TELEPHONE & DATA SYSTEMS INC /DE/
For the period ended Sep 30, 2025. Filed Nov 7, 2025.
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A company's report for each of its first three quarters. The financial statements are not audited. It shows how the business has moved since the last annual report, and what management says changed.
Sep 30, 2025 · Filed Nov 7, 2025
Extracted filing text, with the paragraph anchors used by the comparison.
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TDS Telecom Operations
Business Overview
TDS Telecom owns, operates and invests in high-quality networks, services and products in a mix of small to mid-sized urban, suburban and rural communities throughout the United States. TDS Telecom is a wholly-owned subsidiary of TDS and provides a wide range of broadband, video, voice and wireless communications services to residential, commercial and wholesale customers, with the constant focus on delivering outstanding customer service.
OPERATIONS
Serves 1.1 million connections in 31 states
Employs approximately 3,400 associates
Operational Overview — TDS Telecom
Total Service Address Mix
As of September 30,
TDS Telecom increased its service addresses 5% from a year ago to 1.8 million as of September 30, 2025 through footprint expansion. TDS Telecom serves 46% of incumbent service addresses with fiber.
TDS Telecom offers 1Gig+ service to 76% of its total footprint as of September 30, 2025, compared to 74% a year ago.
| As of or for the Quarter Ended September 30, · 2025 · 2024 · 2025 vs. 2024 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Residential connections | ||||
| Broadband | ||||
| Incumbent Fiber | 123,500 | 115,900 | 7% | |
| Incumbent Copper | 102,000 | 125,600 | (19)% | |
| Expansion Fiber | 150,700 | 115,300 | 31% | |
| Cable | 186,100 | 195,900 | (5)% | |
| Total Broadband | 562,400 | 552,700 | 2% | |
| Video | 114,300 | 122,100 | (6)% | |
| Voice | 242,200 | 271,300 | (11)% | |
| Wireless | 2,200 | — | N/M | |
| Total Residential Connections | 921,100 | 946,100 | (3)% | |
| Commercial connections | 180,300 | 197,200 | (9)% | |
| Total connections | 1,101,300 | 1,143,300 | (4)% | |
| Total residential fiber net adds | 11,200 | 10,400 | ||
| Total residential broadband net adds | 4,600 | 2,700 | ||
| Residential fiber churn | 1.5% | 1.3% | ||
| Total residential broadband churn | 1.7% | 1.7% | ||
N/M - Percentage change not meaningful
Total connections decreased due to legacy voice, video, and competitive local exchange carrier (CLEC) connection declines, partially offset by broadband connection growth.
Q3 2024 total connections include 22,600 connections that were part of subsequent divestitures.
Residential Broadband Connections by Speed
As of September 30,
Residential broadband customers continue to take higher speeds with 84% on 100 Mbps or higher products and 31% on 1Gig+ products.
Residential Revenue per Connection
Total residential revenue per connection increased by less than 1% for the three months ended September 30, 2025, and increased 1% for the nine months ended September 30, 2025, due primarily to price increases, partially offset by customer product mix.
