10-Q

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-Q

(Mark one)
☒	QUARTERLY REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the quarterly period ended September 30, 2019

OR

☐	TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
	For the transition period from              to

Commission file number: 1-8606

Verizon Communications Inc.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

Delaware	23-2259884
(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization)	(I.R.S. Employer Identification No.)

 

1095 Avenue of the Americas		10036
New York,	New York
(Address of principal executive offices)		(Zip Code)

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (212) 395-1000

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

Title of Each Class	Trading Symbol(s)	Name of Each Exchange on Which Registered
Common Stock, par value $0.10	VZ	New York Stock Exchange
Common Stock, par value $0.10	VZ	The NASDAQ Global Select Market
2.375% Notes due 2022	VZ22A	New York Stock Exchange
0.500% Notes due 2022	VZ22B	New York Stock Exchange
1.625% Notes due 2024	VZ24B	New York Stock Exchange
4.073% Notes due 2024	VZ24C	New York Stock Exchange
0.875% Notes due 2025	VZ25	New York Stock Exchange
3.250% Notes due 2026	VZ26	New York Stock Exchange
1.375% Notes due 2026	VZ26B	New York Stock Exchange
0.875% Notes due 2027	VZ27E	New York Stock Exchange
1.375% Notes due 2028	VZ28	New York Stock Exchange
1.875% Notes due 2029	VZ29B	New York Stock Exchange
1.250% Notes due 2030	VZ30	New York Stock Exchange
1.875% Notes due 2030	VZ30A	New York Stock Exchange
2.625% Notes due 2031	VZ31	New York Stock Exchange
2.500% Notes due 2031	VZ31A	New York Stock Exchange
0.875% Notes due 2032	VZ32	New York Stock Exchange
4.750% Notes due 2034	VZ34	New York Stock Exchange
3.125% Notes due 2035	VZ35	New York Stock Exchange
3.375% Notes due 2036	VZ36A	New York Stock Exchange
2.875% Notes due 2038	VZ38B	New York Stock Exchange
1.500% Notes due 2039	VZ39C	New York Stock Exchange

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.   ☒  Yes   ☐  No

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files).   ☒  Yes   ☐  No

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of "large accelerated filer," "accelerated filer," "smaller reporting company," and "emerging growth company" in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.
	Large accelerated filer	☒	Accelerated filer	☐
	Non-accelerated filer	☐	Smaller reporting company	☐
			Emerging growth company	☐

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act.   ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act).   ☐  Yes   ☒  No

At September 30, 2019, 4,135,784,209 shares of the registrant’s common stock were outstanding, after deducting 155,649,437 shares held in treasury.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Item No.		Page
PART I - FINANCIAL INFORMATION
Item 1.	Financial Statements (Unaudited)
	Condensed Consolidated Statements of Income	4
	Three and nine months ended September 30, 2019 and 2018
	Condensed Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income	5
	Three and nine months ended September 30, 2019 and 2018
	Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets	6
	At September 30, 2019 and December 31, 2018
	Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows	7
	Nine months ended September 30, 2019 and 2018
	Notes to Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements	8
Item 2.	Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations	33
Item 3.	Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk	52
Item 4.	Controls and Procedures	53
PART II - OTHER INFORMATION
Item 1.	Legal Proceedings	53
Item 1A.	Risk Factors	53
Item 2.	Unregistered Sales of Equity Securities and Use of Proceeds	53
Item 6.	Exhibits	54
Signature		55
Certifications

Part I - Financial Information

Item 1. Financial Statements (Unaudited)

Condensed Consolidated Statements of Income

Verizon Communications Inc. and Subsidiaries

	Three Months Ended						Nine Months Ended
	September 30,						September 30,
(dollars in millions, except per share amounts) (unaudited)	2019			2018			2019			2018
Operating Revenues
Service revenues and other	$	27,753		$	27,254		$	82,301		$	81,145
Wireless equipment revenues	5,141			5,353			14,792			15,437
Total Operating Revenues	32,894			32,607			97,093			96,582
Operating Expenses
Cost of services (exclusive of items shown below)	7,902			7,842			23,396			24,022
Cost of wireless equipment	5,482			5,489			15,699			16,195
Selling, general and administrative expense	7,216			7,224			21,682			21,673
Depreciation and amortization expense	4,114			4,377			12,577			13,051
Total Operating Expenses	24,714			24,932			73,354			74,941
Operating Income	8,180			7,675			23,739			21,641
Equity in losses of unconsolidated businesses	(1		)	(3		)	(20		)	(250		)
Other income (expense), net	(110		)	214			(1,127		)	499
Interest expense	(1,146		)	(1,211		)	(3,571		)	(3,634		)
Income Before Provision For Income Taxes	6,923			6,675			19,021			18,256
Provision for income taxes	(1,586		)	(1,613		)	(4,450		)	(4,282		)
Net Income	$	5,337		$	5,062		$	14,571		$	13,974
Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests	$	143		$	138		$	401		$	385
Net income attributable to Verizon	5,194			4,924			14,170			13,589
Net Income	$	5,337		$	5,062		$	14,571		$	13,974
Basic Earnings Per Common Share
Net income attributable to Verizon	$	1.26		$	1.19		$	3.42		$	3.29
Weighted-average shares outstanding (in millions)	4,138			4,136			4,138			4,125
Diluted Earnings Per Common Share
Net income attributable to Verizon	$	1.25		$	1.19		$	3.42		$	3.29
Weighted-average shares outstanding (in millions)	4,140			4,140			4,140			4,129

See Notes to Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements

4

Condensed Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income

Verizon Communications Inc. and Subsidiaries

	Three Months Ended						Nine Months Ended
	September 30,						September 30,
(dollars in millions) (unaudited)	2019			2018			2019			2018
Net Income	$	5,337		$	5,062		$	14,571		$	13,974
Other Comprehensive Income (Loss), Net of Tax (Expense) Benefit
Foreign currency translation adjustments, net of tax of $(10), $2, $(12) and $8	(10		)	10			(53		)	(73		)
Unrealized gain (loss) on cash flow hedges, net of tax of $59, $(118), $257 and $(243)	(166		)	329			(716		)	678
Unrealized gain (loss) on marketable securities, net of tax of $(1), $2, $(3) and $3	2			(1		)	10			(5		)
Defined benefit pension and postretirement plans, net of tax of $56, $117, $168 and $235	(169		)	(342		)	(507		)	(688		)
Other comprehensive loss attributable to Verizon	(343		)	(4		)	(1,266		)	(88		)
Total Comprehensive Income	$	4,994		$	5,058		$	13,305		$	13,886
Comprehensive income attributable to noncontrolling interests	$	143		$	138		$	401		$	385
Comprehensive income attributable to Verizon	4,851			4,920			12,904			13,501
Total Comprehensive Income	$	4,994		$	5,058		$	13,305		$	13,886

See Notes to Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements

5

Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets

Verizon Communications Inc. and Subsidiaries

	At September 30,			At December 31,
(dollars in millions, except per share amounts) (unaudited)	2019			2018
Assets
Current assets
Cash and cash equivalents	$	3,020		$	2,745
Accounts receivable, net of allowances of $706 and $765	24,713			25,102
Inventories	1,538			1,336
Prepaid expenses and other	5,624			5,453
Total current assets	34,895			34,636
Property, plant and equipment	260,053			252,835
Less accumulated depreciation	171,204			163,549
Property, plant and equipment, net	88,849			89,286
Investments in unconsolidated businesses	628			671
Wireless licenses	94,433			94,130
Goodwill	24,570			24,614
Other intangible assets, net	9,264			9,775
Operating lease right-of-use assets	22,218			—
Other assets	10,018			11,717
Total assets	$	284,875		$	264,829
Liabilities and Equity
Current liabilities
Debt maturing within one year	$	7,830		$	7,190
Accounts payable and accrued liabilities	19,566			22,501
Current operating lease liabilities	2,959			—
Other current liabilities	8,854			8,239
Total current liabilities	39,209			37,930
Long-term debt	101,769			105,873
Employee benefit obligations	18,236			18,599
Deferred income taxes	34,592			33,795
Non-current operating lease liabilities	18,214			—
Other liabilities	12,543			13,922
Total long-term liabilities	185,354			172,189
Commitments and Contingencies (Note 12)
Equity
Series preferred stock ($0.10 par value; 250,000,000 shares authorized; none issued)	—			—
Common stock ($0.10 par value; 6,250,000,000 shares authorized in each period; 4,291,433,646 issued in each period)	429			429
Additional paid in capital	13,418			13,437
Retained earnings	50,595			43,542
Accumulated other comprehensive income	1,104			2,370
Common stock in treasury, at cost (155,649,437 and 159,400,267 shares outstanding)	(6,822		)	(6,986		)
Deferred compensation – employee stock ownership plans and other	197			353
Noncontrolling interests	1,391			1,565
Total equity	60,312			54,710
Total liabilities and equity	$	284,875		$	264,829

See Notes to Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements

6

Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows

Verizon Communications Inc. and Subsidiaries

	Nine Months Ended
	September 30,
(dollars in millions) (unaudited)	2019			2018
Cash Flows from Operating Activities
Net Income	$	14,571		$	13,974
Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash provided by operating activities:
Depreciation and amortization expense	12,577			13,051
Employee retirement benefits	(105		)	(886		)
Deferred income taxes	1,070			2,023
Provision for uncollectible accounts	1,131			699
Equity in losses of unconsolidated businesses, net of dividends received	64			291
Net loss on sale of divested businesses	94			—
Changes in current assets and liabilities, net of effects from acquisition/disposition of businesses	(3,902		)	(1,944		)
Discretionary employee benefits contributions	(300		)	(1,679		)
Other, net	1,548			715
Net cash provided by operating activities	26,748			26,244
Cash Flows from Investing Activities
Capital expenditures (including capitalized software)	(12,332		)	(12,026		)
Acquisitions of businesses, net of cash acquired	(29		)	(39		)
Acquisitions of wireless licenses	(299		)	(1,307		)
Proceeds from dispositions of businesses	27			—
Other, net	476			236
Net cash used in investing activities	(12,157		)	(13,136		)
Cash Flows from Financing Activities
Proceeds from long-term borrowings	8,360			5,932
Proceeds from asset-backed long-term borrowings	3,982			3,216
Repayments of long-term borrowings and finance lease obligations	(12,486		)	(9,776		)
Repayments of asset-backed long-term borrowings	(5,273		)	(2,915		)
Dividends paid	(7,474		)	(7,283		)
Other, net	(1,410		)	(1,595		)
Net cash used in financing activities	(14,301		)	(12,421		)
Increase in cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash	290			687
Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash, beginning of period	3,916			2,888
Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash, end of period (Note 1)	$	4,206		$	3,575

See Notes to Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements

7

Notes to Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements (Unaudited)

Verizon Communications Inc. and Subsidiaries

Note 1. Basis of Presentation

The accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) in the United States (U.S.) and based upon Securities and Exchange Commission rules that permit reduced disclosure for interim periods. For a more complete discussion of significant accounting policies and certain other information, you should refer to the financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2018 of Verizon Communications Inc. (Verizon or the Company) included in its Current Report on Form 8-K dated August 8, 2019. These financial statements reflect all adjustments that are necessary for a fair presentation of results of operations and financial condition for the interim periods shown, including normal recurring accruals and other items. The results for the interim periods are not necessarily indicative of results for the full year.

In November 2018, we announced a strategic reorganization of our business. Under the new structure, effective April 1, 2019, there are two reportable segments that we operate and manage as strategic business units - Verizon Consumer Group (Consumer) and Verizon Business Group (Business). In conjunction with the new reporting structure, we recast our segment disclosures for all periods presented.

Our Consumer segment provides consumer-focused wireless and wireline communications services and products. Our wireless services are provided across one of the most extensive wireless networks in the U.S. under the Verizon Wireless brand and through wholesale and other arrangements. Our wireline services are provided in nine states in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern U.S., as well as Washington D.C., over our 100% fiber-optic network under the Fios brand and over a traditional copper-based network to customers who are not served by Fios. Our Consumer segment’s wireless and wireline products and services are available to our retail customers, as well as resellers that purchase wireless network access from us on a wholesale basis.

Our Business segment provides wireless and wireline communications services and products, video and data services, corporate networking solutions, security and managed network services, local and long distance voice services and network access to deliver various Internet of Things (IoT) services and products. We provide these products and services to businesses, government customers and wireless and wireline carriers across the U.S. and select products and services to customers around the world.

Basis of Presentation

We have reclassified certain prior year amounts to conform to the current year presentation, including impacts for changes in our reportable segments.

Earnings Per Common Share

There were a total of approximately 2 million outstanding dilutive securities, primarily consisting of restricted stock units, included in the computation of diluted earnings per common share for both the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019. There were a total of approximately 4 million outstanding dilutive securities, primarily consisting of restricted stock units, included in the computation of diluted earnings per common share for both the three and nine months ended September 30, 2018.

Cash, Cash Equivalents and Restricted Cash

We consider all highly liquid investments with an original maturity of 90 days or less when purchased to be cash equivalents. Cash equivalents are stated at cost, which approximates quoted market value and includes amounts held in money market funds.

Cash collections on the device payment plan agreement receivables collateralizing asset-backed debt securities are required at certain specified times to be placed into segregated accounts. Deposits to the segregated accounts are considered restricted cash and are included in Prepaid expenses and other and Other assets in our condensed consolidated balance sheets.

Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash are included in the following line items in the condensed consolidated balance sheets:

	At September 30,		At December 31,		Increase / (Decrease)
(dollars in millions)	2019		2018
Cash and cash equivalents	$	3,020	$	2,745	$	275
Restricted cash:
Prepaid expenses and other	1,077		1,047		30
Other assets	109		124		(15		)
Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash	$	4,206	$	3,916	$	290

Goodwill

Goodwill is the excess of the acquisition cost of businesses over the fair value of the identifiable net assets acquired. Impairment testing for goodwill is performed annually in the fourth quarter or more frequently if impairment indicators are present. We transitioned into our new segment reporting structure effective April 1, 2019, which resulted in certain changes to our operating segments and reporting units. Upon the

8

date of reorganization, the goodwill of our historical Wireless reporting unit, historical Wireline reporting unit and historical Verizon Connect reporting unit were reallocated to our new Consumer and Business reporting units using a relative fair value approach.

We performed an impairment assessment of the impacted reporting units, specifically our historical Wireless, historical Wireline and historical Connect reporting units on March 31, 2019, immediately before our strategic reorganization became effective. Our impairment assessments indicated that the fair value for each of our historical Wireless, historical Wireline and historical Connect reporting units exceeded their respective carrying value, and therefore did not result in a goodwill impairment. We then performed an impairment assessment for our Consumer and Business reporting units on April 1, 2019, immediately following our strategic reorganization. Our impairment assessments indicated that the fair value for each of our Consumer and Business reporting units exceeded their respective carrying values and therefore, did not result in a goodwill impairment. Our Media reporting unit was not impacted by the strategic reorganization and there was no indicator of impairment.

Recently Adopted Accounting Standard

The following Accounting Standard Updates (ASUs) were issued by Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB), and have been recently adopted by Verizon.

Description	Date of Adoption	Effect on Financial Statements
ASU 2016-02, ASU 2018-01, ASU 2018-10, ASU 2018-11, ASU 2018-20 and ASU 2019-01, Leases (Topic 842)
The FASB issued Topic 842 requiring entities to recognize assets and liabilities on the balance sheet for all leases, with certain exceptions. In addition, Topic 842 enables users of financial statements to further understand the amount, timing and uncertainty of cash flows arising from leases. Topic 842 allowed for a modified retrospective application and was effective as of the first quarter of 2019. Entities were allowed to apply the modified retrospective approach: (1) retrospectively to each prior reporting period presented in the financial statements with the cumulative-effect adjustment recognized at the beginning of the earliest comparative period presented; or (2) retrospectively at the beginning of the period of adoption (January 1, 2019) through a cumulative-effect adjustment. The modified retrospective approach includes a number of optional practical expedients that entities may elect to apply.	1/1/2019	We adopted Topic 842 beginning on January 1, 2019, using the modified retrospective approach with a cumulative-effect adjustment to opening retained earnings recorded at the beginning of the period of adoption. Therefore, upon adoption, we have recognized and measured leases without revising comparative period information or disclosure. We recorded an increase of $410 million (net of tax) to retained earnings on January 1, 2019 which related to deferred sale leaseback gains recognized from prior transactions. Additionally, the adoption of the standard had a significant impact in our condensed consolidated balance sheet due to the recognition of $22.1 billion of operating lease liabilities, along with $23.2 billion of operating lease right-of-use-assets.

