Property, Plant and Equipment (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2015

Property, Plant and Equipment [Abstract]

Schedule of net property, plant and equipment

Net property, plant and equipment is composed of the following:

	Depreciable Lives	As of December 31,
		2015			2014
		(Dollars in millions)
Property, plant and equipment:
Land	N/A	$	349		350
Fiber, conduit and other outside plant(1)	15-45 years	5,362			4,640
Central office and other network electronics(2)	4-10 years	3,614			3,362
Support assets(3)	5-30 years	2,584			2,496
Construction in progress(4)	N/A	273			309
Gross property, plant and equipment		12,182			11,157
Accumulated depreciation		(4,808		)	(3,956	)
Net property, plant and equipment		$	7,374		7,201

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⁽¹⁾  Fiber, conduit and other outside plant consists of fiber and metallic cable, conduit, poles and other supporting structures.

⁽²⁾  Central office and other network electronics consists of circuit and packet switches, routers, transmission electronics and electronics providing service to customers.

⁽³⁾  Support assets consist of buildings, computers and other administrative and support equipment.

⁽⁴⁾  Construction in progress includes inventory held for construction and property of the aforementioned categories that has not been placed in service as it is still under construction.