ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS.
Our business involves a high degree of risk. You should carefully consider the risks and uncertainties described below, together with all of the other information in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. The occurrence of any of the events described below could harm our business, operating results, financial condition, liquidity, or prospects. In any such event, the market price of our Class A Common Stock could decline, and you may lose all or part of your investment. Additional risks and uncertainties not presently known to us, or that we currently deem immaterial, may also impair our business. See Forward-Looking Statements.
Risks Related to Our Business and Industry
We have a history of losses, and we may not achieve or maintain profitability in the future.
We have experienced net losses in each year since our inception. We incurred net losses of $166.5 million and $125.1 million for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively. We had an accumulated deficit of $501.4 million and $334.8 million as of December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively. We expect to continue to make future investments in developing and expanding our business. In particular, we expect to invest approximately $350 million to expand our network and acquire subscribers to drive revenue growth. In order to fund this investment, we may be required to raise additional equity or debt capital, which we may not be able to do on favorable terms or at all. These investments may not result in the projected increased revenue or growth in our business, which would impact our ability to turn EBITDA positive within the time frame we project or at all. If we fail to manage our losses or to grow our revenue sufficiently to keep pace with our investments and other expenses, our business will not become cash-flow positive in the time frame we project or at all, we may be required to raise additional funding and our business be harmed.
We have experienced rapid growth since inception, which may not be indicative of our future growth, and, if we continue to grow rapidly, we may not be able to manage our growth effectively.
We have experienced rapid growth and demand for our products since inception. We expect that, in the future, even if our revenue increases, our rate of growth may decline. In any event, we will not be able to grow as fast or at all if we do not, among other things:
increase the number of customers using our service;
increase our market share within existing markets and expand into new markets;
expand our service offerings, including offering service to small and medium sized businesses;
increase our brand awareness;
retain our spectrum licenses;
retain adequate availability of financing sources if necessary; and
obtain any additional necessary capital to meet our business objectives.
Furthermore, in order to preserve our market position, we will expand into new markets and launch new products and services in existing and new markets. Expanding into new markets may prove to be challenging as some markets may have very different characteristics than the markets in which we currently operate, and these different characteristics may be unanticipated or unknown to us. These differences may result in slower network deployment, poor network coverage performance, slower subscriber growth or slower subscriber penetration than we project.
Our limited operating history makes it difficult to evaluate our current business and future prospects.
Our business model and technology are still nascent compared to the business models of the large incumbents in the fixed U.S. broadband industry. We launched our first market in 2018 and do not have a long history operating as a commercial company. Our operating results are not predictable and our historical results may
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not be indicative of our future results. While there are several established and well-performing broadband providers, few peer companies with our model exist and none have yet established long-term track records at scale that might assist us in predicting whether our business model and strategy can be implemented and sustained over an extended period of time. It may be difficult for you to evaluate our potential future performance without the benefit of established long-term track records from companies implementing a similar business model. We may encounter unanticipated problems as we continue to refine our business model and technology and may be forced to make significant changes to our anticipated sales and revenue models to compete with our competitors offerings, which may adversely affect our results of operations and profitability.
Our financial projections may not prove accurate.
In connection with the Business Combination, we presented certain forecasted financial information for our business following the Business Combination. The forecasts were based on numerous potential variables identified and assumptions made by us at the time of preparation. Such variables and assumptions are inherently uncertain and many are beyond our control, and actual events and results may differ materially from what was projected. Important factors that may affect actual results and cause the forecasts to not be achieved include, but are not limited to, risks and uncertainties relating to our business (including our ability to achieve strategic goals, objectives and targets over applicable periods), industry performance, the competitive environment, changes in technology and general business and economic conditions. Various assumptions underlying the forecasts may prove to not have been, or may no longer be, accurate. The forecasts may not be realized, and actual results may be significantly higher or lower than projected in the forecasts. The forecasts also reflect assumptions as to certain business strategies or plans that are subject to change. As a result, such forecasts should not be relied on as guidance or otherwise predictive of actual future events, and actual results may differ materially from the forecasts.
Our decision to expand existing product and service offerings into new markets or to launch new product or service offerings may consume significant financial and other resources and may not achieve the desired results.
We regularly evaluate expanding our services into new markets or launching new product offerings in existing or new markets. Any expansion or new offering requires significant expenses and the time of our key personnel, particularly at the outset of the process. We typically experience increased losses in new markets as we invest to build our network and brand presence within those markets before we have any customers within those markets. Our plans to expand and deepen our market share in our existing markets and possibly expand into additional markets is subject to a variety of risks and challenges. These risks and challenges include execution, the varying economic and demographic conditions of each market, competition from national and regional providers of broadband services, our ability to obtain and retain new customers and pricing pressures. We cannot assure you that we will be able to build our network in a timely or cost-effective manner, efficiently acquire customers or achieve target subscriber penetration rates, better than or as well as in our more mature existing markets.
New markets and new product offerings may also subject us to new regulatory environments, which could increase our costs as we evaluate and implement compliance with new regulations. Notwithstanding the expenses and time devoted to expanding an existing product offering into a new market or launching a new product offering, we may fail to achieve the financial and market share goals associated with the expansion. If we cannot manage our expansion efforts efficiently, our market share gains could take longer than planned and our related costs could exceed our expectations. In addition, we could incur significant costs to seek to expand our market share, and still not succeed in attracting sufficient customers to offset such costs.
We operate in a highly competitive business environment which could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and liquidity.
We operate in a highly competitive, consumer-driven industry and we compete against providers that offer a variety of fixed broadband services, including cable, terrestrial fixed wireless service, DSL, fiber and fixed satellite. We also compete against providers of mobile broadband service to the extent that a consumer considers mobile broadband service a substitute for fixed broadband service. Our competitors include large national and regional providers of fixed broadband services such as AT&T, Comcast, Charter, CableOne, Verizon, CenturyLink, Frontier, TDS Cox, RCN and Altice, providers of mobile broadband services such as AT&T, T-Mobile, US Cellular and Verizon, and numerous small fixed broadband providers in local areas.
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Most incumbent broadband communications companies, which already have wired networks and an existing customer base and other operational functions in place, offer broadband over DSL, cable or FTTH/FTTP. These services may be offered at promotional prices comparable to or lower than our services. In addition, to the extent that these providers networks are more ubiquitously deployed, such as traditional telephone networks, they may be in a better position to offer internet services to consumers and businesses passed by their networks on a more economic or timely basis than we can, even if the services they offer are arguably inferior. They may also increasingly have the ability to offer a combination of video services, mobile services and telephone and internet services to their customers as a bundle, either directly or through co-marketing agreements with other service providers. As an internet-only company, we do not currently offer any bundled services that could compete with these offerings.
Mobile broadband providers may be able to provide services that substitute for our fixed broadband service. Current and future fixed and mobile internet services, such as services provided on LTE and 5G networks (and variants), other unlicensed fixed wireless broadband networks and devices such as mobile hot spots, 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 various kinds of unlimited data plans, which could, in some cases, become a substitute for the fixed broadband services we provide. In addition, the FCC is likely to continue to make additional radio frequency spectrum available for these wireless internet access services, which in time could expand the quality and reach of these services.
In some instances, our competitors have easier access to financing, greater resources, greater operating capabilities and efficiencies of scale, stronger brand-name recognition, longstanding relationships with regulatory authorities and customers, and more customers. This provides these competitors with certain advantages in competing against us, including the ability to aggressively promote and price their services in markets in which we may compete. This competition creates pressure on our pricing and may affect our ability to add and retain customers, which in turn adversely affects our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Our competitive risks are heightened by the rapid technological change inherent in our business, evolving consumer preferences and the need to acquire, develop and adopt new technology to differentiate our products and services from those of our competitors, and to meet consumer demand. We may need to anticipate far in advance which technology we should use for the development of new products and services or the enhancement of existing products and services. The failure to accurately anticipate such changes may adversely affect our ability to attract and retain customers, which in turn could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Consolidation and cooperation in our industry may allow our competitors to acquire service capabilities or offer products that are not available to us or offer similar products and services at prices lower than ours.
New emerging technologies, including low earth orbit satellite, may impact a portion of our potential network expansion, to the extent such technologies come to fruition and are adopted in the marketplace.
If we do not maintain or obtain rights to use licensed spectrum in markets in which we provide or intend to provide service, we may be unable to operate in these markets, which could harm our business and our ability to execute our business strategy.
We offer our services using spectrum licensed by the FCC in the 24 GHz band and lower 37 GHz band. As a result, we depend on our ability to acquire and maintain sufficient rights to use spectrum in each of the markets in which we operate or intend to operate. While our future projections are based on spectrum for which we currently hold licensed rights, we may not be able to maintain the spectrum necessary to execute our business strategy, including the spectrum we hold rights to today. In addition, we have in the past and may continue to spend significant resources to acquire spectrum in additional or existing markets.
Using licensed spectrum, whether owned today or in the future or leased in the future poses additional risks to our business, including:
our inability to satisfy build-out or service deployment requirements on which some of our spectrum licenses or leases are, or may be, conditioned, which may result in the loss of our rights to the spectrum subject to the requirements;
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changes to regulations governing our spectrum rights that could adversely affect our ability to utilize the spectrum as required in our business;
our inability to use a portion of the spectrum we have acquired or leased or to acquire additional spectrum due to interference from licensed or unlicensed operators in the spectrum bands in which we have rights or in adjacent bands;
the refusal by the FCC to recognize our acquisition or lease of spectrum licenses from others or our investments in other license holders, to the extent we enter into future agreements to acquire or lease spectrum;
our inability to offer new services or to expand existing services to take advantage of new capabilities of our network resulting from advancements in technology due to regulations governing our spectrum rights;
our inability to obtain or lease more spectrum in the future due to the possible imposition of limits or caps on our spectrum holdings, which could prevent us from expanding our service in existing or new markets;
our inability to control or retain leased spectrum due to contractual disputes with, or the bankruptcy or other reorganization of, the license holders, or third parties;
the failure of the FCC to renew our spectrum licenses or those held by the parties from whom we lease spectrum as they expire;
our failure to obtain extensions or renewals of spectrum leases, or our inability to renegotiate those leases, on terms acceptable to us before they expire, which may result in the loss of spectrum we need to operate our network in the market covered by the spectrum leases;
increases in spectrum prices, because of increased competition for the limited supply of licensed spectrum in the United States, which could limit our ability to acquire new spectrum rights, and could in turn prevent us from expanding our service in existing or new markets; and
the invalidation of our authorization to use all or a significant portion of our spectrum, resulting in, among other things, impairment charges related to assets recorded for such spectrum.
