Goodwill and Intangible Assets

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2020

Goodwill and Intangible Assets Disclosure [Abstract]

There were no changes to goodwill during the three months ended March 31, 2020.

Other intangible assets consisted of the following:



	March 31, 2020							December 31, 2019
(in thousands)	Gross Carrying Amount		Accumulated Amortization and Other			Net		Gross Carrying Amount		Accumulated Amortization and Other			Net
Indefinite-lived intangibles:
Cable franchise rights	$	64,334	$	—		$	64,334	$	64,334	$	—		$	64,334
FCC spectrum licenses	13,839		—			13,839		13,839		—			13,839
Railroad crossing rights	141		—			141		141		—			141
Total indefinite-lived intangibles	78,314		—			78,314		78,314		—			78,314

Finite-lived intangibles:
Sprint affiliate contract expansion - Wireless	455,305		(241,231		)	214,074		455,305		(226,712		)	228,593
FCC spectrum licenses	4,659		(160		)	4,499		4,659		(97		)	4,562
Acquired subscribers - Cable	28,065		(25,700		)	2,365		28,065		(25,600		)	2,465
Other intangibles	463		(257		)	206		463		(250		)	213
Total finite-lived intangibles	488,492		(267,348		)	221,144		488,492		(252,659		)	235,833
Total intangible assets	$	566,806	$	(267,348	)	$	299,458	$	566,806	$	(252,659	)	$	314,147

We acquired Big Sandy Broadband, Inc. (“Big Sandy”) on February 28, 2019. The $10 million acquisition price was allocated as follows within our broadband segment: $4.6 million of property, plant and equipment; $2.8 million of subscriber relationships; and $2.6 million of goodwill.

In 2016, we acquired nTelos Holdings Corp. and immediately transferred certain of the acquired assets to Sprint in an interrelated nonmonetary exchange. In the exchange, we received a corresponding expansion of our Sprint Affiliate Area, future billings associated with Sprint subscribers already in that expanded area, and an increase in the price that Sprint would pay to buy our Wireless asset group in the event that either party chooses not to renew the affiliate agreement. Sprint also agreed to waive up to $4.2 million of our monthly management fee, not to exceed $255.6 million in total, over a multi-year period. We accounted for these collective rights as an affiliate contract expansion (“ACE”) intangible, which is amortized over the expected benefit period and further reduced as management fees are waived by Sprint. We realized management fee waivers of $9.8 million and

$9.6 million during the three months ended March 31, 2020 and 2019, respectively, and $147.0 million since the date of the business combination.

During 2017 and 2018, we entered into purchase agreements with Sprint to further expand our affiliate territory to include areas around Parkersburg, West Virginia, and Richmond, Virginia, respectively. The relevant portion of these payments were also capitalized as ACE intangible assets.

Amounts paid in connection with the acquisition of a business are presented as amortization expense in our income statement. Amounts paid to Sprint outside of a business combination are accounted for as consideration paid to a customer with amortization presented as a reduction of Service and other revenue in our unaudited condensed consolidated statements of comprehensive income.

Amortization of intangible assets was $4.9 million and $5.7 million for the three months ended March 31, 2020 and 2019, respectively.