Installment Receivables

12 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2017

Certain subscribers have the option to pay for their devices in installments generally up to a 24-month period. Beginning in October 2015, Sprint sold and derecognized all eligible installment receivables, which were accounted for as sales. As a result of amendment to the Receivable Facility in February 2017, Sprint gained effective control over the sold receivables and all subsequent sales are treated as financings. Accordingly, the installment receivables are recognized in the consolidated balance sheets (see Note 3. Funding Sources). Short-term installment receivables are recorded in "Accounts and notes receivable, net" and long-term installment receivables are recorded in "Other assets" in the consolidated balance sheets.

The following table summarizes the installment receivables:



	March 31, 2017
	(in millions)
Installment receivables, gross	$	2,270
Deferred interest	(207		)
Installment receivables, net of deferred interest	2,063
Allowance for credit losses	(299		)
Installment receivables, net	$	1,764

Classified on the consolidated balance sheets as:
Accounts and notes receivable, net	$	1,195
Other assets	569
Installment receivables, net	$	1,764

The balance and aging of installment receivables on a gross basis by credit category were as follows:



	March 31, 2017
	Prime		Subprime		Total
	(in millions)
Unbilled	$	1,501	$	619	$	2,120
Billed - current	74		36		110
Billed - past due	20		20		40
Installment receivables, gross	$	1,595	$	675	$	2,270

Activity in the deferred interest and allowance for credit losses for the installment receivables was as follows:



	Year Ended March 31,
	2017			2016
	(in millions)
Deferred interest and allowance for credit losses, beginning of period	$	—		$	329
Bad debt expense	61			93
Write-offs, net of recoveries	(28		)	(105		)
Change in deferred interest on short-term and long-term installment receivables	8			(43		)
Recognition (derecognition) of deferred interest and allowance for credit losses	465			(274		)
Deferred interest and allowance for credit losses, end of period	$	506		$	—

Total bad debt expense for the years ended March 31, 2017, 2016, and 2015, which includes amounts shown in the above table as well as bad debt expense on sold installment receivables, was $322 million, $147 million, and $398 million, respectively.