Optimum Communications, Inc. (OPTU) Business

Item 1.    Business

Optimum Communications, Inc. (together with its subsidiaries, the "Company," "Optimum Communications," "we," "us," or "our") is one of the largest broadband communications and video services providers in the United States. We deliver high-speed broadband, video, mobile, and advertising services to residential and business customers across 21 states.

In November 2025, we amended our certificate of incorporation to change our corporate name from Altice USA, Inc. ("Altice USA") to Optimum Communications, Inc. On November 19, 2025, our Class A common stock began trading on the New York Stock Exchange ("NYSE") under the new ticker symbol "OPTU" (formerly "ATUS").

We are controlled by Patrick Drahi through Next Alt. S.à.r.l. ("Next Alt"), who also controls Altice Group Lux S.à.r.l., formerly Altice Europe N.V. ("Altice Europe") and its subsidiaries and other entities.

We are a holding company that does not conduct any business operations of our own. Altice Europe, through a subsidiary, acquired Cequel Corporation ("Cequel") on December 21, 2015 (the "Cequel Acquisition") and Cequel was contributed to Optimum Communications on June 9, 2016. Optimum Communications acquired Cablevision Systems Corporation ("Cablevision") on June 21, 2016 (the "Cablevision Acquisition").

We principally provide broadband communications and video services in the United States and market our services under the Optimum brand. We deliver broadband, video, telephony, and mobile services to approximately 4.3 million residential and business customers across our footprint. Our footprint extends across 21 states (primarily in the New York metropolitan area and various markets in the south-central United States) through a fiber-rich hybrid-fiber coaxial ("HFC") broadband network and a fiber-to-the-home ("FTTH") network with approximately 10.0 million total passings as of December 31, 2025. Additionally, we offer news programming and advertising services.

Our ongoing FTTH network build has enabled us to deliver multi-gig broadband speeds to meet the growing data needs of residential and business customers. Concurrent to our FTTH network deployment, we also continue to upgrade our existing HFC network through the deployment of digital and expansion of Data Over Cable Service Interface Specification ("DOCSIS") 3.1 technology in order to roll out enhanced broadband services to customers. Currently we make available 1 Gbps broadband services in most of our HFC footprint and up to 8 Gbps symmetrical speeds in our FTTH footprint, which provide a connectivity experience supporting the most data-intensive activities, including streaming 4K ultra-high-definition ("UHD") and high-definition ("HD") video on multiple devices, online multi-player video game streaming platforms, video chatting, streaming music, high-quality virtual-and augmented reality experiences, and downloading large files.

The following table presents certain financial data and metrics for Optimum Communications:

(a)Customer metrics do not include mobile-only customers. Please refer to "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" for additional information regarding our customer metrics.

(b)For additional information regarding Adjusted EBITDA, including a reconciliation of net income (loss) to Adjusted EBITDA, please refer to "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations."

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Our Mission

Our mission is to be the connectivity provider of choice in every community we serve.

Our Products and Services

We provide broadband, video, telephony, and mobile services to both residential and business customers. We also provide enterprise-grade fiber connectivity, bandwidth, and managed services to enterprise and hyperscaler customers and provide advertising time and services to advertisers. In 2025, we had approximately 3.1 million homes and businesses passed with our state-of-the-art FTTH network. In addition, we offer various news programming through traditional linear and digital platforms to consumers across our footprint.

The prices we charge for our services vary based on the number of services and associated service level or tier our customers choose, coupled with any promotions we may offer.

Residential Services

The following table shows our customer relationships for broadband, video, and telephony services provided to residential customers.

The following table shows our revenues for broadband, video, telephony, and mobile services provided to residential customers.

Broadband Services

We provide a variety of broadband service tiers tailored to meet the needs of our customers. Current offers include symmetrical speeds up to 8 Gbps for our residential customers.

Our FTTH broadband service is available to approximately 3.1 million homes, offering multi-gig symmetrical speed tiers to substantially all our FTTH customers and we plan to continue this expansion. In addition, we are deploying Smart WiFi 6 and 6E routers to our customers to provide whole home WiFi coverage.

Substantially all of our HFC network is digital and DOCSIS 3.1 compatible, which allows us to provide HFC customers with advanced broadband, video, and telephony services.

Video Services

We currently offer a variety of video services through Optimum TV, which include delivery of broadcast stations and cable networks, over the top ("OTT") services such as Netflix, Amazon Prime, YouTube, and others, advanced digital video services, such as video-on-demand ("VOD"), HD channels, and digital video recorder ("DVR"), to our residential markets. Depending on the market and level of service, customers have access to local broadcast networks and independent television stations, news, information, sports, and entertainment channels, regional sports networks,

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international channels, and premium services such as HBO Max, Paramount+ with Showtime channels, and Starz. Additionally, we provide app based solutions for TV, including companion mobile apps that allows viewing of television content on iOS or Android devices, as well as the available Optimum TV app on Apple TV, and on Optimum Stream for eligible customers.

Our residential customers pay a monthly charge based on the video programming level of service, tier or package they receive and the type of equipment they select. Customers who subscribe to seasonal sports packages, international channels, and premium services may be charged an additional monthly amount. We may also charge additional fees for pay-per-view programming and events, DVR, and certain VOD services.

We also provide advanced services, such as VOD and pay-per-view, that give residential video customers control over when they watch their favorite programming. Our VOD service provides on-demand access to movies, special events, free prime time content, and general interest titles. Subscription-based VOD premium content such as HBO Max and Starz is made available to customers who subscribe to a package that contains those channels. Our pay-per-view service allows customers to pay to view single showings of programming on an unedited, commercial-free basis.

For a monthly fee, we offer DVR services. Depending on the service area and market, customers may receive either a set-top box DVR with the ability to record or an enhanced Cloud DVR with the ability to pause and rewind live television and remote-storage capability to record 15 shows simultaneously with three storage capacity options to select from.

Additionally, Optimum TV subscribers can use their Optimum credentials to access TV Everywhere apps from participating networks on supported platforms. Network and app availability depend on the customer’s subscribed TV package.

In 2025, we expanded the availability of our three new video offerings, Entertainment TV, Extra TV, and Everything TV, along with Stream (our next generation video set-top box), to additional markets. Together, these video offerings help make up our modern video model, bringing to life the new vision of Optimum TV, which helps break conventional all-or-nothing options to better provide content geared toward customers’ unique and modern viewing preferences.

Telephony Services

Through Voice over Internet protocol ("VoIP") telephone service we also offer unlimited local, regional and long-distance calling within the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands for a flat monthly rate, including popular calling features such as caller ID with name and number, call waiting, three-way calling, and enhanced emergency 911 dialing. We also offer additional options designed to meet our customers' needs, including directory assistance, voicemail services, and international calling.

Mobile

We offer a mobile service providing data, talk, and text to consumers and business customers in or near our service footprint. The service is delivered over a nationwide network with long-term evolution ("LTE") and 5G (where available) coverage through our network partners, including our infrastructure-based mobile virtual network operator ("MVNO") agreement with T-Mobile U.S., Inc. ("T-Mobile"). We offload mobile traffic using our Optimum Wi-Fi network of hotspots in the New York metropolitan area as well as select customer premises equipment across our footprint. Our full infrastructure MVNO agreement with T-Mobile is differentiated from other light MVNOs in that it gives us full access control over our own core network, as well as the Home Location Register and subscriber identification module (SIM)/eSIM cards. This allows us to fully control seamless data offloading and the handover between the fixed and wireless networks. We also have full product, features, and marketing flexibility with our mobile service. In addition, during 2024, we began offering to our customers additional services such as Mobile Device Protection and connection-back-up service (wireless back-up on fixed Internet service), and we began offering customers the ability to purchase additional mobile equipment, such as Apple iPads, in addition to phones.

Our mobile product is sold at Optimum stores as well as online. Consumers can bring their own devices or purchase or finance a variety of phones (new or certified pre-owned) directly from us, including Apple, Samsung, and Motorola devices.

Business Services

We offer a wide and growing variety of products and services to both large enterprise and small and medium-sized business ("SMB") customers, including broadband, telephony, networking, and video services. As of December 31,

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2025, we served approximately 369.9 thousand SMB customers across our footprint. We serve enterprise customers primarily through Cablevision Lightpath LLC ("Lightpath"), our 50.01% owned subsidiary.

