our transition to an independent tower company a success. These are exciting times, and I look forward to working with this talented team to continue to drive success in our tower business.

Speaker #2: I will now turn the call over to Chris Bothfeld.

Speaker #3: Thank you, Doug. Good morning, everyone. Turning to slide 15, as Walter mentioned, Ken Dixon recently joined the telecom team as CEO, and the organization is energized and excited for what’s ahead under his leadership.

Speaker #3: Turning to the quarter, we delivered $27,000 new fiber service addresses and remain confident in achieving our goal 150,000 fiber addresses this year. We are pleased that EACAM Construction kicked off at the end of the first quarter and is now underway in multiple states.

Speaker #3: During the second quarter, we began bringing EACAM customers online—an exciting milestone for the program. As a reminder, over the next several years, EACAM is expected to contribute approximately $300,000 additional addresses to our fiber footprint.

Speaker #3: As our EACAM builds continue to ramp over the second half of the year, we expect service address growth and fiber net adds to follow.

Speaker #3: In the quarter, we also generated 10,300 fiber net additions, leading to a 19% growth in total fiber connections since last year. Lastly, we closed on the sale of our Colorado ILEX markets on June 2.

Speaker #3: And we recently announced the pending sale of our ILEX companies in Oklahoma. Although these transactions impact short-term results, they're a key part of our strategy to optimize our portfolio and exit copper markets where there is not an economic path to fiber.

Speaker #3: Turning to slide 16, you can see our progress towards the long-term fiber goals we shared earlier this year. We are targeting 1.8 million marketable fiber service addresses.

Speaker #3: We ended the quarter at $968 thousand. We are also targeting 80% of total addresses to be served by fiber. We ended the quarter at 53%.

Speaker #3: And finally, we expect to offer speeds of 1 gig or higher to at least 95% of our footprint, and we finished the quarter with 75% at gig speeds.

Speaker #3: To reach this target, we will use a combination of fiber and coax technologies. Our goal is to reduce the number of addresses served by copper to less than 5% over time.

Speaker #3: Turning to slide 17, the graph on the left shows the significant growth in our total footprint, up 27% over the last three years, driven by our fiber investments.

Speaker #3: The graph on the right shows the most recent five quarters of fiber service address delivery. This quarter is flat compared to prior years. Our service address growth generally ramps throughout the year, which is consistent with our expectations for this year.

Speaker #3: We've added 41,000 addresses through the second quarter and plan to hit 150,000 new fiber addresses this year, as we continue to increase the number of construction crews.

Speaker #3: We are also on track to hit an exciting milestone in the back half of the year: 1 million marketable fiber service addresses. It will be a big achievement for the company and a reflection of the momentum behind our growing fiber program.

Speaker #3: Turning to slide 18, the graph on the left highlights our identical fiber connection growth. Connections have nearly doubled over the past three years, driven by our expansion efforts and the ongoing conversion of copper customers to fiber products in our incumbent markets.

Speaker #3: As we invest in fiber, we expect residential broadband connection growth to continue. The graph on the right shows the last five quarters of residential fiber net additions.

Speaker #3: We delivered $10,300 this quarter, comparable to the same period last year. On slide 19, we grew total service addresses by 5% year over year. On the right side of the slide, we see increased demand for higher broadband speeds.

Speaker #3: With 83% of our residential broadband customers taking 100 megabits or higher, and 26% taking 1 gigabit or higher at the end of the quarter.

Speaker #3: When looking at new customers that we added in the quarter, 56% took speeds of 1 gig or higher. Demand for faster speeds remains strong.

Speaker #3: On slide 20, average residential revenue per connection was up 1% year over year. We primarily took price increases. As reflected in our guidance, we expect more modest growth in residential revenue per connection this year as we focus on driving penetration.

Speaker #3: The chart on the right shows our revenue comparison year over year. Overall, revenue is down 1%. As a reminder, divested markets accounted for a $4 million decrease in revenues compared to prior years.

Speaker #3: We'll talk more about revenues on the next slide. On slide 21, I'll touch on the financials. Total operating revenues were down 1% in the second quarter compared to the prior year.

Speaker #3: Excluding the impact of divestitures, revenue increased 1%. Driven by growth in fiber subscribers, and higher residential revenue per connection. This growth was partially offset by continued declines in our legacy cable and copper markets.

Speaker #3: Cash expenses increased by 1% or $2 million year over year. As we discussed last quarter, this increase in expenses aligns with our 2025 priorities, which include investments in sales and marketing, and advancing our transformation efforts.