We operate using spectrum in the lower 37 GHz band in all of our current markets and have rights to use that spectrum band in other markets in which we intend to expand under an experimental license issued by the FCC while the FCC finalizes the regulations that will dictate the ultimate use of this spectrum band. This experimental license must be renewed by the FCC for us to continue to operate on the same basis in which we operate today. In the future, the FCC may not renew our experimental license for all or some of the markets in which we currently have rights to operate. The FCC may also adopt final regulations for this spectrum band that remove or limit our ability to continue to operate in this spectrum band. If the FCC does not renew our experimental license for some or all of our existing and expansion markets or adopts final regulations that adversely impacts our ability to operate in the lower 37 GHz band, and we are unable to acquire rights to use other spectrum in those markets, it would have a material adverse effect on our ability to continue to operate our business in those markets, our ability to grow our network and subscribers in those markets, and our results of operations and financial condition.
If we do not maintain or obtain rights to provide our services in apartment buildings, it will harm our business.
We enter into access agreements with owners of multi-dwelling properties pursuant to which the owner grants us permission to install our receiving equipment on the roof and provide services to residents in the property. In many instances, the owner may terminate the agreement on short notice. If an owner of a property terminates the access agreement or it expires and is not renewed, we would lose the ability to service customers in that building, which would negatively impact our business.
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If we do not maintain or obtain rights to vertical asset and communications infrastructure used in the operation of our network, such as access to rooftops, towers, and fiber or wireless backhaul, it could have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations.
We lease space on vertical assets like buildings and towers to attach our transmitting equipment. This transmitting equipment delivers our service wirelessly to properties in which we have customers. In the event that a lease for a vertical asset is terminated or expires at the end of the term, there is no guarantee that we will be able to find another vertical asset to continue servicing the properties currently served by the existing vertical asset. In this case, we would lose the ability to service some customers in the market, which would negatively impact our business.
Each unit of our transmitting equipment that serves customer premises is connected to fiber backhaul or fixed wireless backhaul, or both, which routes our network traffic back to a local internet point-of presence in the market. An internet point-of-presence is the network interface point, typically located in a data center, housing servers, routers, switches, and other networking equipment that enables connectivity between networks. These are the locations to which our network traffic in a region is routed and consolidated, and from where we connect with other networks to exchange data traffic, either through direct connections or through Internet exchange points. We require backhaul from our transmission sites, therefore, in order to provide access to the Internet to customers served by our transmission sites.
We generally design our transmitting sites to have diverse backhaul paths, which means that we typically have in place an alternative backhaul method for routing our network traffic if we lose access to fiber backhaul for any reason. Where we use fixed wireless backhaul, we build and operate the necessary equipment ourselves. However, at some transmitting sites where we use fiber backhaul, we may not have an alternative backhaul method in place. We generally contract with between two and four different third-party fiber providers in a market depending on the conditions in that market and the design of our network. In most markets, while we use multiple fiber providers, we lease the majority of our fiber from one provider. In the event that one of our fiber providers decided to no longer lease access to fiber to us and we rely on that fiber as the exclusive method for backhaul at a transmission site, we would be required to find an alternative fiber provider for backhaul to the affected transmission site. Because in most markets we lease the majority of our fiber from one provider, in the event that primary provider in a market decided to no longer lease access to fiber to us, the potential number of transmission sites impacted in the relevant market could be significant.
In some cases, the fiber providers from which we lease access to fiber are our competitors, such as AT&T, Comcast, Verizon, and RCN. In some of our markets, such as Boston and Washington, D.C., the majority of fiber we lease is provided by our competitors. It is possible that in the future these competitors will decide not to continue to lease access to fiber to us. In that event, we would be required to find alternative fiber providers for backhaul.
While most markets in which we operate have alternative fiber providers, and we have the ability to use fixed wireless backhaul as an alternative backhaul solution, there is no guarantee that we will be able to come to terms with a new provider on terms that are as beneficial as our existing arrangements or at all, or that we would be able to build fixed wireless backhaul. In these events, we would no longer be able to operate the transmission site and would not be able to service our customers that are served by that transmission site. In the event that the terms with a new provider are not as beneficial as the terms of our existing fiber leases in the market, it would have an adverse effect on our financial results from that market. In addition, even if we were able to find another provider to replace an existing fiber provider or utilize fixed wireless backhaul, there is no guarantee that we would be able to redesign our network to utilize fiber from this new provider or deploy a fixed wireless backhaul in a timely manner, in which case our existing customers served by the affected transmission site would likely cancel service, which would have an adverse impact on our financial result from that market.
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The value of our spectrum licenses could decline, which could materially affect our ability to raise capital, and could have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations.
While spectrum license values have historically not declined, a future decline in the value of our 24 GHz band spectrum licenses could negatively impact our ability to raise capital both privately and in the public markets and could significantly reduce the value of our spectrum assets. The value of any or all of our spectrum licenses could decrease as a result of many factors, including:
increases in supply of spectrum that provides similar functionality;
new technology in unlicensed bands that provides the same capability as our network;
a decrease in the demand for services offered with any of our spectrum licenses;
lower values placed on similar spectrum licenses in future FCC spectrum auctions;
regulatory limitations on the use, leases, transfer or sale of rights in any of our spectrum licenses;
changes to the licensing, service or technical rules to the spectrum bands covered by our spectrum licenses; or
bankruptcy or liquidation of any comparable companies.
Many of these factors depend on circumstances beyond our control. The occurrence of any of these events could have a material adverse effect on our ability to generate revenues and on our business, prospects, results of operations and financial condition.
The unavailability, reduction, elimination or adverse application of government subsidies, including through the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund and Emergency Broadband Benefit program, could have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations.
The FCCs efforts in recent years to expand broadband access to unserved and underserved communities across the United States have included the provision of federal subsidies and other incentives to broadband providers. For example, in 2020, we participated in the FCCs Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) auction, which provides a federal subsidy for the support of high-speed fixed broadband and voice networks in unserved areas across the United States. In that auction, we won $268 million in funding, payable over 10 years, to provide gigabit fixed internet and voice services to unserved locations in nine states. As a winner in the auction, we had to file with the FCC a long-form application that includes information about our qualifications, funding and the network that we intend to use to meet our obligations to provide service to the locations for which we will receive subsidy payments. Our long-form application is currently pending before the FCC. The FCC may find all or part of our application insufficient, or we may in the future fail to meet the necessary service obligations on which the receipt of the subsidy is conditioned, which would result in the loss of some or all of the subsidy that we won in the RDOF auction. In addition, even if we retain some or all of the subsidy that we won, the construction of the network that we will be required to build to meet our service obligations may significantly exceed our modeled costs that were the basis for our bidding in the auction, which would materially and adversely affect our financial condition and operating results.
In addition, we are a participant in the FCCs Emergency Broadband Benefit (EBB) program, a program to help families and households struggling to afford internet service during the COVID-19 pandemic. As a participant in EBB, we receive reimbursement from the federal government for up to $50 in subscriber fees per month per qualifying subscriber during the course of the program. These repayments could be delayed, the government may find that some or all of our qualifying subscribers no longer qualify, or the government may audit our participation and find deficiencies that could result in fines or other adverse outcomes. If that occurs, we may lose customers that rely on this program to pay for our service, which could have a material adverse effect on our growth, results of operations and financial condition.
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Because we intend to participate in future government subsidy and benefit programs, any reduction, elimination or discriminatory application of future government subsidies and economic incentives resulting from policy changes, the reduced need for such subsidies or other reasons such as our inability to satisfy the compliance requirements of the subsidy or benefit program, could materially and adversely affect the growth of expansion of the broadband market and our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results.
Our business model and growth strategy depend on our marketing efforts and ability to attract customers in a cost-effective manner.
Our long-term success depends in part on our ability to continue to attract more customers in each of our markets to our service. Our marketing efforts may not succeed for a variety of reasons, including but not limited to, changes to search engine algorithms, ineffective campaigns across marketing channels and limited experience in certain marketing channels, like traditional media. External factors beyond our control may also affect the success of our marketing initiatives, such as filtering of our targeted communications by email servers, potential customers failing to respond to our marketing initiatives and competition from third parties. Any of these factors could reduce the number of customers choosing us as their internet provider.
Our business model relies on our ability to scale rapidly and to decrease incremental customer acquisition costs as we grow. If we are unable to recover our marketing costs or if our marketing campaigns are not successful or are terminated, it could have a material adverse effect on our growth, results of operations and financial condition.
Our reputation, brand and ability to differentiate ourselves from our competitors is important to our success, and if we are not able to maintain and enhance our reputation and brand and differentiate ourselves from our competitors, our business, financial condition and results of operations may be adversely affected.
Maintaining a positive reputation and brand image are important factors impacting our ability to sell our products and services. The speed at which negative publicity is disseminated has increased dramatically through the use of electronic communication, including social media, websites and blogs. Our success in maintaining our brand image depends on our ability to adapt to this rapidly changing media environment. Adverse publicity or negative commentary in any media outlet could damage our reputation and reduce the demand for our products and services, which would adversely affect our business. Our reputation or brand image could be adversely impacted by negative publicity, commentary or communications (whether or not valid), particularly if we are unable to maintain service levels expected by our customers or to timely and adequately respond to network failures that negatively impact our customers ability to access the internet. In addition, our reputation and brand image could be further adversely impacted by: our failure to maintain high ethical and social practices in all of our operations and activities; our failure to be perceived as appropriately addressing matters of social responsibility; our use of social media; or public perception of statements or positions made or taken by us, including our executives and associates.
We rely on the experience and expertise of our senior management team, key technical employees and other highly skilled personnel and the failure to retain, motivate or integrate any of these individuals could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operation.
Our operational results have depended, and our future results will depend, upon the retention and continued performance of our management team, in particular Chaitanya Kanojia, one of our co-founders and our Chief Executive Officer. The competitive environment for management talent in the broadband communications industry could adversely impact our ability to retain and hire new key employees for management positions. The loss of the services of key members of management and the inability or delay in hiring new key employees could adversely affect our ability to manage our business and our future operational and financial results.