Enterprise Customers

Lightpath, our fiber enterprise business, provides ethernet, data transport, IP-based virtual private networks, Internet access, telephony services, including session-initiated protocol ("SIP") trunking and VoIP services to the business market primarily in the New York, Boston, and Miami metropolitan areas, and dark fiber and transport services in Phoenix, Columbus, and eastern Pennsylvania. In 2024, Lightpath acquired a fiber network between New York City and Ashburn, Virginia, as well as a metro network in New York City and New Jersey. Lightpath also provides managed services to businesses, including hosted telephony services (cloud based SIP-based private branch exchange), managed WiFi, managed desktop and server backup and managed collaboration services including audio and web conferencing. Through Lightpath, we also offer fiber-to-the-tower ("FTTT") services to wireless carriers for cell tower backhaul that enables wireline communications service providers to connect to towers that their own wireline networks do not reach. Lightpath's enterprise customers include companies in health care, financial, education, legal and professional services, and other industries, as well as the public sector and communication providers, incumbent local exchange carriers ("ILEC"), competitive local exchange carriers ("CLEC"), and hyperscaler customers. As of December 31, 2025, Lightpath had approximately 17,700 locations connected to its fiber network, which includes approximately 12,000 unique route miles (in each case, comprised of route miles that are owned by Lightpath or currently utilized by Lightpath pursuant to indefeasible right of use agreements with Optimum Communications and other parties). “Unique route miles” reflect the total aggregate distance measured in miles of all routes contained within the network that do not include overlap for multiple sheaths on similar routes.

In our footprint outside of the New York metropolitan area, for enterprise and larger commercial customers, we offer high capacity data services, including wide area networking and dedicated data access and advanced services such as wireless mesh networks. We also offer enterprise class telephone services which include traditional multi-line phone service over DOCSIS and trunking solutions via SIP for our Primary Rate Interface ("PRI") and SIP trunking applications. Similar to Lightpath, we also offer FTTT services in these areas. These services are offered on a standalone basis or in bundles that are developed specifically for our commercial customers. In addition, Optimum Business offers video in bulk use settings that enables nursing homes, hotels, universities, and hospitals to deliver HD content directly to TVs with or without digital cable boxes. This technology provides guests and residents with an enhanced in-room entertainment experience featuring news, local information, and content programming.

SMB Customers

We provide broadband (with symmetrical speeds up to 8 Gbps), video, mobile, and telephony services to SMB customers. In addition to these services, we also offer managed services, including hosted private branch exchange, managed WiFi, premiere technical support and network solutions, security and network access and equipment for SMB customers. Telephony services include Optimum Voice for Business, Business Hosted Voice, and Business Trunking (SIP and PRI). Optional telephony add-on services include international calling and toll free numbers. Optimum Business Mobile and Optimum Business Connection Backup (e.g., wireless failover) solutions are also available to our business customers, including SMBs. These services provide wireless connectivity for voice/data handsets, data only devices, and data failover solutions.

News and Advertising

News 12

News 12 Networks operates seven 24-hour local news channels across the New York tri-state area, including the Bronx, Brooklyn, Connecticut, Hudson Valley, Long Island, New Jersey, and Westchester, providing our viewers with complete access to hyper-local breaking news, traffic, weather, sports, community news, and more. News 12 Networks also includes a streaming OTT regional news channel, News 12 New York, which showcases top stories and events from across the tri-state area.

News 12 has been widely recognized by the news industry with numerous prestigious honors and awards, including multiple Emmy Awards, Edward R. Murrow Awards, NY Press Club Awards, and more.

Optimum Media

Optimum Media is an advanced advertising and data company that provides audience-based, multiscreen advertising solutions to local, regional, and national advertisers, including businesses, political candidates and organizations, advocacy groups, and other advertising clients. Optimum Media enables advertisers to reach millions of households across the United States through programming networks, on-demand and addressable inventory, and a broad range of

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digital/online, streaming/CTV, mobile and digital out-of-home environments. These capabilities are supported by Optimum Media's proprietary technology and privacy-compliant database of aggregated consumer, demographic, and TV viewership data, including as enhanced with third-party data integrations that enable household-level audience targeting.

Juice Media

Juice Media is a data-driven omnichannel media agency that supports advertisers through technology-enabled planning and buying capabilities. Juice Media provides strategy, media activation, and related services designed to support outcome-oriented advertising solutions. Its omnichannel approach is intended to enable customers and partners to maximize the effectiveness of their advertising campaigns.

New York Interconnect

In many markets, we have entered into agreements commonly referred to as "Interconnects" with other video platform operators to jointly sell local advertising. This simplifies our clients' purchase of local advertising and expands their geographic reach. In some markets, we represent the advertising sales efforts of other operators; in other markets, alternative operators represent us. NY Interconnect, LLC is a joint venture between Optimum Communications, Charter Communications, Inc. ("Charter") and Comcast Corporation ("Comcast").

Franchises

As of December 31, 2025, our systems operated in more than 1,400 communities pursuant to franchises, permits and similar authorizations issued by state and local governmental authorities. Franchise agreements typically require the payment of franchise fees and contain regulatory provisions addressing, among other things, service quality, cable service to schools and other public institutions, insurance, and indemnity. Franchise authorities generally charge a franchise fee of not more than 5% of certain of our cable service revenues that are derived from the operation of the system within such locality. We generally pass the franchise fee on to our customers.

Franchise agreements are usually for a term of five to fifteen years from the date of grant, however, approximately 490 of Optimum Communications’ communities are located in states (Connecticut, Kansas, Missouri, Nevada, North Carolina, and Texas) where by law franchise agreements do not have an expiration date. Franchise agreements are usually terminable only if the cable operator fails to comply with material provisions and then only after the franchising authority complies with substantive and procedural protections afforded by the franchise agreement and federal and state law. Prior to the scheduled expiration of most franchises, we generally initiate renewal proceedings with the granting authorities. This process usually takes less than three years but can take a longer period of time. The Communications Act of 1934, as amended (the "Communications Act"), which is the primary federal statute regulating interstate communications, provides for an orderly franchise renewal process in which granting authorities may not unreasonably withhold renewals. See "—Regulation—Cable Television—Franchising." In connection with the franchise renewal process, many governmental authorities require the cable operator to make certain commitments, such as building out certain franchise areas, meeting customer service requirements and supporting and carrying public access channels.

Historically, we have been able to renew our franchises without incurring significant costs, although any particular franchise may not be renewed on commercially favorable terms or otherwise. We expect to renew or continue to operate under all or substantially all of these franchises. For more information regarding risks related to our franchises, see "Risk Factors—Risk Factors Relating to Regulatory and Legislative Matters—Our cable system franchises are subject to non-renewal or termination." The failure to renew a franchise in one or more key markets could adversely affect our business. Proposals to streamline cable franchising have been adopted at both the federal and state levels. For more information, see "—Regulation—Cable Television—Franchising."

Programming

We design our channel line-ups for each system according to demographics, programming contract requirements, market research, viewership, local programming preferences, channel capacity, competition, price sensitivity, and local regulation. We believe offering a wide variety of programming influences a customer's decision to subscribe to and retain our video services. We obtain programming from a number of suppliers, including broadcast and cable networks.

We generally carry cable networks pursuant to written programming contracts, which continue for a fixed period of time, typically from one to five years, and are subject to negotiated renewal. Cable network programming is usually made available to us for a license fee, which is generally paid based on the number of customers who subscribe to the

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level of service that provides such programming. Such license fees may include, by way of example, "volume" discounts based on higher numbers of customers subscribing to certain networks or services, as well as discounts for channel placement or service penetration. For home shopping channels, we receive a percentage of the revenue attributable to our customers' purchases, as well as, in some instances, incentives for channel placement.

In our negotiations, we seek flexible distribution terms that would permit services to be made available in a variety of retail offerings and on a variety of platforms and devices in order to maximize consumer choice. Suppliers typically insist that their most popular and attractive services be distributed to a minimum number or percentage of customers or in a particular package or tier, which limits our ability to provide consumers with full purchasing flexibility.

Our cable programming costs for broadcast stations and cable networks have increased in excess of customary inflationary and cost-of-living type increases. We expect programming costs to continue to increase due to a variety of factors including annual increases imposed by stations and programmers. Broadcast and sports programming costs are the primary drivers of the increases of these programming costs. In addition, contracts to purchase sports programming sometimes provide for optional additional programming to be available on a surcharge basis during the term of the contract.