Speaker #3: We're also continuing to staff our internal construction crews to drive more cost-effective address growth when compared to external contractors. Capital expenditures were higher than in the same period last year.

Speaker #3: Primarily due to spending on the EACAM program, we expect both CapEx and service address delivery to continue to increase in the back half of the year as we accelerate construction to deliver 150,000 new fiber service addresses in 2025.

Speaker #3: Over 80% of our full-year capital expenditures will be focused on fiber. Slide 22 shows our revised 2025 guidance. We have updated the ranges for revenue, adjusted EBITDA, and adjusted OIBDA to reflect the divestiture of our Oklahoma ILEX market, which was not included in our previous guidance.

Speaker #3: As well as ongoing declines in our cable and copper markets, we are now projecting revenues to be in the range of $1.03 to $1.05 billion.

Speaker #3: Adjusted EBITDA is expected to be $320 to $350 million. Adjusted OIBDA is expected to be $310 to $340 million. And our CapEx guidance remains unchanged.

Speaker #3: Before closing, I want to recognize the entire TDS Telecom team for their outstanding commitment and hard work. We have a lot in flight, and I'm confident in the team's ability to execute.

Speaker #3: We're building momentum as we head into the second half of the year, and I'm excited about the company's future. I will now turn the call back over to Walter.

Speaker #2: Thank you, Chris. Before opening it up for questions, I want to share a few concluding thoughts. We are pleased to have closed the T-Mobile transaction and are pleased to be able to use the proceeds to improve our balance sheet and to fund our fiber program.

Speaker #2: We also look forward to closing the AT&T and Verizon spectrum sales and to thoughtfully deploying those proceeds back into the business. TDS is in a strong financial position and has excellent operating businesses in both towers and broadband.

Speaker #2: We look forward to continuing to delight our customers and to build our businesses. Now, operator Janine, let's open it up to questions.

Speaker #4: Ladies and gentlemen, we will now begin the question and answer session. Should you wish to ask a question, please press star on your touch-tone phone, and to withdraw your question, please press star one again.

Speaker #4: Our first question comes from the line of Rick Prentice from Raymond James. Sir, your line is open.

Speaker #5: Thanks. Good morning, ybody.

Speaker #1: Morning, Rick.

Speaker #5: Morning. It’s nice to get the T-Mobile deal over the finish line. I want to start on the TDS Telecom side. Obviously, there’s definitely an incentive to raise to plant the fiber flag.

Speaker #5: I know Dixon just started recently. But can you give us an idea of when you can update us on whether you would expand and accelerate the $1.8 million service addresses?

Speaker #1: Hi, Rick. This is Chris Bothfeld. Yeah, we are super excited that Ken Dixon joined. He brings a lot of enthusiasm, momentum, and right now, we do think that there's a significant opportunity for edge out in our footprint to further expand our fiber footprint.

Speaker #1: And we're currently sizing those opportunities, and we expect to share more in the upcoming quarters. But I will say that we intentionally chose specific markets to flag plant that we thought had great edge-out and clustering abilities.

Speaker #1: So again, I just want to reinforce that we think there's significant opportunity, but we're just not quite yet ready to share exactly what that looks like.

Speaker #1: Thank you, Chris.

Speaker #3: And Rick, I would add this is a critical step in our going forward capital allocation strategy. And with Ken on board, we're I'll echo, we're ally excited for what he's seen across the business and the opportunities on going forward.

Speaker #3: So we'll bring more back to the table.

Speaker #5: Okay. And Vicki, I think you mentioned TDS will keep leverage under $1.5 turns while you evaluate that. Where do you see leverage at the TDS Telecom side kind of stabilizing at longer term?

Speaker #3: Well, TDS Telecom is certainly consolidated and a wholly owned subsidiary of TDS. So, I'm looking at it collectively as, you know, we're putting in place leverage at the Array balance sheet at three times.

Speaker #3: We expect that when we complete our Spectrum transactions, we could put in place your Array, which the board of directors would approve of for our regular dividend.

Speaker #3: And that would provide funding on a longer-term basis. So when I'm looking at our opportunities at TDS Telecom and on the TDS consolidated basis, you know we're going to have significant proceeds that will help fund our opportunities, which is why we're looking right now to put a more rigorous and defined capital allocation strategy in place.

