Fair Value of Financial Instruments

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2021

Our financial instruments consist of cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash, accounts receivable, accounts payable, long-term debt, excluding finance lease and other obligations, interest rate swap contracts and certain investments. Due primarily to their short-term nature, the carrying amounts of our cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash, accounts receivable and accounts payable approximate their fair values.

Fair value is defined as the price that would be received to sell an asset or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between independent and knowledgeable parties who are willing and able to transact for an asset or liability at the measurement date. We use valuation techniques that maximize the use of observable inputs and minimize the use of unobservable inputs when determining fair value and then we rank the estimated values based on the reliability of the inputs used following the fair value hierarchy set forth by the FASB.

We determined the fair values of our long-term debt, including the current portion, based on quoted market prices where available or, if not available, based on inputs other than quoted market prices in active markets that are either directly or indirectly observable such as discounted future cash flows using current market interest rates.

The three input levels in the hierarchy of fair value measurements are defined by the FASB generally as follows:


Input Level						Description of Input
Level 1						Observable inputs such as quoted market prices in active markets.
Level 2						Inputs other than quoted prices in active markets that are either directly or indirectly observable.
Level 3						Unobservable inputs in which little or no market data exists.

The following table presents the carrying amounts and estimated fair values of our financial liabilities as of December 31, 2021:


		As of December 31, 2021			As of December 31, 2020
	Input Level	Carrying Amount		Fair Value	Carrying Amount	Fair Value
		(Dollars in millions)
Long-term debt, excluding finance lease and other obligations(1)	2	$	28,635	29,221	31,542	33,217
Interest rate swap contracts (see Note 15)	2	25		25	107	107

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(1)As of December 31, 2021, these amounts exclude $1.4 billion of carrying amount and $1.6 billion of fair value of debt that has been reclassified as held for sale. See Note 2—Planned Divestiture of the Latin American and ILEC Businesses for more information.

Investment Held at Net Asset Value

We hold an investment in a limited partnership that functions as holding company for a portion of the colocation and data center business that we divested in 2017. The limited partnership solely holds investments in those entities and has sole discretion as to the amount and timing of distributions of the underlying assets. Our investment did not have a readily determinable fair value as of December 31, 2020. As such, our investment in the limited partnership was previously accounted for under the cost method of accounting. As of December 31, 2021, the underlying investments held by the limited partnership began trading in active markets and as such, we elected to account for our investment in the limited partnership using net asset value ("NAV") as a practical expedient. As of December 31, 2021 the limited partnership is subject to a lock-up agreement that restricts the sale of certain underlying assets. The restriction is set to terminate in 2022.


	As of December 31, 2021		As of December 31, 2020
	NAV		Cost
	(Dollars in millions)
Investment in limited partnership(1)	$	299	161

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(1)For the year ended December 31, 2021, we recognized $138 million of gain on investment, reflected in other expense, net in our consolidated statement of operations for the year ended December 31, 2021.

- Definition

The entire disclosure for the fair value of financial instruments (as defined), including financial assets and financial liabilities (collectively, as defined), and the measurements of those instruments as well as disclosures related to the fair value of non-financial assets and liabilities. Such disclosures about the financial instruments, assets, and liabilities would include: (1) the fair value of the required items together with their carrying amounts (as appropriate); (2) for items for which it is not practicable to estimate fair value, disclosure would include: (a) information pertinent to estimating fair value (including, carrying amount, effective interest rate, and maturity, and (b) the reasons why it is not practicable to estimate fair value; (3) significant concentrations of credit risk including: (a) information about the activity, region, or economic characteristics identifying a concentration, (b) the maximum amount of loss the entity is exposed to based on the gross fair value of the related item, (c) policy for requiring collateral or other security and information as to accessing such collateral or security, and (d) the nature and brief description of such collateral or security; (4) quantitative information about market risks and how such risks are managed; (5) for items measured on both a recurring and nonrecurring basis information regarding the inputs used to develop the fair value measurement; and (6) for items presented in the financial statement for which fair value measurement is elected: (a) information necessary to understand the reasons for the election, (b) discussion of the effect of fair value changes on earnings, (c) a description of [similar groups] items for which the election is made and the relation thereof to the balance sheet, the aggregate carrying value of items included in the balance sheet that are not eligible for the election; (7) all other required (as defined) and desired information.

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