We have programming contracts that have expired and others that will expire in the near term. We will seek to renegotiate the terms of these agreements, but there can be no assurance that these agreements will be renewed on favorable or comparable terms. To the extent that we are unable to reach agreements with certain programmers on terms that we believe are reasonable, we have been, and may in the future be, forced to remove such programming channels from our line-up, which may result in a loss of customers. For more information, see "Risk Factors—Risk Factors Relating to Our Business and Our Indebtedness—Programming and retransmission costs are increasing and we may not have the ability to pass these increases on to our customers. Disputes with programmers and the inability to retain or obtain popular programming can adversely affect our relationship with customers and lead to customer losses, which could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations."

Sales and Marketing

Our marketing and sales strategy is designed to grow our customer base with efficient economics through effective brand positioning and messaging, impactful customer acquisition campaigns and effective customer development initiatives.

Based on customer insights and competitive analysis, we offer industry leading products and services matched with attractive pricing and sophisticated go-to-market strategies.

We use multiple channels to attract new customers, including mass media (television, on-line video, radio, print, and outdoor advertising) along with highly targeted tactics including search, social marketing, 1:1 digital campaigns, direct mail, outbound telemarketing, and door-to-door sales. These campaigns lead prospects to our inbound call centers, e-commerce web site, and retail stores where our sales teams use new AI assisted technologies to match the right products to individual customer wants and needs.

Our customer development efforts are intended to increase customer lifetime value through deeper engagement with our products and increased overall satisfaction with our services.

Much of our marketing is developed centrally then customized to address local market opportunities and compete with a diverse range of competitors. We also adapt our sales and marketing efforts for local market characteristics such as MDU (multiple dwelling unit/apartment) intensive cities or large college markets where we offer specialized products and services for students.

We also have a separate dedicated sales, marketing and service team for business customers in the SMB, mid-market, and enterprise segments.

We have a strong local presence in the communities we serve, and we give back to these communities through initiatives and sponsorships focused on digital equity, and future innovators (educational programs related to Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) and robotics).

We monitor performance of all our initiatives and continually optimize sales and marketing investments in order maximize return.

Customer Experience

We believe the customer experience is a cornerstone of our business. Our call center strategy is to demonstrate that we are reliable support experts, that are simple to interact with and work to the best of our ability to resolve the issue

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in the first attempt. Accordingly, we make a concerted effort to continually improve each customer interaction and have made significant investments in our people, processes, and technology to enhance our customers' experience and to reduce the need for customers to contact us.

The insights from operational customer service metrics and our customer surveys help us focus our product, technology, process, and network improvement efforts. We proactively collect feedback from our customers on all frontline interactions, product experience and service experience. Listening to and acting upon customer and agent feedback is a major pillar in our customer experience program and as such we review feedback as part of our on-going operations.

From a call center operations standpoint, we provide technical and account support service to our customers 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and we have systems that allow our customer care centers to be accessed and managed remotely in the event that systems functionality is temporarily lost, which provides our customers access to customer service with limited disruption. To ensure the highest quality support, we have call routing to specialized agents based on certain call types. We continue to work on simplifying and improving our agent toolset to better serve our customer needs.

We also offer our customers the ability to interact with us and get support through digital channels, whether via our website, chat, interactive voice support, text messaging, mobile app, or social media. Customers can use our customer portal website and mobile app to manage and pay their bill online, obtain service and account information, and get self-help troubleshooting support. Our goal is to continue to improve upon those customer care experiences whether through traditional or digital methods (such as through the My Optimum app and chat).

Network Management

Our cable systems are generally designed with an HFC architecture that has proven to be highly flexible in meeting the increasing needs of our customers. We deliver our signals via laser-fed fiber optic cable from control centers known as headends and hubs to individual nodes. Each node is connected to the individual homes served by us. A primary benefit of this design is that it pushes fiber optics closer to our customers' homes, which allows us to subdivide our systems into smaller service groups and make capital investments only in service groups experiencing higher than average service growth.

We have upgraded our networks, both through the deployment of our FTTH network and through new DOCSIS technologies, and we are delivering download speeds of up to 1 Gbps in most of our HFC footprint and up to 8 Gbps in our FTTH footprint. We also have a networking caching architecture that places highly viewed Internet traffic from the largest Internet-based content providers at the edge of the network closest to the customer to reduce bandwidth requirements across our national backbone, thus reducing operating expense. This collective network architecture also provides us with the capability to manage traffic across several Internet access points, thus helping to ensure Internet access redundancy and quality of service for our customers. Additionally, our national backbone connects most of our systems, which allows for an efficient and economical deployment of services from our centralized platforms that include telephone, VOD, network DVR, common video content, broadband Internet, hosted business solutions, provisioning, e-mail, and other related services.

Our ongoing FTTH network build passes approximately 3.1 million homes and businesses as of December 31, 2025, and has enabled us to deliver multi-gig broadband speeds to meet the growing data needs of residential and business customers. We believe our FTTH network is more resilient with reduced maintenance requirements, fewer service outages and lower power usage, which we expect will drive further structural cost efficiencies.

We have also focused on system reliability and disaster recovery as part of our national backbone and primary system strategy. For example, to help ensure a high level of reliability of our services, we implemented redundant power capability, as well as fiber route and carrier diversity in our networks. With respect to disaster recovery, we invested in our telephone platform architecture for geo-redundancy to minimize downtime in the event of a disaster to any single facility.

In addition, we continue to expand and refine our bandwidth utilization in order to meet demand for new and improved advanced services. A key component to reclaim bandwidth was the digital delivery of video channels that were previously distributed in analog through the launch of digital simulcast, which duplicates analog channels as digital channels. Additionally, the deployment of lower-cost digital customer premises equipment, such as HD digital transport adapters, enabled the use of more efficient digital channels instead of analog channels, thus allowing the reclamation of expanded basic analog bandwidth in the targeted systems. This reclaimed analog bandwidth is being repurposed for other advanced services such as additional HDTV services and faster Internet access speeds.

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To support our mobile business, we have a nationwide mobile core network with multiple interconnection points (including Texas, California, Illinois, and two in New York), as well as the necessary interconnection points for our network partners T-Mobile and AT&T Inc. ("AT&T"), Appalachian Wireless and US Cellular.

Information Technology

Our information technology ("IT") systems consist of billing, customer relationship management, business and operational support and sales force management systems. We continue to update and simplify our IT infrastructure through further investments, focusing on cost efficiencies, improved system reliability, functionality and scalability and enhancing the ability of our IT infrastructure to meet our ongoing business objectives. Additionally, through investment in our IT platforms, AI, machine learning, automation, and focus on process improvement, we continue to simplify and harmonize our service offering bundles and improve our technical service delivery and customer service capabilities. We contract with managed service providers to deliver certain core Business Support Systems and Operations Support Systems. These services are integrated into our overall IT ecosystems to ensure an efficient operation. Backup services are provided through alternate systems and infrastructure.

Suppliers

Customer Premise and Network Equipment

We purchase set-top boxes and other customer premise equipment from a limited number of vendors because our cable systems use one or two proprietary technology architectures. We buy HD, HD/DVRs and VOD equipment, routers, including the components of our home communications platform, and other network equipment from a limited number of suppliers, including Altice Labs (Altice Europe's technology, services, and innovation center), Sagemcom, and Ubee. We also purchase outside plant material and equipment, including fiber optics and copper components, to support the expansion and maintenance of our networks. See "Risk Factors—Risk Factors Relating to Our Business and Our Indebtedness—We depend on third-party vendors for certain equipment, hardware, licenses, and services in the conduct of our business."

Broadband and Telephone Connectivity

We deliver broadband and telephony services through our HFC and FTTH network. We use circuits that are either owned by us or rented from third parties to connect to the Internet and the public switched telephone network. We pay fees for rented circuits based on the amount of capacity available to it and pay for Internet connectivity based on the amount of IP-based traffic received from and sent over the other carrier's network.

Mobile Voice and Data Equipment

We purchase for resale mobile handsets from a number of original equipment manufacturers including Apple and Motorola. Customers of our mobile service are able to purchase these handsets with upfront or installment payments.

