Property, Plant And Equipment

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2013

Property, Plant And Equipment [Abstract]

NOTE 8: PROPERTY, PLANT AND EQUIPMENT

Property, plant and equipment, at cost, consisted of the following as of December 31, 2013 and 2012:


		As of December 31,
($ in thousands)		2013		2012

Land, buildings and other support equipment	$	10,777	$	10,647
Network communications equipment		31,289		35,183
Telephone and online plant		34,307		33,935
Plant in service		76,373		79,765
Plant under construction		24		34
		76,397		79,799
Less: Accumulated depreciation		62,560		63,353
Property, plant and equipment, net	$	13,837	$	16,446

Depreciation expense is based on the straight-line method. Depreciation expense for the years ended December 31, 2013, 2012, and 2011 was $2.5 million, $4.2 million, and $4.8 million, respectively.

In 2012, the Company determined that there was triggering event in its Telephone segment due to the continued decline in access lines resulting in declining revenue. Accordingly, the Company performed an undiscounted cash flow analysis on its Telephone assets. As the Company did not pass the recoverability test, it proceeded to perform a discounted cash flow to measure the assets fair value. The fair value calculations for the Telephone segment assumed long-term revenue declines ranging from approximately 3 to 7 percent and weighted average cost of capital of approximately 10 percent. The Company's 2012 impairment test for long-lived assets indicated that the carrying value of its Telephone segment exceeded its fair value.

As a result of the impairment testing, the Company recorded, in operating expenses, a long-lived asset impairment charges of $8.9 million in the Telephone segment in the year ended December 31, 2012. The Company did not record any long-lived impairment charges for the year ended December 31, 2013.

- Definition

The entire disclosure for long-lived, physical assets that are used in the normal conduct of business to produce goods and services and not intended for resale. Examples include land, buildings, machinery and equipment, and other types of furniture and equipment including, but not limited to, office equipment, furniture and fixtures, and computer equipment and software. This disclosure may include property plant and equipment accounting policies and methodology, a schedule of property, plant and equipment gross, additions, deletions, transfers and other changes, depreciation, depletion and amortization expense, net, accumulated depreciation, depletion and amortization expense and useful lives, income statement disclosures, assets held for sale and public utility disclosures.

+ References+ Details