Good afternoon, and welcome to the Noble Capital Markets Virtual Equity Conference. I am Joe Gomes, Managing Director and Senior Analyst at Noble Capital. Today, I have the pleasure of introducing Anterix. Following the presentation, we will have some time for Q&A. Anterix works with leading utilities and technology companies to harness the power of 900 MHz broadband for modernized grid solutions. The company offers utility-first solutions to modernize the grid and solve the challenges that utilities are facing today. The company is the largest holder of licensed spectrum in the 900 MHz band throughout the contiguous U.S., Hawaii, Alaska, and Puerto Rico. The company is uniquely positioned to enable private LTE solutions that support cutting-edge advanced communications capabilities for a cleaner, safer, and more secure energy future. With us today from the company is Tim Gray, Chief Financial Officer.
With that, I'm going to turn it over to the company. The floor is yours, Tim.
Thanks, Joe, and I wanted to say thank you to you and the Noble team for having us here today. We really appreciate being able to be a part of today's conference. Before we begin, please note our safe harbor statement. For more information, please refer to our risk factors in our most recent SEC filings. So Anterix delivers scalable, secure solutions through private wireless broadband, enabling utilities to modernize their infrastructure, streamline operations, and ensure long-term resilience. Our solutions enhance resilience, allowing utilities to adapt to modern challenges, from cybersecurity threats to extreme weather, while ensuring the reliable, secure, and efficient operation of critical infrastructure. At the core is our 900 MHz spectrum asset, which we bought from Sprint in 2014 for $100 million. We received FCC approval in May 2020 to provide broadband at 900 MHz.
To date, we've signed contracts with seven utility customers, totaling over $375 million in contracted proceeds. These utilities are leading the 900 MHz private wireless network revolution throughout our country, spanning 15 states. Private network deployments across these seven utilities will collectively be larger in scale than any other non-nationwide wireless carrier, extending broadband facilities into some of the most rural areas of the country. We've also built an unmatched device and vendor ecosystem of 115-plus solutions providers, where we are driving 900 MHz solutions as channel partners. Our business model is based on responding to a growing demand for private LTE in support of a national effort to modernize our aged electric grid. A modernized grid requires modernized communications.
As utilities increasingly need to monitor and control devices on the grid, extending all the way to the electricity customer, they're focused on wireless communication systems as the most economical and highest-performing option to connect those devices. Running fiber to every home and every device in the grid is neither economically feasible nor achievable in a desired short timeframe. With the adoption of a private wireless network, our customers are able to own, build to suit, and have proprietary control of their mission-critical communications and operations, meeting the data demands of today and future-proofed for tomorrow. Utility projections for the amount of power have grown significantly. It is all putting new pressures on an overtaxed grid, the network of transmission lines and power stations that move electricity around the country.
As the population grows and sources of power generation evolve, utilities must shift out of traditional thinking and scale with digital transformation. With the growth of sustainable resources like solar and wind, there is now variability in power generation as well as in consumption. For this reason, power utilities managing the grid must be able to constantly monitor and seamlessly control both the generated and consumed loads with the help of millions of sensors, devices, and monitoring equipment spread across the utility's footprint. All of these use cases support the growing demand for a private wireless network or private LTE.
As a result of implementing this technology, utilities can increase security, reliability, and resiliency of power transmission and distribution, consolidate disparate communications networks, digitize and automate processes using IoT and sensors, provide a broadband backbone for real-time remote asset monitoring, update aging mission-critical push-to-talk solutions with ones based on cellular standards, and ensure better control over their own financial destiny by selectively moving from an OpEx model to a CapEx model. This is where Anterix plays a critical role. Licensed spectrum is the foundational element to build private and secure wireless networks. Our 900 MHz spectrum is low band, which has significant performance advantages and is a scarce asset, and it's all been assigned by the FCC, and it can't be reproduced.
Low-band means under one gigahertz, which, based on the laws of physics, can travel greater distances and better penetrate obstacles like walls than spectrum in higher bands. This translates into needing a fraction of the number of cell sites to cover comparable areas than what would be required by higher bands of spectrum. The result is substantial capital and operating cost advantages inherent in low-band spectrum. With this spectrum offering, combined with our experienced team and the ecosystem we have created, we are able to supply a solution tailored specifically to utility needs. Taking a look at our pipeline, we have a robust pipeline of 60-plus customers, predominantly made up of IOUs, presently valued at roughly $3 billion. They cover the majority of the country's population and are most of our spectrum value.