Intellectual Property

We rely on our patents, copyrights, trademarks, and trade secrets, as well as licenses and other agreements with our vendors and other parties, to use our technologies, conduct our operations, and sell our products and services. We also rely on our access to the proprietary technology of Altice Europe, including through Altice Labs, and licenses to the name "Altice" and derivatives from Next Alt. We believe we own or have the right to use all of the intellectual property that is necessary for the operation of our business as we currently conduct it.

Competition

We operate in a highly competitive, consumer-driven industry and we compete against a variety of broadband, video, mobile, fixed wireless broadband and fixed-line telephony providers and delivery systems, including broadband communications companies, wireless data and telephony providers, fiber-based service providers, satellite-based connectivity providers, Internet-delivered video content and broadcast television signals available to residential and business customers in our service areas. Emerging satellite broadband providers are beginning to offer high-speed connectivity in certain geographies that can compete with traditional broadband, although their overall presence in our footprint remains limited. We believe our leading market position in our footprint, technologically advanced network infrastructure, including our FTTH build-out, our evolving video services, our mobile service, and our focus on enhancing the customer experience favorably position us to compete in our industry. See also "Risk Factors—Risk Factors Relating to Our Business and Our Indebtedness—We operate in a highly competitive business environment which could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations, and liquidity."

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Broadband Services Competition

Our broadband services face competition from broadband communications companies' digital subscriber line ("DSL"), FTTH/Fiber to the Premises ("FTTP"), and wireless broadband offerings, as well as from a variety of companies that offer other forms of online services, including satellite-based broadband services. Our primary fiber-based competitors include AT&T and Verizon Communications Inc.'s ("Verizon") Fios (including the assets recently acquired from Frontier Communications Parent, Inc. ("Frontier")). T-Mobile fixed wireless, Verizon fixed wireless, and AT&T Internet Air are our primary wireless broadband competitors. In addition to smaller and regional overbuilders, which use an existing telecommunications operator's network to provide their services, as well as newer fiber providers such as Tachus and T-Fiber, large national providers such as Comcast and Charter are currently deploying significant fiber and network overbuilds in portions of our footprint, increasing the intensity of competition in certain markets. Current and future fixed and wireless Internet services, such as 4G, LTE, and 5G (and variants) wireless broadband services and WiFi networks, and devices such as wireless data cards, tablets and smartphones, and mobile wireless routers that connect to such devices, may also compete with our broadband services both for in premises broadband service and mobile broadband. All major wireless carriers offer unlimited data plans, which could, in some cases, become a substitute for the fixed broadband services we provide. The Federal Communications Commission ("FCC") is likely to continue to make additional radio spectrum available for these wireless Internet access services, which in time could expand the quality and reach of these services. Additionally, federal legislation has substantially increased the amount of subsidies to entities deploying broadband to areas deemed to be "unserved" or "underserved," which could result in increased competition for our broadband services.

We face intense competition from broadband communications companies with fiber-based networks. Verizon has constructed a FTTH network that passes a significant number of households in our New York metropolitan service area, including through fiber assets acquired from Frontier; and AT&T has constructed a FTTP/Fiber to the Node infrastructure in various markets in our south-central United States service area. We estimate that Verizon, together with other fiber-based service providers, is able to sell fiber-based services to over two-thirds of the households in our footprint in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut combined and that AT&T and other fiber-based service providers are able to sell fiber products to approximately half of the households in various markets in our south-central United States service area. As a result of Verizon's acquisition of Frontier, Verizon now offers DSL and FTTH broadband service and competes with us in most of our Connecticut service area, as well as parts of our Texas, West Virginia, Arizona, and California service areas. The Frontier acquisition has further consolidated the fiber broadband market and may increase competitive pressures in certain of our service areas.

Video Services Competition

Our video services face competition from cable providers as well as direct broadcast satellite ("DBS") providers, such as DirecTV and DISH Network (a wholly-owned subsidiary of EchoStar Corporation, "DISH"). DirecTV and DISH offer one-way satellite-delivered pre-packaged programming services that are received by relatively small and inexpensive receiving dishes. We believe cable-delivered services, which include the ability to bundle additional services such as broadband, offer a competitive advantage to DBS service, because cable headends can provide two-way communication to deliver a large volume of programming that customers can access and control independently.

Our video services also face intense competition from companies that deliver movies, television shows, live sports, and other video programming, including extensive on demand, live content, serials, exclusive and original content, over broadband Internet connections to televisions, computers, tablets, and mobile devices, such as Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, Apple TV, YouTube TV, Amazon Prime, Sling TV, DirecTV (including its streaming service), and others. In addition, content owners are increasingly prioritizing direct to consumer streaming products over traditional distribution channels, delivering content to consumers that was formerly only available via traditional distribution channels.

Telephony Services Competition

Our telephony service competes with wireline, wireless, and VoIP phone service providers, such as Vonage, Microsoft Teams, Facetime, WhatsApp, and magicJack, as well as companies that sell phone cards at a cost per minute for both national and international service. We also compete with other forms of communication, such as text messaging on cellular phones, instant messaging, social networking services, video conferencing, and email. The increased number of technologies capable of carrying telephony services and the number of alternative communication options available to customers have intensified the competitive environment in which we operate our telephony services.

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Mobile Wireless Competition

Our mobile wireless service faces competition from a number of national incumbent network-based mobile service providers, such as AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon, and smaller regional service providers, as well as a number of reseller or MVNO providers, such as Tracfone, Boost Mobile, and Cricket Wireless, among others. We believe that our approach to the mobile wireless service offering, including the ability to bundle and promote the product to our existing customer base, gives us advantages over pure MVNO resellers, and differentiates us from certain incumbent network-based operators. Improvements by incumbent and reseller mobile service providers on price, features, speeds, and service enhancements will continue to impact the competitiveness and attractiveness of our mobile service, and we will need to continue to invest in our services, product and marketing to answer that competition. Our mobile wireless strategy depends on the availability of wholesale access to radio access networks ("RAN") from one or more network-based providers with whom we are likely to compete. Our mobile service is vulnerable to constraints on the availability of wholesale access or increases in price from the incumbents. Consolidation among wholesale RAN access providers could impair our ability to sustain our mobile service and be competitive.

Business Services Competition

We operate in highly competitive business telecommunications market and compete primarily with local incumbent telephone companies, especially AT&T, Lumen Technologies, Inc. ("Lumen"), and Verizon (including former Frontier operations), as well as with a variety of other national and regional business services competitors. Many of these competitors offer end-to-end technology solutions such as cloud-based telephony, SASE, SD-WAN and hyperscaler access, enabling them to position themselves as single-source technology providers. In recent years, local fiber providers and fixed wireless broadband providers have become more competitive in the business telecommunications services market.

Advertising Services Competition

We provide advertising and advanced advertising services across television, streaming and digital platforms, both directly and indirectly, within and outside our cable service area. We face significant competition for advertising-related revenue from a wide range of local, regional and national media outlets and technology platforms. Competitors include local broadcast stations, national cable and broadcast networks, radio stations, print media, digital and social media platforms (such as Facebook and Instagram), online advertising companies (such as Google), retail media networks (such as Amazon), content providers (such as Disney), connected TV providers, advertising agencies (such as Omnicom Group), measurement platforms, digital advertising platforms and data providers. Competition has intensified as advertisers allocate budgets across an expanding number of multiscreen and digital formats, and we expect this trend to continue.

Human Capital Resources

As of December 31, 2025, we had approximately 9,500 employees. Approximately 380 of our employees were represented by unions as of such date. Approximately 89% of our employees are U.S. based. Our employees perform work in a variety of environments, including customers’ homes or businesses, in the field, and on site in retail stores, centers or offices.

Compensation and Benefits

We are committed to providing a competitive total incentive program that is conducive to attracting and retaining our talent. Our compensation program targets market competitive pay and provides an opportunity for our full time non-union employees to earn performance-based incentive compensation. Our market competitive and inclusive benefits program includes healthcare benefits, life and disability insurance, 401(k) plan with Company matching contributions, paid time off, and other voluntary benefit programs.

Employee Engagement

We are committed to creating an environment where every employee can be the difference, and where employees ask questions, demonstrate their expertise, create community, take ownership, and are nimble. We believe that fostering a best-in-class employee experience will enable our employees to provide a best-in-class customer experience. We value recognition and have many programs throughout each year that celebrate the achievements of employees across the Company. We also promote a culture that embraces equal opportunity for all, and we are committed to fostering a workplace where employees and customers alike experience a culture of respect, belonging, and opportunity. Our approach is guided by best practices in recruitment, retention, community engagement, and culture-building, ensuring that we attract and retain talent that reflects the diverse communities we serve.

