Property, Plant and Equipment (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2023

Property, Plant and Equipment [Abstract]

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


	Depreciable Lives	As of December 31,
		2023		2022(5)
		(Dollars in millions)
Land	N/A	$	202	202
Fiber conduit and other outside plant (1)	15-45 years	4,380		4,133
Central office and other network electronics (2)	7-10 years	3,467		2,977
Support assets (3)	3-30 years	2,252		2,145
Construction-in-progress (4)	N/A	762		721
Gross property, plant and equipment		11,063		10,178
Accumulated depreciation		(3,665)		(2,875)
Net property, plant and equipment		$	7,398	7,303

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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, data centers, computers and other administrative and support equipment.

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

(5)At December 31, 2022, we had $1.9 billion of certain property, plant and equipment, net related to our EMEA business which was classified as held for sale at this date and which was sold on November 1, 2023. See Note 2—Divestitures of the Latin American and EMEA Businesses for more information.

Schedule of change in asset retirement obligation

The following table provides asset retirement obligation activity:


	Years Ended December 31,
	2023		2022
	(Dollars in millions)
Balance at beginning of period	$	85	121
Accretion expense	4		5
Liabilities settled	(6)		(7)
Change in estimate	11		(4)
Classified as held for sale (1)	—		(30)
Balance at end of period	$	94	85

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(1)Represents the amounts classified as held for sale related to our EMEA business as of December 31, 2022. See Note 2—Divestitures of the Latin American and EMEA Businesses.