(13) Commitments and Contingencies

Guaranteed Service Levels

Certain customers have guaranteed levels of service with varying terms. In the event the Company is unable to provide the minimum service levels, it may incur penalties or issue credits to customers.

Charter and Liberty Broadband - Delaware Litigation

In August 2015, a purported stockholder of Charter, Matthew Sciabacucchi, filed a lawsuit in the Delaware Court of Chancery, on behalf of a putative class of Charter stockholders, challenging the transactions involving Charter, Time Warner Cable Inc., A/N, and Liberty Broadband announced by Charter on May 26, 2015. The lawsuit, which named as defendants Liberty Broadband, Charter and the board of directors of Charter, alleged that the transactions resulted from breaches of fiduciary duty by Charter’s directors and that Liberty Broadband improperly benefited from the challenged transactions at the expense of other Charter stockholders. On January 12, 2023, the parties reached a tentative agreement to settle the lawsuit. The court approved the settlement at a fairness hearing on June 22, 2023 and Liberty Broadband paid approximately $38 million to Charter as a result

of the settlement, which had been accrued as a current liability in the consolidated balance sheet and recorded as a litigation settlement expense within operating income in the fourth quarter of 2022.

General Litigation

The Company has contingent liabilities related to legal and tax proceedings and other matters arising in the ordinary course of business. Although it is reasonably possible the Company may incur losses upon conclusion of such matters, an estimate of any loss or range of loss cannot be made. In the opinion of management, it is expected that amounts, if any, which may be required to satisfy such contingencies will not be material in relation to the accompanying consolidated financial statements.

RHC Program

GCI Holdings receives support from various USF programs including the RHC Program. The USF programs are subject to change by regulatory actions taken by the FCC, interpretations of or compliance with USF program rules, or legislative actions. The USF programs have also been subject to legal challenge, which could disrupt or eliminate the support GCI Holdings receives. Changes to any of the USF programs that GCI Holdings participates in could result in a material decrease in revenue and accounts receivable, which could have an adverse effect on GCI Holdings' business and the Company's financial position, results of operations or liquidity. The following paragraphs describe certain separate matters related to the RHC Program that impact or could impact the revenue earned and receivables recognized by the Company. As of December 31, 2024, the Company had net accounts receivable from the RHC Program in the amount of approximately $69 million, which is included within Trade and other receivables in the consolidated balance sheets.

The rates that GCI and other carriers can charge for service provided under the RHC Telecommunications Program are highly regulated by the FCC. FCC rules provide that a telecommunications carrier can only charge a rural rate that is the average of rates actually being charged to commercial customers, other than health care providers, for identical or similar services in the rural area where the health care provider is located. If that is not available, the rural rate must be the average of tariffed or other publicly available rates charged in that area over the same distance by other carriers. If there is no rate available using rates actually being charged by GCI or other carriers, then, through the end of Funding Year 2025, which ends in June 2026, GCI may use a previously approved rural rate. If none of the preceding options are available, then the rate must be determined by a cost study submitted to the FCC or, for jurisdictionally intrastate services, to the state public utility commission. The RHC Telecommunications Program funds the difference between the rural rate and the urban rate, which is the amount that GCI must collect from the health care provider. The FCC has an ongoing rulemaking proceeding addressing the RHC rules, how subsidies are determined and related processes. GCI cannot predict which changes the FCC will adopt, and whether those changes will benefit or adversely affect GCI.

RHC Program Funding Cap. The RHC Program has a funding cap for each individual funding year that is annually adjusted for inflation, and which the FCC can increase by carrying forward unused funds from prior funding years. In recent years, including the current year, this funding cap has not limited the amount of funding received by participants; however, management continues to monitor the funding cap and its potential impact on funding in future years.