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We have earned certifications by Great Place to Work®, a global authority on workplace culture, employee experience, and effective leadership. Additionally, we earned recognition from the Cablefax Top Ops Awards earning the Work Culture Award, and Built In included us among multiple Best Places to Work 2025 lists.

Learning and Development

We provide our leaders with development programs through the Optimum Leader framework, focusing on our three guiding principles: to set clear expectations and do what is right, drive ONE Optimum, and make it happen. We also provide employees with tuition benefits to ensure access to educational resources they need to continue their development and pursue their goals.

Regulation

General Company Regulation

Our cable and other services are subject to a variety of federal, state and local law and regulations, as well as, in instances where we operate outside of the U.S., the laws and regulations of the countries and regions where we operate. The Communications Act, and the rules, regulations and policies of the FCC, as well as other federal, state and other laws governing cable television, communications, consumer protection, privacy and related matters, affect significant aspects of the operations of our cable and other services.

The following paragraphs describe the existing legal and regulatory requirements we believe are most significant to our operations today. Our business can be dramatically impacted by changes to the existing regulatory framework, whether triggered by legislative, administrative or judicial rulings.

Cable Television

Franchising.    The Communications Act requires cable operators to obtain a non-exclusive franchise from state or local franchising authorities to provide cable service. Although the terms of franchise agreements differ from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, they typically require payment of franchise fees and contain regulatory provisions addressing, among other things, use of the right of way, service quality, cable service to schools and other public institutions, insurance, indemnity and sales of assets or changes in ownership. State and local franchising authority, however, must be exercised consistent with the Communications Act, which sets limits on franchising authorities' powers, including limiting franchise fees to no more than 5% of gross revenues from the provision of cable service, prohibiting franchising authorities from requiring us to carry specific programming services, and protecting the renewal expectation of franchisees by limiting the factors a franchising authority may consider and requiring a due process hearing before denying renewal. When franchises are renewed, however, the franchise authority may, except where prohibited by applicable law, seek to impose new and more onerous requirements as a condition of renewal. Similarly, if a franchising authority's consent is required for the purchase or sale of a cable system, the franchising authority may attempt to impose more burdensome requirements as a condition for providing its consent. Cable franchises generally are granted for fixed terms and, in many cases, include monetary penalties for noncompliance. They may also be terminable if the franchisee fails to comply with material provisions.

In recent years, the traditional local cable franchising regime has undergone significant change as a result of federal and state action. Several states have reduced or eliminated the role of local or municipal government in franchising in favor of state- or system-wide franchises, and the trend has been toward consolidation of franchising authority at the state level, in part to accommodate the interests of new broadband and cable entrants over the last decade. At the same time, the FCC has adopted rules that streamline entry for new competitors (such as those affiliated with broadband communications companies) and reduce certain franchising burdens for these new entrants. In 2019, the FCC also extended to existing cable providers relief from certain fees and other regulatory requirements imposed by franchising authorities, including subjecting certain fees for access to the right-of-way and certain in-kind payments obligations to the statutory cap on franchise fees, as well as preempting states and localities from exercising their authority to regulate cable operators’ non-cable services. The FCC's order was challenged by several municipalities and substantially upheld by the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals on appeal, although the court curtailed the relief related to in-kind contributions. Some municipalities have asked the FCC to reopen consideration of these issues. We cannot predict whether or not the FCC will do so or what actions it may take if it does.

Pricing and Packaging.    The Communications Act and the FCC's rules limit the scope of price regulation for cable television services. Among other limitations, franchising authorities may regulate rates only for "basic" cable service. In 2015, the FCC adopted a rule establishing a presumption against rate regulation absent an affirmative showing by the franchising authority that there is an absence of effective competition. Based on the 2015 FCC rule, none of our video customers are currently subject to basic rate regulation.

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There have been frequent calls to impose further rate regulation on the cable industry. It is possible that Congress or the FCC may adopt new constraints on the retail pricing or packaging of cable programming. As we attempt to respond to a changing marketplace with competitive marketing and pricing practices, we may face regulations that impede our ability to compete. In 2024, the FCC adopted rules that require cable operators to disclose the "all-in" price for service, including fees related to the provision of cable service such as network fees, sports and broadcast programming fees, in subscriber bills, advertising, and promotional materials. The FCC has also proposed restricting the use of early termination fees imposed on customers who terminate long-term service contracts prior to the expiration of their contracts, and to require cable operators to prorate a subscriber's bill for the final month of service if the subscriber cancels service prior to the end of the final month. We do not charge early termination fees. We currently charge for service in whole-month increments other than where prohibited by state law, so the adoption of this proposal would affect our customer service practices. We cannot predict whether these rules and restrictions, if adopted, would affect our cable revenue and subscribership.

In addition, a number of state and local regulatory authorities have imposed or seek to impose price- or price-related regulation that we believe is inconsistent with FCC direction, and these efforts if successful, will diminish the benefits of deregulation and hamper our ability to compete with our largely unregulated competitors. We brought a challenge in federal and state court against one such attempt to regulate our pricing by the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities ("Board"), but in 2023, the New Jersey Supreme Court upheld the Board's regulation.

Must-Carry/Retransmission Consent.    Cable operators are required to carry, without compensation, programming transmitted by most local commercial and noncommercial broadcast television stations that elect "must carry" status. Alternatively, local commercial broadcast television stations may elect "retransmission consent," giving up their must-carry right and instead negotiating with cable systems the terms on which the cable systems may carry the station's programming content. Cable systems generally may not carry a broadcast station that has elected retransmission consent without the station's consent. The terms of retransmission consent agreements frequently include the payment of compensation to the station.

Broadcast stations must elect either "must carry" or retransmission consent every three years. A substantial number of local broadcast stations currently carried by our cable systems have elected to negotiate for retransmission consent. In the most recent retransmission consent negotiations, popular television stations have demanded substantial compensation increases, thereby increasing our operating costs. In the event a cable operator and a broadcast station electing retransmission consent cannot agree on terms and conditions for carriage, a cable operator must cease carrying the station until such an agreement is reached. The FCC recently adopted rules requiring cable operators to report such “blackouts” lasting more than 24 hours to the FCC. The FCC has also proposed that cable operators provide subscribers with a rebate if a broadcast station is blacked out during a retransmission consent dispute. The proposed rebate requirement would also apply if other video programming services are blacked out during a carriage dispute. This proposal remains pending at the FCC.

Ownership Limitations.    Federal regulation of the communications field traditionally included a host of ownership restrictions, which limited the size of certain media entities and restricted their ability to enter into competing enterprises. Through a series of legislative, regulatory, and judicial actions, most of these restrictions have been either eliminated or substantially relaxed. In 2017, the FCC relaxed some broadcast media ownership rules, and the broadcast industry subsequently experienced consolidation. The FCC's order was subsequently affirmed by the U.S. Supreme Court. In 2025, the U.S. Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals invalidated the FCC's rule prohibiting the same television licensee from acquiring an affiliation with more than one of the "top four" networks in the same local market to include affiliation via a low power television station or one of the licensee's available programming streams on its broadcast signal. These changes may help facilitate media consolidation, increasing the leverage broadcasters can exercise in negotiating the fees we pay them to license their signals. The FCC has the statutory obligation to review its broadcast ownership rules every four years and revise them if it determines that the public interest so requires. As part of its 2022 quadrennial review of media ownership rules, the FCC has sought comment on whether to eliminate or modify the prohibition on common ownership of more than any two stations in a local market and the prohibition on a merger between or among any of the Big Four networks, i.e., ABC, CBS, FOX, and NBC. The FCC is also considering elimination of the national broadcast ownership cap, which bars a single entity from owning or controlling broadcast television stations that, in the aggregate, reach more than 39% of the television audience households in the United States (with a 50% discount given to the ownership of UHF stations for purposes of calculating compliance with the 39% audience reach cap). Elimination or modification of some or all of these rules could lead to further consolidation in the broadcast industry, which could adversely impact those fees.