The cumulative after-tax effect of the changes made to our condensed consolidated balance sheet for the adoption of Topic 842 were as follows:

(dollars in millions)	At December 31, 2018		Adjustments due to Topic 842			At January 1, 2019
Prepaid expenses and other	$	5,453	$	(329	)	$	5,124
Operating lease right-of-use assets	—		23,241			23,241
Other assets	11,717		(2,048		)	9,669
Accounts payable and accrued liabilities	22,501		(3		)	22,498
Other current liabilities	8,239		(2		)	8,237
Current operating lease liabilities	—		2,931			2,931
Deferred income taxes	33,795		139			33,934
Non-current operating lease liabilities	—		19,203			19,203
Other liabilities	13,922		(1,815		)	12,107
Retained earnings	43,542		410			43,952
Noncontrolling interests	1,565		1			1,566

In addition to the increase to the operating lease liabilities and right-of-use assets and the derecognition of deferred sale leaseback gains through opening retained earnings, Topic 842 also resulted in reclassifying the presentation of prepaid and deferred rent to operating lease right-of-use assets. The operating lease right-of-use assets amount also includes the balance of any prepaid lease payments, unamortized initial direct costs and lease incentives.

We elected the package of practical expedients permitted under the transition guidance within the new standard. Accordingly, we have adopted these practical expedients and did not reassess: (1) whether an expired or existing contract is a lease or contains an embedded lease; (2) lease classification of an expired or existing lease; or (3) capitalization of initial direct costs for an expired or existing lease. In addition, we have elected the land easement transition practical expedient, and did not reassess whether an existing or expired land easement is a lease or contains a lease if it has not historically been accounted for as a lease.

We lease network equipment including towers, distributed antenna systems, small cells, real estate, connectivity mediums which include dark fiber, equipment, and other various types of assets for use in our operations under both operating and finance leases. We assess whether an arrangement is a lease or contains a lease at inception. For arrangements considered leases or that contain a lease that is accounted for separately,

9

we determine the classification and initial measurement of the right-of-use asset and lease liability at the lease commencement date, which is the date that the underlying asset becomes available for use.

For both operating and finance leases, we recognize a right-of-use asset, which represents our right to use the underlying asset for the lease term, and a lease liability, which represents the present value of our obligation to make payments arising over the lease term. The present value of the lease payments is calculated using the incremental borrowing rate for operating and finance leases. The incremental borrowing rate is determined using a portfolio approach based on the rate of interest that the Company would have to pay to borrow an amount equal to the lease payments on a collateralized basis over a similar term. Management uses the unsecured borrowing rate and risk-adjusts that rate to approximate a collateralized rate, which will be updated on a quarterly basis for measurement of new lease liabilities.

In those circumstances where the Company is the lessee, we have elected to account for non-lease components associated with our leases (e.g., common area maintenance costs) and lease components as a single lease component for substantially all of our asset classes. Additionally, in arrangements where we are the lessor, we have customer premise equipment for which we apply the lease and non-lease component practical expedient and account for non-lease components (e.g., service revenue) and lease components as combined components under the revenue recognition guidance in ASU 2014-09, "Revenue from Contracts with Customers" (Topic 606) as the service revenues are the predominant components in the arrangements.

Rent expense for operating leases is recognized on a straight-line basis over the term of the lease and is included in either Cost of services or Selling, general and administrative expense in our condensed consolidated statements of income, based on the use of the facility on which rent is being paid. Variable rent payments related to both operating and finance leases are expensed in the period incurred. Our variable lease payments consist of payments dependent on various external indicators, including real estate taxes, common area maintenance charges and utility usage.

Operating leases with a term of 12 months or less are not recorded on the balance sheet; we recognize a rent expense for these leases on a straight-line basis over the lease term.

We recognize the amortization of the right-of-use asset for our finance leases on a straight-line basis over the shorter of the term of the lease or the useful life of the right-of-use asset in Depreciation and amortization expense in our condensed consolidated statements of income. The interest expense related to finance leases is recognized using the effective interest method based on the discount rate determined at lease commencement and is included within Interest expense in our condensed consolidated statements of income.

See Note 5 for additional information related to leases, including disclosure required under Topic 842.

Recently Issued Accounting Standards

The following ASUs have been recently issued by the FASB.

Description	Date of Adoption	Effect on Financial Statements
ASU 2016-13, ASU 2018-19, ASU 2019-04, ASU 2019-05, Financial Instruments - Credit Losses (Topic 326)
In June 2016, the FASB issued this standard update which requires certain financial assets be measured at amortized cost net of an allowance for estimated credit losses such that the net receivable represents the present value of expected cash collection. In addition, this standard update requires that certain financial assets be measured at amortized cost reflecting an allowance for estimated credit losses expected to occur over the life of the assets. The estimate of credit losses must be based on all relevant information including historical information, current conditions and reasonable and supportable forecasts that affect the collectability of the amounts. An entity will apply the update through a cumulative effect adjustment to retained earnings as of the beginning of the first reporting period in which the guidance is effective (January 1, 2020). A prospective transition approach is required for debt securities for which an other-than-temporary impairment has been recognized before the effective date. Early adoption of this standard is permitted.	1/1/2020	Over the course of 2019, our cross-functional coordinated team has been evaluating the requirements and scoping the possible impacts that this standard update will have on our various financial assets, which we expected to include, but were not limited to, our device payment plan agreement receivables, service receivables and contract assets. During the fourth quarter of 2019, we will be finalizing our assessment of the expected impacts to our accounting, reporting, processes and internal controls arising from this standard update which we will adopt on January 1, 2020. Although we have not yet finalized our evaluation of the standard update, we do not currently expect the impact to be significant. We anticipate any impact will be primarily related to certain device payment plan agreement receivables.

Note 2. Revenues and Contract Costs

We earn revenue from contracts with customers, primarily through the provision of telecommunications and other services and through the sale of wireless equipment.

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Revenue by Category

We have two reportable segments that we operate and manage as strategic business units - Consumer and Business. Revenue is disaggregated by products and services within Consumer, and customer groups (Global Enterprise, Small and Medium Business, Public Sector and Other and Wholesale) within Business. See Note 11 for additional information on revenue by segment.

Corporate and other includes the results of our media business, Verizon Media Group (Verizon Media), which operated under the "Oath" brand until January 2019, and other businesses. Verizon Media generated revenues from contracts with customers under Topic 606 of approximately $1.8 billion and $5.4 billion, during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019, respectively. Verizon Media generated revenues from contracts with customers under Topic 606 of approximately $1.8 billion and $5.6 billion during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2018, respectively.

We also earn revenues that are not accounted for under Topic 606, from leasing arrangements (such as towers), captive reinsurance arrangements primarily related to wireless device insurance and the interest on equipment financed on a device payment plan agreement when sold to the customer by an authorized agent. As allowed by the practical expedient within Topic 842, we have elected to combine the lease and non-lease components for those arrangements of customer premise equipment where we are the lessor as components accounted for under Topic 606. During the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019, revenues from arrangements that were not accounted for under Topic 606 were approximately $779 million and $2.4 billion, respectively. During the three and nine months ended September 30, 2018, revenues from arrangements that were not accounted for under Topic 606 were approximately $1.1 billion and $3.4 billion, respectively.

Remaining Performance Obligations

When allocating the total contract transaction price to identified performance obligations, a portion of the total transaction price may relate to service performance obligations which were not satisfied or are partially satisfied as of the end of the reporting period. Below we disclose information relating to these unsatisfied performance obligations. Upon adoption, we elected to apply the practical expedient available under Topic 606 that provides the option to exclude the expected revenues arising from unsatisfied performance obligations related to contracts that have an original expected duration of one year or less. This situation primarily arises with respect to certain month-to-month service contracts. At September 30, 2019, month-to-month service contracts represented approximately 87% of our wireless postpaid contracts and approximately 59% of our wireline Consumer and Small and Medium Business contracts, compared to September 30, 2018, for which month-to-month service contracts represented approximately 85% of our wireless postpaid contracts and 56% of our wireline Consumer and Small and Medium Business contracts.

Additionally, certain contracts provide customers the option to purchase additional services. The fees related to these additional services are recognized when the customer exercises the option (typically on a month-to-month basis).

Contracts for wireless services are generally either month-to-month and cancellable at any time (typically under a device payment plan) or contain terms ranging from greater than one month to up to two years (typically under a fixed-term plan). Additionally, customers may incur charges based on usage or additional optional services purchased in conjunction with entering into a contract that can be cancelled at any time and therefore are not included in the transaction price. The transaction price allocated to service performance obligations, which are not satisfied or are partially satisfied as of the end of the reporting period, are generally related to our fixed-term plans.

Our Consumer group customers also include traditional wholesale resellers that purchase and resell wireless service under their own brands to their respective customers. Reseller arrangements generally include a stated contract term, which typically extends longer than two years and, in some cases, include a periodic minimum revenue commitment over the contract term for which revenues will be recognized in future periods.

Consumer customer contracts for wireline services generally have a service term of two years; however, this term may be shorter than twelve months or may be month-to-month. Certain contracts with Business customers for wireline services extend into future periods, contain fixed monthly fees and usage-based fees, and can include annual commitments in each year of the contract or commitments over the entire specified contract term; however, a significant number of contracts for wireline services with our Business customers have a contract term that is twelve months or less.

Additionally, there are certain contracts with Business customers for wireline services that have a contractual minimum fee over the total contract term. We cannot predict the time period when revenue will be recognized related to those contracts; thus, they are excluded from the time bands below. These contracts have varying terms spanning over approximately five years ending in September 2024 and have aggregate contract minimum payments totaling $3.7 billion.

At September 30, 2019, the transaction price related to unsatisfied performance obligations for total Verizon that is expected to be recognized for 2019, 2020 and thereafter was $5.8 billion, $17.3 billion and $7.6 billion, respectively. Remaining performance obligation estimates are subject to change and are affected by several factors, including terminations and changes in the timing and scope of contracts, arising from contract modifications.

Accounts Receivable and Contract Balances

The timing of revenue recognition may differ from the time of billing to our customers. Receivables presented in our condensed consolidated balance sheet represent an unconditional right to consideration. Contract balances represent amounts from an arrangement when either Verizon has performed, by transferring goods or services to the customer in advance of receiving all or partial consideration for such goods and services

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from the customer, or the customer has made payment to Verizon in advance of obtaining control of the goods and/or services promised to the customer in the contract.

Contract assets primarily relate to our rights to consideration for goods or services provided to customers but for which we do not have an unconditional right at the reporting date. Under a fixed-term plan, total contract revenue is allocated between wireless service and equipment revenues. In conjunction with these arrangements, a contract asset is created, which represents the difference between the amount of equipment revenue recognized upon sale and the amount of consideration received from the customer when the performance obligation related to the transfer of control of the equipment is satisfied. The contract asset is reclassified to accounts receivable as wireless services are provided and billed. We have the right to bill the customer as service is provided over time, which results in our right to the payment being unconditional. The contract asset balances are presented in our condensed consolidated balance sheet as Prepaid expenses and other and Other assets. We assess our contract assets for impairment on a quarterly basis and will recognize an impairment charge to the extent their carrying amount is not recoverable.

Contract liabilities arise when we bill our customers and receive consideration in advance of providing the goods or services promised in the contract. We typically bill service one month in advance, which is the primary component of the contract liability balance. Contract liabilities are recognized as revenue when services are provided to the customer. The contract liability balances are presented in our condensed consolidated balance sheet as Other current liabilities and Other liabilities.

The following table presents information about receivables from contracts with customers:

	At September 30,		At January 1,		At September 30,		At January 1,
(dollars in millions)	2019		2019		2018		2018
Receivables(1)	$	11,900	$	12,104	$	11,966	$	12,073
Device payment plan agreement receivables(2)	10,538		8,940		6,723		1,461

⁽¹⁾  Balances do not include receivables related to the following contracts: leasing arrangements (such as towers), captive reinsurance arrangements primarily related to wireless device insurance and the interest on equipment financed on a device payment plan agreement when sold to the customer by an authorized agent.

⁽²⁾  Included in device payment plan agreement receivables presented in Note 7. Balances do not include receivables related to contracts completed prior to January 1, 2018 and receivables derived from the sale of equipment on a device payment plan through an authorized agent.

The following table presents information about contract balances:

	At September 30,		At January 1,		At September 30,		At January 1,
(dollars in millions)	2019		2019		2018		2018
Contract asset	$	1,102	$	1,003	$	997	$	1,170
Contract liability (1)	5,082		4,943		4,693		4,452

⁽¹⁾ Revenue recognized related to contract liabilities existing at January 1, 2019 and January 1, 2018 were $235 million and $4.1 billion, for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019, respectively, and $101 million and $3.9 billion, for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2018.

The balance of contract assets and contract liabilities recorded in our condensed consolidated balance sheet were as follows:

	At September 30,		At December 31,
(dollars in millions)	2019		2018
Assets
Prepaid expenses and other	$	818	$	757
Other assets	284		246
Total	$	1,102	$	1,003
Liabilities
Other current liabilities	$	4,480	$	4,207
Other liabilities	602		736
Total	$	5,082	$	4,943

Contract Costs

Topic 606 requires the recognition of an asset for incremental costs to obtain a customer contract, which are then amortized to expense over the respective periods of expected benefit. We recognize an asset for incremental commission expenses paid to internal and external sales personnel and agents in conjunction with obtaining customer contracts. We only defer these costs when we have determined the commissions are incremental costs that would not have been incurred absent the customer contract and are expected to be recoverable. Costs to obtain a contract are amortized and recorded ratably as commission expense over the period representing the transfer of goods or services to which the assets relate. Costs to obtain wireless contracts are amortized over both of our Consumer and Business customers' estimated device upgrade cycles, as such costs are typically incurred each time a customer upgrades. Costs to obtain wireline contracts are amortized as expense over the estimated customer

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relationship period for our Consumer customers. Incremental costs to obtain wireline contracts for our Business customers are insignificant. Costs to obtain contracts are recorded in Selling, general and administrative expense.

We also defer costs incurred to fulfill contracts that: (1) relate directly to the contract; (2) are expected to generate resources that will be used to satisfy our performance obligation under the contract; and (3) are expected to be recovered through revenue generated under the contract. Contract fulfillment costs are expensed as we satisfy our performance obligations and recorded in Cost of services. These costs principally relate to direct costs that enhance our wireline business resources, such as costs incurred to install circuits.

We determine the amortization periods for our costs incurred to obtain or fulfill a customer contract at a portfolio level due to the similarities within these customer contract portfolios.

Other costs, such as general costs or costs related to past performance obligations, are expensed as incurred.

Collectively, costs to obtain a contract and costs to fulfill a contract are referred to as deferred contract costs, and amortized over a two- to five-year period. Deferred contract costs are classified as current or non-current within Prepaid expenses and other and Other assets, respectively.

The balances of deferred contract costs included in our condensed consolidated balance sheet were as follows:

	At September 30,		At December 31,
(dollars in millions)	2019		2018
Assets
Prepaid expenses and other	$	2,455	$	2,083
Other assets	1,793		1,812
Total	$	4,248	$	3,895

For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019, we recognized expense of $687 million and $1.9 billion, respectively, associated with the amortization of deferred contract costs, primarily within Selling, general and administrative expense in our condensed consolidated statements of income. For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2018, we recognized expense of $523 million and $1.4 billion, respectively, associated with the amortization of deferred contract costs, primarily within Selling, general and administrative expense in our condensed consolidated statements of income.

We assess our deferred contract costs for impairment on a quarterly basis. We recognize an impairment charge to the extent the carrying amount of a deferred cost exceeds the remaining amount of consideration we expect to receive in exchange for the goods and services related to the cost, less the expected costs related directly to providing those goods and services that have not yet been recognized as expenses. There have been no impairment charges recognized for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019 or September 30, 2018.

