Goodwill and Other Intangibles

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2011

Goodwill and Other Intangibles [Abstract]

(6)	Goodwill and Other Intangibles:

The components of goodwill by the reporting units in effect at December 31, 2011 are as follows:

($ in thousands)	2011

East	$	1,245,414
Southeast		1,113,931
West		1,072,499
Central		1,006,132
National		1,176,139
Midwest		723,604
Total Goodwill	$	6,337,719

The components of other intangibles at December 31, 2011 and 2010 are as follows:

($ in thousands)	2011			2010

Other Intangibles:
Customer base	$	2,697,413		$	2,702,409
Software licenses		105,019			105,019
Trade name and license		135,285			135,285
Other intangibles		2,937,717			2,942,713
Less: Accumulated amortization		(973,212	)		(451,518	)
Total other intangibles, net	$	1,964,505		$	2,491,195

Amortization expense was $521.7 million, $294.1 million and $114.2 million for the years ended December 31, 2011, 2010 and 2009, respectively. Amortization expense for 2011 and 2010 included $465.4 million and $237.8 million, respectively, for intangible assets (primarily customer base) that were acquired in the Transaction based on fair value of $2.5 billion and a useful life of nine years for the residential customer list and 12 years for the business customer list, amortized on an accelerated method. Amortization expense for 2011, 2010 and 2009 included $56.3 million in each year for intangible assets (customer base and trade name) that were acquired in the acquisitions of Commonwealth Telephone Enterprises, Inc. (Commonwealth), Global Valley Networks, Inc. and GVN Services (together GVN). Amortization expense for 2009 also included $57.9 million for amortization associated with certain Frontier legacy properties, which were fully amortized in June 2009. As of December 31, 2011, intangible assets includes a gross amount of $263.5 million that was allocated to the customer base (five year life) and $10.3 million to the trade name (five year life) acquired in the Commonwealth acquisition, and $7.0 million to the customer base (five year life) and $0.3 million to the trade name (five year life) acquired in the Global Valley acquisition. Amortization expense, based on our current estimate of useful lives, is estimated to be approximately $420 million in 2012, $330 million in 2013, $285 million in 2014, $240 million in 2015 and $195 million in 2016.

- Definition

The entire disclosure for the aggregate amount of goodwill and a description of intangible assets, which may include (a) for amortizable intangible assets (also referred to as finite-lived intangible assets), the carrying amount, the amount of any significant residual value, and the weighted-average amortization period, (b) for intangible assets not subject to amortization (also referred to as indefinite-lived intangible assets), the carrying amount, and (c) the amount of research and development assets acquired and written off in the period, including the line item in the income statement in which the amounts written off are aggregated, if not readily apparent from the income statement. Also discloses (a) for amortizable intangibles assets in total and by major class, the gross carrying amount and accumulated amortization, the total amortization expense for the period, and the estimated aggregate amortization expense for each of the five succeeding fiscal years, (b) for intangible assets not subject to amortization the carrying amount in total and by major class, and (c) for goodwill, in total and for each reportable segment, the changes in the carrying amount of goodwill during the period (including the aggregate amount of goodwill acquired, the aggregate amount of impairment losses recognized, and the amount of goodwill included in the gain (loss) on disposal of a reporting unit). If any part of goodwill has not been allocated to a reportable segment, discloses the unallocated amount and the reasons for not allocating. For each impairment loss recognized related to an intangible asset (excluding goodwill), discloses: (a) a description of the impaired intangible asset and the facts and circumstances leading to the impairment, (b) the amount of the impairment loss and the method for determining fair value, (c) the caption in the income statement or the statement of activities in which the impairment loss is aggregated, and (d) the segment in which the impaired intangible asset is reported. For each goodwill impairment loss recognized, discloses: (a) a description of the facts and circumstances leading to the impairment, (b) the amount of the impairment loss and the method of determining the fair value of the associated reporting unit, and (c) if a recognized impairment loss is an estimate not finalized and the reasons why the estimate is not final. May also disclose the nature and amount of any significant adjustments made to a previous estimate of an impairment loss.

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