Long-Term Debt (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2011

Long-Term Debt [Abstract]

Long-Term Debt

The activity in our long-term debt from December 31, 2010 to December 31, 2011 is summarized as follows:

				Year Ended
				December 31, 2011								Interest
												Rate* at
	December 31,						New		December 31,			December 31,
($ in thousands)	2010			Payments			Borrowings		2011			2011
Rural Utilities Service
Loan Contracts	$	11,214		$	(1,017	)	$	-	$	10,197			6.15%
Senior Unsecured Debt		8,302,151			(551,377	)		575,000		8,325,774			7.93%
Industrial Development
Revenue Bonds		13,550			-			-		13,550			6.33%
TOTAL LONG-TERM
DEBT	$	8,326,915		$	(552,394	)	$	575,000	$	8,349,521			7.92%
Less: Debt Discount		(63,299	)							(49,664	)
Less: Current Portion		(280,002	)							(94,016	)
	$	7,983,614							$	8,205,841

* Interest rate includes amortization of debt issuance costs and debt premiums or discounts. The interest rates at December 31, 2011 represent a weighted average of multiple issuances.

Senior Unsecured Debt

Additional information regarding our Senior Unsecured Debt at December 31, 2011 and 2010 is as follows:

	2011			2010
		Principal	Interest		Principal	Interest
($ in thousands)		Outstanding	Rate		Outstanding	Rate
Senior Notes:
Due 5/15/2011	$	-	-	$	76,089	9.250%
Due 10/24/2011		-	-		200,000	6.270%
Due 12/31/2012		-	-		144,000	1.688% (Variable)
Due 1/15/2013		580,724	6.250%		580,724	6.250%
Due 12/31/2013		-	-		131,288	2.063% (Variable)
Due 5/1/2014		600,000	8.250%		600,000	8.250%
Due 3/15/2015		300,000	6.625%		300,000	6.625%
Due 4/15/2015		500,000	7.875%		500,000	7.875%
Due 10/14/2016		575,000	3.175% (Variable)		-	-
Due 4/15/2017		1,100,000	8.250%		1,100,000	8.250%
Due 10/1/2018		600,000	8.125%		600,000	8.125%
Due 3/15/2019		434,000	7.125%		434,000	7.125%
Due 4/15/2020		1,100,000	8.500%		1,100,000	8.500%
Due 4/15/2022		500,000	8.750%		500,000	8.750%
Due 1/15/2027		345,858	7.875%		345,858	7.875%
Due 2/15/2028		200,000	6.730%		200,000	6.730%
Due 10/15/2029		50,000	8.400%		50,000	8.400%
Due 8/15/2031		945,325	9.000%		945,325	9.000%
		7,830,907			7,807,284
Debentures:
Due 11/1/2025		138,000	7.000%		138,000	7.000%
Due 8/15/2026		1,739	6.800%		1,739	6.800%
Due 10/1/2034		628	7.680%		628	7.680%
Due 7/1/2035		125,000	7.450%		125,000	7.450%
Due 10/1/2046		193,500	7.050%		193,500	7.050%
		458,867			458,867
Subsidiary Senior
Notes due 12/1/2012		36,000	8.050%		36,000	8.050%
Total	$	8,325,774	7.93%	$	8,302,151	8.04%

Debt maturities by year

Our principal payments for the next five years are as follows as of December 31, 2011:

	Principal
($ in thousands)	Payments
2012	$         94,016
2013	$       638,767
2014	$       658,017
2015	$       858,049
2016	$       345,466