Note 3. Acquisitions and Divestitures

Spectrum License Transactions

In 2019, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) completed two millimeter wave spectrum license auctions. Verizon participated in these auctions and was the high bidder on 9 and 1,066 licenses, respectively, in the 24 Gigahertz (GHz) and 28 GHz bands. We submitted an application to the FCC and paid cash of approximately $521 million for the licenses. The deposits related to these spectrum licenses are classified within Other assets in our condensed consolidated balance sheets as of September 30, 2019.

During both the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019, we entered into and completed various other wireless license transactions for an insignificant amount of cash consideration.

Other

In July 2019, Verizon completed a sale-leaseback transaction for buildings and real estate. See Note 5 for additional information related to the transaction. In connection with this transaction and other insignificant transactions, we recorded a pre-tax net gain from dispositions of assets and businesses of $261 million in Selling, general and administrative expense in our condensed consolidated statements of income for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019.

During both the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019, we completed various other transactions for insignificant amounts of cash consideration.

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Note 4. Wireless Licenses, Goodwill, and Other Intangible Assets

Wireless Licenses

The carrying amounts of Wireless licenses are as follows:

	At September 30,		At December 31,
(dollars in millions)	2019		2018
Wireless licenses	$	94,433	$	94,130

At September 30, 2019 and 2018, approximately $6.5 billion and $11.1 billion, respectively, of wireless licenses were under development for commercial service for which we were capitalizing interest costs. We recorded approximately $248 million and $406 million of capitalized interest on wireless licenses for the nine months ended September 30, 2019 and 2018, respectively.

The average remaining renewal period of our wireless licenses portfolio was 4.1 years as of September 30, 2019.

Goodwill

The Company transitioned into our new reporting structure as of April 1, 2019. The table below shows the reallocation of goodwill from our historical reporting structure to our current reporting structure.

Changes in the carrying amount of Goodwill are as follows:

(dollars in millions)	Consumer		Business			Wireless			Wireline			Other (1)			Total
Balance at January 1, 2019	$	—	$	—		$	18,397		$	3,871		$	2,346		$	24,614
Acquisitions	—		—			—			20			—			20
Reclassifications, adjustments and other	—		—			—			1			—			1
Balance at March 31, 2019	—		—			18,397			3,892			2,346			24,635
Reporting Unit reallocation (2)	17,104		7,269			(18,397		)	(3,892		)	(2,084		)	—
Balance at April 1, 2019	17,104		7,269			—			—			262			24,635
Acquisitions	—		2			—			—			—			2
Reclassifications, adjustments and other	—		(7		)	—			—			(60		)	(67		)
Balance at September 30, 2019	$	17,104	$	7,264		$	—		$	—		$	202		$	24,570

⁽¹⁾ Goodwill is net of accumulated impairment charge of $4.6 billion, related to our Media reporting unit, which was recorded in the fourth quarter of 2018.

⁽²⁾ Represents the reallocation of goodwill as a result of the Company reorganizing its segments as described in Note 1.

Other Intangible Assets

The following table displays the composition of Other intangible assets, net:

	At September 30, 2019							At December 31, 2018
(dollars in millions)	Gross Amount		Accumulated Amortization			Net Amount		Gross Amount		Accumulated Amortization			Net Amount
Customer lists (8 to 13 years)	$	3,895	$	(1,393	)	$	2,502	$	3,951	$	(1,121	)	$	2,830
Non-network internal-use software (3 to 7 years)	19,721		(13,990		)	5,731		18,603		(12,785		)	5,818
Other (2 to 25 years)	1,968		(937		)	1,031		1,988		(861		)	1,127
Total	$	25,584	$	(16,320	)	$	9,264	$	24,542	$	(14,767	)	$	9,775

The amortization expense for Other intangible assets was as follows: 

	Three Months Ended		Nine Months Ended
(dollars in millions)	September 30,		September 30,
2019	$	580	$	1,704
2018	557		1,648

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The estimated future amortization expense for Other intangible assets for the remainder of the current year and next 5 years is as follows:

Years	(dollars in millions)
Remainder of 2019	$	571
2020	2,046
2021	1,751
2022	1,471
2023	1,163
2024	821

Note 5. Leasing Arrangements

We enter into various lease arrangements for network equipment including towers, distributed antenna systems, small cells, real estate and connectivity mediums including dark fiber, equipment, and other various types of assets for use in our operations. Our leases have remaining lease terms ranging from 1 year to 28 years, some of which include options that we can elect to extend the leases term for up to 25 years, and some of which include options to terminate the leases. For the majority of leases entered into during the current period, we have concluded it is not reasonably certain that we would exercise the options to extend the lease or terminate the lease. Therefore, as of the lease commencement date, our lease terms generally do not include these options. We include options to extend the lease when it is reasonably certain that we will exercise that option.

During March 2015, we completed a transaction with American Tower Corporation (American Tower) pursuant to which American Tower acquired the exclusive rights to lease and operate approximately 11,300 of our wireless towers for an upfront payment of $5.0 billion. We have subleased capacity on the towers from American Tower for a minimum of 10 years at current market rates in 2015, with options to renew. We continue to include the towers in Property, plant and equipment, net in our condensed consolidated balance sheets and depreciate them accordingly. In addition to the rights to lease and operate the towers, American Tower assumed the interest in the underlying ground leases related to these towers. While American Tower can renegotiate the terms of and is responsible for paying the ground leases, we are still the primary obligor for these leases and accordingly, the present value of these ground leases are included in our operating lease right-of-use assets and operating lease liabilities. We do not expect to be required to make ground lease payments unless American Tower defaults, which we determined to be remote.

The components of net lease cost were as follows:

		Three Months Ended			Nine Months Ended
		September 30,			September 30,
(dollars in millions)	Classification	2019			2019
Operating lease cost (1)	Cost of services Selling, general and administrative expense	$	1,202		$	3,550
Finance lease cost:
Amortization of right-of-use assets	Depreciation and amortization expense	76			244
Interest on lease liabilities	Interest expense	9			28
Short-term lease cost (1)	Cost of services Selling, general and administrative expense	8			32
Variable lease cost (1)	Cost of services Selling, general and administrative expense	55			163
Sublease income	Service revenues and other	(68		)	(202		)
Total net lease cost		$	1,282		$	3,815
Gain on sale and leaseback transaction, net	Selling, general and administrative expense	$	(391	)	$	(391	)

⁽¹⁾ All operating lease costs, including short-term and variable lease costs, are split between Cost of services and Selling, general and administrative expense in the condensed consolidated statements of income based on the use of the facility that the rent is being paid on. See Note 1 for additional information. Variable lease costs represent payments that are dependent on a rate or index, or on usage of the asset.

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Supplemental disclosure for the statement of cash flows related to operating and finance leases were as follows:

	Nine Months Ended
	September 30,
(dollars in millions)	2019
Cash Flows from Operating Activities
Cash paid for amounts included in the measurement of lease liabilities
Operating cash flows for operating leases	$	(3,192	)
Operating cash flows for finance leases	(28		)
Cash Flows from Financing Activities
Financing cash flows for finance leases	(267		)
Supplemental lease cash flow disclosures
Operating lease right-of-use assets obtained in exchange for new operating lease liabilities	2,097
Right-of-use assets obtained in exchange for new finance lease liabilities	356

Supplemental disclosures for the balance sheet related to finance leases were as follows:

	At September 30,
(dollars in millions)	2019
Assets
Property, plant and equipment, net	$	858
Liabilities
Debt maturing within one year	$	327
Long-term debt	667
Total Finance lease liabilities	$	994

The weighted-average remaining lease term and the weighted-average discount rate of our leases were as follows:

	At September 30,
	2019
Weighted-average remaining lease term (years)
Operating Leases	9
Finance Leases	4
Weighted-average discount rate
Operating Leases	4.1	%
Finance Leases	3.9	%

The Company's maturity analysis of operating and finance lease liabilities as of September 30, 2019 were as follows:

(dollars in millions)	Operating Leases			Finance Leases
Remainder of 2019	$	1,009		$	93
2020	3,896			329
2021	3,558			232
2022	3,162			172
2023	2,807			118
Thereafter	11,344			146
Total lease payments	25,776			1,090
Less interest	(4,603		)	(96		)
Present value of lease liabilities	21,173			994
Less current obligation	(2,959		)	(327		)
Long-term obligation at September 30, 2019	$	18,214		$	667

As of September 30, 2019, we have contractually obligated lease payments amounting to $1.4 billion for office facility operating leases and small cell colocation and fiber operating leases that have not yet commenced. We have legally obligated lease payments for various other operating leases that have not yet commenced for which the total obligation was not significant. We have certain rights and obligations for these leases, but have not recognized an operating lease right-of-use asset or an operating lease liability since they have not yet commenced.

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Real Estate Transaction

On July 23, 2019, Verizon completed a sale-leaseback transaction for buildings and real estate. We received total gross proceeds of approximately $1.0 billion. We leased back a portion of the buildings and real estate sold and accounted for it as an operating lease. The term of the leaseback is for two years with four options to renew for an additional three months each. The proceeds received as a result of this transaction have been classified in Other, net within Cash Flows from Investing Activities in our condensed consolidated statement of cash flows for the nine months ended September 30, 2019. The net gain as a result of this transaction is included in the components of net lease cost table above.

Note 6. Debt

Significant Debt Transactions

The following table shows the transactions that occurred during the nine months ended September 30, 2019.

February Exchange Offers

(dollars in millions)	Principal Amount Exchanged		Principal Amount Issued
Verizon 1.750% - 5.150% notes and floating rate notes, due 2021 - 2025	$	3,892	$	—
GTE LLC 8.750% debentures, due 2021	21		—
Verizon 4.016% notes due 2029 (1)	—		4,000
Total	$	3,913	$	4,000

⁽¹⁾ Total exchange amount issued in consideration does not include an insignificant amount of cash used to settle.

May Tender Offers

(dollars in millions)	Principal Amount Purchased		Cash Consideration(1)
Verizon 5.012% notes due 2054	$	3,192	$	3,626
Verizon 4.672% notes due 2055	1,308		1,404
Total	$	4,500	$	5,030

⁽¹⁾ In addition to the purchase price, any accrued and unpaid interest on the purchased notes was paid to the date of purchase.

Debt Redemptions, Repurchases and Repayments

(dollars in millions)	Principal Redeemed / Repaid		Amount Paid as % of Principal (1)
Three Months Ended March 31, 2019
Verizon 5.900% notes due 2054	$	500	100.000	%
Verizon 1.375% notes due 2019	206		100.000	%
Verizon 1.750% notes due 2021	621		100.000	%
Verizon 3.000% notes due 2021	930		101.061	%
Verizon 3.500% notes due 2021	315		102.180	%
Open market repurchases of various Verizon notes	163		Various
Three Months Ended March 31, 2019 total	2,735
Three Months Ended June 30, 2019
Verizon 2.625% notes due 2020	831		100.037	%
Verizon 3.500% notes due 2021	736		102.238	%
Verizon floating rate (LIBOR + 0.770%) notes due 2019	229		100.000	%
Three Months Ended June 30, 2019 total	1,796
Three Months Ended September 30, 2019
Verizon 4.200% notes due 2046	2,059		100.000	%
Verizon floating rate (LIBOR + 0.370%) notes due 2019	306		100.000	%
Verizon 2.600% - 4.300% Internotes due 2022 - 2029	177		100.000	%
Three Months Ended September 30, 2019 total	2,542
Nine Months Ended September 30, 2019 total	$	7,073

⁽¹⁾ Percentages represent price paid to redeem, repurchase and repay.

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Debt Issuances

(amounts in millions)	Principal Amount Issued		Net Proceeds (1)
Three Months Ended March 31, 2019
Verizon 3.875% notes due 2029 (2)	$	1,000	$	994
Verizon 5.000% notes due 2051	510		506
Three Months Ended March 31, 2019 total	$	1,510	1,500
Three Months Ended June 30, 2019
Verizon 0.875% notes due 2027	€	1,250	1,391
Verizon 1.250% notes due 2030	€	1,250	1,385
Verizon 2.500% notes due 2031	£	500	647
Three Months Ended June 30, 2019 total			3,423
Three Months Ended September 30, 2019
Verizon 0.875% notes due 2032	€	800	882
Verizon 1.500% notes due 2039	€	500	545
Verizon 1.875% Notes due 2030	£	550	672
Three Months Ended September 30, 2019 total			2,099
Nine Months Ended September 30, 2019 total			$	7,022

⁽¹⁾ Net proceeds were net of discount and issuance costs.

⁽²⁾ An amount equal to the net proceeds from this green bond will be used to fund, in whole or in part, "Eligible Green Investments." "Eligible Green Investments" include new and existing investments made by us during the period from two years prior to the issuance of the green bond through the maturity date of the green bond, in the following categories: (1) renewable energy; (2) energy efficiency; (3) green buildings; (4) sustainable water management; and (5) biodiversity and conservation.

Commercial Paper Program

As of September 30, 2019, we had no commercial paper outstanding.

Asset-Backed Debt

As of September 30, 2019, the carrying value of our asset-backed debt was $8.8 billion. Our asset-backed debt includes Asset-Backed Notes (ABS Notes) issued to third-party investors (Investors) and loans (ABS Financing Facilities) received from banks and their conduit facilities (collectively, the Banks). Our consolidated asset-backed debt bankruptcy remote legal entities (each, an ABS Entity or collectively, the ABS Entities) issue the debt or are otherwise party to the transaction documentation in connection with our asset-backed debt transactions. Under the terms of our asset-backed debt, Cellco Partnership (Cellco) and certain other affiliates of Verizon (collectively, the Originators) transfer device payment plan agreement receivables to one of the ABS Entities, which in turn transfers such receivables to another ABS Entity that issues the debt. Verizon entities retain the equity interests in the ABS Entities, which represent the rights to all funds not needed to make required payments on the asset-backed debt and other related payments and expenses.

Our asset-backed debt is secured by the transferred device payment plan agreement receivables and future collections on such receivables. The device payment plan agreement receivables transferred to the ABS Entities and related assets, consisting primarily of restricted cash, will only be available for payment of asset-backed debt and expenses related thereto, payments to the Originators in respect of additional transfers of device payment plan agreement receivables, and other obligations arising from our asset-backed debt transactions, and will not be available to pay other obligations or claims of Verizon’s creditors until the associated asset-backed debt and other obligations are satisfied. The Investors or Banks, as applicable, which hold our asset-backed debt have legal recourse to the assets securing the debt, but do not have any recourse to Verizon with respect to the payment of principal and interest on the debt. Under a parent support agreement, Verizon has agreed to guarantee certain of the payment obligations of Cellco and the Originators to the ABS Entities.

Cash collections on the device payment plan agreement receivables collateralizing asset-backed debt securities are required at certain specified times to be placed into segregated accounts. Deposits to the segregated accounts are considered restricted cash and are included in Prepaid expenses and other and Other assets in our condensed consolidated balance sheets.

Proceeds from our asset-backed debt transactions are reflected in Cash flows from financing activities in our condensed consolidated statements of cash flows. The asset-backed debt issued and the assets securing this debt are included in our condensed consolidated balance sheets.

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ABS Notes

During the nine months ended September 30, 2019, we completed the following ABS Notes transactions:

(dollars in millions)	Interest Rates %		Expected Weighted-average Life to Maturity (in years)	Principal Amount Issued
March 2019
A-1a Senior class notes	2.930		2.50	$	900
A-1b Senior floating rate class notes	LIBOR + 0.330	(1)	2.50	100
B Junior class notes	3.020		3.22	69
C Junior class notes	3.220		3.40	53
March 2019 total				1,122
June 2019
A-1a Senior class notes	2.330		2.52	855
A-1b Senior floating rate class notes	LIBOR + 0.450	(1)	2.52	145
B Junior class notes	2.400		3.28	69
C Junior class notes	2.600		3.47	53
June 2019 total				1,122
Total				$	2,244

⁽¹⁾ The one-month London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) rate at September 30, 2019 was 2.016%.