IOUs are an ideal fit to our business model, seeking customers with large geographical footprints, having strong credit, and a desire and ability to deploy the significant capital necessary to build these private networks. To date, we've signed contracts with seven utility customers, totaling over $375 million in proceeds. Our current customers include Ameren, San Diego Gas & Electric, Xcel Energy, Evergy, Lower Colorado River Authority, Tampa Electric Company, and Oncor. The structure of our deals range from four being 20-to-30-year leases and three being sales. The sizes of our deals have ranged from $30 million to greater than $100 million contracts, and all of our leases have the ability to be renewed once they reach the end of the term.
Due to the prepaid nature of our customers, we receive a large portion of payments related to our contracts upfront, providing us with ample means and opportunities to provide ongoing value back to our shareholders. Of the $375 million we've contracted, we've collected roughly $200 million, with the remaining $175 million to be paid over the next few years, with roughly half of that to be paid in our next fiscal year, which begins on April 1, 2025.
A few key items related to our financial model and value proposition include the fact that we are fully funded with about $52 million of cash on our balance sheet as of June 30, 2024, and roughly $175 million, as I've said, due from contracts already signed, with about $100 million to be received in our next fiscal year. We are debt-free and have a low CapEx business model. We view our cash expenses as a bell curve and believe that over the next 18 months, we are at that peak of the curve, and we will continue to penetrate the market. We will be able to peel off costs. Our operating expenses are about $45 million a year presently.
We have sizable federal NOLs of about $312 million as of June thirtieth, providing us the ability to not be a federal taxpayer for quite some time. We also have a robust $250 million share repurchase program in place, which is a testament to our healthy balance sheet and confidence in our ability to execute on our key initiatives. We believe that at current share prices, the use of capital to repurchase shares is accretive to shareholders. Before I wrap up, I do want to point out the supporting ecosystem of device solutions and technology partners that are an extension of our core Anterix team. The Anterix Active Ecosystem serves as the foundation for private networks for our nation's utilities and is presently made up of more than 150 world-class organizations.
Together with us, AAE members are shaping a device, service, and solution ecosystem that supports and addresses the current and future needs of utilities and other critical infrastructure entities. These entities also have a vested interest in seeing us succeed, with the benefits of economies of scale for our customers and in selling services and solutions on 900 MHz networks for the ecosystem. This translates to reduced marketing costs for us at the end of the day. With that, I'll conclude today's presentation and open up the discussion for questions.
Thanks, Tim. Great, insightful presentation. Let's start off the questions. I don't know if you could give us a little more detail about the company's asset base, the service it provides, and how you define the company's market opportunity.
Sure, yeah. So as I said, we've got our core asset is our 900 MHz spectrum. We've got today 6 MHz. We're undergoing an FCC process right now to try to expand that to up to 10 MHz with a 5x5 in the future, hopefully. And so with that asset, we're able to provide spectrum to utilities so that they can put private wireless broadband networks in place. We've got seven customers that are already doing so. With several of them have already built out much of their networks and are already using them on multiple different use cases. And these use cases include a variety of things that utilities are mainly focused on.
You know, the amount of devices now that are being put on these networks is multiplying, not just by tens, but by hundreds and thousands, across their networks, and they've got to be able to, you know, manage all of the data now that's flowing through these networks. There's things like power generation changes. You know, used to be that you'd have one plant that would send out power one way, you know, your coal or natural gas plant or whatever you might have, but today, now, power is being generated everywhere. You've got wind farms all over the place. You've got solar panels on roofs, so the amount of devices, again, that have to go up to measure what's happening across these networks is really exploding.
And so that's just one case that's out there of the need for broader, better communication systems than what's in place today, to be able to manage all that data real time. And so that's very important for these utilities to be able to do. That's and again, I've just scratched the surface on one use case, and there are multiples of others that utilities are focused on that I could spend, you know, two days on talking about.
but we're excited to be able to go in and talk to those potential customers about what they can do, what other customers are doing, and then point them to our Active Ecosystem where, you know, we've got those device makers, the broader infrastructure folks already in place there that can come in and talk to them right away about what the benefits of their products could be on a 900 MHz broadband network.