Our business is concentrated in certain geographic markets. Exposure to local economies, regional downturns or severe weather or catastrophic occurrences or other disruptions or events could have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations.
Today, we operate in six markets across the United States. Local and regional conditions in these markets may differ significantly from prevailing conditions in the United States or other parts of the country. As a result, our business is currently more susceptible to regional conditions than the operations of more geographically diversified competitors, and we are vulnerable to economic downturns in the markets in which we operate. Any events or circumstances that negatively affect these areas could materially adversely affect our revenues and profitability.
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We depend on a limited number of third-party suppliers, manufacturers and licensors to supply some of the hardware and software necessary to provide some of our services, and any disruption in our relationships with these parties could have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations.
We depend on a limited number of third-party service providers, suppliers and licensors to supply some of the services, hardware, software and operational support necessary to provide some of our services. Some of our hardware, software and operational support vendors, and service providers represent our sole source of supply or have, either through contract or as a result of intellectual property rights, a position of some exclusivity. If any of these parties breach or terminate or elect not to renew their agreements with us or otherwise fail to perform their obligations in a timely manner, demand exceeds these vendors capacity, tariffs are imposed that impact vendors ability to perform their obligations or significantly increase the amount we pay, they experience operating or financial difficulties, they significantly increase the amount we are required to pay for necessary products or services, or they cease production of any necessary product due to lack of demand, profitability or a change in ownership or are otherwise unable to provide the equipment or services we need in a timely manner, at our specifications and at reasonable prices, our ability to provide some services might be materially adversely affected, or the need to procure or develop alternative sources of the affected materials or services might interrupt or delay our ability to serve our customers. In addition, the existence of only a limited number of vendors of key technologies can lead to less product innovation and higher costs. These events could materially and adversely affect our ability to retain and attract customers and our operations, business, financial results and financial condition.
Our growth depends in part on the success of our strategic relationships with third parties.
We have certain strategic relationships and intend to establish additional strategic relationships in the future. in connection with the expansion of our business. In 2020, we entered into a commercial arrangement with AEP Ventures, LLC (AEPV), a wholly-owned subsidiary of American Electric Power Company, Inc., a major investor-owned electric utility in the United States, to deploy our network in Columbus, Ohio. Under our arrangement, AEPV absorbs the capital expenditures necessary to construct and maintain our coverage network and the capital expenditures for customer installations, while we operate the network, market our service, acquire subscribers and manage subscriber relationships. In exchange for this collaborative approach, we pay AEPV a portion of the revenue we receive from customers in the Columbus market. Under our arrangement, AEPV has the ability to terminate our agreement after a period of time for any reason. In the event AEPV terminates our arrangement, our ability to continue to expand our business the Columbus market and other markets in Ohio may be adversely impacted. Moreover, our ability to develop similar relationship with other electric utilities may be harmed.
Our ability to control our expenses and grow our business in a cost-effective manner depends in part on our ability to partner with electric utilities or other new strategic partners to build out our network in new markets.
We intend to pursue strategic relationships with electric utilities and other new strategic partners to help us build out our network in certain of the markets in which we intend to expand. We are seeking to structure these relationships to be similar to our arrangement with AEPV, which means that we would seek to have our partners absorb the capital expenditures necessary to construct and maintain our coverage network and the capital expenditures for customer installations in the relevant markets. We would in turn operate the network, market our service, acquire subscribers and manage subscriber relationships. If we are not able to partner with electric utilities or other new strategic partners to build out our network in this way, our capital expenditures will be significantly higher as we expand because we will incur some or all of the expenses to construct our coverage network and install customers in our new markets, which would have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition. In addition, if our expenses are higher than we expect, we may be required to reduce the number of new markets into which we expand and/or raise new capital to fund our planned expansion into new markets, which will have a material adverse effect on our growth, results of operations and financial condition.
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Our suppliers may fail to deliver components according to schedules, prices, quality and volumes that are acceptable to us, or we may be unable to manage these components effectively.
Our equipment contain hundreds of parts that we purchase globally from suppliers, some of which are single-source direct suppliers, generally without long-term supply agreements. This exposes us to multiple potential sources of component shortages. Unexpected changes in business conditions, materials pricing, labor issues, wars, governmental changes, tariffs, natural disasters, health epidemics such as the global COVID-19 pandemic, trade and shipping disruptions and other factors beyond our or our suppliers control could also affect these suppliers ability to deliver components to us or to remain solvent and operational. For example, a global shortage of microchips has been reported since early 2021, which has forced us in some instances to redesign certain of our equipment to omit the chips that we cannot source cost effectively. Other impacts of this microchip shortage are as yet unknown. The unavailability of any component or supplier could result in production delays, idle manufacturing facilities, product design changes and loss of access to important technology and tools for producing and supporting our equipment. Moreover, significant increases in our production or product design changes by us have required and may in the future require us to procure additional components in a short amount of time. Our suppliers may not be willing or able to sustainably meet our timelines or our cost, quality and volume needs, or to do so may cost us more, which may require us to replace them with other sources. While we believe that we will be able to secure additional or alternate sources or develop our own replacements for most of our components, there is no assurance that we will be able to do so quickly or at all. Additionally, we may be unsuccessful in our efforts to negotiate with existing suppliers to obtain cost reductions and avoid unfavorable changes to terms, source less expensive suppliers for certain parts and redesign certain parts to make them less expensive to produce. Any of these occurrences would harm our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results.
As the scale of our equipment production increases, we will also need to accurately forecast, purchase, warehouse and transport components to our manufacturing facilities. If we are unable to accurately match the timing and quantities of component purchases to our actual needs or successfully implement inventory management and other systems to accommodate the increased complexity in our supply chain and parts management, we may incur unexpected production disruption, storage, transportation and write-off costs, which would harm our business and operating results.
In 2021, we entered into a commercial arrangement with Quanta, a leading specialized contracting services company with one of the largest skilled labor forces in North America. We intend to utilize Quanta as our construction partner in certain markets, either to build all or a portion of the network in those markets directly or to project manage the network construction. To date, we have only utilized Quanta in the Columbus market. As a result, we do not know whether we will achieve some or all of the benefits of leveraging Quantas expertise in our future market expansion. If our arrangement with Quanta does not yield the benefits that we anticipate, it could negatively impact our ability to expand our services to new markets in a cost-effective and efficient manner, which could have a material adverse effect on our growth, results of operations and financial condition.
If we are unsuccessful in maintaining successful relationships with AEPV, Quanta or any of our other strategic commercial partners, or if we are unable to develop similar relationship with new strategic commercial partners, our ability to grow our existing business, expand to new markets or to grow our revenues could be impaired and our operating results may suffer. Even if we are successful, we cannot assure you that these relationships will result in increased customer usage of our services or increased revenues.
Our exposure to the economic conditions of our current and potential customers, vendors and third parties could adversely affect our cash flow, results of operations and financial condition.
We are exposed to risks associated with the economic conditions of our current and potential customers, the potential financial instability of our customers and their financial ability to pay for our service. If there were a general economic downturn, we may experience increased cancelations or non-payment by our customers. In addition, our ability to gain new customers is dependent to some extent on growth in occupied housing in our service areas, which is influenced by both national and local economic conditions. These events may adversely affect our cash flow, results of operations and financial condition if a downturn were to occur.
In addition, we are susceptible to risks associated with the potential financial instability of the vendors and third parties on which we rely to provide products and services or to which we outsource certain functions. The
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same economic conditions that may affect our customers, as well as volatility and disruption in the capital and credit markets, also could adversely affect vendors and third parties and lead to significant increases in prices, reduction in output or the bankruptcy of our vendors or third parties upon which we rely. Any interruption in the services provided by our vendors or by third parties could adversely affect our cash flow, results of operation and financial condition.
A significant portion of our costs and expenses are fixed, and we may not be able to adapt our cost structure to offset declines in our revenue.
A significant portion of our expenses are fixed and do not vary proportionately with fluctuations in revenues. In markets in which we provide our service we lease space on vertical assets like buildings and towers to attach our operating equipment under long-term leases that, with very limited exceptions, do not contain early termination provisions. Our leases generally provide for fixed monthly payments. In addition, to provide our service we lease access to fiber to connect our equipment to the internet. These leases require us to pay for access to the leased fiber regardless of whether we use the fiber or not. As a result, if we do not have sufficient customers in a market, our fixed costs in a market may exceed our revenue in that market.
International expansion of our business would expose us to business, regulatory, political, operational, financial and economic risks associated with doing business outside of the United States.
Our financial and operational projections do not anticipate international expansion. However, if we do expand internationally, we will become subject to the laws and regulations of the foreign jurisdictions in which we operate. The varying laws and rapidly changing regulations may impact our operations and ability to ensure compliance. Failure by us to comply with the evolving regulatory framework in any jurisdiction could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Seasonality may cause fluctuations in our sales and results of operations.
Our business is subject to some seasonal and cyclical variations. Our results are impacted by the velocity of residential moving, and there may be seasonality of such velocity for certain market segments, including college students living in off campus housing. Our capital expenditures and working capital may also be subject to seasonality based on regional weather and natural events that may impact our ability to construct the network in certain circumstances.
The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic could materially affect our financial condition and results of operations.
COVID-19 and measures to prevent its spread, may have a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition and results of operations. The severity and timing of the impact will depend on a number of factors, including the level and rapidity of infection, duration of containment measures, changes in consumer spending patterns, measures imposed or taken by governmental authorities in response to the pandemic, macroeconomic conditions in our markets and negative effects on the financial condition of our customers.
Under difficult economic conditions, including prolonged unemployment and employment furloughs, demand for our products and services could decline and some customers may be unable or unwilling to pay for our products and services, especially when or if not otherwise offset by federal government support. The occupancy rates in some apartment buildings may decline significantly, particularly in buildings where the population has an alternative housing location such as a second home or parental housing. Additionally, in order to prioritize the demands of the business, we may delay certain capital investments or in other new initiatives, products or services, which may adversely affect our business in the future. If these events occur and were to continue, our revenue may be reduced materially which could result in reduced operating margins and a reduction in cash flows.
Governmental and non-governmental initiatives to reduce the transmission of COVID-19, such as the imposition of restrictions on work and public gatherings and the promotion of social distancing, along with new government service, collection, have impacted and could continue to impact our operations and financial results. Our suppliers and vendors also may be affected by such measures in their ability to provide products and services to us and these measures could also make it more difficult for us to serve our customers.