Under the terms of each series of ABS Notes, there is a two year revolving period during which we may transfer additional receivables to the ABS Entity. In April 2019, the two year revolving period of the ABS Notes issued in March 2017 ended and we began to repay principal on the 2017-1 Class A senior ABS Notes. In July 2019, the two year revolving period of the ABS Notes issued in June 2017 ended and we began to repay principal on the 2017-2 Class A Notes. During the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019, we made aggregate principal repayments of $956 million and $2.3 billion, respectively, for all ABS Notes. In October 2019, we issued approximately $1.6 billion aggregate principal amount of senior and junior Asset-Backed Notes through an ABS Entity.

ABS Financing Facilities

In May 2018, we entered into an ABS financing facility with a number of financial institutions (2018 ABS Financing Facility). One loan agreement was entered into in connection with the 2018 ABS financing facility. In May 2019, the remaining $540 million outstanding under the loan agreement was prepaid, and the loan agreement was terminated.

In September 2016, we entered into an ABS Financing Facility with a number of financial institutions, which was amended and restated in May 2019 (2019 ABS Financing Facility). Under the terms of the 2019 ABS Financing Facility, the financial institutions made advances under asset-backed loans backed by device payment plan agreement receivables of both consumer and business customers. Two loan agreements were entered into in connection with the 2019 ABS Financing Facility in September 2016 and May 2017 and a third was entered into in May 2019. The 2016 and 2017 loan agreements had a final maturity date in March 2021 and bore interest at a floating rate. The two year revolving period of the two loan agreements ended in September 2018. The 2019 loan agreement has a final maturity date in May 2023 and bears interest at floating rates. There is a one year revolving period until May 2020, which may be extended with the approval of the financial institutions. Under all of the loan agreements, we have the right to prepay all or a portion of the advances at any time without penalty, but in certain cases, with breakage costs. Subject to certain conditions, we may also remove receivables from the ABS Entity. In April and May of 2019, we paid off both the 2016 and 2017 loans for an aggregate of $671 million primarily with proceeds from the 2019 loan agreement. In August 2019, we prepaid $1.5 billion of the loan made in May 2019 under the 2019 ABS Financing Facility. As of September 30, 2019, there was an outstanding balance under the 2019 ABS Financing Facility of $250 million.

Variable Interest Entities (VIEs)

The ABS Entities meet the definition of a VIE for which we have determined that we are the primary beneficiary as we have both the power to direct the activities of the entity that most significantly impact the entity’s performance and the obligation to absorb losses or the right to receive benefits of the entity. Therefore, the assets, liabilities and activities of the ABS Entities are consolidated in our financial results and are included in amounts presented on the face of our condensed consolidated balance sheets.

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The assets and liabilities related to our asset-backed debt arrangements included in our condensed consolidated balance sheets were as follows:

	At September 30,		At December 31,
(dollars in millions)	2019		2018
Assets
Account receivable, net	$	9,912	$	8,861
Prepaid expenses and other	1,016		989
Other assets	3,130		2,725
Liabilities
Accounts payable and accrued liabilities	8		7
Short-term portion of long-term debt	4,160		5,352
Long-term debt	4,640		4,724

See Note 7 for additional information on device payment plan agreement receivables used to secure asset-backed debt.

Credit Facilities

As of September 30, 2019, the unused borrowing capacity under our $9.5 billion credit facility was approximately $9.4 billion. The credit facility does not require us to comply with financial covenants or maintain specified credit ratings, and it permits us to borrow even if our business has incurred a material adverse change. We use the credit facility for the issuance of letters of credit and for general corporate purposes.

In March 2016, we entered into a $1.0 billion credit facility insured by Eksportkreditnamnden, an export credit agency, with a maturity date of December 2024. As of September 30, 2019, the outstanding balance was $647 million. We used this credit facility to finance network equipment-related purchases.

In July 2017, we entered into credit facilities insured by various export credit agencies providing us with the ability to borrow up to $4.0 billion to finance equipment-related purchases with maturity dates ranging from July 2022 to May 2027. The facilities have multiple borrowings available, portions of which extend through October 2019, contingent upon the amount of eligible equipment-related purchases that we make. During the nine months ended September 30, 2019, we drew down $874 million from these facilities, and we had an outstanding balance of $3.4 billion as of September 30, 2019. During the nine months ended September 30, 2018, we drew down $3.0 billion from these facilities.

Non-Cash Transaction

During the nine months ended September 30, 2019 and 2018, we financed, primarily through vendor financing arrangements, the purchase of approximately $356 million and $967 million, respectively, of long-lived assets consisting primarily of network equipment. At both September 30, 2019 and 2018, $1.0 billion and $1.1 billion, respectively, relating to these financing arrangements, including those entered into in prior years and liabilities assumed through acquisitions, remained outstanding. These purchases are non-cash financing activities and therefore are not reflected within Capital expenditures in our condensed consolidated statements of cash flows.

Early Debt Redemptions

During the three months ended September 30, 2019, we recorded insignificant losses on early debt redemptions. During the nine months ended September 30, 2019, we recorded losses on early debt redemptions of $1.6 billion primarily related to the May tender offers, which were recorded in Other income (expense), net in our condensed consolidated statements of income.

During the three and nine months ended September 30, 2018, we recorded losses on early debt redemptions of $420 million and $690 million, respectively, primarily related to the 2018 September tender offers for 8 series of notes issued by Verizon with coupon rates ranging from 3.850% to 5.012% with maturity dates ranging from 2039 to 2055. In addition, during the nine months ended September 30, 2018, we recorded losses on early debt redemptions primarily related to the 2018 March tender offers for 13 series of notes issued by Verizon with coupon rates ranging from 1.750% to 5.012% with maturity dates ranging from 2021 to 2055. We recorded losses on early debt redemptions in Other income (expense), net in our condensed consolidated statements of income.

Guarantees

We guarantee the debentures of our operating telephone company subsidiaries. As of September 30, 2019, $796 million aggregate principal amount of these obligations remained outstanding. Each guarantee will remain in place for the life of the obligation unless terminated pursuant to its terms, including the operating telephone company no longer being a wholly-owned subsidiary of Verizon.

We also guarantee the debt obligations of GTE LLC as successor in interest to GTE Corporation that were issued and outstanding prior to July 1, 2003. As of September 30, 2019, $423 million aggregate principal amount of these obligations remained outstanding.

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Note 7. Wireless Device Payment Plans

Under the Verizon device payment program, our eligible wireless customers purchase wireless devices under a device payment plan agreement. Customers that activate service on devices purchased under the device payment program pay lower service fees as compared to those under our fixed-term service plans, and their device payment plan charge is included on their wireless monthly bill. As of January 2017, we no longer offer Consumer customers new fixed-term, subsidized service plans for phones; however, we continue to offer subsidized plans to our Business customers. We also continue to service existing plans for customers who have not yet purchased and activated devices under the Verizon device payment program.

Wireless Device Payment Plan Agreement Receivables

The following table displays device payment plan agreement receivables, net, recognized in our condensed consolidated balance sheets:

	At September 30,			At December 31,
(dollars in millions)	2019			2018
Device payment plan agreement receivables, gross	$	18,261		$	19,313
Unamortized imputed interest	(434		)	(546		)
Device payment plan agreement receivables, net of unamortized imputed interest	17,827			18,767
Allowance for credit losses	(460		)	(597		)
Device payment plan agreement receivables, net	$	17,367		$	18,170
Classified in our condensed consolidated balance sheets:
Accounts receivable, net	$	12,504		$	12,624
Other assets	4,863			5,546
Device payment plan agreement receivables, net	$	17,367		$	18,170

Included in our device payment plan agreement receivables, net at September 30, 2019 and December 31, 2018, are net device payment plan agreement receivables of $13.0 billion and $11.5 billion, respectively, which have been transferred to ABS Entities and continue to be reported in our condensed consolidated balance sheets. See Note 6 for additional information. We believe the carrying value of our installment loans receivables approximate their fair value using a Level 3 expected cash flow model.

We may offer certain promotions that allow a customer to trade in their owned device in connection with the purchase of a new device. Under these types of promotions, the customer receives a credit for the value of the trade-in device. In addition, we may provide the customer with additional future credits that will be applied against the customer’s monthly bill as long as service is maintained. We recognize a liability for the customer's right to trade-in the device measured at fair value, which is determined by considering several factors, including the weighted-average selling prices obtained in recent resales of similar devices eligible for trade-in. Future credits are recognized when earned by the customer. Device payment plan agreement receivables, net does not reflect the trade-in device liability. At September 30, 2019 and December 31, 2018, the amount of trade-in liability was $73 million and $64 million, respectively.

From time to time, we offer certain marketing promotions that allow our customers to upgrade to a new device after paying down a certain specified portion of the required device payment plan agreement amount, as well as trading in their device in good working order. When a customer enters into a device payment plan agreement with the right to upgrade to a new device, we account for this trade-in right as a guarantee obligation.

For indirect channel wireless contracts with customers, we impute risk adjusted interest on the device payment plan agreement receivables. We record the imputed interest as a reduction to the related accounts receivable. Interest income, which is included within Service revenues and other in our condensed consolidated statements of income, is recognized over the financed device payment term.

When originating device payment plan agreements, we use internal and external data sources to create a credit risk score to measure the credit quality of a customer and to determine eligibility for the device payment program. If a customer is either new to Verizon Wireless or has 45 days or less of customer tenure with Verizon Wireless, the credit decision process relies more heavily on external data sources. If the customer has more than 45 days of customer tenure with Verizon Wireless (an existing customer), the credit decision process relies on a combination of internal and external data sources. External data sources include obtaining a credit report from a national consumer credit reporting agency, if available. Verizon Wireless uses its internal data and/or credit data obtained from the credit reporting agencies to create a custom credit risk score. The custom credit risk score is generated automatically (except with respect to a small number of applications where the information needs manual intervention) from the applicant’s credit data using Verizon Wireless’ proprietary custom credit models, which are empirically derived, demonstrably and statistically sound. The credit risk score measures the likelihood that the potential customer will become severely delinquent and be disconnected for non-payment. For a small portion of new customer applications, a traditional credit report is not available from one of the national credit reporting agencies because the potential customer does not have sufficient credit history. In those instances, alternative credit data is used for the risk assessment.

Based on the custom credit risk score, we assign each customer to a credit class, each of which has specified offers of credit including an account level spending limit and either a maximum amount of credit allowed per device or a required down payment percentage. During the fourth

21

quarter of 2018, Verizon Wireless moved all Consumer customers, new and existing, from a required down payment percentage, between zero and 100%, to a maximum amount of credit per device.

Subsequent to origination, Verizon Wireless monitors delinquency and write-off experience as key credit quality indicators for its portfolio of device payment plan agreements and fixed-term service plans. The extent of our collection efforts with respect to a particular customer are based on the results of proprietary custom empirically derived internal behavioral scoring models that analyze the customer’s past performance to predict the likelihood of the customer falling further delinquent. These customer scoring models assess a number of variables, including origination characteristics, customer account history and payment patterns. Based on the score derived from these models, accounts are grouped by risk category to determine the collection strategy to be applied to such accounts. We continuously monitor collection performance results and the credit quality of our device payment plan agreement receivables based on a variety of metrics, including aging. Verizon Wireless considers an account to be delinquent and in default status if there are unpaid charges remaining on the account on the day after the bill’s due date.

The balance and aging of the device payment plan agreement receivables on a gross basis were as follows:

	At September 30,		At December 31,
(dollars in millions)	2019		2018
Unbilled	$	16,972	$	18,043
Billed:
Current	1,021		986
Past due	268		284
Device payment plan agreement receivables, gross	$	18,261	$	19,313

Activity in the allowance for credit losses for the device payment plan agreement receivables was as follows:

(dollars in millions)	2019			2018
Balance at January 1,	$	597		$	848
Bad debt expense	640			333
Write-offs	(777		)	(519		)
Balance at September 30,	$	460		$	662

Note 8. Fair Value Measurements

Recurring Fair Value Measurements

The following table presents the balances of assets and liabilities measured at fair value on a recurring basis as of September 30, 2019:

(dollars in millions)	Level 1(1)		Level 2(2)		Level 3(3)		Total
Assets:
Other assets:
Fixed income securities	$	—	$	444	$	—	$	444
Interest rate swaps	—		849		—		849
Cross currency swaps	—		79		—		79
Total	$	—	$	1,372	$	—	$	1,372
Liabilities:
Other liabilities:
Interest rate swaps	$	—	$	212	$	—	$	212
Cross currency swaps	—		1,381		—		1,381
Forward starting interest rate swaps	—		886		—		886
Foreign exchange forwards	—		10		—		10
Total	$	—	$	2,489	$	—	$	2,489

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The following table presents the balances of assets and liabilities measured at fair value on a recurring basis as of December 31, 2018:

(dollars in millions)	Level 1(1)		Level 2(2)		Level 3(3)		Total
Assets:
Other assets:
Fixed income securities	$	—	$	405	$	—	$	405
Interest rate swaps	—		3		—		3
Cross currency swaps	—		220		—		220
Interest rate caps	—		14		—		14
Total	$	—	$	642	$	—	$	642
Liabilities:
Other liabilities:
Interest rate swaps	$	—	$	813	$	—	$	813
Cross currency swaps	—		536		—		536
Forward starting interest rate swaps	—		60		—		60
Interest rate caps	—		4		—		4
Total	$	—	$	1,413	$	—	$	1,413

⁽¹⁾  Quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities

⁽²⁾  Observable inputs other than quoted prices in active markets for identical assets and liabilities

⁽³⁾  Unobservable pricing inputs in the market

Certain of our equity investments do not have readily determinable fair values and are excluded from the tables above. Such investments are measured at cost, less any impairment, plus or minus changes resulting from observable price changes in orderly transactions for an identical or similar investment of the same issuer and are included in Investments in unconsolidated businesses in our condensed consolidated balance sheets. As of September 30, 2019 and December 31, 2018, the carrying amount of our investments without readily determinable fair values were $293 million and $248 million, respectively. During the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019, there were insignificant adjustments due to observable price changes and there were no impairment charges. Cumulative adjustments due to observable price changes and impairment charges were $50 million and insignificant, respectively.

Fixed income securities consist primarily of investments in municipal bonds. For fixed income securities that do not have quoted prices in active markets, we use alternative matrix pricing resulting in these debt securities being classified as Level 2.

Derivative contracts are valued using models based on readily observable market parameters for all substantial terms of our derivative contracts and thus are classified within Level 2. We use mid-market pricing for fair value measurements of our derivative instruments. Our derivative instruments are recorded on a gross basis.

We recognize transfers between levels of the fair value hierarchy as of the end of the reporting period. There were no transfers between Level 1 and Level 2 during the nine months ended September 30, 2019 and 2018.

Fair Value of Short-term and Long-term Debt

The fair value of our debt is determined using various methods, including quoted prices for identical terms and maturities, which is a Level 1 measurement, as well as quoted prices for similar terms and maturities in inactive markets and future cash flows discounted at current rates, which are Level 2 measurements. The fair value of our short-term and long-term debt, excluding finance leases, was as follows:

	At September 30,				At December 31,
	2019				2018
(dollars in millions)	Carrying Amount		Fair Value		Carrying Amount		Fair Value
Short- and long-term debt, excluding finance leases	$	108,604	$	128,380	$	112,159	$	118,535

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Derivative Instruments

The following table sets forth the notional amounts of our outstanding derivative instruments:

	At September 30,		At December 31,
(dollars in millions)	2019		2018
Interest rate swaps	$	16,993	$	19,813
Cross currency swaps	22,212		16,638
Forward starting interest rate swaps	3,000		4,000
Interest rate caps	975		2,218
Foreign exchange forwards	1,085		600

Interest Rate Swaps

We enter into interest rate swaps to achieve a targeted mix of fixed and variable rate debt. We principally receive fixed rates and pay variable rates based on LIBOR, resulting in a net increase or decrease to Interest expense. These swaps are designated as fair value hedges and hedge against interest rate risk exposure of designated debt issuances. We record the interest rate swaps at fair value in our condensed consolidated balance sheets as assets and liabilities. Changes in the fair value of the interest rate swaps are recorded to Interest expense, which are offset by changes in the fair value of the hedged debt due to changes in interest rates.

During the nine months ended September 30, 2019, we entered into interest rate swaps with a total notional value of $510 million. During the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019, we settled interest rate swaps with a total notional value of $2.1 billion and $3.3 billion, respectively.

The ineffective portions of these interest rate swaps for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019 were insignificant and $88 million, respectively, and insignificant for the similar periods in 2018.