Great. And now, you mentioned it in the presentation that you specifically target investor-owned utilities. What's unique about this group versus other potential customers? And, you know, specifically, what solution are you helping them solve?
Yeah, I mean, the investor-owned utilities, you know, are incented to spend capital at the end of the day to drive the rate of return to the regulated entities. So that enables us to be able to really just be a spectrum provider. And so once we provide them with that spectrum, they're going to be the ones that are gonna go through the process of building out their networks and spending the capital to do that. Which is, you know, a rather extensive amount. These are large projects that get run through, you know, kind of that regulatory process, and they get a rate of return on that.
and so that enables us to have a very healthy balance sheet by not having to go out and raise capital to spend it on, you know, things like cell sites, et cetera, that are needed in a wireless network. So, you know, that combined with the ability and the desire to capitalize the leases that they do with us, which means that they'll be paying us upfront. And so, we're able to receive, you know, within the first three to four years of a, say, 20-year lease, all of the cash payments that we would've gotten over the term of that lease.
And so that, again, you know, makes our balance sheet very healthy and has enabled us to do things like our very large $250 million buyback program that we're, you know, super excited to be executing on. And so, you know, that's the type of thing that the IOUs provide to us from a value and also that's where really the spectrum value is. But we've also seen, you know, a very distinct need that seven utilities have already jumped on, and we're talking to multiple others about what they need to do in the future and how this is going to enable them to really, you know, do things like modernize the grid.
Okay. Now, I know early days, but I know you probably get this question, so I'll ask it. Can your solutions be applicable to other verticals outside of the utility space?
Absolutely, yes, they can. And, you know, we, we've had discussions with natural gas folks, with water folks. I think, you know, a lot of the main interest, you know, to date, has come from the kind of investor-owned utilities that, you know, that provide the electricity. You know, and one of our customers that we've gotten, which is LCRA, Lower Colorado River Authority, they manage. Part of what their mandate is to manage the Colorado River in the state of Texas. And they do, you know, a lot of water management use cases are a part of what they're gonna be doing on the network that they're gonna be putting in place.
And so there's already use cases that some, you know, current customers are already putting in place using that are outside of kind of the standard electricity focus that we've had. And we'll maybe see some other opportunities outside of the IOUs. I'd also like to note that we did recently, over the past few months, announce a, you know, agreement with the NRTC, which supports rural telecom co-op, rural electricity co-ops around the country. Sorry, get that one out. Around the country to be able to provide broadband networks to these co-ops. And so that's gonna be a sales channel for us going out and working with these smaller rural providers. And we see, definitely see some opportunity there.
Not necessarily material to our overall addressable market, but we'll continue to add to the platform of more and more utilities across the United States, using 900 MHz as really the standard for broadband communications for utilities in the country.
Okay. Now, earlier this year, Anterix, along with other industry participants, filed a petition with the FCC, seeking the adoption of an expanded 5x5 pair within the 900 MHz band. If approved, what does this mean for the company, the industry, and any update on timing?
Great, good question. As we've learned through previous FCC processes, there's really no set clock at the FCC. You know, we don't know the exact timing as to which this could get done, although I would say we feel pleased about the progress that's taking place. We, along with multiple other people in the industry, including several IOUs, made this application to the FCC, so this is not just an Anterix thing. This is multiple entities that see a future need for additional spectrum to be put in place so that there's additional capacity over time. All the data curves forever have always been wrong about understanding the amount of data that's gonna flow through wireless networks over time. We've seen that on the consumer side, and I think utilities see that as they look into the distant future.
These people plan for 20, 30 year , 50 year time horizons. And so, you know, they understand the power that these networks are gonna have and what that's gonna enable, and that they'll have, you know, there'll be some potential needs for additional capacity out in the distant future. Although today, keep in mind that 6 MHz is more than enough for the use cases that have been discussed with us from our utility partners. It's just everybody has that vision of what's gonna happen with these data curves. You know, we're excited that at the FCC, the process has gone through at least one round of public comments. There were good responses, very, very supportive. You know, very little, almost nothing on the negative side...