Speaker #3: So we haven't quantified it yet, but we'll come back and share that with you. But for right now, we may we expect to stay at one 1.5 times, which is really all the debt is paid off at the TDS level.

Speaker #3: And with leaving the preferred place, we have an option on our export credit of $150 million on whether we keep that in place or pay that off in the near term.

Speaker #5: Okay. Continuing on the TDS Telecom side, it's interesting to hear you brought the construction crew in or some construction crew in-house. We've been hearing about there could be some labor issues, material issues.

Speaker #5: Particularly as the one big beautiful bill kind of has ramped people's homes past service addresses passing. So can you talk a little bit just about access to getting the bill plan done?

Speaker #1: Yeah, Rick. We still feel very confident in our ability to hit our $150,000 service addresses for the year. So just a little more color on that.

Speaker #1: We were a little late to get all of our EACAM contracts executed, but now we have those executed. Crews are really ramping up. We're liking what we're seeing.

Speaker #1: So we continue to expect that EACAM construction and address delivery will really ramp up in the second half of the year.

Speaker #1: We're also bringing on a significant increase in both our internal construction crews and external construction crews to continue to ramp up those expansion builds.

Speaker #1: And just to remind you, the seasonality of our bills; it is very common that we see significant address delivery in the second half of the year.

Speaker #1: Not uncommon to see about 70% of our address delivery to occur in the second half of the year. So we're really pleased with the momentum.

Speaker #1: We had the strongest address delivery all year in June, and we beat that in July. So we have great momentum, and we feel really confident in hitting our $150,000 address goal for the year.

Speaker #5: Okay. And last one on TDS Telecom. Probably the most I've asked on TDS Telecom. And then I'll have a quick one on Array. I think it would be helpful if we had some cohort analysis just looking at what you deployed and maybe '22, '23, just to stand because the industry is evolving rapidly.

Speaker #5: Just trying to figure out what the ultimate penetration goals would be and what kind of market share, but also what kind of margins.

Speaker #5: So, any thoughts on providing, at a later date, cohort analysis? And what are your thoughts as far as ultimate penetrations in our fiber markets?

Speaker #1: Yep. So Rick, this is something we're ing to report on internally, and we plan to share very soon externally. And just to remind you what we expect to see for our expansion markets and those penetration curves is by year by month 12, we expect around 25 to 30% penetration.

Speaker #1: That's because we have an aggressive pre-sales model in place. Sixty days in advance of new address delivery, we're out knocking on doors and signing up folks, so we see pretty high pre-sales penetration right at launch.

Speaker #1: And that helps us achieve a really nice starting point for month 12 and then year 5. So, more steady state is when we expect 40% steady state penetration in these expansion markets.

Speaker #1: And then some markets take longer to get to that 40%, and some take quicker. Those that are a little bit slower to get there are some of our focus.

Speaker #1: So that's our expansion markets. But then we also have our EACAM fiber market. So let's have really good competitive dynamics where, by definition, any EACAM eligible location has no gig-capable competition.

Speaker #1: That's approximately 30% of our ILEX footprint, and we expect 65% to 75% penetration in those areas.

Speaker #3: Yeah, that's really good background, Chris. And to answer your question, Rick, we have cohort penetration reporting in place internally that we've been reviewing with Ken Dixon on board, and we intend to share that.

Speaker #3: I think those are critical proof points that are the underpinning of our investments that we're making. As we go forward, we will bring that to investors.

Speaker #5: That's really great news. I appreciate that, and the market will appreciate that as well. Quickly, for Ken, tower reporting is good to hear that's in progress as well.

Speaker #5: I'm getting my Christmas list early this year. The dividend sizing, would that be kind of sized on AFFO, so we can kind of have a payout ratio?

Speaker #5: And the other quick one to tag to that is time to close AT&T. You're in the second half; are you thinking that's like a three-month process post T-Mobile closure, or is that kind of closer to year-end? Just trying to think through dividend timing.

Speaker #6: Good morning, Rick. Yeah, so with respect to AFFO, reporting, dividend per share, et cetera, all that's coming in Q3. So, as I said, our first quarter reporting is independent tower companies Q3.

Speaker #6: We'll bring all that reporting to you in Q3. With respect to the AT&T spectrum flows, it is subject to FCC approval. You know, we don't control that process, obviously.

Speaker #6: So we, you know, we're estimating that the second half of 2025 is our best estimate. You know, getting more precise in that timeframe, we're not able to do right now.

