XML 78 R12.htm IDEA: XBRL DOCUMENT v2.4.0.8
Property, Plant and Equipment
9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2013
Property, Plant and Equipment [Abstract]  
Property, Plant and Equipment
Note 6.
Property, Plant and Equipment
Property, plant and equipment consists primarily of network equipment and other long-lived assets used to provide service to our subscribers. In the first quarter 2012, plans were formalized to take off-air roughly one-third, or 9,600 cell sites, of the total Nextel platform by the middle of 2012. The remaining sites, approximately 20,000, were taken off-air on June 30, 2013. As a result, incremental depreciation expense was recorded through the period ended June 30, 2013. In addition, increasing data usage driven by more subscribers on the Sprint platform and a continuing shift in our subscriber base to smartphones is expected to require additional legacy 3G Sprint platform equipment that will not be utilized beyond the final deployment of Network Vision's multi-mode technology, which is expected to continue through the middle of 2014. As a result, the estimated useful lives of such equipment were shortened, as compared to similar prior capital expenditures, through the date on which Network Vision equipment is deployed and in-service. The incremental effect of accelerated depreciation expense totaled approximately $800 million for the 191-day period ended July 10, 2013, and $400 million and $1.7 billion for the three and nine-month periods ended September 30, 2012, respectively, of which the majority related to shortened useful lives of Nextel platform assets for all periods.
Property, plant, and equipment as of September 30, 2013 includes non-cash additions for the nine-month period ended of approximately $500 million along with corresponding increases in accounts payable and accrued expenses and other current liabilities.
The components of property, plant and equipment, and the related accumulated depreciation for the Predecessor and Successor periods were as follows:
 
Successor
 
 
Predecessor
 
September 30,
2013
 
 
December 31,
2012
 
(in millions)
Land
$
265

 
 
$
330

Network equipment, site costs and related software
11,764

 
 
37,692

Buildings and improvements
711

 
 
4,893

Non-network internal use software, office equipment and other
655

 
 
1,860

Construction in progress
2,802

 
 
3,123

Less: accumulated depreciation
(885
)
 
 
(34,291
)
Property, plant and equipment, net
$
15,312

 
 
$
13,607