6.Property and Equipment and Intangible Assets

Property and Equipment

Property and equipment consisted of the following:


	Depreciable
	Life	As of December 31,
	(In Years)	2018		2017
		(In thousands)
Equipment leased to customers	2-5	$	1,980,808	$	2,264,653
EchoStar XV	15		277,658		277,658
Satellites acquired under capital lease agreements	10-15		499,819		499,819
Furniture, fixtures, equipment and other	2-10		1,820,883		1,680,492
Buildings and improvements	4-40		289,244		292,191
Land	-		13,186		14,057
Construction in progress	-		47,077		92,946
Total property and equipment			4,928,675		5,121,816
Accumulated depreciation			(3,550,726)		(3,489,655)
Property and equipment, net		$	1,377,949	$	1,632,161

Depreciation and amortization expense consisted of the following:


	For the Years Ended December 31,
	2018		2017		2016
	(In thousands)
Equipment leased to customers	$	437,342	$	539,434	$	643,114
Satellites		61,045		61,045		61,045
Buildings, furniture, fixtures, equipment and other		162,073		141,293		128,276
Total depreciation and amortization	$	660,460	$	741,772	$	832,435

Cost of sales and operating expense categories included in our accompanying Consolidated Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Income (Loss) do not include depreciation expense related to satellites or equipment leased to customers.

Satellites

Pay-TV Satellites. We currently utilize 11 satellites in geostationary orbit approximately 22,300 miles above the equator, one of which we own and depreciate over its estimated useful life. We currently utilize certain capacity on seven satellites that we lease from EchoStar and one satellite that we lease from DISH Network, which are accounted for as operating leases. We also lease two satellites from third parties, which are accounted for as capital leases and are depreciated over the shorter of the economic life or the term of the satellite agreement.

As of December 31, 2018, our pay-TV satellite fleet consisted of the following:


		Degree	Estimated Useful Life
	Launch	Orbital	(Years) / Lease
Satellites	Date	Location	Termination Date
Owned:
EchoStar XV	July 2010	61.5	15

Leased from DISH Network (1):
EchoStar XVIII	June 2016	61.5	Month to month

Leased from EchoStar (2):
EchoStar IX	August 2003	121	Month to month
EchoStar X (3)	February 2006	110	February 2021
EchoStar XI (3)	July 2008	110	September 2021
EchoStar XIV (3)	March 2010	119	February 2023
EchoStar XVI (4)	November 2012	61.5	January 2023
Nimiq 5	September 2009	72.7	September 2019
QuetzSat-1	September 2011	77	November 2021

Leased from Other Third Party:
Anik F3	April 2007	118.7	April 2022
Ciel II (5)	December 2008	129	January 2020

(1)

See Note 16 for further information on our Related Party Transactions with DISH Network.

(2)

See Note 16 for further information on our Related Party Transactions with EchoStar.

(3)

We generally have the option to renew each lease on a year-to-year basis through the end of the useful life of the respective satellite.

(4)

We have the option to renew this lease for an additional five-year period.

(5)

During the fourth quarter 2018, we renewed this lease.

Satellite Anomalies

Operation of our DISH TV services requires that we have adequate satellite transmission capacity for the programming that we offer. While we generally have had in-orbit satellite capacity sufficient to transmit our existing channels and some backup capacity to recover the transmission of certain critical programming, our backup capacity is limited.

In the event of a failure or loss of any of our owned or leased satellites, we may need to acquire or lease additional satellite capacity or relocate one of our other owned or leased satellites and use it as a replacement for the failed or lost satellite. Such a failure could result in a prolonged loss of critical programming or a significant delay in our plans to expand programming as necessary to remain competitive and thus may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

In the past, certain of our owned and leased satellites have experienced anomalies, some of which have had a significant adverse impact on their remaining useful life and/or commercial operation. There can be no assurance that future anomalies will not impact the remaining useful life and/or commercial operation of any of the owned and leased satellites in our fleet. See Note 2 “Impairment of Long-Lived Assets” for further information on evaluation of impairment. There can be no assurance that we can recover critical transmission capacity in the event one or more of our owned or leased in-orbit satellites were to fail. We generally do not carry commercial launch or in-orbit insurance on any of the satellites that we use, other than certain satellites leased from third parties, and therefore, we will bear the risk associated with any uninsured launch or in-orbit satellite failures.

Intangible Assets

As of December 31, 2018 and 2017, our identifiable intangibles subject to amortization consisted of the following:


	As of December 31,
	2018				2017
	Intangible		Accumulated		Intangible		Accumulated
	Assets		Amortization		Assets		Amortization
	(In thousands)
Technology-based	$	58,162	$	(51,204)	$	58,162	$	(47,746)
Trademarks		35,010		(27,106)		35,010		(23,426)
Contract-based		4,500		(4,500)		4,500		(4,500)
Customer relationships		23,632		(23,632)		23,632		(23,632)
Total	$	121,304	$	(106,442)	$	121,304	$	(99,304)

These identifiable intangibles are included in “Other noncurrent assets, net” on our Consolidated Balance Sheets. Amortization of these intangible assets is recorded on a straight-line basis over an average finite useful life primarily ranging from approximately five to 20 years. Amortization was $7 million, $7 million and $8 million for the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017 and 2016, respectively.

Estimated future amortization of our identifiable intangible assets as of December 31, 2018 is as follows (in thousands):


For the Years Ended December 31,
2019	$	5,793
2020		3,285
2021		835
2022		666
2023		654
Thereafter		3,629
Total	$	14,862

As of December 31, 2018 and 2017, we had goodwill of $6 million, which is included in “Other noncurrent assets, net” on our Consolidated Balance Sheets.

FCC Authorizations

As of December 31, 2018 and 2017, our FCC Authorizations consisted of the following:


	As of December 31,
	2018		2017
	(In thousands)
DBS Licenses	$	611,794	$	611,794
MVDDS Licenses		24,000		24,000
Capitalized Interest		1,552		481
Total	$	637,346	$	636,275