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Basis of Presentation and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies
 3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2023
Accounting Policies [Abstract]  
Basis of Presentation and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies Basis of Presentation and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies
The accompanying Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements include all accounts of the Company and its wholly-owned and/or controlled subsidiaries, including the Operating Partnership. Under the Accounting Standards Codification 810, Consolidation (“ASC 810”), the Operating Partnership is considered a variable interest entity and is consolidated in the Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements of Uniti Group Inc. because the Company is the primary beneficiary. All material intercompany balances and transactions have been eliminated.
ASC 810 provides guidance on the identification of entities for which control is achieved through means other than voting rights (“variable interest entities” or “VIEs”) and the determination of which business enterprise, if any, should consolidate the VIEs. Generally, the consideration of whether an entity is a VIE applies when either: (1) the equity investors (if any) lack (i) the ability to make decisions about the entity’s activities through voting or similar rights, (ii) the obligation to absorb the expected losses of the entity, or (iii) the right to receive the expected residual returns of the entity; (2) the equity investment at risk is insufficient to finance that entity’s activities without additional subordinated financial support; or (3) the equity investors have voting rights that are not proportionate to their economic interests and substantially all of the activities of the entity involve or are conducted on behalf of an investor with a disproportionately small voting interest. The Company consolidates VIEs in which it is considered to be the primary beneficiary. The primary beneficiary is defined as the entity having both of the following characteristics: (1) the power to direct the activities that, when taken together, most significantly impact the VIE’s performance; and (2) the obligation to absorb losses and right to receive the returns from the VIE that would be significant to the VIE.
The accompanying Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements have been prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”) for interim financial information set forth in the Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”), as published by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”), and with the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). Accordingly, they do not include all of the information and footnotes required by GAAP for complete financial statements. In the opinion of management, all adjustments (consisting of normal recurring accruals) considered necessary for a fair statement of results for the interim period have been included. Operating results from any interim period are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for the full fiscal year. The accompanying Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements and related notes should be read in conjunction with the audited consolidated financial statements and notes thereto included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on February 28, 2023, as amended by Amendment No. 1 thereto filed on Form 10-K/A with the SEC on March 29, 2023 (the “Annual Report”). Accordingly, significant accounting policies and other disclosures normally provided have been omitted from the accompanying Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements and related notes since such items are disclosed in our Annual Report.
Concentration of Credit Risks—Prior to September 2020, we were party to a long-term exclusive triple-net lease (the “Master Lease”) with Windstream Holdings, Inc. (together with Windstream Holdings II, LLC, its successor in interest, and its subsidiaries, “Windstream”) pursuant to which a substantial portion of our real property was leased to Windstream and from which a substantial portion of our leasing revenues were derived. On September 18, 2020, Uniti and Windstream
bifurcated the Master Lease and entered into two structurally similar master leases (collectively, the “Windstream Leases”), which amended and restated the Master Lease in its entirety. The Windstream Leases consist of (a) a master lease (the "ILEC MLA") that governs Uniti owned assets used for Windstream's incumbent local exchange carrier ("ILEC") operations and (b) a master lease (the "CLEC MLA") that governs Uniti owned assets used for Windstream's consumer competitive local exchange carrier ("CLEC") operations. Revenue under the Windstream Leases provided 66.0% and 66.9% of our revenue for the three months ended March 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively. Because a substantial portion of our revenue and cash flows are derived from lease payments by Windstream pursuant to the Windstream Leases, there could be a material adverse impact on our consolidated results of operations, liquidity, financial condition and/or ability to pay dividends and service debt if Windstream were to default under the Windstream Leases or otherwise experiences operating or liquidity difficulties and becomes unable to generate sufficient cash to make payments to us.
We monitor the credit quality of Windstream through numerous methods, including by (i) reviewing credit ratings of Windstream by nationally recognized credit agencies, (ii) reviewing the financial statements of Windstream that are required to be delivered to us pursuant to the Windstream Leases, (iii) monitoring news reports regarding Windstream and its business, (iv) conducting research to ascertain industry trends potentially affecting Windstream, (v) monitoring Windstream’s compliance with the terms of the Windstream Leases and (vi) monitoring the timeliness of its payments under the Windstream Leases.
As of the date of this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, Windstream is current on all lease payments. We note that in August 2020, Moody’s Investor Service assigned a B3 corporate family rating with a stable outlook to Windstream in connection with its post-emergence exit financing. At the same time, S&P Global Ratings assigned Windstream a B- issuer rating with a stable outlook. Both ratings remain current as of the date of this filing. In order to assist us in our continuing assessment of Windstream’s creditworthiness, we periodically receive certain confidential financial information and metrics from Windstream.
Recently Adopted Accounting Pronouncements
In March 2022, the FASB issued Accounting Standards Update ("ASU") 2022-02, Financial Instruments—Credit Losses (Topic 326): Troubled Debt Restructurings and Vintage Disclosures ("ASU 2022-02"), which eliminates the accounting guidance for troubled debt restructurings and requires the disclosure of current-period gross write-offs of financing receivables and net investment in leases by year of origination. The Company adopted ASU 2022-02 on January 1, 2023, and the adoption had no impact on the Company's consolidated financial statements.
In December 2022, the FASB issued Accounting Standards Update ("ASU") 2022-06, Reference Rate Reform (Topic 848): Deferral of the Sunset Date of Topic 848 ("ASU 2022-06"), which provides additional relief for contract modifications completed after the December 31, 2022 LIBOR sunset date. The amendment allows for a deferral until December 31, 2024. The Company adopted ASU 2022-06 at issuance, and the adoption had no impact on the Company's consolidated financial statements.