The following amounts were recorded in Long-term debt in our condensed consolidated balance sheets related to cumulative basis adjustments for fair value hedges:

	At September 30,		At December 31,
(dollars in millions)	2019		2018
Carrying amount of hedged liabilities	$	17,535	$	18,903
Cumulative amount of fair value hedging adjustment included in the carrying amount of the hedged liabilities	645		(785		)

Cross Currency Swaps

We have entered into cross currency swaps designated as cash flow hedges to exchange our British Pound Sterling, Euro, Swiss Franc and Australian Dollar-denominated cash flows into U.S. dollars and to fix our cash payments in U.S. dollars, as well as to mitigate the impact of foreign currency transaction gains or losses.

During the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019, we entered into cross currency swaps with a total notional value of $2.1 billion and $5.6 billion, respectively. During the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019, pre-tax losses of $658 million and $986 million, respectively, were recognized in Other comprehensive income (loss). During the three and nine months ended September 30, 2018, pre-tax gains of $214 million and $220 million, respectively, were recognized in Other comprehensive income (loss). A portion of the gains recognized in Other comprehensive income (loss) was reclassified to Other income (expense), net to offset the related pre-tax foreign currency transaction gain or loss on the underlying hedged item.

Forward Starting Interest Rate Swaps

We have entered into forward starting interest rate swaps designated as cash flow hedges in order to manage our exposure to interest rate changes on future forecasted transactions.

During the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019, we did not enter into any new forward starting interest rate swaps. During the three months ended September 30, 2019, we did not settle any forward starting interest rate swaps and for the nine months ended September 30, 2019, we settled forward starting interest rate swaps with a total notional value of $1.0 billion. During the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019, pre-tax losses of $350 million and $847 million, respectively, were recognized in Other comprehensive income (loss).

We hedge our exposure to the variability in future cash flows based on the expected maturities of the related forecasted debt issuance.

Net Investment Hedges

We have designated certain foreign currency debt instruments as net investment hedges to mitigate foreign exchange exposure related to non-U.S. dollar net investments in certain foreign subsidiaries against changes in foreign exchange rates. The notional amount of the Euro-denominated debt as a net investment hedge was €750 million as of both September 30, 2019 and December 31, 2018.

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Undesignated Derivatives

We also have the following derivative contracts which we use as economic hedges but for which we have elected not to apply hedge accounting.

Interest Rate Caps

We enter into interest rate caps to mitigate our interest exposure to interest rate increases on our ABS Financing Facilities and ABS Notes. During the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019 and 2018, we recognized an insignificant amount in Interest expense.

Foreign Exchange Forwards

We enter into British Pound Sterling and Euro foreign exchange forwards to mitigate our foreign exchange rate risk related to non-functional currency denominated monetary assets and liabilities of international subsidiaries. During the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019, we entered into foreign exchange forwards with a total notional value of $3.1 billion and $9.2 billion, respectively, and settled foreign exchange forwards with a total notional value of $3.0 billion and $8.6 billion, respectively. During the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019, pre-tax losses of an insignificant amount and $53 million, respectively, were recognized in Other income (expense), net.

Concentrations of Credit Risk

Financial instruments that subject us to concentrations of credit risk consist primarily of temporary cash investments, short-term and long-term investments, trade receivables, including device payment plan agreement receivables, certain notes receivable, including lease receivables, and derivative contracts.

Counterparties to our derivative contracts are major financial institutions with whom we have negotiated derivatives agreements (ISDA master agreements) and credit support annex (CSA) agreements which provide rules for collateral exchange. Negotiations and executions of new ISDA master agreements and CSA agreements with our counterparties continued throughout 2018 and 2019. The newly executed CSA agreements contain rating based thresholds such that we or our counterparties may be required to hold or post collateral based upon changes in outstanding positions as compared to established thresholds and changes in credit ratings. At September 30, 2019, we held an insignificant amount and at December 31, 2018, we posted approximately $0.1 billion of collateral related to derivative contracts under collateral exchange arrangements, which were recorded as Other current liabilities and Prepaid expenses and other, respectively, in our condensed consolidated balance sheets. While we may be exposed to credit losses due to the nonperformance of our counterparties, we consider the risk remote and do not expect that any such nonperformance would result in a significant effect on our results of operations or financial condition due to our diversified pool of counterparties.

Note 9. Employee Benefits

We maintain non-contributory defined benefit pension plans for certain employees. In addition, we maintain postretirement health care and life insurance plans for certain retirees and their dependents, which are both contributory and non-contributory, and include a limit on our share of the cost for certain current and future retirees. In accordance with our accounting policy for pension and other postretirement benefits, operating expenses include service costs associated with pension and other postretirement benefits while other credits and/or charges based on actuarial assumptions, including projected discount rates, an estimated return on plan assets, and impact from health care trend rates are reported in Other income (expense), net. These estimates are updated in the fourth quarter to reflect actual return on plan assets and updated actuarial assumptions or upon a remeasurement event. The adjustment is recognized in the income statement during the fourth quarter or upon a remeasurement event pursuant to our accounting policy for the recognition of actuarial gains and losses.

Net Periodic Benefit Cost (Income)

The following table summarizes the components of net periodic benefit cost (income) related to our pension and postretirement health care and life insurance plans:

	(dollars in millions)
	Pension						Health Care and Life
Three Months Ended September 30,	2019			2018			2019			2018
Service cost - Cost of services	$	51		$	57		$	20		$	26
Service cost - Selling, general and administrative expense	11			13			4			6
Service cost	$	62		$	70		$	24		$	32
Amortization of prior service cost (credit)	$	15		$	13		$	(242	)	$	(244	)
Expected return on plan assets	(282		)	(321		)	(9		)	(11		)
Interest cost	173			176			157			153
Remeasurement loss (gain), net	291			(454		)	—			—
Other components	$	197		$	(586	)	$	(94	)	$	(102	)
Total	$	259		$	(516	)	$	(70	)	$	(70	)

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	(dollars in millions)
	Pension						Health Care and Life
Nine Months Ended September 30,	2019			2018			2019			2018
Service cost - Cost of services	$	151		$	174		$	59		$	78
Service cost - Selling, general and administrative expense	34			41			13			18
Service cost	$	185		$	215		$	72		$	96
Amortization of prior service cost (credit)	$	46		$	33		$	(728	)	$	(732	)
Expected return on plan assets	(846		)	(979		)	(28		)	(33		)
Interest cost	527			508			472			460
Remeasurement loss (gain), net	195			(454		)	—			—
Other components	$	(78	)	$	(892	)	$	(284	)	$	(305	)
Total	$	107		$	(677	)	$	(212	)	$	(209	)

The service cost component of net periodic benefit cost (income) is recorded in Cost of services and Selling, general and administrative expense in the condensed consolidated statements of income while the other components, including mark-to-market adjustments, if any, are recorded in Other income (expense), net.

2018 Voluntary Separation Program

In September 2018, we announced a Voluntary Separation Program for select U.S.-based management employees. Approximately 10,400 eligible employees separated from the Company under this program as of the end of June 2019. The severance benefits payments to these employees were substantially completed by the end of September 2019.

Severance Payments

During the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019, we paid severance benefits of $435 million and $1.9 billion, respectively. During the nine months ended September 30, 2019, we recorded net pre-tax severance charges of an insignificant amount. At September 30, 2019, we had a remaining severance liability of $355 million, a portion of which includes future contractual payments to separated employees.

Employer Contributions

During the nine months ended September 30, 2019, we made a discretionary contribution of $300 million to our qualified pension plans. As a result of the $300 million and $1.0 billion discretionary pension contributions during the nine months ended September 30, 2019 and 2018, respectively, we do not expect mandatory pension funding through December 31, 2019. There was no contribution made to our nonqualified pension plans during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019. There have been no significant changes with respect to the nonqualified pension and other postretirement benefit plans contributions in 2019.

Remeasurement loss (gain), net

During the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019, we recorded a net pre-tax remeasurement loss of $291 million and $195 million in our pension plans, respectively, triggered by the Voluntary Separation Program for select U.S.-based management employees and other headcount reduction initiatives. For the three months ended September 30, 2019, the net pre-tax remeasurement loss was primarily driven by a $589 million charge due to changes in our discount rate and lump sum interest rate assumptions used to determine the current year liabilities of our pension plans, offset by a $298 million credit due to the difference between our estimated return on assets and our actual return on assets. For the nine months ended September 30, 2019, the net pre-tax remeasurement loss of $195 million includes a pre-tax remeasurement loss of $291 million recorded during the three months ended September 30, 2019 offset by a $96 million gain recorded during the three months ended March 31, 2019.

During the three and nine months ended September 30, 2018, we recorded a net pre-tax remeasurement gain of $454 million triggered by the collective bargaining negotiations, primarily driven by a $1.1 billion credit due to a change in our discount rate assumption used to determine the current year liabilities of our pension plans, offset by a $599 million charge due to the difference between our estimated return on assets and our actual return on assets.

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Note 10. Equity and Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income

Equity

Changes in the components of Total equity were as follows:

(dollars in millions, except per share amounts, and shares in thousands)
Three months ended September 30,	2019					2018
	Shares		Amount			Shares		Amount
Common Stock
Balance at beginning of period	4,291,434		$	429		4,291,434		$	429
Balance at end of period	4,291,434		429			4,291,434		429
Additional Paid In Capital
Balance at beginning of period			13,419					13,438
Other			(1		)			(2		)
Balance at end of period			13,418					13,436
Retained Earnings
Balance at beginning of period			47,945					41,657
Net income attributable to Verizon			5,194					4,924
Dividends declared ($0.6150, $0.6025 per share)			(2,544		)			(2,490		)
Balance at end of period			50,595					44,091
Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income
Balance at beginning of period attributable to Verizon			1,447					3,205
Foreign currency translation adjustments			(10		)			10
Unrealized gain (loss) on cash flow hedges			(166		)			329
Unrealized gain (loss) on marketable securities			2					(1		)
Defined benefit pension and postretirement plans			(169		)			(342		)
Other comprehensive loss			(343		)			(4		)
Balance at end of period attributable to Verizon			1,104					3,201
Treasury Stock
Balance at beginning of period	(155,669	)	(6,823		)	(159,498	)	(6,990		)
Employee plans	20		1			79		3
Balance at end of period	(155,649	)	(6,822		)	(159,419	)	(6,987		)
Deferred Compensation-ESOPs and Other
Balance at beginning of period			165					285
Restricted stock equity grant			32					41
Amortization			—					(1		)
Balance at end of period			197					325
Noncontrolling Interests
Balance at beginning of period			1,365					1,551
Total comprehensive income			143					138
Distributions and other			(117		)			(97		)
Balance at end of period			1,391					1,592
Total Equity			$	60,312				$	56,087

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(dollars in millions, except per share amounts, and shares in thousands)
Nine months ended September 30,	2019						2018
	Shares		Amount				Shares		Amount
Common Stock
Balance at beginning of year	4,291,434		$	429			4,242,374		$	424
Common shares issued	—		—				49,060		5
Balance at end of period	4,291,434		429				4,291,434		429
Additional Paid In Capital
Balance at beginning of year			13,437						11,101
Other			(19		)				2,335
Balance at end of period			13,418						13,436
Retained Earnings
Balance at beginning of year			43,542						35,635
Opening balance sheet adjustment			410			(1)			2,232			(2)
Adjusted opening balance			43,952						37,867
Net income attributable to Verizon			14,170						13,589
Dividends declared ($1.8200, $1.7825 per share)			(7,527		)				(7,365		)
Balance at end of period			50,595						44,091
Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income
Balance at beginning of year attributable to Verizon			2,370						2,659
Opening balance sheet adjustment			—						630			(2)
Adjusted opening balance			2,370						3,289
Foreign currency translation adjustments			(53		)				(73		)
Unrealized gain (loss) on cash flow hedges			(716		)				678
Unrealized gain (loss) on marketable securities			10						(5		)
Defined benefit pension and postretirement plans			(507		)				(688		)
Other comprehensive loss			(1,266		)				(88		)
Balance at end of period attributable to Verizon			1,104						3,201
Treasury Stock
Balance at beginning of year	(159,400	)	(6,986		)		(162,898	)	(7,139		)
Employee plans	3,746		164				3,475		152
Shareholder plans	5		—				4		—
Balance at end of period	(155,649	)	(6,822		)		(159,419	)	(6,987		)
Deferred Compensation-ESOPs and Other
Balance at beginning of year			353						416
Restricted stock equity grant			111						132
Amortization			(267		)				(223		)
Balance at end of period			197						325
Noncontrolling Interests
Balance at beginning of year			1,565						1,591
Opening balance sheet adjustment			1			(1)			44			(2)
Adjusted opening balance			1,566						1,635
Total comprehensive income			401						385
Distributions and other			(576		)				(428		)
Balance at end of period			1,391						1,592
Total Equity			$	60,312					$	56,087

⁽¹⁾ Opening balance sheet adjustments for the nine months ended September 30, 2019 are due to the adoption of Topic 842 on January 1, 2019. See Note 1 for additional information.

⁽²⁾ Opening balance sheet adjustments for the nine months ended September 30, 2018 are due to the adoption of multiple ASUs on January 1, 2018. Refer to the consolidated financial statements and notes thereto included in the Company's Current Report on Form 8-K dated August 8, 2019 for additional information.

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Common Stock

Verizon did not repurchase any shares of Verizon common stock through its previously authorized share buyback program during the nine months ended September 30, 2019. At September 30, 2019, the maximum number of shares that could be purchased by or on behalf of Verizon under our share buyback program was 100 million.

Common stock has been used from time to time to satisfy some of the funding requirements of employee and shareowner plans, including 3.8 million common shares issued from Treasury stock during the nine months ended September 30, 2019.

In connection with our acquisition of Straight Path Communications, Inc. in February 2018, we issued approximately 49 million shares of Verizon common stock, valued at approximately $2.4 billion.

Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income

The changes in the balances of Accumulated other comprehensive income by component were as follows:

(dollars in millions)	Foreign  currency translation adjustments			Unrealized gain (loss) on cash flow hedges			Unrealized gain on marketable securities		Defined benefit pension and postretirement plans			Total
Balance at January 1, 2019	$	(600	)	$	(80	)	$	20	$	3,030		$	2,370
Other comprehensive income (loss)	(52		)	(1,348		)	10		—			(1,390		)
Amounts reclassified to net income	(1		)	632			—		(507		)	124
Net other comprehensive income (loss)	(53		)	(716		)	10		(507		)	(1,266		)
Balance at September 30, 2019	$	(653	)	$	(796	)	$	30	$	2,523		$	1,104

The amounts presented above in net other comprehensive income (loss) are net of taxes. The amounts reclassified to net income related to unrealized gain on cash flow hedges in the table above are included in Other income (expense), net and Interest expense in our condensed consolidated statements of income. See Note 8 for additional information. The amounts reclassified to net income related to defined benefit pension and postretirement plans in the table above are included in Cost of services and Selling, general and administrative expense in our condensed consolidated statements of income. See Note 9 for additional information.

Note 11. Segment Information

Reportable Segments

As discussed in Note 1, in November 2018, we announced a strategic reorganization of our business. Under the new structure, effective April 1, 2019, there are two reportable segments that we operate and manage as strategic business units - Consumer and Business. In conjunction with the new reporting structure, we recast our segment disclosures for all periods presented. We measure and evaluate our reportable segments based on segment operating income, consistent with the chief operating decision maker’s assessment of segment performance.

Our segments and their principal activities consist of the following:

Segment	Description
Verizon Consumer Group	Our Consumer segment provides consumer-focused wireless and wireline communications services and products. Our wireless services are provided across one of the most extensive wireless networks in the U.S. under the Verizon Wireless brand and through wholesale and other arrangements. Our wireline services are provided in nine states in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern U.S., as well as Washington D.C., over our 100% fiber-optic network under the Fios brand and over a traditional copper-based network to customers who are not served by Fios.
Verizon Business Group	Our Business segment provides wireless and wireline communications services and products, video and data services, corporate networking solutions, security and managed network services, local and long distance voice services and network access to deliver various IoT services and products. We provide these products and services to businesses, government customers and wireless and wireline carriers across the U.S. and select products and services to customers around the world.

