Credit Losses on Financial Instruments (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2021

Financing Receivable, Allowance for Credit Loss

The following tables presents the activity of our allowance for credit losses for our accounts receivable portfolio for the years ended December 31, 2021 and December 31, 2020:


	Business		Mass Markets	Total
	(Dollars in millions)
Beginning balance at January 1, 2021(2)	$	25	36	61
Provision for expected losses	10		17	27
Write-offs charged against the allowance	(19)		(35)	(54)
Recoveries collected	3		1	4
Ending Balance at December 31, 2021	$	19	19	38


	Business		Consumer	Total
	(Dollars in millions)
Beginning balance at January 1, 2020(1)	$	17	18	35
Provision for expected losses	30		36	66
Write-offs charged against the allowance	(22)		(26)	(48)
Recoveries collected	4		4	8
Ending Balance at December 31, 2020	$	29	32	61

______________________________________________________________________

(1)The beginning balance includes the cumulative effect of the adoption of the new credit loss standard.

(2)Due to an internal reorganization of our reporting categories on January 1, 2021, our accounts receivable portfolios were changed to align with changes to how we manage our customers. Allowance for credit losses previously included in the Consumer and Business portfolio of $32 million and $4 million, respectively, were reclassified to the Mass Markets allowance for credit losses on January 1, 2021, as a result of this change.