SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES (Policies)

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2022

SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES

Business and Basis of Accounting

Business and Basis of Accounting

Consolidated Communications Holdings, Inc. (the “Company,” “we,” “our” or “us”) is a holding company with operating subsidiaries (collectively “Consolidated”) that provide communication solutions to consumer, commercial and carrier customers across a 22-state service area.

Leveraging our advanced fiber network spanning approximately 57,500 fiber route miles, we offer residential high-speed Internet, video, phone and home security services as well as a comprehensive business product suite including: data and Internet solutions, voice, data center services, security services, managed and IT services, and an expanded suite of cloud services.  

In the opinion of management, the accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated balance sheets and related condensed consolidated statements of operations, comprehensive income (loss), mezzanine equity and shareholders’ equity and cash flows include all adjustments, consisting only of normal recurring items, necessary for their fair presentation in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States (“US GAAP” or “GAAP”) for interim financial information and pursuant to the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”).  Certain information and footnote disclosures normally included in annual financial statements prepared in accordance with US GAAP have been condensed or omitted pursuant to such SEC rules and regulations and accounting principles applicable for interim periods.  Events subsequent to the balance sheet date have been evaluated for inclusion in the accompanying condensed consolidated financial statements through the date of issuance.  Management believes that the disclosures made are adequate to make the information presented not misleading.  Interim results are not necessarily indicative of results for a full year.  The information presented in this Form 10-Q should be read in conjunction with Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations and the consolidated financial statements and the accompanying notes to the financial statements (“Notes”) thereto included in our 2021 Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC.

Discontinued Operations

Discontinued Operations – Sale of Investment in Wireless Partnerships

On September 13, 2022, we completed the sale of our five limited wireless partnership interests to Cellco Partnership (“Cellco”) for an aggregate purchase price of $490.0 million. Cellco is the general partner for each of the five wireless partnerships and is an indirect, wholly-owned subsidiary of Verizon Communications, Inc. In accordance with Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) 205-20, Presentation of Financial Statements – Discontinued Operations, the sale of the limited partnership interests met the criteria for reporting as discontinued operations. As a result, the financial results of the limited partnership interests have been classified as discontinued operations in our consolidated financial statements for all periods presented. Refer to Note 6 for additional information on the transaction and the partnership interests.

Searchlight Investment

Searchlight Investment

On December 7, 2021, we closed on the final stage of the investment agreement (the “Investment Agreement”) entered into on September 13, 2020 with an affiliate of Searchlight Capital Partners, L.P. (“Searchlight”).  In connection with the Investment Agreement, affiliates of Searchlight have invested an aggregate of $425.0 million in the Company and hold a combination of Series A perpetual preferred stock and approximately 34% of the Company’s outstanding common stock as of September 30, 2022. For a more complete discussion of the transaction, refer to Note 4. With the strategic investment from Searchlight, we intend to enhance our fiber infrastructure and accelerate the investment in our network, which will include the upgrade over five years of approximately 1.6 million passings across select service areas to enable multi-Gig

capable services to these homes and small businesses. Our fiber build plan includes the upgrade of approximately 400,000 homes and small businesses in 2022.

Accounts Receivable and Allowance for Credit Losses

Accounts Receivable and Allowance for Credit Losses

Accounts receivable (“AR”) consists primarily of amounts due to the Company from normal business activities.  We maintain an allowance for credit losses (“ACL”) based on our historical loss experience, current conditions and forecasted changes including but not limited to changes related to the economy, our industry and business.  Uncollectible accounts are written-off (removed from AR and charged against the ACL) when internal collection efforts have been unsuccessful.  Subsequently, if payment is received from the customer, the recovery is credited to the ACL.

The following table summarizes the activity in ACL for the nine months ended September 30, 2022 and 2021:

	Nine Months Ended
	September 30,
(In thousands)	2022		2021
Balance at beginning of year	$	9,961	$	9,136
Provision charged to expense		6,465		6,075
Write-offs, less recoveries		(5,336)		(4,633)
Balance at end of year	$	11,090	$	10,578

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

Effective January 1, 2022, we adopted the Accounting Standards Update No. 2021-10 (“ASU 2021-10”), Disclosures by Business Entities about Government Assistance. ASU 2021-10 requires disclosure by business entities of the types of government assistance received, the method of accounting for such assistance and the effects of the assistance on its financial statements. The adoption of this guidance did not have a material impact on our related disclosures.

In March 2020, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued ASU No. 2020-04 (“ASU 2020-04”), Facilitation of the Effects of Reference Rate Reform on Financial Reporting. ASU 2020-04 provides optional expedients and exceptions for applying GAAP to contracts, hedging relationships, and other transactions affected by reference rate reform if certain criteria are met. In January 2021, the FASB issued ASU No. 2021-01 (“ASU 2021-01”), Reference Rate Reform (Topic 848): Scope. ASU 2021-01 clarifies that certain optional expedients and exceptions in Topic 848 for contract modifications and hedge accounting apply to derivatives that are affected by the discounting transition. ASU 2020-04 and ASU 2021-01 are both elective and are effective upon issuance through December 31, 2022. We are currently evaluating the impact these updates will have on our condensed consolidated financial statements and related disclosures.

Reclassifications

Reclassifications

Certain amounts in our 2021 condensed consolidated financial statements have been reclassified to conform to the current year presentation primarily related to the presentation of the financial results for our wireless partnership interests as discontinued operations.