Property, Plant and Equipment

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2024

Property, Plant and Equipment [Abstract]

The carrying value of property, plant and equipment is as follows:


(Thousands)	Depreciable Lives	September 30, 2024		December 31, 2023
Land	Indefinite	$	30,507	$	30,099
Building and improvements	3 - 40 years	371,600		366,490
Poles	30 years	333,447		314,489
Fiber	30 years	5,148,425		4,835,623
Equipment	5 - 7 years	493,096		460,463
Copper	20 years	3,973,887		3,974,410
Conduit	30 years	90,117		90,087
Tower assets	20 years	1,221		1,221
Finance lease assets	(1)	52,824		52,589
Other assets	15 - 20 years	10,435		10,436
Construction in progress	(1)	44,620		49,771
Corporate assets	3 - 7 years	16,315		15,731
		10,566,494		10,201,409
Less accumulated depreciation		(6,409,952)		(6,219,340)
Net property, plant and equipment		$	4,156,542	$	3,982,069

(1) See our Annual Report for property, plant and equipment accounting policies.

Depreciation expense for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2024 was $71.9 million and $212.6 million, respectively. Depreciation expense for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2023 was $69.9 million and $209.1 million, respectively.

CableSouth Transaction

In 2018, we acquired certain fiber assets from CableSouth Media, LLC (“CableSouth”) and leased back certain of those acquired assets to CableSouth pursuant to a triple-net lease.

During the fourth quarter of 2023, the Company entered into an agreement with a fund managed by Macquarie Asset Management ("MAM") pursuant to which MAM would make a structured equity investment into CableSouth in order to assist CableSouth in the acquisition of all of our previously acquired CableSouth fiber assets and the buyout of their triple-net lease for cash consideration of $40.0 million (the "CableSouth Transaction"). The Company completed the CableSouth Transaction on January 31, 2024 and recorded a $19.0 million gain on sale of real estate in the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Income (Loss).

The CableSouth Transaction is included in the results of the Uniti Leasing segment, and because the sale does not represent a strategic shift that will have a major effect on operations and financial results, it does not qualify for presentation as a discontinued operation.