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During 2019 and 2020, some vertical asset owners implemented restrictions on our ability to enter their buildings to perform construction work to install our equipment on their premises in an attempt to limit the transmission of COVID-19. Similarly, some owners and property managers of apartment buildings implemented restrictions on our ability to enter their buildings to market our service to residents of the buildings. If these restrictions are implemented in the future, our network deployment, network coverage, subscriber growth and subscriber penetration could be lower than we project.
Also, the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic may have on our business, financial condition and results of operations could exacerbate the other risks identified in this section.
We rely on network and information systems and other technology, and a disruption or failure of such networks, systems or technology as a result of cybersecurity incidents, as well as outages, natural disasters (including extreme weather), terrorist attacks, accidental releases of information or similar events, may disrupt our business.
Physical and electronic networks and information systems and other technologies are critical to our operating activities, both to internal uses and in supplying services to our customers. Network or information system shutdowns or other service disruptions caused by cyber-attacks, such as distributed denial of service attacks, ransomware, dissemination of malware and other malicious activity, pose increasing risks. Both unsuccessful and successful cyber-attacks on companies, including ours, have continued to increase in frequency, scope and potential harm in recent years and, because the techniques used in such attacks have become more sophisticated and change frequently, we may be unable to anticipate these techniques or implement adequate preventative measures. From time to time, third parties make malicious attempts to access our network or the networks of third-party vendors we use. Cyber-attacks could result in an unauthorized release of information, degradation to our network and information systems or disruption to our services, all of which could adversely affect our reputation and results of operations.
Our network and information systems are also vulnerable to damage or interruption from power outages, natural disasters (including extreme weather arising from short-term weather patterns or any long-term changes), pandemics, terrorist attacks and similar events, and the individuals responsible for such systems may also be imperiled by certain such events. Any of these events could have an adverse impact on us or our customers in the future, including degradation of service, service disruption, excessive call volume to call centers and damage to our or our customers equipment and data. Large expenditures may be necessary to repair or replace damaged property, networks or information systems or to protect them from similar events in the future.
Risks Related to Government Regulation and Litigation
Our business is subject to extensive governmental legislation and regulation, which could adversely affect our business, increase our operational and administrative expenses and limit our revenues.
Regulation of the broadband industry can increase broadband providers operational and administrative expenses and limit their revenues. Broadband providers are subject to numerous laws and regulations including those covering net neutrality and transparency, data protection and customer and employee privacy, and infrastructure siting and permitting.
Many aspects of these regulations are currently the subject of judicial proceedings and administrative or legislative proposals. There are also efforts to amend or expand the federal, state and local regulation of broadband, which may compound the regulatory risks we already face, and proposals that might make it easier for our employees to unionize. The Permanent Internet Tax Freedom Act prohibits many taxes on internet access service, but certain states and localities are considering new taxes and fees on cable, broadband and telecommunications services that could increase operating expenses. Certain states are also considering adopting energy efficiency regulations governing the operation of equipment that we use, which could constrain innovation. Congress periodically considers whether to rewrite the entire Communications Act to account for changes in the communications marketplace or to adopt more focused changes. Congress has in the past considered, and continues to consider, additional regulations on broadband providers to address specific consumer or customer issues. In response to recent data breaches and increasing concerns regarding the protection of consumers personal information, Congress, states and regulatory agencies are considering the adoption of new privacy and data security laws and regulations that could result in additional privacy, as well as network and information security, requirements for our business. These new laws, as well as existing legal and regulatory obligations, could require significant expenditures.
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As a winner in the RDOF auction, we have a long form application currently pending before the FCC. The FCC may deny the application in whole or in part, which will reduce the amount of regulatory revenue we project over the next decade. In addition, if the long-form application is granted, we will be subject to significant state and federal regulations governing the construction of our required network and the services that we must offer; there is a risk that these rules and requirements may change, and a risk that we fail to construct the required network within the required time frames.
Increasing regulation of our internet-based products and services could adversely affect our ability to provide new products and services.
On February 26, 2015, the FCC adopted a new net neutrality or open internet order (the 2015 Order) that: (1) reclassified broadband internet access service from an information service to a Title II common carrier service, (2) applied certain existing Title II provisions and associated regulations to broadband internet access services; (3) forbore from applying a range of other existing Title II provisions and associated regulations, but to varying degrees indicated that this forbearance may be only temporary and (4) issued new rules expanding disclosure requirements and prohibiting blocking, throttling, paid prioritization and unreasonable interference or disadvantage with the ability of end users and edge providers to reach each other. The 2015 Order also subjected broadband providers internet traffic exchange rates and practices to potential FCC oversight and created a mechanism for third parties to file complaints regarding these matters. While we strive to comply with the measures adopted in the 2015 Order, to the extent they are still applicable or are reintroduced in the future, the 2015 Order could have had a material adverse impact on our business by limiting our ability to manage our systems beyond what we do today. In December 2017, the FCC adopted an order (the 2017 Order) that in large part reversed the 2015 Order and reestablished the information service classification for broadband services. The 2017 Order 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 on broadband internet access service providers is not fully settled. Additionally, Congress and some states are considering legislation that may codify net neutrality rules, which could include prohibitions on blocking, throttling and prioritizing internet traffic. A number of states, including California, have adopted legislation and/or executive orders that apply net neutrality rules to internet service providers. The California legislation is currently being challenged in court. Additionally, the FCC may revisit the appropriate regulatory classification of broadband in 2022.
While regulatory reclassification by itself would not materially harm our ability to provide broadband service, it may restrict our unplanned ability to enter new market segments or offer new services that may be permitted today.
Offering telephone services will subject us to additional federal and state regulatory burdens, causing us to incur additional costs, and changes may require us to modify existing services, potentially increase our costs or prices we charge customers and otherwise harm our business.
We will offer interconnected Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) telephone services over our broadband network through a third party. The FCC has ruled that competitive telephone companies that support VoIP services, such as those that we will offer to our customers, are entitled to interconnect with incumbent providers of traditional telecommunications services, which ensures that our VoIP services can operate in the market. However, the scope of these interconnection rights is being reviewed in a current FCC proceeding, which may affect our ability to compete in the provision of telephony services or result in additional costs.
The FCC has already extended certain traditional telecommunications requirements, such as E-911, Universal Service Fund (USF) contributions, Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA) compliance, measures to protect Customer Proprietary Network Information, certain levels of access users with disabilities, number porting, battery back-up, network outage reporting, rural call completion reporting, illegal robocall mitigation and other regulatory requirements. If additional telecommunications regulations are applied to our VoIP service, it could cause us to incur additional costs and may otherwise materially adversely impact our operations with respect to our VoIP service.
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Expanding our offering of these services may require us to obtain certain authorizations, including federal and state authorizations. We may not be able to obtain such authorizations in a timely manner, or conditions could be imposed upon such authorizations that may not be favorable to us. Furthermore, state regulations and federal regulations may require us to contribute to state universal service and related programs, pay E-911 surcharges and pay other surcharges and fees that fund various programs. We may pass USF fees, E-911 fees and Telecommunications Relay Services and other surcharges through to our customers, which may result in our subscriptions becoming more expensive or require that we absorb these costs. Furthermore, in the future, state public utility commissions may expand their jurisdiction over interconnected VoIP services to regulate the rates that we may charge, which may materially impact our ability to economically provide VoIP service.
The failure of our platform and products to comply, or delays in compliance, with various existing and evolving regulations could delay or interrupt our introduction of new products, subject us to fines or other imposed penalties, or harm our reputation, any of which would have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or operating results.
We may be materially adversely affected by regulatory, legal and economic changes relating to our physical facilities.
Our systems depend on physical facilities, including transmitting equipment that we install on vertical assets and transceiving equipment that we install on customer premises. The placement of the transmitting equipment is subject to federal, state and local regulations. In some cases, portions of our physical facilities occupy public rights-of-way and are subject to local ordinances and governmental regulations. Other portions occupy private property under express or implied easements. No assurances can be given that we will be able to maintain and use our facilities in their current locations and at their current costs. Changes in governmental regulations or changes in these relationships could have a material adverse effect on our business and our results of operations.
We may be liable for the material that content providers distribute over our networks.
The law in most cases limits the liability of private network operators for information carried on, stored on or disseminated through their networks. However, these limitations on liability are subject to certain exceptions and the contours of those exceptions are not fully settled. Among other things, the limitation of copyright liability for network operators with respect to materials transmitted over their networks is conditioned upon the network operators terminating the accounts of repeat infringers in certain circumstances, and the law is unsettled as to the circumstances in which such termination is required to maintain the operators limitation of liability. As such, we could be exposed to legal claims relating to content disseminated on our networks and/or asserting that we are not eligible for statutory limitations on liability for network operators with respect to such content. Claims could involve matters such as defamation, invasion of privacy or copyright infringement. If we need to take costly measures to reduce our exposure to these risks or are required to defend ourselves against such claims, our business, reputation, financial condition and results of operations could be materially adversely affected.
Unfavorable outcomes in legal proceedings in which we may be involved may adversely affect our business and operating results.
We may become involved in legal proceedings such as intellectual property, consumer, employment, contractual and other litigation that may arise from time to time in the course of our business. We may also be affected by legal proceedings between third parties (such as challenges to spectrum auctions, subsidy programs or intellectual property disputes between third parties). Litigation is inherently unpredictable, and the outcome of some of these proceedings and other contingencies could require us to take or refrain from taking actions which could adversely impact our business or could result in excessive verdicts. Additionally, involvement in these lawsuits and related inquiries and other proceedings may involve significant expense, divert managements attention and resources from other matters and negatively affect our reputation.
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Unfavorable legislative outcomes may adversely affect our industry, our business and our operating results.
Generally as a new entrant competitive provider, legislative outcomes are likely to have a positive or neutral impact, however, there may be circumstances where legislative outcomes at the federal or state level may adversely affect our business or operating results. For example, while unlikely, a federal law that requires the regulation of our rates. Legislation that provides federal or state subsidies for new broadband networks could adversely affect our business to the extent we do not capture such subsidies and they are instead awarded to a competing provider for an area in which we are, or will be, operating a portion of our network.
Risks Related to Information Technology, Cybersecurity and Intellectual Property
We rely on network and information systems for our operations and a disruption or failure of, or defects in, those systems may disrupt our operations, damage our reputation with customers and adversely affect our results of operations.
