Item 2. Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results
of Operations
We present below Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations of Consolidated Communications Holdings, Inc. and its subsidiaries on a consolidated basis. The following discussion should be read in conjunction with our historical financial statements and related notes contained elsewhere in this Report.
"Consolidated Communications" or the "Company" refers to Consolidated Communications Holdings, Inc. alone or with its wholly owned subsidiaries, as the context requires. When this report uses the words "we," "our," or "us," they refer to the Company and its subsidiaries. Forward-Looking Statements
Any statements contained in this Report that are not statements of historical fact, including statements about our beliefs and expectations, are forward-looking statements and should be evaluated as such. The words "anticipates", "believes", "expects", "intends", "plans", "estimates", "targets", "projects", "should", "may", "will" and similar words and expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are contained throughout this Report, including, but not limited to, statements found in this Part I - Item 2 - "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations", Part I - Item 3 - "Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk" and Part II - Item 1 - "Legal Proceedings". Such forward-looking statements reflect, among other things, our current expectations, plans, strategies, and anticipated financial results and involve a number of known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and factors that may cause our actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements, including but not limited to:
• various risks to stockholders of not receiving dividends and risks to our ability to pursue growth opportunities if we continue to pay dividends according to our current dividend policy;

• various risks to the price and volatility of our common stock;

• our substantial amount of debt and our ability to incur additional debt in the future;

• our need for a significant amount of cash to service and repay our debt and to pay dividends on our common stock;

• restrictions contained in our debt agreements that limit the discretion of our management in operating our business;

• the ability to refinance our existing debt as necessary;

• rapid development and introduction of new technologies and intense competition in the telecommunications industry;

• risks associated with our possible pursuit of future acquisitions;

• the integration of the Company and North Pittsburgh;

• the length and severity of weakened economic conditions in our service areas in Illinois, Texas and Pennsylvania;

• adverse changes in the value of assets or obligations associated with our employee benefit plans;

• system failures;

• loss of large customers or government contracts;

• risks associated with the rights-of-way for our network;

• disruptions in our relationship with third party vendors;

• loss of key management personnel and the inability to attract and retain highly qualified management and personnel in the future;

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• changes in the extensive governmental legislation and regulations governing telecommunications providers, the provision of telecommunications services and access charges and subsidies, which are a material part of our revenues;

• telecommunications carriers disputing and/or avoiding their obligations to pay network access charges for use of our network;

• high costs of regulatory compliance;

• the competitive impact of legislation and regulatory changes in the telecommunications industry;

• liability and compliance costs regarding environmental regulations; and

• the additional risk factors outlined in Part II - Other Information -