Property, Plant and Equipment

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2012

Property, Plant and Equipment [Abstract]

(5)	Property, Plant and Equipment:

The components of property, plant and equipment at December 31, 2012 and 2011 are as follows:

	Estimated
($ in thousands)	Useful Lives		2012			2011

Land		N/A	$	126,483		$	128,855
Buildings and leasehold improvements	41 years			1,052,650			1,050,555
General support	5 to 17 years			988,707			914,777
Central office/electronic circuit equipment	5 to 11 years			4,965,099			4,582,296
Poles	49 years			507,922			471,561
Cable and wire	15 to 30 years			6,038,835			5,727,310
Conduit	60 years			354,777			342,868
Other	12 to 30 years			44,802			35,534
Construction work in progress				274,488			384,380
Property, plant and equipment				14,353,763			13,638,136
Less: Accumulated depreciation				(6,848,867	)		(6,090,613	)
Property, plant and equipment, net			$	7,504,896		$	7,547,523

Depreciation expense is principally based on the composite group method. Depreciation expense was $844.6 million, $881.5 million and $599.7 million for the years ended December 31, 2012, 2011 and 2010, respectively. As a result of an independent study of the estimated remaining useful lives of our plant assets, we adopted new estimated remaining useful lives for certain plant assets as of October 1, 2012, with an immaterial impact to depreciation expense.

- Definition

The entire disclosure for long-lived, physical assets that are used in the normal conduct of business to produce goods and services and not intended for resale. Examples include land, buildings, machinery and equipment, and other types of furniture and equipment including, but not limited to, office equipment, furniture and fixtures, and computer equipment and software. This disclosure may include property plant and equipment accounting policies and methodology, a schedule of property, plant and equipment gross, additions, deletions, transfers and other changes, depreciation, depletion and amortization expense, net, accumulated depreciation, depletion and amortization expense and useful lives, income statement disclosures, assets held for sale and public utility disclosures.

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