You know, with people supporting the effort to move forward, there were some questions that we would've expected from some people within the band who wanna understand how this would work. We'll continue to work with them and the FCC to move the process forward. Hopefully, you know, this will move forward over the next 12-18 months, but or if not sooner. Again, it's hard to predict the exact timing.
Okay. Thanks for that update. Now, a few weeks back, the company announced its seventh and largest deal to date, $102 million agreement with Oncor. What else can you share with us on this deal in terms of use cases, payment terms, et cetera?
Yeah, so it's, again, $102 million deal. They've already. They paid $10 million upfront. They're gonna be paying the remainder basically over roughly the next 18 months. So, you know, in a two and a half year timeframe from getting the deal done, actually two years, we're gonna collect all $100 million or $102.5 million. So, again, very financially beneficial to us with the cash flow that we've got coming in. And so that's what the payment terms look like. Keep in mind that Oncor is right next to and borders Lower Colorado River. Lower Colorado River Authority, or LCRA.
And so, you know, they really moved forward once they saw LCRA move forward, and know that the two entities are gonna be able to work together, you know, because of things like cross-border sharing and things like that of networks. And so we're really excited to see that relationship develop and be driven by customers because there'll be other utilities across the country who are gonna also be asking questions about, "How can we work together with other entities that are sharing the same spectrum right next to us?" So that'll provide a really good example to future customers who have those types of questions as we work through this, the sales process with them.
You know, I think Oncor already has a very significant system for land mobile radio at 900 MHz that they're going to expand with new technologies, and in addition to some of the things I've talked about, you know, being able to put additional devices on their network that they don't have the capabilities to do so today.
Okay. Now, how do we think about the value of this spectrum on a MHz per pop basis, and how does this stack up versus comps from recent auctions?
Yeah, so when you look at the deals that we've done to date, we've gotten, you know, good premiums to the 600 MHz auction in every one of the transactions that we've done to date. So we feel good that we've continued to drive fair market value for the spectrum. You know, not tied to an auction number, but as spectrum continues to grow in value, not only looking at those previous auctions, but with private transactions that have taken place, then they're even doubling, the amount that people have been willing to pay for 600 MHz auction from the auction price to today. And so we're reflecting all of that into pricing as we look forward into additional deals moving forward. Which, you know, because everybody knows that the value of spectrum goes up every day.
As more and more of it gets used, as you put more and more devices on it, and use cases continue to grow. And it's a very finite resource that doesn't grow. You know, and the FCC has really allocated a great majority of it out throughout the country. So, you know, it's a process that will continue to grow for us as we develop more and more customers and develop our platform to get more and more on it, and start to see more and more use cases in place. That we're really benefiting also as well from using the Anterix Active Ecosystem to drive additional customers.
Great. Now, given your unique business model of monetizing spectrum, what are you seeing from a competitive perspective? Who are the other players in the spectrum space? And, you know, why do utility customers prefer to work with you versus the field? And why haven't the Big Three wireless carriers targeted this space?
Yeah. And I would say, you know, we got approval for our spectrum to be used for broadband in May of 2020. So it's been just about four and a half years since we've had that approval. And you know, I must say, we've really spent that time building our marketplace here. You know, to work with utilities so that they could understand the needs and how this could help solve those needs. And so that development and really becoming seen as a partner has become very important for Anterix. You know, to help move things forward here. You know, again, I've talked about our Active Ecosystem.
We developed the Utility Broadband Alliance, so to allow customers to come in and talk about their broadband journeys that they're on, even if they're not customers yet, and so we put that in place. We've also got an advisory board that's got, you know, roughly 10 different utility C-suite members that come in and talk about their needs as they move forward. Some of them are not even customers yet, so these are all things that we've put in place to really build and drive a market to be seen as a partner as we try to develop 900 MHz as a standard for utilities across the country. That doesn't mean there aren't competitors talking to different utilities about different things.