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Set-Top Boxes.    The Communications Act includes a provision that requires the FCC to take certain steps to support the development of a retail market for "navigation devices," such as cable set-top boxes. Several years ago, the FCC began a proceeding to consider requiring cable operators to accommodate third-party navigation devices, which have imposed substantial development and operating requirements on the industry. Though there is currently no active effort to advance these proposals, the FCC may in the future consider implementing other measures to promote the competitive availability of retail set-top boxes or third-party navigation options that could impact our customers' experience, our ability to capture user interactions to refine and enhance our services, and our ability to provide a consistent customer support environment.

PEG and Leased Access.     Franchising authorities may require that we support the delivery and support for public, educational, or governmental ("PEG") channels on our cable systems. In addition to providing PEG channels, we must make a limited number of commercial leased access channels available to third parties (including parties with potentially competitive video services) at regulated rates. Although commercial leased access activity historically has been relatively limited, increased activity in this area could further burden the channel capacity of our cable systems.

Pole Attachments.    We make extensive use of utility poles and conduits to attach and install the facilities that are integral to our network and services. The Communications Act requires most utilities to provide cable systems with access to poles and conduits to attach such facilities at regulated rates, but does not extend these requirements to other entities, such as municipalities and electric cooperatives. The FCC (or a state, if it chooses to regulate) regulates utility company rates for the rental of pole and conduit space used by companies, including operators like us, to provide cable, telecommunications services, and Internet access services. Many states in which we operate have elected to set their own pole attachment rules. Adverse changes to the pole attachment rate structure, rates, classifications, and access could significantly increase our annual pole attachment costs. Expansion of our business into new areas, including areas where poles and conduits are operated by electric cooperatives or municipalities not subject to FCC or state regulation, may be frustrated by delays, capacity constraints, "makeready" demands or the general inability to secure appropriate pole or conduit rights, as well as higher pole and conduit access costs.

Program Access.    The program access rules generally prohibit a cable operator from improperly influencing an affiliated satellite-delivered cable programming service to discriminate unfairly against an unaffiliated distributor where the purpose or effect of such influence is to significantly hinder or prevent the competitor from providing satellite-delivered cable programming. FCC rules also allow a competing distributor to bring a complaint against a cable-affiliated terrestrially-delivered programmer or its affiliated cable operator for alleged violations of this rule, and seek reformed terms of carriage as a remedy.

Program Carriage.    The FCC's program carriage rules prohibit us from requiring an unaffiliated programmer to grant us a financial interest or exclusive carriage rights as a condition of its carriage on our cable systems and prohibit us from unfairly discriminating against unaffiliated programmers in the terms and conditions of carriage on the basis of their nonaffiliation. The FCC has also proposed to prohibit cable and DBS operators from including most favored nation provisions and unreasonable alternative distribution method provisions in their carriage agreements with independent programmers (i.e., programmers unaffiliated with cable or DBS operators or a broadcast television network or licensee). The FCC has sought comment on whether these restrictions should apply to existing contracts. Some of our programming contracts include such provisions. Additionally, FCC Chairman Carr has suggested that a refusal to carry certain programming because of its content could be regarded as discriminatory in violation of the program carriage rules.

Exclusive Access to Multitenant Buildings.    The FCC prohibits cable operators from entering into or enforcing exclusive agreements with owners of multitenant buildings under which the operator is the only multichannel video programming distributor ("MVPD") with access to the building. FCC rules also restrict certain business arrangements between cable operators and owners of multitenant buildings, including prohibiting operators from entering into certain types of revenue sharing agreements and requiring operators to disclose to tenants the existence of exclusive marketing arrangements and the availability of alternative providers. The FCC has also clarified that existing FCC rules regarding cable inside wiring prohibit so-called "sale-and-leaseback" arrangements that effectively deny access to alternative providers.

CALM Act.    The FCC's rules require us to ensure that all commercials carried on our cable service comply with specified volume standards.

Privacy and Data Security.    In the course of providing our services, we collect certain information about our customers and their use of our services. We also collect certain information regarding potential customers and other individuals. Our collection, use, disclosure and other handling of information is subject to a variety of federal and

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state privacy requirements, including those imposed specifically on cable operators and telecommunications service providers by the Communications Act. We are also subject to data security obligations, as well as requirements to provide notice to individuals and governmental entities in the event of certain data security breaches, and such breaches, depending on their scope and consequences, may lead to litigation and enforcement actions with the potential for substantial monetary forfeitures or to adversely affect our brand.

As cable operators provide interactive and other advanced services, additional privacy and data security requirements may arise through legislation, regulation or judicial decisions. For example, the Video Privacy Protection Act of 1988 has been interpreted in some instances to cover online interactive services. In addition, Congress, the Federal Trade Commission ("FTC"), and other lawmakers and regulators are all considering whether to adopt additional measures that could impact the collection, use, and disclosure of customer information in connection with the delivery of advertising and other services to consumers customized to their interests. See "—Privacy Regulations" below.

Federal Copyright Regulation.    We are required to pay copyright royalty fees on a semi-annual basis to receive a statutory compulsory license to carry broadcast television content. These fees are subject to periodic audit by the content owners. The amount of a cable operator's royalty fee payments is determined by a statutory formula that takes into account various factors, including the amount of "gross receipts" received from customers for "basic" service, the number of "distant" broadcast signals carried and the characteristics of those distant signals (e.g., network, independent or noncommercial). Certain elements of the royalty formula are subject to adjustment from time to time, which can lead to increases in the amount of our semi-annual royalty payments. The U.S. Copyright Office, which administers the collection of royalty fees, has made recommendations to Congress for changes in or elimination of the statutory compulsory licenses for cable television carriage of broadcast signals. Changes to copyright regulations could adversely affect the ability of our cable systems to obtain such programming and could increase the cost of such programming. Similarly, we must obtain music rights for locally originated programming and advertising from the major music performing rights organizations. These licensing fees have been the source of litigation in the past, and we cannot predict with certainty whether license fee disputes may arise in the future. The legal framework for secondary copyright liability for Internet Service Providers ("ISPs"), including whether and to what extent an ISP may be liable for the alleged infringement of its subscribers' internet services, continues to evolve and could result in significant liability for us.

Access for Persons with Disabilities.    The FCC's rules require us to ensure that persons with disabilities can more fully access the programming we carry. We are required to provide closed captions and pass through video description to customers on some networks we carry, and to provide an easy means of activating closed captioning and to ensure the audio accessibility of emergency information and on-screen text menus and guides provided by our navigation devices.

Other Regulation.    We are subject to various other regulations, including those related to political broadcasting; home wiring; the blackout of certain network and syndicated programming; prohibitions on transmitting obscene programming; limitations on advertising in children's programming; and standards for emergency alerts, as well as telemarketing and general consumer protection laws, federal and state marketing and advertising standards and regulations, and equal employment opportunity obligations. For example, the Television Viewer Protection Act of 2019 imposes obligations on cable and fixed broadband providers, including required disclosures at the point of sale and in electronic billing and prohibitions on certain equipment charges. The FCC also imposes various technical standards on our operations. In the aftermath of extreme weather events, the FCC and certain states continue to examine whether new requirements are necessary to improve the resiliency of communications networks. In 2022, the FCC adopted disaster response requirements for facilities-based wireless providers but deferred imposing similar requirements on cable and other communications networks. The FCC requires cable operators to report network outages that exceed a specified threshold and, in 2024, put in place regulations that mandate reporting on operational status and restoration information during disasters. Some jurisdictions, such as California, have begun to impose new technical requirements on facilities-based wireline providers as part of their resiliency proceedings. Other states have undertaken examinations of storm resiliency, recovery, and customer impacts, which could lead to additional regulation of the industry. Each of these regulations restricts (or could restrict) our business practices to varying degrees and will impose (or could impose) substantial compliance costs. The FCC can aggressively enforce compliance with its regulations and consumer protection policies, including through the imposition of substantial monetary sanctions. It is possible that Congress or the FCC will expand or modify its regulations of cable systems in the future, and we cannot predict at this time how that might impact our business.

