Leases

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2023

Leases [Abstract]

Leases [Text Block]

Leases

Lessor Tenant Leases

See note 3 for further information regarding the contractual amounts owed to the Company pursuant to tenant contracts in effect as of December 31, 2023 and other information.

Lessee Operating Leases

The components of the Company's operating lease expense are as follows:

	Years Ended December 31,
	2023		2022		2021
Lease cost:
Operating lease expense(a)	$	708	$	660	$	646
Variable lease expense(b)	205		175		164
Total lease expense(c)	$	913	$	835	$	810

(a)Represents the Company's operating lease expense related to its ROU assets for the years ended December 31, 2023, 2022 and 2021.

(b)Represents the Company's expense related to contingent payments for operating leases (such as payments based on revenues derived from the communications infrastructure located on the leased asset) for the years ended December 31, 2023, 2022 and 2021. Such contingencies are recognized as expense in the period they are resolved.

(c)Excludes those direct operating expenses accounted for pursuant to accounting guidance outside the scope of ASC 842.

Lessee Finance Leases

The vast majority of the Company's finance leases are related to the towers subject to prepaid master lease agreements with AT&T and T-Mobile (including those which T-Mobile assumed in its merger with Sprint), and are recorded as "Property and equipment, net" on the consolidated balance sheet. See note 4 for further discussion of the Company's prepaid master lease agreements. Finance leases and associated leasehold improvements related to gross property and equipment and accumulated depreciation were $4.3 billion and $2.9 billion, respectively, as of December 31, 2023. Finance leases and associated leasehold improvements related to gross property and equipment and accumulated depreciation were $4.3 billion and $2.7 billion, respectively, as of December 31, 2022. For each of the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, the Company recorded $182 million to "Depreciation, amortization and accretion" related to finance leases, and for 2021 recorded $200 million.

Other Lessee Information

As of December 31, 2023, the Company's weighted-average remaining lease term and weighted-average discount rate for operating leases were 15 years and 4.2%, respectively.

The following table is a summary of the Company's maturities of operating lease liabilities as of December 31, 2023:

	Years Ending December 31,										Thereafter		Total undiscounted lease payments		Less: Imputed interest		Total operating lease liabilities
	2024		2025		2026		2027		2028
Operating leases(a)	$	570	$	557	$	548	$	542	$	540	$	5,472	$	8,229	$	(2,336)	$	5,893

(a)Excludes the Company's contingent payments for operating leases (such as payments based on revenues derived from the communications infrastructure located on the leased asset) as such arrangements are excluded from the Company's operating lease liability. Such contingencies are recognized as expense in the period they are resolved.