Our Consumer segment’s wireless and wireline products and services are available to our retail customers, as well as resellers that purchase wireless network access from us on a wholesale basis. Our Business segment’s wireless and wireline products and services are organized by the primary customer groups targeted by these offerings: Global Enterprise, Small and Medium Business, Public Sector and Other, and Wholesale.

Corporate and other includes the results of Verizon Media, and other businesses, investments in unconsolidated businesses, unallocated corporate expenses, certain pension and other employee benefit related costs and interest and financing expenses. Corporate and other also includes the historical results of divested businesses and other adjustments and gains and losses that are not allocated in assessing segment performance due to their nature. Although such transactions are excluded from the segment results, they are included in reported consolidated earnings. Gains and losses from these transactions that are not individually significant are included in segment results as these items are included in the chief operating decision maker’s assessment of segment performance.

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The reconciliation of segment operating revenues and expenses to consolidated operating revenues and expenses below includes the effects of special items that the chief operating decision maker does not consider in assessing segment performance, primarily because of their nature.

The following table provides operating financial information for our two reportable segments:

	Three Months Ended				Nine Months Ended
	September 30,				September 30,
(dollars in millions)	2019		2018		2019		2018
External Operating Revenues
Consumer
Service	$	16,432	$	16,194	$	49,043	$	48,058
Wireless equipment	4,256		4,507		12,326		13,028
Other	1,953		1,642		5,303		4,772
Total Consumer	22,641		22,343		66,672		65,858
Business
Global Enterprise	2,714		2,781		8,077		8,413
Small and Medium Business	2,894		2,725		8,379		7,891
Public Sector and Other	1,472		1,454		4,435		4,320
Wholesale	790		918		2,440		2,859
Total Business	7,870		7,878		23,331		23,483
Total reportable segments	$	30,511	$	30,221	$	90,003	$	89,341
Intersegment Revenues
Consumer	$	65	$	56	$	177	$	171
Business	15		15		41		44
Total reportable segments	$	80	$	71	$	218	$	215
Total Operating Revenues
Consumer	$	22,706	$	22,399	$	66,849	$	66,029
Business(1)	7,885		7,893		23,372		23,527
Total reportable segments	$	30,591	$	30,292	$	90,221	$	89,556
Operating Income
Consumer	$	7,489	$	7,213	$	22,075	$	21,208
Business	977		1,154		3,096		3,369
Total reportable segments	$	8,466	$	8,367	$	25,171	$	24,577

⁽¹⁾ Service and other revenues included in our Business segment amounted to approximately $7.0 billion and $20.9 billion for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019, respectively, and approximately $7.1 billion and $21.1 billion for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2018, respectively. Wireless equipment revenues included in our Business segment amounted to approximately $880 million and $2.5 billion for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019, respectively, and approximately $845 million and $2.4 billion for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2018, respectively.

The following table provides Fios revenue for our two reportable segments:

	Three Months Ended				Nine Months Ended
	September 30,				September 30,
(dollars in millions)	2019		2018		2019		2018
Consumer	$	2,811	$	2,764	$	8,347	$	8,236
Business	243		222		725		657
Total Fios revenue	$	3,054	$	2,986	$	9,072	$	8,893

The following table provides Wireless service revenue under our current reportable structure and includes intersegment activity:

	Three Months Ended				Nine Months Ended
	September 30,				September 30,
(dollars in millions)	2019		2018		2019		2018
Consumer	$	13,533	$	13,257	$	40,346	$	39,260
Business	2,850		2,687		8,319		7,803
Total Wireless service revenue	$	16,383	$	15,944	$	48,665	$	47,063

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Reconciliation to Consolidated Financial Information

A reconciliation of the reportable segment operating revenues to consolidated operating revenues is as follows:

	Three Months Ended						Nine Months Ended
	September 30,						September 30,
(dollars in millions)	2019			2018			2019			2018
Total reportable segment operating revenues	$	30,591		$	30,292		$	90,221		$	89,556
Corporate and other	2,400			2,400			7,147			7,291
Eliminations	(97		)	(85		)	(275		)	(265		)
Total consolidated operating revenues	$	32,894		$	32,607		$	97,093		$	96,582

A reconciliation of total reportable segment operating income to consolidated income before provision for income taxes is as follows:

	Three Months Ended						Nine Months Ended
	September 30,						September 30,
(dollars in millions)	2019			2018			2019			2018
Total reportable segment operating income	$	8,466		$	8,367		$	25,171		$	24,577
Corporate and other	(344		)	(350		)	(1,083		)	(1,161		)
Severance charges (Note 9)	—			—			—			(339		)
Other components of net periodic benefit charges (Note 9)	(203		)	(205		)	(610		)	(621		)
Acquisition and integration related charges	—			(137		)	—			(364		)
Product realignment charges	—			—			—			(451		)
Net gain from dispositions of assets and businesses	261			—			261			—
Total consolidated operating income	8,180			7,675			23,739			21,641
Equity in losses of unconsolidated businesses	(1		)	(3		)	(20		)	(250		)
Other income (expense), net	(110		)	214			(1,127		)	499
Interest expense	(1,146		)	(1,211		)	(3,571		)	(3,634		)
Income Before Provision For Income Taxes	$	6,923		$	6,675		$	19,021		$	18,256

No single customer accounted for more than 10% of our total operating revenues during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019 and 2018.

The chief operating decision maker does not review disaggregated assets on a segment basis; therefore, such information is not presented. Depreciation included in the measure of segment profitability is allocated primarily based on proportional usage.

Note 12. Commitments and Contingencies

In the ordinary course of business, Verizon is involved in various commercial litigation and regulatory proceedings at the state and federal level. Where it is determined, in consultation with counsel based on litigation and settlement risks, that a loss is probable and estimable in a given matter, the Company establishes an accrual. In none of the currently pending matters is the amount of accrual material. An estimate of the reasonably possible loss or range of loss in excess of the amounts already accrued cannot be made at this time due to various factors typical in contested proceedings, including: (1) uncertain damage theories and demands; (2) a less than complete factual record; (3) uncertainty concerning legal theories and their resolution by courts or regulators; and (4) the unpredictable nature of the opposing party and its demands. We continuously monitor these proceedings as they develop and adjust any accrual or disclosure as needed. We do not expect that the ultimate resolution of any pending regulatory or legal matter in future periods, including the Hicksville matter described below, will have a material effect on our financial condition, but it could have a material effect on our results of operations for a given reporting period.

Reserves have been established to cover environmental matters relating to discontinued businesses and past telecommunications activities. These reserves include funds to address contamination at the site of a former Sylvania facility in Hicksville, NY, which had processed nuclear fuel rods in the 1950s and 1960s. In September 2005, the Army Corps of Engineers (ACE) accepted the site into its Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program. As a result, the ACE has taken primary responsibility for addressing the contamination at the site. An adjustment to the reserves may be made after a cost allocation is conducted with respect to the past and future expenses of all of the parties. Adjustments to the environmental reserve may also be made based upon the actual conditions found at other sites requiring remediation.

Verizon is currently involved in approximately 25 federal district court actions alleging that Verizon is infringing various patents. Most of these cases are brought by non-practicing entities and effectively seek only monetary damages; a small number are brought by companies that have sold products and could seek injunctive relief as well. These cases have progressed to various stages and a small number may go to trial in the coming 12 months if they are not otherwise resolved.

In connection with the execution of agreements for the sales of businesses and investments, Verizon ordinarily provides representations and warranties to the purchasers pertaining to a variety of nonfinancial matters, such as ownership of the securities being sold, as well as indemnity

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from certain financial losses. From time to time, counterparties may make claims under these provisions, and Verizon will seek to defend against those claims and resolve them in the ordinary course of business.

Subsequent to the sale of Verizon Information Services Canada in 2004, we continue to provide a guarantee to publish directories, which was issued when the directory business was purchased in 2001 and had a 30-year term (before extensions). The preexisting guarantee continues, without modification, despite the subsequent sale of Verizon Information Services Canada and the spin-off of our domestic print and Internet yellow pages directories business. The possible financial impact of the guarantee, which is not expected to be adverse, cannot be reasonably estimated as a variety of the potential outcomes available under the guarantee result in costs and revenues or benefits that may offset each other. We do not believe performance under the guarantee is likely.

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Item 2. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations

Overview

Verizon Communications Inc. (Verizon, or the Company) is a holding company that, acting through its subsidiaries, is one of the world’s leading providers of communications, information and entertainment products and services to consumers, businesses and government entities. With a presence around the world, we offer voice, data and video services and solutions on our networks that are designed to meet customers’ demand for mobility, reliable network connectivity, security and control. We have a highly diverse workforce of approximately 135,400 employees as of September 30, 2019.

To compete effectively in today’s dynamic marketplace, we are focused on transforming around the capabilities of our high-performing networks to drive growth based on delivering what customers want and need in the new digital world. During 2019, we are focused on leveraging our network leadership; retaining and growing our high-quality customer base while balancing profitability; enhancing ecosystems in growth businesses; and driving monetization of our networks and solutions. We are creating business value by earning customers’, employees’ and shareholders’ trust, limiting our environmental impact, and continuing our customer growth while creating social benefit through our products and services. Our strategy requires significant capital investments primarily to acquire wireless spectrum, put the spectrum into service, provide additional capacity for growth in our networks, invest in the fiber that supports our businesses, evolve and maintain our networks and develop and maintain significant advanced information technology systems and data system capabilities. We believe that steady and consistent investments in our networks and platforms will drive innovative products and services and fuel our growth.

We are consistently deploying new network architecture and technologies to extend our leadership in both fourth-generation (4G) and fifth-generation (5G) wireless networks. We expect that our next-generation multi-use platform, which we call the Intelligent Edge Network, will simplify operations by eliminating legacy network elements, improve 4G Long-Term Evolution (LTE) wireless coverage, speed the deployment of 5G wireless technology and create new opportunities in the business market. Our network leadership is the hallmark of our brand and the foundation for the connectivity, platform and solutions upon which we build our competitive advantage.

Highlights of Our Financial Results for the Three Months Ended September 30, 2019 and 2018

(dollars in millions)

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Highlights of Our Financial Results for the Nine Months Ended September 30, 2019 and 2018

(dollars in millions)

Business Overview

In November 2018, we announced a strategic reorganization of our business. Under the new structure, effective April 1, 2019, there are two reportable segments that we operate and manage as strategic business units - Verizon Consumer Group (Consumer) and Verizon Business Group (Business). In conjunction with the new reporting structure, we recast our segment disclosures for all periods presented.

Revenue by Segment for the Three Months Ended September 30, 2019 and 2018

———

Note: Excludes eliminations.

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Revenue by Segment for the Nine Months Ended September 30, 2019 and 2018

———

Note: Excludes eliminations.

Verizon Consumer Group

Our Consumer segment provides consumer-focused wireless and wireline communications services and products. Our wireless services are provided across one of the most extensive wireless networks in the United States (U.S.) under the Verizon Wireless brand and through wholesale and other arrangements. Our wireline services are provided in nine states in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern U.S., as well as Washington D.C., over our 100% fiber-optic network under the Fios brand and over a traditional copper-based network to customers who are not served by Fios. Our Consumer segment's wireless and wireline products and services are available to our retail customers, as well as resellers that purchase wireless network access from us on a wholesale basis.

Customers can obtain our wireless services on a postpaid or prepaid basis. A retail postpaid connection represents an individual line of service for a wireless device for which a customer is generally billed one month in advance for a monthly access charge in return for access to and usage of network services. Our prepaid service is offered only to Consumer customers and enables individuals to obtain wireless services without credit verification by paying for all services in advance. The Consumer segment also offers several categories of wireless equipment to customers, including a variety of smartphone and other handsets, wireless-enabled Internet devices, such as tablets, laptop computers and netbooks, and other wireless-enabled connected devices, such as smart watches and other wearables.

In addition to the wireless services and equipment discussed above, Consumer sells residential fixed connectivity solutions, including Internet, video and voice services, and wireless network access to resellers on a wholesale basis. The Consumer segment's operating revenues for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019 totaled $22.7 billion and $66.8 billion, respectively, representing an increase of 1.4% and 1.2%, respectively, compared to the similar periods in 2018. As of September 30, 2019, Consumer had approximately 94 million wireless retail connections, 6 million broadband connections and 4 million Fios video connections.

Verizon Business Group

Our Business segment provides wireless and wireline communications services and products, video and data services, corporate networking solutions, security and managed network services, local and long distance voice services and network access to deliver various Internet of Things (IoT) services and products, including solutions which support fleet tracking management, compliance management, field service management, asset tracking and other types of mobile resource management. We provide these products and services to businesses, government customers and wireless and wireline carriers across the U.S. and select products and services to customers around the world. The Business segment's operating revenues for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019 totaled $7.9 billion and $23.4 billion, respectively, representing a decrease of 0.1% and 0.7%, respectively, compared to the similar periods in 2018. As of September 30, 2019, Business had approximately 25 million wireless retail postpaid connections and approximately 500 thousand broadband connections.

Corporate and Other

Corporate and other includes the results of our media business, Verizon Media Group (Verizon Media), which operated under the "Oath" brand until January 2019, and other businesses, investments in unconsolidated businesses, unallocated corporate expenses, certain pension and other employee benefit related costs and interest and financing expenses. Corporate and other also includes the historical results of divested businesses and other adjustments and gains and losses that are not allocated in assessing segment performance due to their nature. Although such transactions are excluded from the business segment results, they are included in reported consolidated earnings. Gains and losses from these transactions that are not individually significant are included in segment results as these items are included in the chief operating decision maker’s assessment of segment performance.

Verizon Media includes diverse media and technology brands that serve both consumers and businesses. Verizon Media provides consumers with owned and operated search properties and finance, news, sports and entertainment offerings and provides other businesses and partners access to consumers through digital advertising platforms. Verizon Media's total operating revenues were $1.8 billion and $5.4 billion, respectively, for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019, which represents a decrease of 2.0% and 4.1%, respectively, compared to the similar periods in 2018.

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Capital Expenditures and Investments

We continue to invest in our wireless networks, high-speed fiber and other advanced technologies to position ourselves at the center of growth trends for the future. During the nine months ended September 30, 2019, these investments included $12.3 billion for capital expenditures. See "Cash Flows Used in Investing Activities" for additional information. We believe that our investments aimed at expanding our portfolio of products and services will provide our customers with an efficient, reliable infrastructure for competing in the information economy.

Global Network and Technology

We are focusing our capital spending on adding capacity and density to our 4G LTE network, while also building our next generation 5G network. We are densifying our network by utilizing small cell technology, in-building solutions and distributed antenna systems. Network densification enables us to add capacity to address increasing mobile video consumption and the growing demand for IoT products and services on our 4G LTE and 5G networks. Over the past several years, we have been leading the development of 5G wireless technology industry standards and the ecosystems for fixed and mobile 5G wireless services. We believe 5G technology will be able to provide users with eight capabilities, or currencies. The eight currencies are peak data rates, mobile data volumes, mobility, number of connected devices, energy efficiency, service deployment, reduced latency and improved reliability. We expect that 5G technology will provide higher throughput and lower latency than the current 4G LTE technology and enable our networks to handle more traffic as the number of Internet-connected devices grows. During 2018, we commercially launched 5G Home initially on proprietary standards in four U.S. markets and we expect to begin utilizing equipment based on global standards in late 2019. We also launched our 5G Ultra Wideband Network in 15 U.S. markets in 2019, with a target of the network becoming commercially available in 30 plus markets by year-end. In addition, we launched several 5G-compatible smartphones in 2019.

To compensate for the shrinking market for traditional copper-based products, we continue to build our wireline business around fiber-based networks supporting data, video and advanced business services - areas where demand for reliable high-speed connections is growing. We are evolving the architecture of our networks to a next-generation multi-use platform, providing improved efficiency and virtualization, increased automation and opportunities for edge computing services that will support both our fiber-based and radio access network technologies. We call this the Intelligent Edge Network. We expect that this new architecture will simplify operations by eliminating legacy network elements, improve our 4G LTE wireless coverage, speed the deployment of 5G wireless technology and create new opportunities in the business market.

Operating Environment and Trends

There have been no significant changes to the information related to trends affecting our business that was previously disclosed in the "Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" for the year ended December 31, 2018 filed with our recast financial statements and included in our Current Report on Form 8-K dated August 8, 2019.

