Property, Plant and Equipment (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2014

Property, Plant and Equipment [Abstract]

Schedule of net property, plant and equipment

Net property, plant and equipment is composed of the following:

	Depreciable Lives	As of December 31,
		2014			2013
		(Dollars in millions)
Property, plant and equipment:
Land	N/A	$	350		356
Fiber, conduit and other outside plant(1)	15-45 years	4,640			4,033
Central office and other network electronics(2)	4-10 years	3,362			3,026
Support assets(3)	5-30 years	2,496			2,470
Construction in progress(4)	N/A	309			308
Gross property, plant and equipment		11,157			10,193
Accumulated depreciation		(3,956		)	(2,985	)
Net property, plant and equipment		$	7,201		7,208

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⁽¹⁾  Fiber, conduit and other outside plant consists of fiber and metallic cable, conduit, poles and other supporting structures.

⁽²⁾  Central office and other network electronics consists of circuit and packet switches, routers, transmission electronics and electronics providing service to customers.

⁽³⁾  Support assets consist of buildings, computers and other administrative and support equipment.

⁽⁴⁾  Construction in progress includes inventory held for construction and property of the aforementioned categories that has not been placed in service as it is still under construction.