Long-Term Debt (Tables)

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2012

Long-Term Debt [Abstract]

Long-Term Debt

The activity in our long-term debt from December 31, 2011 to June 30, 2012 is summarized as follows:

				Six months ended
				June 30, 2012								Interest
												Rate* at
	December 31,						New		June 30,			June 30,
($ in thousands)	2011			Payments			Borrowings		2012			2012
Rural Utilities Service Loan Contracts	$	10,197		$	(687	)	$	-	$	9,510			6.15	%
Senior Unsecured Debt		8,325,774			(536,281	)		500,000		8,289,493			7.90	%
Industrial Development Revenue Bonds		13,550			-			-		13,550			6.33	%
TOTAL LONG-TERM DEBT	$	8,349,521		$	(536,968	)	$	500,000	$	8,312,553			7.90	%
Less: Debt Discount		(49,664	)							(25,461	)
Less: Current Portion		(94,016	)							(616,575	)
	$	8,205,841							$	7,670,517

* Interest rate includes amortization of debt issuance costs and debt premiums or discounts.  The interest rates at June 30, 2012 represent a weighted average of multiple issuances.

Senior Unsecured Debt

Additional information regarding our Senior Unsecured Debt is as follows:

	June 30, 2012					December 31, 2011
	Principal		Interest			Principal		Interest
($ in thousands)	Outstanding		Rate			Outstanding		Rate
Senior Notes:
Due 1/15/2013	$	522,693		6.250	%	$	580,724		6.250	%
Due 5/1/2014		200,000		8.250	%		600,000		8.250	%
Due 3/15/2015		300,000		6.625	%		300,000		6.625	%
Due 4/15/2015		450,500		7.875	%		500,000		7.875	%
Due 10/14/2016 *		546,250	3.115% (Variable)				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 7/1/2021		500,000		9.250	%		-		-
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	%
		7,794,626					7,830,907
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	$	8,289,493		7.90	%	$	8,325,774		7.93	%

Debt maturities by year

Our principal payments for the next five years are as follows as of June 30, 2012:

	Principal
($ in thousands)	Payments
2012 (remaining six months)	$	64,939
2013	$	580,585
2014	$	257,916
2015	$	808,442
2016	$	345,466
2017	$	1,100,501