Severance and Exit Costs

12 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2017

Restructuring and Related Activities [Abstract]

Severance and exit costs consist of lease exit costs primarily associated with tower and cell sites, access exit costs related to payments that will continue to be made under our backhaul access contracts for which we will no longer be receiving any economic benefit, and severance costs associated with reductions in our work force.

The following provides the activity in the severance and exit costs liability included in "Accounts payable," "Accrued expenses and other current liabilities" and "Other liabilities" within the consolidated balance sheets:



	March 31, 2016		Net Expense			Cash Payments and Other			March 31, 2017
	(in millions)
Lease exit costs	$	338	$	17	⁽¹⁾	$	(106	)	$	249
Severance costs	150		20		⁽²⁾	(158		)	12
Access exit costs	37		31		⁽³⁾	(28		)	40
	$	525	$	68		$	(292	)	$	301

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(1)	For the year ended March 31, 2017, we recognized costs of $17 million ($14 million Wireless, $3 million Wireline).


(2)	For the year ended March 31, 2017, we recognized costs of $20 million ($19 million Wireless, $1 million Wireline).


(3)	For the year ended March 31, 2017, we recognized $2 million (solely attributable to Wireline) as "Cost of services" and $29 million ($12 million Wireless, $17 million Wireline) as "Severance and exit costs."



	March 31, 2015		Net Expense			Cash Payments and Other			March 31, 2016
	(in millions)
Lease exit costs	$	291	$	156	⁽⁴⁾	$	(109	)	$	338
Severance costs	119		216		⁽⁵⁾	(185		)	150
Access exit costs	44		19		⁽⁶⁾	(26		)	37
	$	454	$	391		$	(320	)	$	525

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(4)	We recognized costs of $176 million (Wireless only) for the year ended March 31, 2016, which were offset by $20 million of income (Wireless only) resulting from a revision to our estimate of a previously recorded reserve.


(5)	For the year ended March 31, 2016, we recognized costs of $216 million ($191 million Wireless, $25 million Wireline).


(6)	For the year ended March 31, 2016, we recognized $2 million (solely attributable to Wireline) as "Cost of services" and $17 million (solely attributable to Wireless) as "Severance and exit costs".

We continually refine our network strategy and evaluate other potential network initiatives to improve the overall performance of our network. Additionally, major cost cutting initiatives are expected to continue, which may include headcount reductions, among other actions, to reduce operating expenses and improve our operating cash flows. As a result of these ongoing activities, we may incur future material charges associated with lease and access exit costs, severance, asset impairments, and accelerated depreciation, among others.