Severance and Exit Costs

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. The net expenses are included in "Other, net" within the consolidated statements of operations:



	March 31, 2018		Net Expense			Cash Payments and Other			March 31, 2019
	(in millions)
Lease exit costs	$	165	$	25	⁽¹⁾	$	(59	)	$	131
Severance costs	64		23		⁽²⁾	(81		)	6
Access exit costs	19		37		⁽³⁾	(20		)	36
	$	248	$	85		$	(160	)	$	173

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(1)	For the year ended March 31, 2019, we recognized costs of $25 million (Wireless only).


(2)	For the year ended March 31, 2019, we recognized costs of $23 million ($15 million Wireless, $8 million Wireline).


(3)	For the year ended March 31, 2019, we recognized costs of $37 million ($26 million Wireless, $11 million Wireline) as "Severance and exit costs".



	March 31, 2017		Net (Benefit) Expense				Cash Payments and Other			March 31, 2018
	(in millions)
Lease exit costs	$	249	$	(2	)	⁽⁴⁾	$	(82	)	$	165
Severance costs	12		79			⁽⁵⁾	(27		)	64
Access exit costs	40		3			⁽⁶⁾	(24		)	19
	$	301	$	80			$	(133	)	$	248

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(4)	For the year ended March 31, 2018, we recognized a benefit of $2 million ($5 million benefit Wireless, $3 million costs Wireline).


(5)	For the year ended March 31, 2018, we recognized costs of $79 million ($73 million Wireless, $6 million Wireline).


(6)	For the year ended March 31, 2018, we recognized costs of $3 million ($10 million benefit Wireless, $13 million costs Wireline) 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 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.