“We also expect depreciation and amortization expense of about $20 billion annually through 2028 as incremental depreciation from our growth investments is offset by the roll-off of depreciated assets that have reached the end of their useful lives.”

In context

“fficiencies John discussed earlier, along with reductions in legacy operations and support costs. Our long-term outlook does not anticipate a material contribution to EBITDA growth from our pending acquisitions until 2028, which is also when we expect these investments to become accretive to adjusted EPS. Putting this all together, we expect to achieve growth in consolidated adjusted EBITDA in the 3% to 4% range in 2026, improving to 5% or better in 2028. We expect adjusted EPS to be in the $2.25 to $2.35 range in 2026, with a double-digit three-year CAGR through 2028. For 2026, our outlook for adjusted EPS includes approximately $0.05 of dilution from stand-up costs and higher interest expense related to our transactions with Lumen and EchoStar and an effective tax rate in the 22% range. We also expect depreciation and amortization expense of about $20 billion annually through 2028 as incremental depreciation from our growth investments is offset by the roll-off of depreciated assets that have reached the end of their useful lives. For 2026, we expect free cash flows of $18 billion plus, reflecting primarily growth in adjusted EBITDA, lower pension contributions, and lower legal settlements, partially offset by higher capital investments and cash interest. We expect free cash flows to grow by $1 billion plus in 2027 and approximately $2 billion in 2028, driven primarily by growth in adjusted EBITDA. As John discussed, we have plans to accelerate and scale the execution of our strategy this year, and we expect some upfront investments to drive this outcome will be reflected in our first quarter results. This includes incremental spending as we prepare to integrate and scale the retail operations we've agreed to acquire from Lumen and investments to drive acceleration in the pace of our fiber deployment. We are also l”