Property, Plant and Equipment

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2014

Property, Plant and Equipment [Abstract]

Net property, plant and equipment is composed of the following:



	Depreciable Lives	As of December 31,
	Depreciable Lives	2014			2013
		(Dollars in millions)
Land	n/a	$	575		585
Fiber, conduit and other outside plant ⁽¹⁾	15-45	15,151			14,187
Central office and other network electronics ⁽²⁾	3-10	13,248			12,178
Support assets ⁽³⁾	3-30	6,578			6,420
Construction in progress ⁽⁴⁾	n/a	1,166			937
Gross property, plant and equipment		36,718			34,307
Accumulated depreciation		(18,285		)	(15,661	)
Net property, plant and equipment		$	18,433		18,646

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⁽¹⁾	Fiber, conduit and other outside plant consists of fiber and metallic cable, conduit, poles and other supporting structures.


⁽²⁾	Central office and other network electronics consists of circuit and packet switches, routers, transmission electronics and electronics providing service to customers.


⁽³⁾	Support assets consist of buildings, data centers, computers and other administrative and support equipment.


⁽⁴⁾	Construction in progress includes inventory held for construction and property of the aforementioned categories that has not been placed in service as it is still under construction.

We recorded depreciation expense of $2.958 billion, $2.952 billion and $3.070 billion for the years ended December 31, 2014, 2013 and 2012, respectively.

In 2014, we recorded an impairment charge of $17 million in connection with a sale-leaseback transaction involving an office building which closed in the fourth quarter of 2014. This impairment charge is included in selling, general and administrative expense in our consolidated statements of operations for the year ended December 31, 2014.

In the second quarter of 2014, we entered into a separate definitive agreement to sell an office building for $12 million, which closed during the fourth quarter of 2014.

Asset Retirement Obligations

At December 31, 2014, our asset retirement obligations balance was primarily related to estimated future costs of removing equipment from leased properties and estimated future costs of properly disposing of asbestos and other hazardous materials upon remodeling or demolishing buildings. Asset retirement obligations are included in other long-term liabilities on our consolidated balance sheets.

The following table provides asset retirement obligation activity:



	Years Ended December 31,
	2014			2013		2012
	(Dollars in millions)
Balance at beginning of year	$	106		106		109
Accretion expense	7			7		7
Liabilities incurred	6			—		1
Liabilities settled and other	(2		)	(4	)	(1	)
Change in estimate	(10		)	(3	)	(10	)
Balance at end of year	$	107		106		106

During 2014, 2013 and 2012 we revised our estimates for the cost of removal of network equipment, asbestos remediation, and other obligations by $10 million, $3 million and $10 million, respectively. These revisions resulted in a reduction of the asset retirement obligation and offsetting reduction to gross property, plant and equipment and revisions to assets specifically identified are recorded as a reduction to accretion expense.

- Definition

The entire disclosure for long-lived, physical assets used in the normal conduct of business and not intended for resale. Includes, but is not limited to, accounting policies and methodology, roll forwards, depreciation, depletion and amortization expense, including composite depreciation, accumulated depreciation, depletion and amortization expense, useful lives and method used, income statement disclosures, assets held for sale and public utility disclosures.

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