LEASES

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2020

LEASES

LEASES

4. LEASES

The Company adopted ASU 2016-02 on January 1, 2019, utilizing the optional transition method with a cumulative adjustment on the date of adoption. Under this approach, the guidance was applied to leases that had commenced as of January 1, 2019 with a cumulative effect adjustment as of that date and prior periods were not adjusted. Upon adoption, the Company recognized an operating lease right-of-use (“ROU”) asset of $70.8 million, a short-term lease liability of $8.2 million, and a long-term lease liability of $61.2 million. The adoption had no impact on retained earnings or other components of equity.

The Company elected the package of practical expedients. Under the package of practical expedients, for existing leases, the Company does not reassess: i) whether the arrangement contains a lease; ii) lease classification and; iii) initial direct costs.

The Company has operating and financing leases for towers, land, corporate offices, retail facilities, vehicles, and data transport capacity. The lease terms are generally between three and ten years, some of which include additional renewal options.

Supplemental lease information

The components of lease expense were as follows (in thousands):

	Three months ended September 30, 2020		Three months ended September 30, 2019		Nine months ended September 30, 2020		Nine months ended September 30, 2019
Operating lease cost:
Operating lease cost	$	4,152	$	3,627	$	12,228	$	11,294
Short-term lease cost		769		652		2,040		2,232
Variable lease cost		692		1,151		3,034		2,400
Total operating lease cost	$	5,613	$	5,430	$	17,302	$	15,926
Finance lease cost:
Amortization of right-of-use asset	$	534	$	570	$	1,628	$	1,749
Variable costs		198		244		655		802
Total finance lease cost	$	732	$	814	$	2,283	$	2,551

During the nine months ended September 30, 2020 and 2019, the Company paid $9.1 million and $10.2 million, respectively, for operating lease liabilities. During the nine months ended September 30, 2020 and 2019, the Company recorded $5.7 million and $7.3 million, respectively, of operating lease liabilities arising from ROU assets.

At September 30, 2020, finance leases with a cost of $25.2 million and accumulated amortization of $9.0 million were included in property, plant and equipment. During the nine months ended September 30, 2020, the Company paid $0.6 million for finance lease liabilities and recorded $1.5 million of additional finance lease liabilities. At September 30, 2020, finance leases had a lease liability of $1.3 million of which, $0.3 million was current. At December 31, 2019, finance leases with a cost of $25.9 million and accumulated amortization of $9.4 million were included in property, plant and equipment.

The weighted average remaining lease terms and discount rates as of September 30, 2020 and December 31, 2019 are noted in the table below:

	September 30, 2020		December 31, 2019
Weighted-average remaining lease term
Operating leases		6.0 years		6.5 years
Financing leases		10.5 years		11.7 years
Weighted-average discount rate
Operating leases		5.0%		5.0%
Financing leases		3.3%		n/a

Maturities of lease liabilities as of September 30, 2020 were as follows (in thousands):

	Operating Leases
2020 (excluding the nine months ended September 30, 2020)	$	3,014
2021		15,761
2022		14,170
2023		11,789
2024		10,466
Thereafter		19,885
Total lease payments		75,085
Less imputed interest		(10,640)
Total	$	64,445

Maturities of lease liabilities as of December 31, 2019 were as follows (in thousands):

	Operating Leases
2020	$	14,526
2021		13,714
2022		12,787
2023		10,713
2024		9,671
Thereafter		18,354
Total lease payments		79,765
Less imputed interest		(12,195)
Total	$	67,570

As of September 30, 2020, the Company did not have any material operating or finance leases that have not yet commenced.