We adopted Accounting Standard Update (ASU) 2016-02, ASU 2018-01, ASU 2018-10, ASU 2018-11, ASU 2018-20 and ASU 2019-01, Leases (Topic 842) on January 1, 2019, using the modified retrospective application. This method does not impact the prior periods, which continue to reflect the accounting treatment prior to the adoption of Topic 842. As a result, for items that were affected by our adoption of Topic 842, financial results of periods prior to January 1, 2019 are not comparable to the current period financial results. See Notes 1 and 5 to the condensed consolidated financial statements for additional information.

Recent Developments

In September 2018, we announced a Voluntary Separation Program for select U.S.-based management employees. Approximately 10,400 eligible employees separated from the Company under this program as of the end of June 2019. The severance benefits payments to these employees were substantially completed by the end of September 2019.

In 2019, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) completed two millimeter wave spectrum license auctions. Verizon participated in these auctions and was the high bidder on 9 and 1,066 licenses, respectively, in the 24 Gigahertz (GHz) and 28 GHz bands. We submitted an application to the FCC and paid cash of approximately $521 million for the licenses.

Goodwill

Upon the date of reorganization on April 1, 2019, the goodwill of our historical Wireless reporting unit, historical Wireline reporting unit and historical Verizon Connect reporting unit were reallocated to our new Consumer and Business reporting units. At September 30, 2019, the balance of our goodwill was approximately $24.6 billion, of which $17.1 billion was in our Consumer reporting unit, $7.3 billion was in our Business reporting unit, and $202 million was in Other, which includes our Media reporting unit and other corporate entities. To determine if goodwill is potentially impaired, we have the option to perform a qualitative assessment to determine whether it is more likely than not that the fair value of a reporting unit is less than its carrying value. If we elect not to conduct the qualitative assessment or if indicators of a potential impairment exist, the determination of whether an impairment has occurred requires the determination of the fair value of the reporting unit being assessed.

We performed a quantitative assessment of our current reporting units, Consumer and Business, subsequent to the strategic reorganization. Our impairment assessments indicated that the fair value for each of our Consumer and Business reporting units significantly exceeded their respective carrying values and therefore, did not result in a goodwill impairment. Our Media reporting unit was not impacted by the strategic reorganization and there were no indicators of impairment to date.

As is our practice, during the fourth quarter we will complete our annual budget process during which we reassess strategic priorities and forecast future operating performance and capital spending. We utilize the outputs of the annual budget process as an input to complete our annual goodwill impairment tests. We will perform qualitative tests on our Business and Consumer reporting units and a quantitative assessment for

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the Media reporting unit.

Under our quantitative assessment, the fair value of the reporting unit is calculated using a market approach and a discounted cash flow method. The market approach includes the use of comparative multiples to corroborate discounted cash flow results. The discounted cash flow method is based on the present value of two components-projected cash flows and a terminal value. The terminal value represents the expected normalized future cash flows of the reporting unit beyond the cash flows from the discrete projection period. The fair value of the reporting unit is calculated based on the sum of the present value of the cash flows from the discrete period and the present value of the terminal value. The discount rate represented our estimate of the weighted-average cost of capital, or expected return, that a marketplace participant would have required as of the valuation date. The application of our goodwill impairment test required key assumptions underlying our valuation model. The discounted cash flow analysis factored in assumptions on discount rates and terminal growth rates to reflect risk profiles of key strategic revenue and cost initiatives, as well as revenue and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization expenses (EBITDA) growth relative to history and market trends and expectations. The market multiples approach incorporated significant judgment involved in the selection of comparable public company multiples and benchmarks. The selection of companies was influenced by differences in growth and profitability, and volatility in market prices of peer companies. These valuation inputs are inherently uncertain, and management believes a significant adverse change in one or a combination of these inputs could trigger a goodwill impairment loss for the Media reporting unit in the future.

Consolidated Results of Operations

In this section, we discuss our overall results of operations and highlight special items that are not included in our segment results. In "Segment Results of Operations," we review the performance of our two reportable segments in more detail.

Consolidated Revenues

	Three Months Ended											Nine Months Ended
	September 30,						Increase/					September 30,						Increase/
(dollars in millions)	2019			2018			(Decrease)					2019			2018			(Decrease)
Consumer	$	22,706		$	22,399		$	307		1.4	%	$	66,849		$	66,029		$	820		1.2	%
Business	7,885			7,893			(8		)	(0.1	)	23,372			23,527			(155		)	(0.7	)
Corporate and other	2,400			2,400			—			—		7,147			7,291			(144		)	(2.0	)
Eliminations	(97		)	(85		)	(12		)	14.1		(275		)	(265		)	(10		)	3.8
Consolidated Revenues	$	32,894		$	32,607		$	287		0.9		$	97,093		$	96,582		$	511		0.5

Consolidated revenues increased $287 million, or 0.9%, and $511 million, or 0.5%, during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019, respectively, compared to the similar periods in 2018. The increase in revenues during the three months ended September 30, 2019 was due to an increase in revenues at our Consumer segment. The increase in revenues during the nine months ended September 30, 2019 was due to an increase in revenues at our Consumer segment, partially offset by decreases in revenues at our Business segment and Corporate and other.

Revenues for our segments are discussed separately below under the heading "Segment Results of Operations."

Corporate and other revenues were unchanged and decreased $144 million, or 2.0%, during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019, respectively, compared to the similar periods in 2018. The decrease in revenues during the nine months ended September 30, 2019 was primarily due to a decrease of $230 million in revenues within Verizon Media.

Consolidated Operating Expenses

	Three Months Ended									Nine Months Ended
	September 30,				Increase/					September 30,				Increase/
(dollars in millions)	2019		2018		(Decrease)					2019		2018		(Decrease)
Cost of services	$	7,902	$	7,842	$	60		0.8	%	$	23,396	$	24,022	$	(626	)	(2.6	)%
Cost of wireless equipment	5,482		5,489		(7		)	(0.1	)	15,699		16,195		(496		)	(3.1	)
Selling, general and administrative expense	7,216		7,224		(8		)	(0.1	)	21,682		21,673		9			—
Depreciation and amortization expense	4,114		4,377		(263		)	(6.0	)	12,577		13,051		(474		)	(3.6	)
Consolidated Operating Expenses	$	24,714	$	24,932	$	(218	)	(0.9	)	$	73,354	$	74,941	$	(1,587	)	(2.1	)

Cost of Services

Cost of services includes the following costs directly attributable to a service: salaries and wages, benefits, materials and supplies, content costs, contracted services, network access and transport costs, customer provisioning costs, computer systems support, and costs to support our outsourcing contracts and technical facilities. Aggregate customer care costs, which include billing and service provisioning, are allocated between Cost of services and Selling, general and administrative expense.

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Cost of services increased $60 million, or 0.8%, and decreased $626 million, or 2.6%, during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019, respectively, compared to the similar periods in 2018. The increase during the three months ended September 30, 2019, compared to the similar period in 2018, was primarily due to an increase in regulatory fees and rent expense as a result of adding capacity to the networks to support demand, partially offset by a decrease in network access costs and a decrease in employee-related costs. The decrease during the nine months ended September 30, 2019, compared to the similar period in 2018, was primarily due to decreases in network access costs, employee-related costs and a product realignment charge in 2018 (see "Special Items"), partially offset by an increase in rent expense and regulatory fees.

Cost of Wireless Equipment

Cost of wireless equipment decreased 0.1%, and $496 million, or 3.1%, during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019, respectively, compared to the similar periods in 2018, primarily as a result of declines in the number of wireless devices sold as a result of an elongation of the handset upgrade cycle. The decrease during the nine months ended September 30, 2019 was partially offset by a shift to higher priced devices in the mix of wireless devices sold.

Selling, General and Administrative Expense

Selling, general and administrative expense includes salaries and wages and benefits not directly attributable to a service or product, bad debt charges, taxes other than income taxes, advertising and sales commission costs, call center and information technology costs, regulatory fees, professional service fees, and rent and utilities for administrative space. Also included is a portion of the aggregate customer care costs as discussed above in "Cost of Services."

Selling, general and administrative expense decreased 0.1%, and were unchanged during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019, respectively, compared to the similar periods in 2018. The decrease during the three months ended September 30, 2019 was primarily due to a decrease in employee-related costs, a net gain from dispositions of assets and businesses during the three months ended September 30, 2019 and the acquisition and integration related charges in 2018 primarily related to the acquisition of Yahoo! Inc.'s (Yahoo) operating business (see "Special Items"). These decreases were partially offset by an increase in advertising expenses, sales commission expense and bad debt expense. The increase in sales commission expense was due to a lower net deferral of commission costs in the current year as compared to the prior year as a result of the adoption of ASU 2014-09, "Revenue from Contracts with Customers" (Topic 606) on January 1, 2018 using a modified retrospective approach. During the nine months ended September 30, 2019 increases in advertising expenses, sales commission and bad debt expense were offset by decreases in employee-related costs primarily due to the Voluntary Separation Program, a net gain from dispositions of assets and businesses during the nine months ended September 30, 2019 and the acquisition and integration related charges in 2018 primarily related to the acquisition of Yahoo's operating business (see "Special Items").

Depreciation and Amortization Expense

Depreciation and amortization expense decreased $263 million, or 6.0%, and $474 million, or 3.6%, during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019, respectively, compared to the similar periods in 2018. This decrease was primarily driven by the change in the mix of net depreciable assets, as newer technology with longer useful lives replaces legacy assets that have reached the end of their lives.

Other Consolidated Results

Other Income (Expense), Net

Additional information relating to Other income (expense), net is as follows:

	Three Months Ended											Nine Months Ended
	September 30,						Increase/					September 30,						Increase/
(dollars in millions)	2019			2018			(Decrease)					2019			2018			(Decrease)
Interest income	$	34		$	25		$	9		36.0	%	$	94		$	61		$	33		54.1	%
Other components of net periodic benefit cost	(103		)	688			(791		)	nm		362			1,197			(835		)	(69.8	)
Other, net	(41		)	(499		)	458			(91.8	)	(1,583		)	(759		)	(824		)	nm
Total	$	(110	)	$	214		$	(324	)	nm		$	(1,127	)	$	499		$	(1,626	)	nm

nm - not meaningful

Other income (expense), net, reflects certain items not directly related to our core operations, including interest income, gains and losses from non-operating asset dispositions, debt extinguishment costs and components of net periodic pension and postretirement benefit costs. The decrease in Other income (expense), net during the three months ended September 30, 2019, compared to the similar period in 2018, was primarily attributable to a pension remeasurement loss of $291 million recorded in 2019, compared with a pension remeasurement gain of $454 million recorded in 2018. The decrease was partially offset by a decrease in early debt redemption costs of $476 million. The decrease in Other income (expense), net during the nine months ended September 30, 2019, compared to the similar period in 2018, was primarily driven by a pension remeasurement loss of $195 million recorded in 2019, compared with a pension remeasurement gain of $454 million recorded in 2018 and an increase in early debt redemption costs of $819 million.

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Interest Expense

	Three Months Ended											Nine Months Ended
	September 30,						Increase/					September 30,						Increase/
(dollars in millions)	2019			2018			(Decrease)					2019			2018			(Decrease)
Total interest costs on debt balances	$	1,317		$	1,404		$	(87	)	(6.2	)%	$	4,061		$	4,202		$	(141	)	(3.4	)%
Less capitalized interest costs	171			193			(22		)	(11.4	)	490			568			(78		)	(13.7	)
Total	$	1,146		$	1,211		$	(65	)	(5.4	)	$	3,571		$	3,634		$	(63	)	(1.7	)
Average debt outstanding	$	111,534		$	113,980							$	113,366		$	116,531
Effective interest rate	4.7		%	4.9		%						4.8		%	4.8		%

Total interest expense decreased during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019, compared to the similar periods in 2018, primarily due to lower average debt balances, offset by lower capitalized interest costs.

Provision for Income Taxes

	Three Months Ended											Nine Months Ended
	September 30,						Increase/					September 30,						Increase/
(dollars in millions)	2019			2018			(Decrease)					2019			2018			(Decrease)
Provision for income taxes	$	1,586		$	1,613		$	(27	)	(1.7	)%	$	4,450		$	4,282		$	168	3.9	%
Effective income tax rate	22.9		%	24.2		%						23.4		%	23.5		%

The effective income tax rate is calculated by dividing the provision for income taxes by income before the provision for income taxes. The decrease in the effective income tax rate and the provision for income taxes for the three months ended September 30, 2019, compared to the similar period in 2018, was primarily due to tax benefits associated with the utilization of capital losses in connection with the disposition of certain assets and businesses, as well as tax benefits from prior year internal restructuring, partially offset by the impact of an increase in income before income taxes in the current period. The effective income tax rate for the nine months ended September 30, 2019 is comparable to the similar period in 2018. The increase in the provision for income taxes during the nine months ended September 30, 2019, compared to the similar period in 2018, was primarily due to the impact of an increase in income before income taxes in the current period.

Unrecognized Tax Benefits

Unrecognized tax benefits were $2.7 billion at September 30, 2019 and $2.9 billion at December 31, 2018. Interest and penalties related to unrecognized tax benefits were $370 million (after-tax) and $348 million (after-tax) at September 30, 2019 and December 31, 2018, respectively.

Verizon and/or its subsidiaries file income tax returns in the U.S. federal jurisdiction, and various state, local and foreign jurisdictions. As a large taxpayer, we are under audit by the Internal Revenue Service and multiple state and foreign jurisdictions for various open tax years. It is reasonably possible that the amount of the liability for unrecognized tax benefits could change by a significant amount in the next twelve months. An estimate of the range of the possible change cannot be made until these tax matters are further developed or resolved.

Consolidated Net Income, Consolidated EBITDA and Consolidated Adjusted EBITDA

Consolidated EBITDA and Consolidated Adjusted EBITDA, which are presented below, are non-generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) measures that we believe are useful to management, investors and other users of our financial information in evaluating operating profitability on a more variable cost basis as they exclude the depreciation and amortization expense related primarily to capital expenditures and acquisitions that occurred in prior years, as well as in evaluating operating performance in relation to Verizon’s competitors. Consolidated EBITDA is calculated by adding back interest, taxes and depreciation and amortization expenses to net income.

Consolidated Adjusted EBITDA is calculated by excluding from Consolidated EBITDA the effect of the following non-operational items: equity in losses of unconsolidated businesses and other income and expense, net, as well as the effect of special items. We believe that this measure is useful to management, investors and other users of our financial information in evaluating the effectiveness of our operations and underlying business trends in a manner that is consistent with management’s evaluation of business performance. We believe that Consolidated Adjusted EBITDA is widely used by investors to compare a company’s operating performance to its competitors by minimizing impacts caused by differences in capital structure, taxes and depreciation policies. Further, the exclusion of non-operational items and special items enables comparability to prior period performance and trend analysis. See "Special Items" for additional information.

It is management’s intent to provide non-GAAP financial information to enhance the understanding of Verizon’s GAAP financial information, and it should be considered by the reader in addition to, but not instead of, the financial statements prepared in accordance with GAAP. Each non-GAAP financial measure is presented along with the corresponding GAAP measure so as not to imply that more emphasis should be placed on the non-GAAP measure. We believe that non-GAAP measures provide relevant and useful information, which is used by management, investors and other users of our financial information, as well as by our management in assessing both consolidated and segment performance. The non-GAAP financial information presented may be determined or calculated differently by other companies and may not be directly comparable to that of other companies.

39

	Three Months Ended						Nine Months Ended
	September 30,						September 30,
(dollars in millions)	2019			2018			2019			2018
Consolidated Net Income	$	5,337		$	5,062		$	14,571		$	13,974
Add:
Provision for income taxes	1,586			1,613			4,450			4,282
Interest expense	1,146			1,211			3,571			3,634
Depreciation and amortization expense	4,114			4,377			12,577			13,051
Consolidated EBITDA	$	12,183		$	12,263		$	35,169		$	34,941
Add (Less):
Other (income) expense, net†	$	110		$	(214	)	$	1,127		$	(499	)
Equity in losses of unconsolidated businesses‡	1			3			20			250
Severance charges	—			—			—			339
Acquisition and integration related charges§	—			130			—			344
Product realignment charges§	—			—			—			450
Net gain from dispositions of assets and businesses	(261		)	—			(261		)	—
Consolidated Adjusted EBITDA	$	12,033		$	12,182		$	36,055		$	35,825

† Includes Pension and benefits mark-to-market adjustments and early debt redemption costs, where applicable.