Enforcement Bureau and Related Inquiries. On March 23, 2018, GCI Holdings received a letter of inquiry and request for information from the Enforcement Bureau of the FCC relating to the period beginning January 1, 2015 and including all future periods. This included inquiry into the rates charged by GCI Holdings and other aspects related to the Enforcement Bureau’s review of GCI Holdings’ compliance with program rules, which are discussed separately below. The ongoing uncertainty in program funding, as well as the uncertainty associated with the rate review, could have an adverse effect on its business, financial position, results of operations or liquidity.

In the fourth quarter of 2019, GCI Holdings became aware of potential RHC Program compliance issues related to certain of GCI Holdings’ currently active and expired contracts with certain of its RHC customers. The Company and its external experts performed significant and extensive procedures to determine whether GCI Holdings’ currently active and expired

contracts with its RHC customers would be deemed to be in compliance with the RHC Program rules. GCI Holdings notified the FCC of the potential compliance issues in the fourth quarter of 2019.

On May 28, 2020, GCI Holdings received a second letter of inquiry from the Enforcement Bureau in the same matter noted above. This second letter, which was in response to a voluntary disclosure made by GCI Holdings to the FCC, extended the scope of the original inquiry to also include various questions regarding compliance with the records retention requirements related to the (i) original inquiry and (ii) RHC Program.

On December 17, 2020, GCI Holdings received a Subpoena Duces Tecum from the FCC’s Office of the Inspector General requiring production of documents from January 1, 2009 to the present related to a single RHC customer and related contracts, information regarding GCI Holdings’ determination of rural rates for a single customer, and to provide information regarding persons with knowledge of pricing practices generally.

On April 21, 2021, representatives of the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) informed GCI Holdings that a qui tam action had been filed in the Western District of Washington arising from the subject matter under review by the Enforcement Bureau. The DOJ was investigating whether GCI Holdings submitted false claims and/or statements in connection with GCI’s participation in the FCC’s RHC Program. On July 14, 2021, the DOJ issued a Civil Investigative Demand with regard to the qui tam action.

The FCC’s Enforcement Bureau and GCI Holdings held discussions regarding GCI Holdings potential RHC Program compliance issues related to certain of its contracts with its RHC customers for which GCI Holdings had previously recognized an estimated liability for a probable loss of approximately $12 million in 2019 for contracts that were deemed probable of not complying with the RHC Program rules. During the year ended December 31, 2022, GCI Holdings recorded an additional estimated settlement expense of $15 million relating to a settlement offer made by GCI Holdings resulting in a total estimated liability of $27 million.

The DOJ and GCI Holdings held discussions regarding the qui tam action whereby the DOJ clarified that its investigation relates to the years from 2010 through 2019 and alleged that GCI Holdings had submitted false claims under the RHC Program during this time period. During the year ended December 31, 2022, GCI Holdings recorded a $14 million estimated settlement expense to reflect discussions and settlement offers that GCI Holdings made to the DOJ.

Separately, during the third quarter of 2022, GCI Holdings became aware of possible RHC Program compliance issues relating to potential conflicts of interest identified in the historical competitive bidding process with respect to certain of its contracts with its RHC customers. GCI Holdings notified the FCC’s Enforcement Bureau of the potential compliance issues; however, the Company is unable to assess the ultimate outcome of the potential compliance issues and is unable to reasonably estimate any range of loss or possible loss.

On May 10, 2023, GCI entered into a final settlement agreement with both the FCC and the DOJ to resolve all Enforcement Bureau and Related Inquiries discussed above except for the matter that was separately identified during the third quarter of 2022, which continues to remain outstanding. The settlement with the FCC and the DOJ resulted in a total cash payment of $41 million of which $27 million was paid to the FCC and $14 million was paid to the DOJ in 2023, which had been previously recorded as liabilities.

Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements

Liberty Broadband did not have any off-balance sheet arrangements, except for those matters discussed above, that have, or are reasonably likely to have, a current or future effect on the Company’s financial condition, results of operations, liquidity, capital expenditures or capital resources.