Network and information systems are essential to our ability to conduct our business and deliver our services to our customers. While we, and our vendors, have in place multiple security systems designed to protect against intentional or unintentional disruption, failure, misappropriation or corruption of our network and information systems, there can be no assurance that our efforts, or our vendors efforts, to protect our network and information systems will prevent any of the problems identified above. A problem of this type might be caused by events such as computer hacking, computer viruses, worms and other destructive or disruptive software, cyber-attacks, phishing attacks and other malicious activity, defects in the hardware and software comprising our network and information systems, as well as natural disasters, power outages, terrorist attacks and similar events. Such events could have an adverse impact on us and our customers, including degradation of service, service disruption, excessive call volume to call centers, theft and damage to our plant, equipment and data, costs associated with remediation, notification and potential damages to third parties affected by such malicious activities. Operational or business delays may result from the disruption of network or information systems and the subsequent remediation activities. Moreover, these events may create negative publicity resulting in reputation or brand damage with customers and our results of operations could suffer.
We also use certain vendors to supply some of the hardware, software and support of our network, some of which have been customized or altered to fit our business needs. Certain of these vendors and suppliers may have leverage over us considering that there are limited suppliers of certain products and services, or that there is a long lead time and/or significant expense required to transition to another provider. In addition, some of these vendors and suppliers do not have a long operating history or may not be able to continue to supply the equipment and services we desire. Some of our hardware, software and operational support vendors and some of our service providers represent our sole source of supply or have, either through contract or as a result of intellectual property rights, a position of some exclusivity. In addition, because of the pace at which technological innovations occur in our industry, we may not be able to obtain access to the latest technology on reasonable terms. Any delays or the termination or disruption in these relationships as a result of contractual disagreements, operational or financial failures on the part of our vendors and suppliers, or other adverse events that prevent such vendors and suppliers from providing the equipment or services we need, with the level of quality we require, in a timely manner and at reasonable prices, could result in significant costs to us and have a negative effect on our ability to provide services and rollout advanced services. Our ability to replace such vendors and suppliers may be limited and, as a result, our business, financial condition, results of operations and liquidity could be materially adversely affected.
Cyber security risks, data loss or other breaches of our network security could materially harm our business and results of operations, and the processing, storage, use and disclosure of personal or sensitive information could give rise to liabilities and additional costs as a result of governmental regulation, litigation and conflicting legal requirements relating to personal privacy rights.
Network and information systems technologies are critical to our operating activities, both for our internal uses, such as network management and supplying services to our customers, including customer service operations and programming delivery. Network or information system shutdowns or other service disruptions caused by events such as computer hacking, phishing, dissemination of computer viruses, worms and other destructive or disruptive software, cyber-attacks, process breakdowns, denial of service attacks and other malicious activity pose increasing risks. Both unsuccessful and successful cyber-attacks on companies have continued to increase in frequency,
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scope and potential harm in recent years. While we develop and maintain systems seeking to prevent systems-related events and security breaches from occurring, the development and maintenance of these systems is costly and requires ongoing monitoring and updating as techniques used in such attacks become more sophisticated and change frequently. We, and the third parties on which we rely, may be unable to anticipate these techniques or implement adequate preventive measures. While from time to time attempts have been made to access our network, these attempts have not as yet resulted in any material release of information, degradation or disruption to our network and information systems.
Our network and information systems are also vulnerable to damage or interruption from power outages, telecommunications failures, accidents, natural disasters (including extreme weather arising from short-term or any long-term changes in weather patterns), terrorist attacks and similar events. Our system redundancy may be ineffective or inadequate, and our disaster recovery planning may not be sufficient for all eventualities.
Any of these events, if directed at, or experienced by, us or technologies upon which we depend, could have adverse consequences on our network, our customers and our business, including degradation of service, service disruption, excessive call volume to call centers and damage to our or our customers equipment and data. Large expenditures may be necessary to repair or replace damaged property, networks or information systems or to protect them from similar events in the future. Moreover, the amount and scope of insurance that we maintain against losses resulting from any such events or security breaches may not be sufficient to cover our losses or otherwise adequately compensate us for any disruptions to our business that may result. Any such significant service disruption could result in damage to our reputation and credibility, customer dissatisfaction and ultimately a loss of customers or revenue. Any significant loss of customers or revenue, or significant increase in costs of serving those customers, could adversely affect our growth, financial condition and results of operations.
Furthermore, our operating activities could be subject to risks caused by misappropriation, misuse, leakage, falsification or accidental release or loss of information maintained in our information technology systems and networks and those of our third-party vendors, including customer, personnel and vendor data. We provide certain confidential, proprietary and personal information to third parties in connection with our business, and there is a risk that this information may be compromised.
We process, store and transmit large amounts of data, including the personal information of our customers. Ongoing increases in the potential for misuse of personal information, the publics awareness of the importance of safeguarding personal information, and the volume of legislation that has been adopted or is being considered regarding the protection, privacy and security of personal information have resulted in increases to our information-related risks. We could be exposed to significant costs if such risks were to materialize, and such events could damage our reputation, credibility and business and have a negative impact on our revenue. We could be subject to regulatory actions and claims made by consumers in private litigations involving privacy issues related to consumer data collection and use practices. We also could be required to expend significant capital and other resources to remedy any such security breach.
If we experience a significant data security breach or fail to detect and appropriately respond to a significant data security breach, our results of operations and reputation could suffer.
In the ordinary course of our business, we electronically maintain confidential, proprietary and personal information in our information technology systems and networks and those of third-party vendors, including customer, personnel and vendor data. These systems may be targets of attack by cyber criminals or other wrongdoers seeking to steal such information for financial gain or to harm our business operations or reputation. The loss, misuse, compromise, leakage, falsification or accidental release of such information has resulted, and may in the future result, in costly investigations, remediation efforts and notification to affected consumers, personnel and/or vendors. Cyber-attacks may in the future consume internal resources, and they could also adversely affect our operating results and result in government investigations, fines and penalties, litigation or potential liability for us and otherwise harm our business.
Various federal, state and international laws and regulations govern the collection, use, retention, sharing and security of consumer data and sensitive personal information that could be used to commit identity theft. This area of the law is evolving, and interpretations of applicable laws and regulations differ. Legislative and regulatory activity in the privacy area may result in new laws that are relevant to our operations, for example, use of consumer
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data for marketing or advertising. Claims of failure to comply with our privacy policies or applicable laws or regulations could form the basis of governmental or private-party actions against us. Such claims and actions may cause damage to our reputation and could have an adverse effect on our business.
We also are subject to stringent data security and data retention requirements that apply to website operators and online services directed to children under 13 years of age, or that knowingly collect or post personal information from children under 13 years of age. Other privacy-oriented laws have been extended by courts to online video providers and are increasingly being used in privacy lawsuits, including class actions, against providers of video materials online. Most states have security breach notification laws that generally require a business to give notice to consumers and government agencies when certain information has been disclosed due to a security breach, and the FCC has adopted security breach rules for voice services. Several states have also enacted general data security requirements to safeguard consumer information, including the proper disposal of consumer information. We cannot predict whether, when or to what extent these obligations may impose costs on or otherwise adversely affect our business.
Our fraud detection processes and information security systems may not successfully detect all fraudulent activity by third parties aimed at our employees or customers, which could adversely affect our reputation and business results.
Third-party actors have attempted in the past, and may attempt in the future, to conduct fraudulent activity by engaging with our customers. Though we have sophisticated fraud detection processes and have taken other measures to identify fraudulent activity on our mobile applications, websites and internal systems, we may not be able to detect and prevent all such activity. Similarly, the third parties we use to effectuate these transactions may fail to maintain adequate controls or systems to detect and prevent fraudulent activity. Persistent or pervasive fraudulent activity may cause customers and partners to lose trust in us and decrease or terminate their usage of our products, or could result in financial loss, thereby harming our business and results of operations.
We may fail to adequately protect our intellectual property rights or may be accused of infringing upon intellectual property rights of third parties.
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. Our intellectual property rights may be challenged and invalidated by third parties and may not be strong enough to provide meaningful commercial competitive advantage. Third parties have in the past, and may in the future, assert claims or initiate litigation related to exclusive patent, copyright, trademark and other intellectual property rights to technologies and related standards that are relevant to us. Because of the existence of a large number of patents in the networking field, the secrecy of some pending patents and the rapid rate of issuance of new patents, we believe it is not possible to determine in advance whether a product or any of its components infringes or will infringe on the patent rights of others. Asserted claims and/or initiated litigation can include claims against us or our manufacturers, suppliers or customers, alleging infringement of their proprietary rights with respect to our existing or future products and/or services or components of those products and/or services.
Regardless of the merit of these claims, they can be time-consuming, result in costly litigation and diversion of technical and management personnel, or require us to modify our business, develop a non-infringing technology, be enjoined from use of certain intellectual property, use alternate technology or enter into license and royalty agreements. There can be no assurance that licenses will be available on acceptable terms and conditions, if at all, or that our indemnification by our suppliers will be adequate to cover our costs if a claim were brought directly against us or our customers. Furthermore, because of the potential for high court awards that are not necessarily predictable, it is not unusual to find even arguably unmeritorious claims settled for significant amounts. If any infringement or other intellectual property claim made against us by any third party is successful, if we are required to indemnify a customer with respect to a claim against the customer, or if we fail to modify our business, develop non-infringing technology, use alternate technology or license the proprietary rights on commercially reasonable terms and conditions, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be materially adversely affected.
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Intellectual property and proprietary rights of others could prevent us from using necessary technology to provide our services or subject us to expensive intellectual property litigation.
We have in the past received claims from third parties alleging that our network technology infrastructure infringes the intellectual property rights of others. We may continue to be subject to similar claims as they relate to our business. Addressing these claims is a time-consuming and expensive endeavor, regardless of the merits of the claims. In order to resolve such a claim, we could determine the need to change our method of doing business, enter into a licensing agreement or incur substantial monetary liability. It is also possible that our business could be enjoined from using the intellectual property at issue, causing us to significantly alter our operations. If any such claims are successful, then the outcome would likely affect our services utilizing the intellectual property at issue and could have a material adverse effect on our operating results.
Risks Related to Our Financial Reporting
Our management has limited experience in operating a public company.
