“While we're still finishing the 2025 operating plan, it's clear 2025 capital expenditures will not exceed the range of capital spend that we outlined in January of this year, even inclusive of a small amount of initial BEAD pending.”

In context

“wn from the previous estimate of $1.6 billion. Much of that originally planned 2024 spend is being pushed into 2026 and 2027. As Chris mentioned, we will update our multiyear capital expenditures outlook when we complete our 2025 operating plan and report our fourth quarter results in January. We now expect our total BEAD spend will be substantially less than our spend in RDOF, in each case, net of subsidies. That lower outlook reflects the most recent broadband map updates in terms of available unserved passings near our network and a little less favorable rules framework in BEAD when compared to RDOF and state grants. We have been in regular communication with the states in which we operate and we are generally the largest rural builder in our states through RDOF, ARPA and other grants. While we're still finishing the 2025 operating plan, it's clear 2025 capital expenditures will not exceed the range of capital spend that we outlined in January of this year, even inclusive of a small amount of initial BEAD pending. Looking beyond 2025, we expect total capital spending in dollar terms to be on a meaningful downward trajectory, even inclusive of BEAD spending. So total capital intensity is now poised to decline significantly after 2025 even including the unique onetime opportunity that subsidized rural spend and network evolution has presented us. While we always prioritize our cash flow for organic opportunities first and then accretive M&A and buybacks, there are no organic capital expenditure opportunities on the horizon that give us concern with that capital intensity outlook. Free cash flow in the third quarter totaled $1.6 billion, an increase of approximately $520 million compared to last year's third quarter. The year-over-year increase was primarily driven by higher adjusted EBITDA and lower”