Speaker #5: Okay. Appreciate it. anks, everybody.

Speaker #1: Thanks, Rick.

Speaker #2: Thank you.

Speaker #4: Thank you. Again, to ask a question, please press star, then the number one on our telephone keypad. Our next question comes from the line of Celestiano Petty from JP Morgan.

Speaker #4: Your line is open.

Speaker #7: Hi. Thanks for the question, and congratulations as well on closing the T-Mobile transaction. Just, I guess, following up on Rick's follow-ups, if we could just perhaps think about the, you know, fiber backdrop.

Speaker #7: Chris, great to hear that you know you're confident with the delivery. You know the locations for the year: 150K. How should we think about the trajectory or shaping of overall fiber broadband additions for the year?

Speaker #7: Should we anticipate, or do you still anticipate, you know, higher fiber additions year on year, just kind of given the 150? It was kind of still on track there.

Speaker #7: And then just one last one there as you're, you know, relatedly, you know, Rick talked about the cohort analysis. I think, you know, that would be helpful just the question that we get from investors is, you know, a lot of the growth is coming, you know, from some of your expansion markets.

Speaker #7: And with some of these big broad build-out programs, you know, is that shrinking the white space opportunity? So perhaps you can contextualize the confidence in the net additions and maybe the competitive backdrop, if anything has changed quite yet.

Speaker #7: And then I have a follow-up for Doug. Thank you.

Speaker #1: Hi, Sebastiano. So yeah, the first hit on your question about fiber net additions, we are targeting still year-over-year improvement in fiber net additions.

Speaker #1: And so I touched on this a little bit with Rick, but our sales model is very closely tied to new fiber address delivery because of our aggressive pre-sales model and pre-selling all new addresses 60 days before they launch.

Speaker #1: So when we see slower address delivery to start the year, we also tend to see slower net adds. However, you heard me say we expect a significant increase in address delivery in the second half of the year with our EACAM builds ramping up and us bringing on additional construction crews.

Speaker #1: So, we expect net additions to follow with that address delivery. We're also making sure that we don't lose sight of those addresses that we've launched several years ago that still don't have TDS fiber service.

Speaker #1: So, there are additional tactics that Ken Dixon has put in place to ensure that we're going aggressively after those areas and increasing the penetration there.

Speaker #1: With those tactics and with our fully staffed door-to-door team going into the second half of the year, we still feel very confident in improving our net additions for the full year compared to last year.

Speaker #1: So a little bit on competition, and you were specifically asking about our expansion markets. These were hand-picked markets. There were nearly 100 communities.

Speaker #1: We hand-picked these based on their favorable competitive characteristics, their growth characteristics, among other factors. We also specifically chose tier two and tier three communities because our hypothesis was that these would be lower priority for Lex to upgrade.

Speaker #1: And we've seen that play out. We still feel very confident and really pleased with the competitive landscape in our expansion markets.

Speaker #5: That's super helpful. Thank you. And Doug, I think I asked you and LT this perhaps last quarter, but just kind of thinking about, you know, you talked about the CBAN being beachfront.

Speaker #5: We don't disagree. But just thinking about, you know, trying to balance, you know, maybe value maximization against the backdrop of, you know, a big spectrum pipeline and portfolio that's going to be coming to market after, you know, the reconciliation bill. And you're particularly also have AWS-3 reaction from DISH, potential maybe secondary market, you know, spectrum coming from that entity as well.

Speaker #5: And, you know, again, and then the upper CBAN, you know, perhaps in 2026. I mean, just kind of thinking about how that, you know, this upcoming pipeline of additional spectrum and what perhaps that might do to carrier budgets and balance sheets.

Speaker #5: You know, influences perhaps how you're kind of thinking about the monetization of the remaining spectrum portfolio. Thank you.

Speaker #6: Yeah, good morning, Sebastiano. The nice thing about the CBAN spectrum is, one, it's deployable now, and it's very desirable mid-band spectrum, as you know.

Speaker #6: The other thing I mentioned in my script is that our first bill deadline is until 2029, and the second bill deadline is 2031. So we have the luxury of time to be opportunistic about the sale of the spectrum.

Speaker #6: Certainly, the supply and demand of spectrum, and what's becoming available through FCC auctions, including DISH and what happens there, is a factor we are considering.

Speaker #6: And our goal is to maximize the value. And we have time to do it. And our strategy is to, you know, take time we need to make re we're realizing the best value.