Financial Overview — TDS Telecom
| Three Months EndedSeptember 30, | Nine Months EndedSeptember 30, | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 2024 | 2025 vs. 2024 | 2025 | 2024 | 2025 vs. 2024 | |
| (Dollars in thousands) | ||||||
| Residential | ||||||
| Incumbent | $81,910 | $89,682 | (9)% | $252,168 | $269,231 | (6)% |
| Expansion | 39,610 | 28,878 | 37% | 110,596 | 82,740 | 34% |
| Cable | 60,231 | 67,158 | (10)% | 186,253 | 205,657 | (9)% |
| Total residential | 181,751 | 185,718 | (2)% | 549,017 | 557,628 | (2)% |
| Commercial | 34,066 | 36,304 | (6)% | 103,317 | 110,190 | (6)% |
| Wholesale | 39,153 | 40,438 | (3)% | 124,534 | 128,157 | (3)% |
| Total service revenues | 254,970 | 262,460 | (3)% | 776,868 | 795,975 | (2)% |
| Equipment revenues | 141 | 202 | (30)% | 535 | 587 | (9)% |
| Total operating revenues | 255,111 | 262,662 | (3)% | 777,403 | 796,562 | (2)% |
| Cost of operations (excluding Depreciation, amortization and accretion reported below) | 102,253 | 101,107 | 1% | 300,265 | 296,768 | 1% |
| Cost of equipment and products | 182 | 211 | (14)% | 562 | 514 | 9% |
| Selling, general and administrative | 79,201 | 80,814 | (2)% | 244,905 | 236,134 | 4% |
| Depreciation, amortization and accretion | 78,901 | 67,664 | 17% | 223,478 | 198,947 | 12% |
| (Gain) loss on asset disposals, net | 22 | 2,680 | (99)% | 7,890 | 8,344 | (5)% |
| (Gain) loss on sale of business and other exit costs, net | 2,844 | — | N/M | (5,235) | — | N/M |
| Total operating expenses | 263,403 | 252,476 | 4% | 771,865 | 740,707 | 4% |
| Operating income (loss) | $(8,292) | $10,186 | N/M | $5,538 | $55,855 | (90)% |
| Net income | $(282) | $9,391 | N/M | $19,329 | $50,893 | (62)% |
| Adjusted OIBDA (Non-GAAP)1 | $76,972 | $80,530 | (4)% | $235,168 | $263,146 | (11)% |
| Adjusted EBITDA (Non-GAAP)1 | $80,491 | $82,796 | (3)% | $245,352 | $269,402 | (9)% |
| Capital expenditures2 | $102,429 | $77,904 | 31% | $251,486 | $242,069 | 4% |
N/M - Percentage change not meaningful.
1 Refer to Supplemental Information Relating to Non-GAAP Financial Measures within this MD&A for a reconciliation of this measure.
2 Refer to Liquidity and Capital Resources within this MD&A for additional information on Capital expenditures.
Operating Revenues
Three Months Ended September 30, 2025 and 2024
Operating Revenues
Nine Months Ended September 30, 2025 and 2024
Residential revenues consist of:
Broadband services
Video services, including IPTV, traditional cable programming and satellite offerings
Voice services
Wireless services
Commercial revenues consist of:
High-speed and dedicated business internet services
Video services
Voice services
Wholesale revenues consist of:
Network access services primarily related to interexchange and wireless carriers for carrying data and voice traffic on TDS Telecom's networks
Federal and state regulatory support, including E-ACAM
Key components of changes in the statement of operations items were as follows:
Total operating revenues
Residential revenues decreased for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2025, due primarily to divestitures and declines in legacy markets, partially offset by growth in expansion markets and price increases.
Commercial revenues decreased for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2025, due primarily to declining connections in CLEC markets and divestitures.
Wholesale revenues decreased for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2025, due primarily to divestitures and the continued decline of special access circuits, partially offset by discrete reserve adjustments.
Total operating revenues decreased for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2025 by $5.9 million and $15.3 million, respectively, due to the 2024 and 2025 divestitures.
Cost of operations
Cost of operations increased for the three months ended September 30, 2025, due primarily to an increase in lease acceleration costs, partially offset by lower video programming costs.
Cost of operations increased for the nine months ended September 30, 2025, due primarily to employee-related expenses and lease acceleration costs, partially offset by lower video programming and maintenance costs.
Selling, general and administrative
SG&A expenses decreased for the three months ended September 30, 2025, due primarily to lower bad debts expense, partially offset by an increase in lease acceleration costs.
SG&A expenses increased for the nine months ended September 30, 2025, due primarily to employee-related expenses and lease acceleration costs, partially offset by lower bad debts expense and property taxes.
Depreciation, amortization and accretion
Depreciation, amortization and accretion increased for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2025, due primarily to changes in asset useful lives and capital expenditures on fiber assets.
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