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Property, Plant and Equipment
9 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2016
Property, Plant and Equipment [Abstract]  
Property, Plant and Equipment
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. Non-cash accruals included in property, plant and equipment (excluding leased devices) totaled $325 million and $763 million as of December 31, 2016 and 2015, respectively.
The following table presents the components of property, plant and equipment and the related accumulated depreciation:
 
December 31,
2016
 
March 31,
2016
 
(in millions)
Land
$
260

 
$
260

Network equipment, site costs and related software
21,696

 
21,500

Buildings and improvements
808

 
798

Non-network internal use software, office equipment, leased devices and other
8,450

 
6,182

Construction in progress
1,460

 
1,249

Less: accumulated depreciation
(13,341
)
 
(9,692
)
Property, plant and equipment, net
$
19,333

 
$
20,297


In September 2014, Sprint introduced a leasing program, whereby qualified subscribers can lease a device for a contractual period of time. At the end of the lease term, the subscriber has the option to turn in the device, continue leasing the device, or purchase the device. As of December 31, 2016, substantially all of our device leases were classified as operating leases. At lease inception, the devices leased through Sprint's direct channels are reclassified from inventory to property, plant and equipment. For those devices leased through indirect channels, Sprint purchases the device to be leased from the retailer at lease inception. The devices are then depreciated using the straight-line method to their estimated residual value generally over the term of the lease.
The following table presents leased devices and the related accumulated depreciation:
 
December 31,
2016
 
March 31,
2016
 
(in millions)
Leased devices
$
7,099

 
$
4,913

Less: accumulated depreciation
(2,645
)
 
(1,267
)
Leased devices, net
$
4,454

 
$
3,646


During the nine-month periods ended December 31, 2016 and 2015, there were non-cash transfers to leased devices of approximately $2.3 billion and $2.6 billion, respectively, along with a corresponding decrease in "Device and accessory inventory." Non-cash accruals included in leased devices totaled $166 million and $306 million as of December 31, 2016 and 2015, respectively, for devices purchased from indirect dealers that were leased to our subscribers. Depreciation expense incurred on all leased devices was $837 million and $2.2 billion for the three and nine-month periods ended December 31, 2016, respectively, and $535 million and $1.2 billion for the same periods in 2015, respectively.
During the three and nine-month periods ended December 31, 2016, we recorded $137 million and $368 million, respectively, of loss on disposal of property, plant and equipment, net of recoveries, which is included in "Other, net" in our consolidated statements of comprehensive loss. These losses primarily resulted from the write-off of leased devices associated with lease cancellations prior to the scheduled customer lease terms where customers did not return the devices to us. If customers continue to not return devices, we may continue to have similar losses in future periods. During the three and nine-month periods ended December 31, 2015, we recorded $78 million and $163 million, respectively, of loss on disposal of property, plant and equipment, net of recoveries, which is included in "Other, net" in our consolidated statements of comprehensive loss. These losses resulted from the write-off of leased devices associated with lease cancellations prior to the scheduled customer lease terms where customers did not return the devices to us and cell site construction costs and other network costs that are no longer recoverable as a result of changes in the Company's network plans.