Our executive officers have some, but relatively limited experience in the management of a publicly traded company. Our management team may not successfully or effectively manage our transition to a public company that will be subject to significant regulatory oversight and reporting obligations under federal securities laws. Their limited experience in dealing with the increasingly complex laws pertaining to public companies could be a significant disadvantage in that it is likely that an increasing amount of their time may be devoted to these activities which will result in less time being devoted to the management and growth of the post-combination company. We may not have adequate personnel with the appropriate level of knowledge, experience and training in the accounting policies, practices or internal control over financial reporting required of public companies. Our management will need to continually assess our staffing and training procedures to improve our internal control over financial reporting. Further, the development, implementation, documentation and assessment of appropriate processes, in addition to the need to remediate any potential deficiencies, will require substantial time and attention from management. The development and implementation of the standards and controls necessary for us to achieve the level of accounting standards required of a public company may require costs greater than expected. It is possible that we will be required to expand our employee base and hire additional employees to support our operations as a public company which will increase its operating costs in future periods.
We rely on assumptions, estimates and business data to calculate our key performance indicators and other business metrics, and real or perceived inaccuracies in these metrics may harm our reputation and negatively affect our business.
We use tools and manual processes to determine the households covered and households that are serviceable by our deployed network, and the related amount of capital expenditure necessary to cover the target households and provide service to the projected subscribers. This analysis involves estimates in some circumstances that, if inaccurate could affect the profitability of deployed network assets because they may provide service to fewer households than anticipated or require more capital expenditures than expected. Inaccuracies in network design may also result in fewer subscribers overall, and associated lower financial performance indicators. Our forward projections are based on an analysis of the total addressable market and include estimates on the amount of network coverage, network serviceability and subscriber penetration and churn rates that we may achieve. They also include estimates on the average revenue per user over time. Combined, inaccuracies in this data can affect our subscribers, revenue and associated financial metrics.
Our results of operations and financial condition are subject to managements accounting judgments and estimates, as well as changes in accounting policies.
The preparation of our financial statements requires us to make estimates and assumptions affecting the reported amounts of our assets, liabilities, revenues and expenses. If these estimates or assumptions are incorrect, it could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations or financial condition. Generally accepted accounting principles in the United States are subject to interpretation by the Financial Accounting Standards Board, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, the SEC and various bodies formed to promulgate and interpret appropriate accounting principles. A change in these principles or interpretations could have a significant effect on our reported financial results, and could affect the reporting of transactions completed before the announcement of a change.
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We have identified material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting and may identify additional material weaknesses in the future or fail to maintain an effective system of internal control over financial reporting, which may result in material misstatements of our consolidated financial statements or cause us to fail to meet our periodic reporting obligations.
We have identified material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting. A material weakness is a deficiency, or a combination of deficiencies, in internal control over financial reporting such that there is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of our annual or interim financial statements will not be prevented or detected on a timely basis. The material weaknesses relate to (i) the lack of maintaining a sufficient complement of accounting and financial reporting resources commensurate with our financial reporting requirements, (ii) the lack of maintaining an effective risk assessment process, which led to improperly designed controls, (iii) the lack of maintaining appropriate control activities to support the appropriate segregation of duties over the review of account reconciliations, manual journal entries and rights over access administrative controls and (iv) the failure to document, thoroughly communicate and monitor control processes and relevant accounting policies and procedures.
We have engaged a third-party consultant to assist us in the process of designing and implementing measures to improve our internal control over financial reporting to remediate these material weaknesses. Our remediation efforts are focused on (i) hiring of personnel with technical accounting and financial reporting experience; (ii) implementation of improved accounting and financial reporting processes; and (iii) implementation of systems to improve the completeness, timeliness and accuracy of our financial reporting. We believe the measures described above should remediate the material weaknesses identified and strengthen our internal control over financial reporting. The remediation initiatives outlined above are estimated to take place over the next 12 to 18 months. While we continue the challenging and costly process to implement our plan to remediate the material weaknesses, we cannot predict the success of such plan or the outcome of our assessment of this plan until the remediation initiatives have been completed and have been operating effectively for a sufficient period of time. We can give no assurance that these measures will remediate the deficiencies in internal control or that additional material weaknesses or significant deficiencies in our internal control over financial reporting will not be identified in the future. Our failure to implement and maintain effective internal control over financial reporting could result in errors in our financial statements that may lead to a restatement of our financial statements or cause us to fail to meet our reporting obligations.
As a public company, we will be required, pursuant to Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (the Sarbanes-Oxley Act), to furnish a report by management on, among other things, the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting for future annual reports on Form 10-K to be filed with the SEC. This assessment will need to include disclosure of any material weaknesses identified by our management in our internal control over financial reporting. Our independent registered public accounting firm will also be required to attest to the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting in future annual reports report on Form 10-K to be filed with the SEC. We will be required to disclose changes made in our internal controls and procedures on a quarterly basis. Failure to comply with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act could potentially subject us to sanctions or investigations by the SEC, the applicable stock exchange or other regulatory authorities, which would require additional financial and management resources. We have begun the process of compiling the system and processing documentation necessary to perform the evaluation needed to comply with Section 404 in the future, but we may not be able to complete our evaluation, testing and any required remediation in a timely fashion.
We are currently an emerging growth company and a smaller reporting company under the Securities Act, and to the extent we have taken advantage of certain exemptions from disclosure requirements available to emerging growth companies or smaller reporting companies, this could make our securities less attractive to investors and may make it more difficult to compare our performance with other public companies.
We are an emerging growth company, as defined in Section 2(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the Securities Act), as modified by the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012 (the JOBS Act), and we may take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not emerging growth companies, including, but not limited to, not being required to
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comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in their periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a nonbinding advisory vote on executive compensation and stockholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved.
Further, Section 102(b)(1) of the JOBS Act exempts emerging growth companies from being required to comply with new or revised financial accounting standards until private companies (that is, those that have not had a registration statement under the Securities Act declared effective or do not have a class of securities registered under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the Exchange Act)) are required to comply with the new or revised financial accounting standards. The JOBS Act provides that a company can elect to opt out of the extended transition period and comply with the requirements that apply to non-emerging growth companies but any such election to opt out is irrevocable. We have elected not to opt out of such extended transition period which means that when a standard is issued or revised and it has different application dates for public or private companies, we, as an emerging growth company, can adopt the new or revised standard at the time private companies adopt the new or revised standard. This may make comparability of our financial statements with another public company which is neither an emerging growth company nor an emerging growth company which has opted out of using the extended transition period difficult or impossible because of the potential differences in accounting standards used.
Additionally, we are a smaller reporting company as defined in Item 10(f)(1) of Regulation S-K. Smaller reporting companies may take advantage of certain reduced disclosure obligations, including, among other things, providing only two years of audited financial statements. We will remain a smaller reporting company until the last day of the fiscal year in which either (a)(i) the market value of the shares of our Class A Common Stock held by non-affiliates exceeds $250 million as of the prior June 30, and (ii) our annual revenue exceeded $100 million during such completed fiscal year, or (b) the market value of the shares of our Class A Common Stock held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the prior June 30. To the extent we take advantage of such reduced disclosure obligations, it may also make comparison of our financial statements with other public companies difficult or impossible
Our ability to use our net operating loss carryforwards and certain other tax attributes may be limited.
We have incurred net losses since our inception and we may never achieve or sustain profitability. Generally, for U.S. federal income tax purposes, net operating losses incurred will carry forward. Net operating loss carryforwards generated prior to January 1, 2018, however, are subject to expiration for U.S. federal income tax purposes. As of December 31, 2021, we had federal net operating loss carryforwards of approximately $485.1 million, of which $49.5 million will begin to expire in 2034 and $435.6 million can be carried forward indefinitely. As of December 31, 2021, we had a total state net operating loss carryforward of $488.8 million, which will begin to expire in 2034.
Under Sections 382 and 383 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the Code), if a corporation undergoes an ownership change, generally defined as a greater than 50% change by value in its equity ownership by certain shareholders over a three-year period, the corporations ability to use its pre-ownership change net operating loss carryforwards and other pre-ownership change tax attributes to offset its post-ownership change income or taxes may be limited. Similar provisions of state tax law may also apply to limit the use of our state net operating loss carryforwards and other state tax attributes. We have not performed an analysis to determine whether our past issuances of equity and other changes in our ownership may have resulted in one or more ownership changes. If it is determined that we have in the past experienced an ownership change, or if we undergo one or more ownership changes as a result of the transactions contemplated in connection with the Business Combination or future transactions in our stock, which may be outside our control, then our ability to use our net operating loss carryforwards and other tax attributes may be materially limited. As a result, even if we earn taxable income, we may be unable to use a material portion of our net operating loss carryforwards and other tax attributes, which could adversely affect our future cash flows. There is also a risk that regulatory changes, such as suspensions on the use of net operating losses or other unforeseen reasons, may result in our existing net operating loss carryforwards expiring or otherwise becoming unavailable to offset future taxable income. For these reasons, we may not be able to use a material portion of our net operating loss carryforwards and other tax attributes even if we attain profitability.
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Risks Related to Our Liquidity and Capital Resources
We may need additional capital to pursue our business objectives and respond to business opportunities, challenges or unforeseen circumstances, and we cannot be sure that additional financing will be available.
Our business is capital intensive. Operating and maintaining our network requires significant amounts of cash payments to third parties. Capital expenditures were $68.9 million and $35.9 million for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively, and primarily included payments for customer premise equipment, network infrastructure, support and other costs.
The amount of capital raised through the Business Combination may not be enough to fund our anticipated network expansion and customer acquisition costs. As a result, we may be required to raise additional equity or debt capital, which we may not be able to do on favorable terms or at all. If we raise additional equity capital it would dilute the ownership of our existing shareholders. If we raise additional debt capital it may place significant restrictions on our ability to operate in the manner we would like and require on-going interest payments that could place a strain on our liquidity. We expect our future capital expenditures to continue to be significant as we further expand our network and enhance our service offerings. We may have substantial future capital commitments in the form of long-term contracts that require substantial payments over a period of time. In the longer term, our ability to fund our operations, make planned capital expenditures, make scheduled payments on our indebtedness and repay our indebtedness (to the extent any remains) depends on our future operating performance and cash flows and our ability to access the capital markets, which, in turn, are subject to prevailing economic conditions and to financial, business and other factors, some of which are beyond our control. Competition, market disruptions or deterioration in economic conditions could lead to lower demand for our products, as well as lower levels of advertising, and increased incidence of customers inability to pay for the services we provide. These events would adversely impact our results of operations, cash flows and financial position. As such, we may not be able to generate sufficient cash internally to fund anticipated capital expenditures, make ongoing interest payments and repay our indebtedness at maturity. Accordingly, we may have to do one or more of the following:
refinance existing obligations to extend maturities;
raise additional capital, through bank loans, debt or equity issuances or a combination thereof;
cancel or scale back current and future spending programs; or
sell assets or interests in one or more of our businesses.
