Property, Plant and Equipment

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2019

Property, Plant and Equipment [Abstract]

Property, Plant and Equipment

Note 10 Property, Plant and Equipment

TDS’ Property, plant and equipment in service and under construction, and related accumulated depreciation and amortization, as of December 31, 2019 and 2018, were as follows:

December 31,	Useful Lives (Years)	2019			2018
(Dollars in millions)
Land	N/A	$	57		$	55
Buildings	5-40	527			523
Leasehold and land improvements	1-30	1,314			1,245
Cable and wire	15-35	1,996			1,884
Network and switching equipment	3-13	2,507			2,423
Cell site equipment	7-25	3,708			3,460
Office furniture and equipment	3-10	387			378
Other operating assets and equipment	3-12	174			193
System development	1-7	1,604			1,486
Work in process	N/A	590			427
Total property, plant and equipment, gross		12,864			12,074
Accumulated depreciation and amortization		(9,337		)	(8,728		)
Total property, plant and equipment, net		$	3,527		$	3,346

Depreciation and amortization expense totaled $890 million, $839 million and $817 million in 2019, 2018 and 2017, respectively. In 2019, 2018 and 2017, (Gain) loss on asset disposals, net included charges of $12 million, $9 million and $21 million, respectively, related to disposals of assets, trade-ins of older assets for replacement assets and other retirements of assets from service in the normal course of business.