Speaker #6: And we'll be gauging interest and doing our marketing in the URE.

Speaker #5: Thank you. And congrats again.

Speaker #6: Thank ou.

Speaker #4: Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Nikosh. Alaka from New Street Research. Please go ahead.

Speaker #7: Hi. Thanks so much for taking my question. I have a couple of questions from the business side of TDS Telecom and then just a broader question of M&A on the business side.

Speaker #7: Can you provide us with an update on your mobile launch? If I remember correctly, you've done some test markets. What is your timeline for launching nationwide?

Speaker #1: Yep. Hi there. So an update on our MVNO is we launched in select markets in the fourth quarter of 2024. We're introducing our MVNO product, TDS Mobile.

Speaker #1: We just launched in the second quarter to all markets across our footprint. We have been taking a very phased, methodical approach as we're trying to work out all the kinks and ensure a great customer experience.

Speaker #1: But we are very excited because now we'll be able to offer the same products as our competitors, and in some markets this will actually be a differentiator against our competition.

Speaker #1: It's also allowing us to offer the products that our customers want and should help us attract and retain customers over time. So we're very pleased, and we're just getting kind of fully launched. We expect to see a lot more growth in the year.

Speaker #7: Thank you. And then my second question was about your pricing. I saw that recently you launched a gig product for $49.99. That's a very aggressive pricing. What kind of step-ups should customers see, and over what timeframe on that?

Speaker #1: Yeah. So our pricing strategy really depends on what the competitive landscape is in a given market, and we want to make sure that there are no barriers to entry.

Speaker #1: So typically, you'll see our entry-level pricing be just as aggressive as the other gig-capable provider in the market. And we just want to make sure that the economics hold true; if we offer a very aggressive entry-level price point, then we do have, usually after two years, a step-up in price onto the full retail rack rate.

Speaker #1: And typically, that's like a $20 increase that you'll see after two years. But we are starting to test more with different pricing strategies, and in some cases, we are offering pricing that does not have that step-up.

Speaker #1: So, we're kind of test and learn to figure out the right optimization.

Speaker #7: Got it. That's helpful. And then last question on M&A. You mentioned that you'll be looking for opportunities at the TDS Telecom level. Could you just give us some idea of what types of assets you're looking at?

Speaker #7: I'm assuming you're only looking at fiber assets. What kind of profile are you looking at for those assets?

Speaker #6: Yeah. So good morning. With the bringing in-house of the proceeds from the T-Mobile transaction and the expected proceeds from the AT&T and Verizon transactions, I'd say we are at the beginning point of considering what M&A opportunities would make sense.

Speaker #6: And in particular, we are focused on fiber opportunities and fiber opportunities that would be synergistic with our existing properties and footprint. So, it's just at the beginning of that analysis.

Speaker #6: And more to come in the future.

Speaker #7: Got it. Thanks so much.

Speaker #4: Thank you. Our last question comes from the line of Sergey Dudzevsky from Gabelli. Sir, please go ahead.

Speaker #8: Good morning, guys. Thank you for taking your decisions. Morning. My first question is for Doug. Doug, maybe you could talk a little bit about the main building blocks of your growth strategy for the tower business and the key steps that you're taking already to accelerate third-party locations and what else on that front you expect to do.

Speaker #8: Maybe over the next 12 to 24 months, what would you be doing differently potentially with independent providers? And what parts of your tower business do you think are generally underappreciated by investors, in your opinion?

Speaker #6: Okay. Yeah, good morning, Sergey. So, you know what we've done. I'll start with the fact that in the fourth quarter of 2024, we brought our sales team and intake operations in-house from an outsourced provider hired ahead of sales.

Speaker #6: And that has yielded great dividends for us. Our new colo applications in the first half of 2025 are up over 100% versus the first quarter of 2024.

Speaker #6: And that team's just doing a fantastic job. They're fully staffed, and we're really pleased with the progress they've made. You know, part of the revenue increase.

Speaker #6: You saw, you know, 12% quarter quarter. Part of that was due to the application fees that we received in '25. We didn't get in 24, but even without those, we had 7% quarter over quarter.

Speaker #6: Increase. You know, the other thing we have is we have strong MLAs with all three carriers. They have compelling pricing. The carriers like them with favorable pricing, and it also provides good economics to us.

Speaker #6: And there's ease of implementation. And so we believe that helps us. Obviously, the T-Mobile new MLA is a tailwind for us. I'd also point to the fact that now we have Array as a separate brand.

