PROPERTY, PLANT AND EQUIPMENT

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2014

Property, Plant and Equipment [Abstract]

PROPERTY, PLANT AND EQUIPMENT

PROPERTY, PLANT AND EQUIPMENT

Costs incurred in the construction of the Company's cable systems, including line extensions to, and upgrade of, the Company's hybrid fiber/coaxial infrastructure and headend facilities are capitalized.  These costs consist of materials, subcontractor labor, direct consulting fees, and internal labor and related costs associated with the construction activities.  The internal costs that are capitalized consist of salaries and benefits of the Company's employees and the portion of facility costs, including rent, taxes, insurance and utilities, that supports the construction activities.  These costs are depreciated over the estimated life of the plant (10 to 25 years), and headend facilities (4 to 25 years).  Costs of operating the plant and the technical facilities, including repairs and maintenance, are expensed as incurred. 

Costs incurred to connect businesses or residences that have not been previously connected to the infrastructure or digital platform are also capitalized.  These costs include materials, subcontractor labor, internal labor, and other related costs associated with the connection activities.  In addition, on-site and remote technical assistance during the provisioning process for new digital product offerings are capitalized.  The departmental activities supporting the connection process are tracked through specific metrics, and the portion of departmental costs that is capitalized is determined through a time weighted activity allocation of costs incurred based on time studies used to estimate the average time spent on each activity.  New connections are amortized over the estimated useful lives of 5 years or 12 years for residence wiring and feeder cable to the home, respectively.  The portion of departmental costs related to reconnection, programming service up-grade and down-grade, repair and maintenance, and disconnection activities are expensed as incurred.

Property, plant and equipment (including equipment under capital leases) consist of the following assets, which are depreciated or amortized on a straight-line basis over the estimated useful lives shown below:

	December 31,						Estimated
	2014			2013			Useful Lives
Customer equipment	$	1,954,512		$	2,104,305		3 to 5 years
Headends and related equipment	1,437,681			1,276,819			4 to 25 years
Central office equipment	811,320			758,691			5 to 10 years
Infrastructure	5,695,519			5,651,633			3 to 25 years
Equipment and software	1,507,500			1,386,848			3 to 10 years
Construction in progress (including materials and supplies)	97,955			113,260
Furniture and fixtures	94,265			92,631			5 to 12 years
Transportation equipment	217,486			201,806			5 to 18 years
Buildings and building improvements	303,344			279,614			10 to 40 years
Leasehold improvements	345,942			362,932			Term of lease
Land	14,538			14,662
	12,480,062			12,243,201
Less accumulated depreciation and amortization	(9,454,315		)	(9,264,848		)
	$	3,025,747		$	2,978,353

During the years ended December 31, 2014 and 2013, the Company capitalized certain costs aggregating $153,675 and $127,390, respectively, related to the acquisition and development of internal use software, which are included in the table above. 

Depreciation expense on property, plant and equipment (including capital leases) for the years ended December 31, 2014, 2013 and 2012 amounted to $852,451, $858,899 and $879,242 (including impairment charges of $425, $10,997 and $829 in 2014, 2013 and 2012), respectively.

At December 31, 2014 and 2013, the gross amount of equipment and related accumulated amortization recorded under capital leases were as follows:

	December 31,
	2014			2013
Equipment	$	95,719		$	65,454
Less accumulated amortization	(39,951		)	(31,138		)
	$	55,768		$	34,316