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Broadband

Regulatory Classification.    Broadband Internet access services were traditionally classified by the FCC as "information services" for regulatory purposes, a type of service that is subject to a lesser degree of regulation than "telecommunications services." In 2015, the FCC reversed this determination and classified broadband Internet access services as "telecommunications services." This reclassification had subjected our broadband Internet access service to greater regulation, although the FCC did not apply all telecommunications service obligations to broadband Internet access service. The 2015 Order (as defined below) could have had a material adverse impact on our business. In December 2017, the FCC adopted an order that in large part reversed again the 2015 Order and reestablished the "information service" classification for broadband Internet access service. The 2017 Order (as defined below) was affirmed in part on appeal in October 2019 insofar as it classified broadband Internet access services as information services subject to lesser federal regulation. However, the 2017 Order was also vacated in part on appeal insofar as it preempted states from subjecting broadband Internet access services to any requirements more stringent than the federal requirements. As a result, the precise extent to which state rules may impose such requirements, as well as other regulatory obligations, on broadband Internet access service providers is not fully settled. In 2024, the FCC reclassified broadband service as a common carrier telecommunications service under similar terms and conditions as the 2015 Order. The 2024 Order was stayed and, in 2025, vacated by the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. The Sixth Circuit denied a request for en banc rehearing, and that decision was not appealed.

Net Neutrality.   The FCC's 2015 and 2024 Orders would have imposed "net neutrality" requirements on providers of broadband Internet access services, which included prohibitions on blocking, throttling and prioritizing Internet traffic. A number of states, including California and New York, have adopted legislation or executive orders that apply "net neutrality" rules to ISPs. The California legislation took effect in March 2021, and was upheld in 2022 by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals against a challenge by internet service providers. New York and New Jersey each have in place an executive order that requires entities contracting with state agencies to commit to and certify compliance with net neutrality principles across the market. These state requirements currently remain in place notwithstanding the court decision overturning the FCC’s net neutrality rules. In the wake of the Sixth Circuit decision, Congress may consider legislation codifying some form of “net neutrality” rules. The FCC or Congress could also address the extent to which states may also impose such rules or otherwise regulate broadband service.

Spectrum for Fixed Wireless. In 2025, Congress enacted legislation extending the FCC’s authority to hold spectrum auctions until 2034 and directing the FCC to auction at least 500 megahertz of spectrum by 2033. The additional spectrum made available by this auction could also be won by mobile carriers and others who use it to provide fixed wireless broadband service in competition with our wired broadband.

Digital Discrimination. Pursuant to a Congressional directive, the FCC adopted rules in 2023 to facilitate equal access to broadband internet access service by preventing digital discrimination of access, which the FCC defined as "policies or practices, not justified by genuine issues of technical or economic feasibility, that differentially impact consumers' access to broadband internet access service based on their income level, race, ethnicity, color, religion or national origin, or are intended to have such differential impact." The FCC rules include a process for bringing complaints against broadband providers that relate to digital discrimination. The rules took effect in March 2024 and have been challenged in court. We cannot predict the outcome of the litigation or how these rules will affect our broadband business, including deployment and pricing.

Consumer Labels. The FCC rules require broadband providers to display, at the point of sale, consumer labels with information about their broadband services. The labels must disclose certain information about broadband prices, introductory rates, data allowances, and speeds, and include links to information about network management practices, privacy policies, and, while it was in effect, the FCC's Affordable Connectivity Program ("ACP") for low-income households. The FCC's rules also require the labels to itemize monthly charges and fees, including regulatory fees passed through to consumers for any individual consumer's location. The requirement to display labels took effect in 2024. In 2025, the FCC proposed to revise the label requirements and eliminate certain requirements, including, among other things, the ACP requirements. That proceeding remains pending.

Access for Persons with Disabilities.    The FCC's rules require us to ensure that persons with disabilities have access to "advanced communications services", such as electronic messaging and interoperable video conferencing. They also require that certain video programming delivered via Internet Protocol include closed captioning and require entities distributing such programming to end users to pass through such captions and identify programming that should be captioned.

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Government Subsidies. The FCC and other federal agencies, as well as some states, direct subsidies to entities deploying broadband to areas deemed to be "unserved" or "underserved." Federal legislation and state programs have substantially increased the amount of such subsidies in recent years. This increase is expected to continue in all states in the coming years in connection with federal funding, although it is possible that the current Administration may seek to make changes to the relevant programs and funding levels. Eligibility criteria for the use of such subsidies do not always limit their use exclusively to areas lacking broadband access. We have sought this funding as have many other entities, including broadband services competitors and new entrants into such services. We have also opposed subsidies directed to areas that we already serve. There is no assurance that we will be successful in securing such funding or in preventing funding from being directed to our competitors in areas we already serve, nor any guarantee of the amount of funding we could receive. In 2022, we were authorized to receive subsidies from the FCC as part of the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund ("RDOF"). RDOF awards include a number of regulatory requirements and construction milestones. In 2024, we exited the RDOF program and no longer receive FCC universal service subsidies. The FCC could audit our compliance with RDOF during the period we received subsidies. If the government found that we failed to meet certain obligations, we could be subject to government penalties. By accepting RDOF funding, we were required to participate in the federal Lifeline program, which provides low-income households with discounted voice and broadband services. After we exited RDOF, we also relinquished our eligible telecommunications carrier obligations, which eliminated our obligation to offer Lifeline. The FCC also administered the ACP, which provided subsidies for broadband providers that offered discounted broadband service to low-income households. Although funding for the program ended in 2024, the FCC continues to assess providers’ compliance.

Other Regulation.    Providers of broadband Internet access services must comply with the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act ("CALEA"), which requires providers to make their services and facilities accessible for law enforcement intercept requests. Various other federal and state laws apply to providers of services that are accessible through broadband Internet access service, including copyright laws, telemarketing laws, prohibitions on obscenity, a ban on unsolicited commercial e-mail, and privacy and data security laws. The online content we provide is also subject to some of these laws.

Other forms of regulation of broadband Internet access service currently being considered by the FCC, Congress or state legislatures include consumer protection requirements, billing and notifications requirements, cybersecurity requirements, consumer service standards, requirements to contribute to universal service programs and requirements to protect personally identifiable customer data from theft. Pending and future legislation in this area could adversely affect our operations as an ISP and our relationship with our Internet customers. While neither the FCC nor states currently regulate the price for broadband services generally, the state of New York enacted legislation that would regulate the price and terms for the broadband service offered to low-income households. This law was enjoined by a New York federal court, but the injunction was vacated on appeal and the Supreme Court has declined to hear an appeal. In 2025, the State of Connecticut also enacted legislation, which goes into effect in 2026, requiring certain broadband internet service providers to offer broadband service to low-income households at reduced rates.

Additionally, from time to time the FCC and Congress have considered whether to subject broadband Internet access services to the federal Universal Service Fund ("USF") contribution requirements. Any contribution requirements adopted for Internet access services would impose significant new costs on our broadband Internet service. At the same time, the FCC may also change the manner in which Universal Service funds are distributed. By focusing on broadband and wireless deployment, rather than traditional telephone service, changes could assist some of our competitors in more effectively competing with our service offerings.

Telephony Services

We provide telephony services using VoIP technology ("interconnected VoIP"), including through our CLEC subsidiaries and third-party service providers.

The FCC has adopted several regulations for interconnected VoIP services, as have several states, especially as it relates to core customer and safety issues such as E911, local number portability, disability access, outage reporting, universal service contributions, and regulatory reporting requirements. The FCC has not, however, formally classified interconnected VoIP services as either information services or telecommunications services. In this vacuum, some states have asserted more expansive rights to regulate interconnected VoIP services, while others have adopted laws that bar the state commission from regulating VoIP service. Several advocacy and labor organizations petitioned the FCC in 2022 to formally classify VoIP as a telecommunications service; however, the FCC has not taken any action on the petition. Classification of our VoIP services as telecommunications services could result in additional regulatory requirements and compliance costs. In 2025, in response to increased regulation of VoIP providers in

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California, several providers petitioned the FCC to preempt California’s rules; the FCC has not yet taken action on that petition either.

Universal Service.     Interconnected VoIP services must contribute to the USF used to subsidize communication services provided to low-income households, to customers in rural and high-cost areas, and to schools, libraries, and rural health care providers. The amount of universal service contribution required of interconnected VoIP service providers is based on a percentage of revenues earned from interstate and international services provided to end users. We allocate our end user revenues and remit payments to the universal service fund in accordance with FCC rules. The FCC has ruled that states may impose state universal service fees on interconnected VoIP providers.

Local Number Portability.   The FCC requires interconnected VoIP service providers and their "numbering partners" to ensure that their customers have the ability to port their telephone numbers when changing providers. We also contribute to federal funds to meet the shared costs of local number portability and the costs of North American Numbering Plan Administration.