However, we may not be able to refinance existing obligations or raise any required additional capital on terms acceptable to us or at all. Borrowing costs related to future capital raising activities may be significantly higher than our current borrowing costs and we may not be able to raise additional capital on favorable terms, or at all, if financial markets experience volatility. If we are unable to pursue our current and future spending programs, we may be forced to cancel or scale back those programs. Our choice of which spending programs to cancel or reduce may be limited. Failure to successfully pursue our capital expenditure and other spending plans could materially and adversely affect our ability to compete effectively. It is possible that in the future we may also engage in extraordinary transactions and such transactions could result in the incurrence of substantial additional indebtedness.
For the year ended December 31, 2021, our independent registered public accounting firm included an explanatory paragraph relating to our ability to continue as a going concern in its report on our audited financial statements included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, and there can be no guarantee that we will continue as a going concern absent the ability to raise additional capital within the next 12 months.
The report from our independent registered public accounting firm for the year ended December 31, 2021 includes an explanatory paragraph stating that our losses and negative cash flows from operating activities since inception and the fact that we may be unable to remain in compliance with certain financial covenants required by our Credit Agreement, raise substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern. Our consolidated financial statements do not include any adjustments that may result from the outcome of this uncertainty. If we are unable to obtain sufficient funding, our business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations will be materially and adversely affected and we may be
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unable to continue as a going concern. If we are unable to continue as a going concern, we may have to liquidate our assets and may receive less than the value at which those assets are carried on our audited financial statements, and it is likely that investors would lose part or all of their investment. Future reports from our independent registered public accounting firm may also contain statements expressing substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern. If there remains substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern, investors or other financing sources may be unwilling to provide additional funding to us on commercially reasonable terms, or at all, and our business may be harmed.
The Starry Credit Agreement contains restrictive and financial covenants that may limit our operating flexibility.
The Starry Credit Agreement contains certain restrictive covenants that either limit our ability to, or require a mandatory prepayment in the event we, among other things, incur additional indebtedness, issue guarantees, create liens on assets, make certain investments, merge with or acquire other companies, change business activities, pay dividends or make certain other restricted payments, transfer or dispose of assets, enter into transactions with affiliates and enter into various specified transactions. The Starry Credit Agreement also contains a financial covenant that requires us to maintain a minimum cash balance of $15 million at all times and certain financial reporting requirements. Our obligations under the Starry Credit Agreement are secured by all of our assets, with certain exceptions. We may not be able to generate sufficient liquidity or revenue to meet the financial covenant or pay the principal and interest when due. Furthermore, future working capital, borrowings or equity financing could be unavailable to repay or refinance the amounts outstanding under the Starry Credit Agreement. In the event of a liquidation, all outstanding principal and interest would have to be repaid prior to distribution of assets to unsecured creditors, and the holders of our Class A Common Stock.
If we are unable to comply with the restrictive and financial covenants in the Starry Credit Agreement, there would be a default under the terms of that agreement, and this could result in an acceleration of payment of funds that have been borrowed.
If we were unable to comply with the restrictive and financial covenants in the Starry Credit Agreement, there would be a default under the terms of that agreement. As a result, any borrowings under other instruments that contain cross-acceleration or cross default provisions may also be accelerated and become due and payable. If any of these events occur, there can be no assurance that we would be able to make necessary payments to the lenders or that we would be able to find alternative financing. Even if we were able to obtain alternative financing, there can be no assurance that it would be on terms that are acceptable.
Risks Related to Ownership of Our Securities
The price of our securities may be volatile.
The market price of our Class A Common Stock and warrants may fluctuate significantly, depending on many factors, some of which may be beyond our control, including:
actual or anticipated fluctuations in our operating results due to factors related to our business;
failure to meet or exceed financial estimates and projections of the investment community or that we provide to the public;
the failure of securities analysts to cover, or maintain coverage of, our Class A Common Stock;
issuance of new or updated research or reports by securities analysts or changed recommendations for the industry in general;
operating and share price performance of other companies in the industry or related markets;
the timing and magnitude of investments in the growth of the business;
success or failure of our business strategies;
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our ability to obtain financing as needed;
announcements by us or our competitors of significant acquisitions, dispositions or strategic investments;
additions or departures of our key management or other personnel;
sales of substantial amounts of our common stock by our directors, executive officers or significant stockholders or the perception that such sales could occur;
changes in capital structure, including future issuances of securities or the incurrence of deb
changes in accounting standards, policies, guidance, interpretations or principles;
investor perception of us and our industry;
overall market fluctuations;
results from any material litigation or government investigation;
changes in laws and regulations (including tax laws and regulations) affecting our business;
changes in capital gains taxes and taxes on dividends affecting stockholders; and
general economic conditions and other external factors.
Low trading volume for our Class A Common Stock, which may occur if an active trading market is not sustained, among other reasons, would amplify the effect of the above factors on our stock price volatility.
Stock markets in general can experience volatility that is unrelated to the operating performance of a particular company. These broad market fluctuations could adversely affect the trading price of our Class A Common Stock and our warrants.
An active, liquid trading market for our securities may not develop or be sustained.
There can be no assurance that an active trading market for our Class A Common Stock and warrants will develop, or, if such a market develops, that we will be able to maintain an active trading market for those securities on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC (Nasdaq) or any other exchange in the future. If an active market for our securities does not develop or is not maintained, or if we fail to satisfy the continued listing standards of the NYSE for any reason and our securities are delisted, it may be difficult for our securityholders to sell their securities without depressing the market price for the securities or at all. An inactive trading market may also impair our ability to both raise capital by selling shares of capital stock, attract and motivate employees through equity incentive awards and acquire other companies, products or technologies by using shares of capital stock as consideration.
We do not intend to pay cash dividends for the foreseeable future.
The timing, declaration, amount and payment of future dividends to stockholders falls within the discretion of our board of directors (the Board). Our Boards decisions regarding the amount and payment of future dividends will depend on many factors, including our financial condition, earnings, capital requirements of our business and covenants associated with debt obligations, as well as legal requirements, regulatory constraints, industry practice and other factors that our Board deems relevant. There can be no assurance that we will continue to pay any dividend in the future.
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Future resales of our Class A Common Stock may cause the market price of our securities to drop significantly, even if our business is doing well.
Subject to certain exceptions, FirstMark Horizon Sponsor LLC (the Sponsor), those receiving our Class A Common Stock as consideration pursuant to the Merger Agreement and our directors, officers and employees receiving our Class A Common Stock upon the settlement or exercise of warrants, stock options or other equity awards outstanding immediately following the closing of the Business Combination, will be restricted from selling or transferring any of their respective shares of our Class A Common Stock (not including the shares of our Class A Common Stock issued in the sale of the PIPE Shares pursuant to the terms of their respective subscription agreements). In the case of the shares that are restricted pursuant to our bylaws, such restrictions end on the date that is 180 days after the closing of the Business Combination. In the case of the shares restricted pursuant to the sponsor support agreement, by and among FirstMark, the holders of FirstMarks Class B common stock (the Initial Stockholders), Starry and Starry Group, dated as of October 6, 2021 (the Sponsor Support Agreement), each Initial Stockholder agreed that such Initial Stockholder shall not transfer any shares of our common stock during the period commencing immediately after the Acquisition Merger Effective Date and ending upon the earlier to occur of (x) 8:00 a.m. Eastern Time on the date that is 12 months after (and excluding) the Acquisition Merger Effective Date and (y) the occurrence of an Earnout Triggering Event (as defined therein) without our prior written consent, subject to certain permitted transfers as provided in the Sponsor Support Agreement.
However, following the expiration of the applicable lock-up period, such equity holders will not be restricted from selling shares of our Class A Common Stock held by them, other than by applicable securities laws. Additionally, the purchasers of the PIPE Shares will not be restricted from selling any of their shares of our Class A Common Stock, other than by applicable securities laws. As such, sales of a substantial number of shares of our Class A Common Stock in the public market could occur at any time. These sales, or the perception in the market that the holders of a large number of shares intend to sell shares, could reduce the market price of our Class A Common Stock. As restrictions on resale end and registration statements (to provide for the resale of such shares from time to time) are available for use, the sale or possibility of sale of these shares could have the effect of increasing the volatility in the market price of our Class A Common Stock, and the market price of our Class A Common Stock could decline if the holders of currently restricted shares sell them or are perceived by the market as intending to sell them.
The provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation requiring exclusive forum in the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware and the federal district courts of the United States for certain types of lawsuits may have the effect of discouraging lawsuits against our directors and officers.
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that, to the fullest extent permitted by law, and unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware (or, in the event that the Chancery Court does not have jurisdiction, the federal district court for the District of Delaware or other state courts of the State of Delaware) and any appellate court thereof will be the sole and exclusive forum for (i) any derivative action, suit or proceeding brought on behalf of us, (ii) any action, suit or proceeding asserting a claim of breach of a fiduciary duty owed by any current or former director, officer, stockholder or employee of ours to us or our stockholders, (iii) any action, suit or proceeding arising pursuant to any provision of the Delaware General Corporation Law, as amended (the DGCL) or our bylaws or certificate of incorporation (as each may be amended from time to time), (iv) any action, suit or proceeding as to which the DGCL confers jurisdiction on the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware or (v) any action, suit or proceeding asserting a claim against us or any current or former director, officer or stockholder governed by the internal affairs doctrine.