Speaker #6: And no longer part of a carrier. I don't think that's a significant benefit, but I do think it provides some benefit—more focused, more perceived as a, you know, pure play power company.

Speaker #6: And we also think this tailwind in carrier investments in the next three years. So we're very optimistic about our future with respect to sales growth.

Speaker #6: Doing all the right things with our team. And, you know, right now we're very focused on getting a T-Mobile MLA implemented. That's a significant effort for our organization.

Speaker #6: And one that we will be successful with, and look forward to getting that completed.

Speaker #8: Got it. Great. My second question is for Chris on the TDS Telecom side. So, obviously, fiber footprint expansion is a significant priority and you have your $1.8 million settings target.

Speaker #8: In addition to the scaling, the fiber footprint, and this new CEO coming in, how would you describe the top two or three operational strategic priorities beyond just fiber expansion over the next few years?

Speaker #8: And what are the key steps that you're taking to improve conversion of your fiber passings into paying customers?

Speaker #1: Yep. Hi, Sergey. So what I’ll go over the next several years, we do have a handful of top strategic priorities that we’re marching towards. First and foremost, like you said, is executing on the build plan and expanding our fiber footprint.

Speaker #1: We have a few large programs in place: EACAM, which we're very excited about to bring fiber to more rural areas. We have our expansion program, which is continuing to build to 100 communities and hopefully even accelerate those.

Speaker #1: You also heard Vicki and I talk about edge-out opportunities. So we're going to continue to look at even expanding the fiber footprint further. Plus one. Number two is executing our sales and marketing, driving revenue, and driving penetration.

Speaker #1: And so there's a lot of different efforts in place. This is where Ken Dixon and his background is great because this is his sweet spot.

Speaker #1: And so there's a lot of initiatives in place to ensure that we hit our targeted penetration curves as we deliver those addresses. And then lastly, it is the execution of our business transformation.

Speaker #1: The last quarter, I talked about how we've been transforming into a fiber company. We're in a meaningful way over the last few years. But now we're also focused on streamlining our operations, enhancing elements of the customer experience, all to make sure we're driving margin improvement and OCF expansion over the next several years.

Speaker #1: So those are really our top three priorities as we look over the next few years.

Speaker #8: Great. And my last question is for Walter. Walter, as you look beyond, or as we look beyond the two remaining announced deals at Array, at potentially additional spectrum integrations, how do the two companies—TDS Telecom, which is a largely consumer-oriented fiber operator, and Array, which is a mid-sized tower company with additional spectrum and wireless partnership assets—how do those companies fit together?

Speaker #8: And in your opinion, does having these two companies under the same holding company umbrella, in the current form or otherwise, optimize shareholder value going forward?

Speaker #8: And also, what types of additional shareholder value-enhancing moves, beyond the announced transactions, could we be looking at in terms of things that would come out of your toolkit?

Speaker #2: Sergey, thank you. Obviously, we've been focused immensely on the very near term. In terms of the T-Mobile transaction, the AT&T and Verizon transactions, over the intermediate horizon, or near to intermediate horizon, we do have the additional spectrum that you spoke to.

Speaker #2: And we do believe we will be successful in monetizing that, for many of the reasons that Doug stated. That frees up a lot of capital.

Speaker #2: And you're right that a tower business, which we believe will be very successful, is different in concept, perhaps, than a largely consumer or small business-focused fiber business.

Speaker #2: So they are different in concept, but they're in the same industry. The financial power that the tower business can bring to the enterprise is very significant.

Speaker #2: So, from my perspective, I view the combined power of these two businesses as we improve the execution that we have. I think there will be a lot of value unlocked through improved execution, as Doug and Chris have each indicated.

Speaker #2: And that will redound greatly to shareholder value. In terms of longer-term ideas with respect to other ways to unlock value, those will be considered.

Speaker #2: They're not the nearest-term priority. But they are very much on our mind, and we will continue to report to you as we go forward.

Speaker #2: I do think there are synergies between the type of thinking that goes into building a tower business and making it successful, as well as the type of thinking that goes into making the fiber business successful.

Speaker #2: So they are different, but they are related in good ways that are productive.

Speaker #8: Great. Thank ou.

Speaker #4: Thank you. This concludes our Q&A session. I will now turn the call back over to Colleen Thompson for closing remarks.

Speaker #9: Hey, thanks everyone for joining us today. Please reach out if you have any additional questions, and have a great week.