You know, the carriers have kind of been in and out of the space, have touched it a little bit. But again, because of the operational and financial incentives that the utilities have to really command and control their own networks and to spend CapEx, which, you know, they may or may not be able to do, on the carrier side, that's, you know, one of the core reasons why, they've come to someone like Anterix, who can really tailor a solution for them so that they can meet their, particularly their financial needs, moving forward. There's others with spectrum as well. You know, EchoStar/ Dish has got a lot of spectrum. We'll see how that plays out. We really haven't seen them in this space.
And so, you know, we feel good about the work we've done to build this marketplace and be seen as a leader and a partner here.
Now, the company has moved away from formal guidance, replacing it with its Demonstrated Intent Scorecard instead. Can you talk a bit about what drove the need for the scorecard, how it works, and how the team uses it internally?
Yeah. So, Demonstrated Intent really is a way for us to talk about the journey that customers are on. Some of these are things that take place in public, whether it's joining a board or being or talking in a forum. You know, other things we know about that are more on a confidential basis, like RFPs, or negotiations with someone, things like that, that they're doing on their journey to get there. But it's really all things that our professional sales force is going through to make sure that, you know, things are in place at the utility and moving forward to end, to kind of drive a journey where they're gonna end up being a customer of ours and driving forward to build out a private wireless network.
You know, these are things like, you know, making sure that there are executive sponsors, making sure there are budgets, things like that, that we can help support throughout the journey. It's not any one that is totally indicative that they're going to move forward. You know, and even if they were to check, say, all 20 of these boxes that we've got, it's not a guarantee that they're gonna move forward with us, but it's a very strong indicator of that interest that they've got, that they are gonna go forward and do something. You know, you don't see a lot of people talking publicly about what they're gonna do and their plans unless they're actually gonna do it.
So again, it's not a guarantee of anything, but it's a way for us to kind of quantify the amount of customers, quantify the dollars. We've got about 18 customers and a little over $1 billion in that bucket today, you know, of customers that have come a long way on the journey. This is a very long sales cycle. Doesn't happen overnight. And so, you know, it's important that we monitor the statistics and give investors as much insight as we can.
Okay, thank you for that. I think you mentioned you're running about $45 million of operating expenses. You know, how should investors think about the cash costs needed to run this business going forward? Do you anticipate any significant changes over the next few years?
Yeah, as in the presentation, so this year, you know, we'll spend about $45 million on OpEx from a cash perspective, and about $20 million to clear incumbents out of the band. We've done a great job on the clearing side. We're about 70% of the way done. And we expect the clearing costs, again, which will be about $20 million this year and next year, to really, you know, almost die off after our fiscal 2026. So, you know, we're getting to the end of that spend. And as I've said, our, our...
I look at our expense base as kind of a bell curve, that as we get greater and greater penetration over the next few years, we'll be able to begin to peel off costs and lower that cost basis on a go-forward basis. You know, I think we're in a good place from a spend perspective at this point in time. It's also fortunate to know that we'll be able to lower our expense base moving forward.
Okay. Now, you mentioned the share repurchase program. I was wondering if you could give us a little more color on that. Is that a formalized program? Is it opportunistic? And what is the company's goals with the share repurchase program?
Yeah. So we've got a $250 million program in place, that we are gonna opportunistically be out in the marketplace buying back shares, and it's gonna be a little bit lumpy. I've said this before, really kind of tied to when we're getting customer payments coming in, when we've got excess cash flow, and when we can put it back out into the markets. So some quarters will be higher than others, some quarters will be pretty low from a spend, just kind of depending on how those cash inflows are coming in. And look, we, I feel right now that the stock is undervalued, and it's one of the right things for us to do, you know, from a, from a shareholder and, and kind of an accretive perspective, to be out in the market buying back shares.
And so, you know, that, that's just one of the benefits that we get from having this prepaid nature of the customers and being able to do that.
Great! Well, Tim, we've come to the end of our allotted time. We appreciate you taking the time to participate in our conference, and we wish you and the company the best in the future. Thanks again.
Thanks, Joe. I appreciate the time.
What's up? It is Daymond John from ABC's Shark Tank, the number one shark in the tank. However, I'm going to be joined by my fellow sharks, Robert Herjavec, and the not so wonderful, I'm just joking, Mr. Wonderful, for Noble Capital Markets 20th Emerging Growth Equity Conference on December 4th in Boca Raton, Florida. I can't wait to see you there. Peace.