Section 22 of the Securities Act creates concurrent jurisdiction for federal and state courts over all suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Securities Act or the rules and regulations thereunder. Accordingly, both state and federal courts have jurisdiction to entertain such Securities Act claims. To prevent having to litigate claims in multiple jurisdictions and the threat of inconsistent or contrary rulings by different courts, among other considerations, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that, unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, to the fullest extent permitted by law, the federal district courts of the United States of America shall be the exclusive forum for the resolution of any complaint asserting a cause of action arising under the Securities Act; however, there is uncertainty as to whether a court would enforce such provision, and investors cannot waive compliance with federal securities laws and the rules and regulations
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thereunder. Notwithstanding the foregoing, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that the exclusive forum provision will not apply to suits brought to enforce any cause of action arising under the Securities Act, any duty or liability created by the Exchange Act or any other claim for which the federal courts have exclusive jurisdiction.
Section 27 of the Exchange Act creates exclusive federal jurisdiction over all suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Exchange Act or the rules and regulations thereunder.
These provisions may have the effect of discouraging lawsuits against our directors and officers. The enforceability of similar choice of forum provisions in other companies certificates of incorporation has been challenged in legal proceedings, and it is possible that, in connection with any applicable action brought against us, a court could find the choice of forum provisions contained in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to be inapplicable or unenforceable in such action.
We cannot predict the impact our multi-class structure may have on the stock price of our Class A Common Stock.
We cannot predict whether our multi-class structure will result in a lower or more volatile market price of our Class A Common Stock or in adverse publicity or other adverse consequences. For example, certain index providers have announced restrictions on including companies with multiple-class share structures in certain of their indexes. S&P Dow Jones and FTSE Russell have announced changes to their eligibility criteria for inclusion of shares of public companies on certain indices, including the S&P 500, pursuant to which companies with multiple classes of shares of common stock are excluded. In addition, several stockholder advisory firms have announced their opposition to the use of multiple class structures. As a result, the multi-class structure of our common stock may cause stockholder advisory firms to publish negative commentary about our corporate governance practices or otherwise seek to cause us to change our capital structure. Any such exclusion from indices or any actions or publications by stockholder advisory firms critical of our corporate governance practices or capital structure could adversely affect the value and trading market of our Class A Common Stock.
Our co-founder and Chief Executive Officer controls a significant percentage of our voting power and will be able to exert significant control over the direction of our business.
Immediately following the Acquisition Merger Effective Date, Chaitanya Kanojia, our co-founder and Chief Executive Officer held shares of our Class A Common Stock that will entitle him to one vote per share and shares of our Class X Common Stock that will entitle him to 20 votes per share of our Class X Common Stock until a sunset date. Immediately following the Acquisition Merger Effective Date, he beneficially owned shares representing approximately 58.1% of the voting power of our common stock despite holding only approximately 13.8% of our total common stock.
Accordingly, for so long as Mr. Kanojia continues to control a significant percentage of the voting power of our common stock, he will be able to significantly influence the composition of our Board and management and the approval of actions requiring stockholder approval. The concentration of ownership could also deprive you of an opportunity to receive a premium for your shares of our Class A Common Stock as part of a sale of us and ultimately might affect the market price of our Class A Common Stock.
Because we will be a controlled company within the meaning of the NYSE rules, our stockholders may not have certain corporate governance protections that are available to stockholders of companies that are not controlled companies.
So long as more than 50% of the voting power for the election of our directors is held by an individual, a group or another company, we will qualify as a controlled company within the meaning of the NYSE corporate governance standards. Immediately following the completion of the Business Combination, Chaitanya Kanojia controlled more than 50% of the voting power of our common stock. As a result, we are a controlled company within the meaning of the NYSE corporate governance standards and are not subject to the requirements of the applicable exchange that would otherwise require us to have: (i) a majority of independent directors; (ii) a compensation committee comprised solely of independent directors; (iii) a nominating committee comprised solely of independent directors; and (iv) director nominees selected, or recommended for our Boards selection, by the
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nominating committee. To the extent we rely on any of these exemptions, holders of our Class A Common Stock will not have the same protections afforded to stockholders of companies that are subject to all of the corporate governance requirements of the NYSE. Mr. Kanojia may have his interest in us diluted due to future equity issuances or his own actions in selling shares of our common stock, in each case, which could result in a loss of the controlled company exemption under the NYSE listing rules. We would then be required to comply with those provisions of the NYSE listing requirements.
Delaware law and our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and bylaws contain certain provisions, including anti-takeover provisions that limit the ability of stockholders to take certain actions and could delay or discourage takeover attempts that stockholders may consider favorable.
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and bylaws, and the DGCL, contain provisions that could have the effect of rendering more difficult, delaying or preventing an acquisition that stockholders may consider favorable, including transactions in which stockholders might otherwise receive a premium for their shares. These provisions could also limit the price that investors might be willing to pay in the future for shares of our Class A Common Stock, and therefore depress the trading price. These provisions could also make it difficult for stockholders to take certain actions, including electing directors who are not nominated by the incumbent members of our Board or taking other corporate actions, including effecting changes in our management. Among other things, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and bylaws include provisions that:
authorize our Class X Common Stock that will entitle Chaitanya Kanojia, our Chief Executive Officer and founder, to 20 votes per share of such stock until the Sunset Date (as defined in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation);
provide or a classified board of directors with staggered, three-year terms;
permit our Board to issue shares of preferred stock, including blank check preferred stock and to determine the price and other terms of those shares, including preferences and voting rights, without stockholder approval, which could be used to significantly dilute the ownership of a hostile acquire;
prohibit cumulative voting in the election of directors, which limits the ability of minority stockholders to elect director candidates;
limit the liability of, and provide for the indemnification of, our directors and officers;
permit our Board to amend our bylaws, which may allow our Board to take additional actions to prevent an unsolicited takeover and inhibit the ability of an acquirer to amend our bylaws to facilitate an unsolicited takeover attempt;
require a supermajority vote of stockholders to amend certain provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and a supermajority vote of stockholders in order to amend our bylaws;
limit our ability to engage in business combinations with certain interested stockholders without certain approvals; and
mandate advance notice procedures with which stockholders must comply in order to nominate candidates to our Board or to propose matters to be acted upon at a stockholders meeting, which could preclude stockholders from bringing matters before annual or special meetings of stockholders and delay changes in our Board and also may discourage or deter a potential acquirer from conducting a solicitation of proxies to elect the acquirers own slate of directors or otherwise attempting to obtain control of our company.
These provisions, alone or together, could delay or prevent hostile takeovers and changes in control or changes in our Board or management.
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If analysts do not publish research about our business or if they publish inaccurate or unfavorable research, the price and trading volume of our securities could decline.
The trading market for our securities depends in part on the research and reports that analysts publish about our business. We do not have any control over these analysts, and the analysts who publish information about us may have relatively little experience with us or our industry, which could affect their ability to accurately forecast our results and could make it more likely that we fail to meet their estimates. If few or no securities or industry analysts cover us, the trading price for our securities would be negatively impacted. If one or more of the analysts who covers us downgrades our securities, publishes incorrect or unfavorable research about us, ceases coverage of us, or fails to publish reports on us regularly, demand for and visibility of our securities could decrease, which could cause the price or trading volumes of our securities to decline.
We may be subject to securities class action litigation, which may harm our business and operating results.
Companies that have experienced volatility in the market price of their stock have been subject to securities class action litigation. We may be the target of this type of litigation in the future. Securities litigation against us could result in substantial costs and damages and divert our managements attention from other business concerns, which could seriously harm our business, results of operations, financial condition or cash flows.
We may also be called on to defend ourselves against lawsuits relating to our business operations. Some of these claims may seek significant damages amounts. Due to the inherent uncertainties of litigation, the ultimate outcome of any such proceedings cannot be accurately predicted. A future unfavorable outcome in a legal proceeding could have an adverse impact on our business, financial condition and results of operations. In addition, current and future litigation, regardless of its merits, could result in substantial legal fees, settlements or judgment costs and a diversion of our managements attention and resources that are needed to successfully run our business.
We may redeem unexpired Public Warrants prior to their exercise at a time that is disadvantageous to you, thereby making such warrants worthless.
We have the ability to redeem outstanding warrants to purchase shares of our Class A Common Stock (the Public Warrants) at any time after they become exercisable and prior to their expiration, at a price of $0.01 per warrant; provided that the last sale price of our Class A Common Stock equals or exceeds $18.00 per share (as adjusted for share splits, share capitalizations, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) on each of 20 trading days within a 30 trading-day period ending on the third trading day prior to the date on which notice of such redemption is given. We will not redeem the Public Warrants unless an effective registration statement under the Securities Act covering our Class A Common Stock issuable upon exercise of the Public Warrants is effective and a current proxy statement/prospectus relating to those Class A Common Stock is available throughout the 30-day redemption period, except if the Public Warrants may be exercised on a cashless basis and such cashless exercise is exempt from registration under the Securities Act. If and when the Public Warrants become redeemable by us, we may exercise our redemption right even if we are unable to register or qualify the underlying securities for sale under all applicable state securities laws. Redemption of the outstanding Public Warrants could force holders thereof to (i) exercise Public Warrants and pay the exercise price therefor at a time when it may be disadvantageous for such holder to do so, (ii) sell Public Warrants at the then-current market price when such holder might otherwise wish to hold Public Warrants or (iii) accept the nominal redemption price which, at the time the outstanding Public Warrants are called for redemption, is likely to be substantially less than the market value of such Public Warrants. None of the private placement warrants will be redeemable by us so long as they are held by their initial purchasers or their permitted transferees.
In addition, we may redeem warrants after they become exercisable for a number of our Class A Common Stock determined based on the redemption date and the fair market value of our Class A Common Stock. Any such redemption may have similar consequences to a cash redemption described above. In addition, such redemption may occur at a time when the warrants are out-of-the-money, in which case holders thereof would lose any potential embedded value from a subsequent increase in the value of our Class A Common Stock had such warrants remained outstanding.
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The Public Warrants may have an adverse effect on the market price of our Class A Common Stock.
FirstMark issued 13,800,000 Public Warrants as part of the units offered in the IPO and, simultaneously with the closing of the IPO, FirstMark issued in a private placement an aggregate of 6,853,333 private placement warrants, each exercisable to purchase one share of our Class A Common Stock at $11.50 per share. Such warrants, when exercised, will increase the number of issued and outstanding shares of our Class A Common Stock, reduce the value of our existing Class A Common Stock, result in dilution to our stockholders and increase the number of shares of Class A Common Stock eligible for resale in the public market. Sales of substantial numbers of such shares in the public market or the fact that such warrants may be exercised could adversely affect the market price of our Class A Common Stock.
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