Property, Plant And Equipment

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2019

Property, Plant And Equipment [Abstract]

(5) Property, Plant and Equipment:

Property, plant and equipment, net is as follows:



($ in millions)	March 31, 2019		December 31, 2018

Property, plant and equipment	$	27,924	$	27,657
Less: Accumulated depreciation		(13,890)		(13,470)
Property, plant and equipment, net	$	14,034	$	14,187

In 2017 and 2018, we sold certain properties subject to leaseback, generating $106 million in net proceeds. In connection with the adoption of ASC 842, remaining deferred gains realized on the sales of $15 million ($11 million net of tax) were recognized directly to opening accumulated deficit as January 1, 2019.

In January 2019, we closed the sale of certain wireless towers for approximately $76 million. The aggregate carrying value of the towers was approximately $1 million, resulting in a gain on the sale of $75 million which was recognized against “Accumulated Depreciation” in our consolidated Balance sheet during the three months ended March 31, 2019.

Depreciation expense is principally based on the composite group method. Depreciation expense was as follows:

We adopted new estimated remaining useful lives for certain plant assets as of October 1, 2018, as a result of an annual independent study of the estimated remaining useful lives of our plant assets, with an insignificant impact to depreciation expense.

For the three months ended March 31,

($ in millions)

Depreciation expense