Other Regulation.     Interconnected VoIP service providers are required to provide enhanced 911 emergency services to their customers; protect customer proprietary network information from unauthorized disclosure to third parties; report to the FCC on service outages; comply with telemarketing regulations and other privacy and data security requirements; (see "—Privacy Regulations" below); comply with disabilities access requirements and service discontinuance obligations; comply with call signaling requirements; and comply with CALEA standards. In addition, the FCC is currently considering whether to require VoIP providers to maintain backup power for certain network equipment, and California has adopted rules requiring VoIP providers to maintain seventy-two hours of network backup power in certain areas of the state facing elevated fire risks. The FCC also requires interconnect VoIP providers to report network outages that exceed a specified threshold.

We provide traditional telecommunications services in various states through our operating subsidiaries and third-party service providers, and those services are largely governed under rules established for CLECs under the Communications Act. The Communications Act entitles our CLEC subsidiaries to certain rights, but as telecommunications carriers, it also subjects them to regulation by the FCC and the states. Their designation as telecommunications carriers results in other regulations that may affect them and the services they offer.

Interconnection and Intercarrier Compensation.    The Communications Act requires telecommunications carriers to interconnect directly or indirectly with other telecommunications carriers and networks, including VoIP. Under the FCC's intercarrier compensation rules, we (directly or through third-party service providers) are entitled, in some cases, to compensation from carriers when they use our network to terminate or originate calls and in other cases are required to compensate another carrier for using its network to originate or terminate traffic. The FCC and state regulatory commissions, including those in the states in which we operate, have adopted limits on the amounts of compensation that may be charged for certain types of traffic. In an October 2011 Order, the FCC determined that intercarrier compensation for all terminating traffic would be phased down over several years to a "bill-and-keep" regime, with no compensation between carriers for most terminating traffic. In 2020, the FCC adopted further reforms to phase down the rates for the origination of "toll-free" calls. The FCC also has a pending proceeding that could further reduce or eliminate compensation for remaining traffic.

Universal Service.    Our CLEC subsidiaries and third-party service providers, as applicable, are required to contribute to the USF. The amount of universal service contribution required of us is based on a percentage of revenues earned from interstate and international services provided to end users. We allocate our end user revenues and remit payments to the universal service fund in accordance with FCC rules.

Other Regulation.    Telecommunications services provided through our CLEC subsidiaries and third-party service providers are subject to other FCC requirements, including protecting the use and disclosure of customer proprietary network information; meeting certain notice requirements in the event of service termination; compliance with disabilities access requirements; compliance with CALEA standards; outage reporting; and the payment of fees to fund local number portability administration and the North American Numbering Plan. As noted above, the FCC and states are examining whether new requirements are necessary to improve the resiliency of communications networks, including heightened backup power requirements within the provider's network. Communications with our customers are also subject to FCC, FTC and state regulations on telemarketing and the sending of unsolicited commercial e-mail and fax messages, as well as additional privacy and data security requirements.

State Regulation.  Telecommunications services provided through our CLEC subsidiaries and third-party service providers are subject to regulation by state commissions in each state where we provide services. In order to provide our services, we must seek approval from the state regulatory commission or be registered to provide services in each

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state where we operate and may at times require local approval to construct facilities. Regulatory obligations vary from state to state and include some or all of the following requirements: filing tariffs (rates, terms, and conditions); filing operational, financial, and customer service reports; seeking approval to transfer the assets or capital stock of the broadband communications company; network resiliency and disaster recovery requirements; seeking approval to issue stocks, bonds and other forms of indebtedness of the broadband communications company; reporting customer service and quality of service requirements; outage reporting; making contributions to state universal service support programs; paying regulatory and state Telecommunications Relay Service and E911 fees; geographic build-out; and other matters relating to competition.

Mobile Service.  In 2019, we launched a mobile service using our own core infrastructure and our infrastructure mobile virtual network operator ("iMVNO") agreements with Sprint (now T-Mobile) and other roaming partners, including AT&T. Our mobile wireless service is subject to most of the same FCC and consumer protection regulations as typical, network-based wireless carriers (such as E911 services, local number portability, privacy protection and constraints on billing and advertising practices). The FCC or other regulatory authorities may adopt new or different regulations that apply to our services or similarly situated providers, impose new taxes or fees, or modify the obligations of other network-based carriers to provide wholesale RAN access to providers like Optimum Communications.

Other Services

We may provide other services and features over our cable system, such as games and interactive advertising, which may be subject to a range of federal, state and local laws, such as privacy and consumer protection regulations and federal and state standards and regulations. We also maintain various websites that provide information and content regarding our businesses. The operation of these websites is also subject to a similar range of regulations.

Privacy Regulations

Our cable, Internet, voice, wireless and advertising services are subject to various federal, state, and local laws and regulations, as well as, in instances where we operate outside of the U.S., the laws and regulations of the countries and regions where we operate, regarding subscriber privacy, data security, data protection and data use. Our provision of Internet services subjects us to the limitations on use and disclosure of user communications and records contained in the Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986. Broadband Internet access service is also subject to various privacy laws applicable to electronic communications. We are subject to various state regulations and enforcement oversight related to our policies and practices covering the collection, use and disclosure of personal information. The California Consumer Privacy Act ("CCPA"), a comprehensive privacy act aimed at increasing disclosure requirements, privacy protections and the rights of consumers to identify and delete stored private data, subject to some limited business exceptions, has been in effect since January 1, 2020. Amendments to the CCPA under the California Privacy Rights Act of 2020 took effect on January 1, 2023 and provide certain additional disclosure requirements, privacy protections, and rights of consumers. Virginia adopted the Consumer Data Protection Act in 2021 which took effect on January 1, 2023. Colorado also adopted a comprehensive privacy act in 2021, as did Utah and Connecticut in 2022, that also impose disclosure requirements, privacy protections and the rights of consumers to opt out of certain data sharing. Those laws took effect in 2023. The Texas Data Privacy and Security Act, which creates similar disclosure requirements, privacy protections and consumer privacy rights, took effect on January 1, 2024.

The FCC, in 2023, expanded its data breach notification reporting obligations applicable to telecommunications carriers and interconnected VoIP providers, which could cause us to incur additional compliance costs. That order was upheld in 2025 by the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, which subsequently granted the FCC’s motion to hold the decision in abeyance while the FCC reviews. In 2024, Kentucky, among other states, passed a comprehensive consumer privacy law. As with existing state consumer privacy laws in California, Virginia, and Connecticut, among other states, this law creates disclosure requirements, privacy protections and consumer privacy rights for covered businesses. The Kentucky law will take effect January 1, 2026. Similarly, the New Jersey legislature passed a comprehensive consumer privacy law in January 2024, which took effect January 16, 2025. We expect further scrutiny of privacy practices at all levels of government in the areas where we operate. Implementing and updating systems and processes to comply with new rules could impact our business opportunities and impose operating costs on the business.

Our Optimum Media business conducts limited business with customers that advertise in the European Union ("EU") and in the United Kingdom ("UK"). As such, we have certain compliance obligations with EU member state, as well as UK laws and regulations, including compliance obligations under the General Data Protection Regulation

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("GDPR") and UK GDPR, and bear potential enforcement risks and fines if we fail to comply, even as the application of those regulations to some of our operations are unclear or are unknown.

Environmental Regulations

Our business operations are subject to environmental laws and regulations, including regulations governing the use, storage, disposal of, and exposure to hazardous materials, the release of pollutants into the environment and the remediation of contamination. These requirements may also be more stringent in some areas where we receive federal broadband subsidies. In part as a result of the increasing public awareness concerning the importance of environmental regulations, these regulations have become more stringent over time. Amended or new regulations could impact our operations and costs.

Available Information and Website

We make available free of charge, through our investor relations section at our website, http://www.optimum.com, our Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, and our Current Reports on Form 8-K and all amendments to those reports as soon as reasonably practicable after such material is electronically filed with or furnished to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"). These reports and other information are also available on the SEC’s website at https://www.sec.gov. We periodically provide other information for investors on our website and LinkedIn pages, including news and announcements regarding our financial performance and business operations. We encourage investors and other stakeholders to review the information we post on these channels. Website references and social media channels in this report are provided as a convenience and do not constitute, and should not be viewed as, incorporation by reference of the information contained on, or available through, the sources. Therefore, such information should not be considered part of this report.