‡ Includes Product realignment charges, where applicable.

§ Excludes depreciation and amortization expense.

The changes in Consolidated Net Income, Consolidated EBITDA and Consolidated Adjusted EBITDA in the table above during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019, compared to the similar periods in 2018, were primarily a result of the factors described in connection with operating revenues and operating expenses.

Segment Results of Operations

We have two reportable segments that we operate and manage as strategic business units, Consumer and Business. We measure and evaluate our reportable segments based on segment operating income. The use of segment operating income is consistent with the chief operating decision maker’s assessment of segment performance.

To aid in the understanding of segment performance as it relates to segment operating income, we use the following operating statistics to evaluate the overall effectiveness of our segments:

Wireless retail connections are retail customer device postpaid and prepaid connections. Retail connections under an account may include those from smartphones and basic phones (collectively, phones), as well as tablets and other Internet devices, including wearables and retail IoT devices.

Wireless retail postpaid connections are retail postpaid customer device connections. Retail connections under an account may include those from phones, as well as tablets and other Internet devices, including wearables and retail IoT devices.

Fios Internet connections are the total number of connections to the Internet using Fios Internet services.

Fios video connections are the total number of connections to traditional linear video programming using Fios video services.

Broadband connections are the total number of connections to the Internet using Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) and Fios Internet services.

Voice connections are the total number of traditional switched access lines in service and Fios digital voice connections.

Wireless retail connections, net additions are the total number of additional retail customer device postpaid and prepaid connections, less the number of device disconnects within the current period.

Wireless retail postpaid connections, net additions are the total number of additional retail customer device postpaid connections, less the number of device disconnects within the current period.

Wireless retail postpaid phone connections, net additions are the total number of additional retail customer postpaid phone connections, less the number of phone disconnects within the current period.

Churn is the rate at which service to either retail or postpaid retail connections is terminated on a monthly basis.

40

Wireless retail postpaid ARPA is the calculated average service revenue per account (ARPA) from retail postpaid accounts, which does not include recurring device payment plan billings related to the Verizon device payment program.

Wireless retail postpaid accounts are retail customers that are directly served and managed under the Verizon Wireless brand and use its services. Accounts include unlimited plans, shared data plans and corporate accounts, as well as legacy single connection plans and family plans. A single account may include monthly wireless services for a variety of connected devices.

Wireless retail postpaid connections per account is calculated by dividing the total number of retail postpaid connections by the number of retail postpaid accounts as of the end of the period.

Segment earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (Segment EBITDA), which is presented below, is a non-GAAP measure and does not purport to be an alternative to operating income (loss) as a measure of operating performance. We believe this measure is useful to management, investors and other users of our financial information in evaluating operating profitability on a more variable cost basis as it excludes the depreciation and amortization expenses related primarily to capital expenditures and acquisitions that occurred in prior years, as well as in evaluating operating performance in relation to our competitors. Segment EBITDA is calculated by adding back depreciation and amortization expense to segment operating income (loss). Segment EBITDA margin is calculated by dividing Segment EBITDA by total segment operating revenues. You can find additional information about our segments in Note 11 to the condensed consolidated financial statements.

Verizon Consumer Group

Our Consumer segment provides consumer-focused wireless and wireline communications services and products. Our wireless services are provided across one of the most extensive wireless networks in the U.S. under the Verizon Wireless brand and through wholesale and other arrangements. Our wireline services are provided in nine states in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern U.S., as well as Washington D.C., over our 100% fiber-optic network under the Fios brand and over a traditional copper-based network to customers who are not served by Fios.

Operating Revenues and Selected Operating Statistics

	Three Months Ended											Nine Months Ended
	September 30,						Increase/					September 30,						Increase/
(dollars in millions, except ARPA)	2019			2018			(Decrease)					2019			2018			(Decrease)
Service	$	16,433		$	16,193		$	240		1.5	%	$	49,042		$	48,066		$	976		2.0	%
Wireless equipment	4,257			4,508			(251		)	(5.6	)	12,326			13,029			(703		)	(5.4	)
Other	2,016			1,698			318			18.7		5,481			4,934			547			11.1
Total Operating Revenues	$	22,706		$	22,399		$	307		1.4		$	66,849		$	66,029		$	820		1.2
Connections (‘000): (1)
Wireless retail connections												93,922			93,798			124			0.1
Wireless retail postpaid connections												89,739			89,062			677			0.8
Fios Internet connections												5,867			5,711			156			2.7
Fios video connections												4,203			4,423			(220		)	(5.0	)
Broadband connections												6,469			6,452			17			0.3
Voice connections												5,904			6,480			(576		)	(8.9	)
Net Additions in Period (‘000): (2)
Wireless retail	112			55			57			nm		(352		)	(424		)	72			17.0
Wireless retail postpaid	193			151			42			27.8		118			243			(125		)	(51.4	)
Wireless retail postpaid phones	239			112			127			nm		149			(24		)	173			nm
Churn Rate:
Wireless retail	1.27		%	1.24		%						1.27		%	1.25		%
Wireless retail postpaid	1.05		%	1.01		%						1.03		%	0.98		%
Wireless retail postpaid phones	0.79		%	0.77		%						0.77		%	0.75		%
Account Statistics:
Wireless retail postpaid ARPA	$	118.89		$	117.06		$	1.83		1.6		$	118.16		$	115.34		$	2.82		2.4
Wireless retail postpaid accounts (‘000) (1)												33,898			34,005			(107		)	(0.3	)
Wireless retail postpaid connections per account (1)												2.65			2.62			0.03			1.1

⁽¹⁾  As of end of period

⁽²⁾  Includes certain adjustments

nm - not meaningful

41

Consumer’s total operating revenues increased $307 million, or 1.4%, and $820 million, or 1.2%, during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019, respectively, compared to the similar periods in 2018, primarily as a result of increases in Service and Other revenues, partially offset by decreases in Wireless equipment revenue.

Service Revenue

Service revenue increased $240 million, or 1.5%, and $976 million, or 2.0%, during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019, respectively, compared to the similar periods in 2018. These increases were driven by increases in wireless service and Fios revenues, partially offset by decreases in wireline voice and DSL services.

Wireless service revenue increased 2.1% and 2.8%, during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019, respectively, compared to the similar periods in 2018. These increases were due to increases in wireless access revenue, driven by customers shifting to higher access plans including unlimited plans and increases in the number of devices per account, the declining fixed-term subsidized plan base and data usage growth from reseller accounts. Wireless retail postpaid ARPA increased 1.6% and 2.4%, during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019, respectively, compared to the similar periods in 2018.

For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019, Fios revenue totaled $2.8 billion and $8.3 billion, respectively, and increased 1.7%, and $111 million, or 1.3%, respectively, compared to the similar periods in 2018. These increases are due to a 2.7% increase in Fios Internet connections, reflecting increased demand in higher broadband speeds, partially offset by a 5.0% decrease in Fios video connections, reflecting the ongoing shift from traditional linear video to over-the-top offerings.

Service revenue attributable to wireline voice and DSL broadband services declined during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019, compared to the similar periods in 2018. The declines are primarily due to a decrease of 8.9% in voice connections resulting primarily from competition and technology substitution with wireless and competing Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) and cable telephony services.

Wireless Equipment Revenue

Wireless equipment revenue decreased $251 million, or 5.6%, and $703 million, or 5.4%, during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019, respectively, compared to the similar periods in 2018, as a result of overall declines in wireless device sales primarily due to an elongation of the handset upgrade cycle and increased promotions. The decrease during the nine months ended September 30, 2019 was partially offset by a shift to higher priced units in the mix of wireless devices sold.

Other Revenue

Other revenue includes non-service revenues such as regulatory fees, cost recovery surcharges, revenues associated with our device protection package, leasing and interest on equipment financed under a device payment plan agreement when sold to the customer by an authorized agent.

Other revenue increased $318 million, or 18.7%, and $547 million, or 11.1%, during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019, respectively, compared to the similar periods in 2018, primarily due to pricing increases related to our wireless device protection plans.

Operating Expenses

	Three Months Ended									Nine Months Ended
	September 30,				Increase/					September 30,				Increase/
(dollars in millions)	2019		2018		(Decrease)					2019		2018		(Decrease)
Cost of services	$	4,035	$	3,850	$	185		4.8	%	$	11,761	$	11,465	$	296		2.6	%
Cost of wireless equipment	4,291		4,379		(88		)	(2.0	)	12,342		12,948		(606		)	(4.7	)
Selling, general and administrative expense	4,085		3,947		138			3.5		12,090		11,426		664			5.8
Depreciation and amortization expense	2,806		3,010		(204		)	(6.8	)	8,581		8,982		(401		)	(4.5	)
Total Operating Expenses	$	15,217	$	15,186	$	31		0.2		$	44,774	$	44,821	$	(47	)	(0.1	)

Cost of Services

Cost of services increased $185 million, or 4.8%, and $296 million, or 2.6%, during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019, respectively, compared to the similar periods in 2018, primarily due to increases in rent expense as a result of adding capacity to the networks to support demand and increases in costs related to the device protection package offered to our wireless retail postpaid customers, as well as regulatory fees. These increases were partially offset by decreases in employee-related costs primarily due to the Voluntary Separation Program, as well as decreases in access costs and roaming.

Cost of Wireless Equipment

Cost of wireless equipment decreased $88 million, or 2.0%, and $606 million, or 4.7%, during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019, respectively, compared to the similar periods in 2018, primarily as a result of declines in the number of wireless devices sold as a result of an elongation of the handset upgrade cycle. The decrease during the nine months ended September 30, 2019 was partially offset by a shift to higher priced devices in the mix of wireless devices sold.

42

Selling, General and Administrative Expense

Selling, general and administrative expense increased $138 million, or 3.5%, and $664 million, or 5.8%, during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019, respectively, compared to the similar periods in 2018, primarily due to increases in sales commission and bad debt expense, and an increase in advertising costs for the nine months ended September 30, 2019. The increase in sales commission expense was due to a lower net deferral of commission costs in the current year as compared to the prior year as a result of the adoption of Topic 606 on January 1, 2018 using a modified retrospective approach. These increases were partially offset by decreases in employee-related costs primarily due to the Voluntary Separation Program for both the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019.

Depreciation and Amortization Expense

Depreciation and amortization expense decreased $204 million, or 6.8%, and $401 million, or 4.5%, during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019, respectively, compared to the similar periods in 2018, driven by the change in the mix of total Verizon depreciable assets and Consumer's usage of those assets.

Segment Operating Income and EBITDA 

	Three Months Ended											Nine Months Ended
	September 30,						Increase/					September 30,						Increase/
(dollars in millions)	2019			2018			(Decrease)					2019			2018			(Decrease)
Segment Operating Income	$	7,489		$	7,213		$	276		3.8	%	$	22,075		$	21,208		$	867		4.1	%
Add Depreciation and amortization expense	2,806			3,010			(204		)	(6.8	)	8,581			8,982			(401		)	(4.5	)
Segment EBITDA	$	10,295		$	10,223		$	72		0.7		$	30,656		$	30,190		$	466		1.5
Segment operating income margin	33.0		%	32.2		%						33.0		%	32.1		%
Segment EBITDA margin	45.3		%	45.6		%						45.9		%	45.7		%

The changes in the table above during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019, compared to the similar periods in 2018, were primarily a result of the factors described in connection with operating revenues and operating expenses.

Verizon Business Group

Our Business segment provides wireless and wireline communications services and products, video and data services, corporate networking solutions, security and managed network services, local and long distance voice services and network access to deliver various IoT services and products. We provide these products and services to businesses, government customers and wireless and wireline carriers across the U.S. and select products and services to customers around the world. The Business segment is organized in four customer groups: Global Enterprise, Small and Medium Business, Public Sector and Other, and Wholesale.

43

Operating Revenues and Selected Operating Statistics

	Three Months Ended											Nine Months Ended
	September 30,						Increase/					September 30,						Increase/
(dollars in millions)	2019			2018			(Decrease)					2019			2018			(Decrease)
Global Enterprise	$	2,714		$	2,782		$	(68	)	(2.4	)%	$	8,078		$	8,416		$	(338	)	(4.0	)%
Small and Medium Business	2,899			2,729			170			6.2		8,392			7,905			487			6.2
Public Sector and Other	1,472			1,455			17			1.2		4,435			4,322			113			2.6
Wholesale	800			927			(127		)	(13.7	)	2,467			2,884			(417		)	(14.5	)
Total Operating Revenues (1)	$	7,885		$	7,893		$	(8	)	(0.1	)	$	23,372		$	23,527		$	(155	)	(0.7	)
Connections (‘000): (2)
Wireless retail postpaid connections												24,732			23,073			1,659			7.2
Fios Internet connections												322			302			20			6.6
Fios video connections												77			74			3			4.1
Broadband connections												492			506			(14		)	(2.8	)
Voice connections												5,058			5,529			(471		)	(8.5	)
Net additions in period (‘000): (3)
Wireless retail postpaid	408			364			44			12.1		995			1,063			(68		)	(6.4	)
Wireless retail postpaid phones	205			183			22			12.0		496			494			2			0.4
Churn Rate:
Wireless retail postpaid	1.22		%	1.17		%						1.22		%	1.16		%
Wireless retail postpaid phones	0.98		%	0.95		%						0.99		%	0.95		%

⁽¹⁾  Service and other revenues included in our Business segment amounted to approximately $7.0 billion and $20.9 billion for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019, respectively, and approximately $7.1 billion and $21.1 billion for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2018, respectively. Wireless equipment revenues included in our Business segment amounted to approximately $880 million and $2.5 billion for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019, respectively, and approximately $845 million and $2.4 billion for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2018, respectively.

⁽²⁾  As of end of period

⁽³⁾  Includes certain adjustments

Business’s total operating revenues decreased 0.1%, and $155 million, or 0.7%, during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019, compared to the similar periods in 2018. The decrease for both the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019 was primarily a result of decreases in Global Enterprise and Wholesale revenues, partially offset by increases in Small and Medium Business and Public Sector and Other revenues.

Global Enterprise

Global Enterprise offers services to large businesses, which are identified based on their size and volume of business with Verizon, as well as non-U.S. public sector customers.

Global Enterprise revenues decreased $68 million, or 2.4%, and $338 million, or 4.0%, during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019, respectively compared to the similar periods in 2018, primarily due to declines in traditional data and voice communication services as a result of competitive price pressures.

Small and Medium Business

Small and Medium Business offers wireless services and equipment, tailored voice and networking products, Fios services, IP Networking, advanced voice solutions, security and managed information technology services to our U.S.-based customers that do not meet the requirements to be categorized as Global Enterprise.

Small and Medium Business revenues increased $170 million, or 6.2%, and $487 million, or 6.2%, during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019, respectively compared to the similar periods in 2018. These increases were primarily due to an increase in wireless postpaid service revenue of 9.8% and 11.8% during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019, respectively, as a result of increases in the amount of wireless retail postpaid connections. These increases were further driven by increased wireless equipment revenue resulting from a shift to higher priced units in the mix of wireless devices sold and increases in the number of wireless devices sold, increased revenue related to our wireless device protection package, as well as increased revenue related to Fios services. These revenue increases were partially offset by revenue declines related to the loss of voice and DSL service connections.

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For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019, Fios revenues totaled $228 million and $684 million, respectively, and increased 12.9% and $87 million, or 14.5%, respectively, compared to the similar periods in 2018, reflecting the increase in total connections, as well as increased demand in higher broadband speeds.

Public Sector and Other

Public Sector and Other offers wireless products and services, as well as wireline connectivity solutions, to U.S. federal, state and local governments and educational institutions. These services include the services offered by Consumer discussed above and business services and connectivity similar to the products and services offered by the Global Enterprise group, in each case, with features and pricing designed to address the needs of governments and educational institutions.

Public Sector and Other revenues increased 1.2%, and $113 million, or 2.6%, during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019, compared to the similar periods in 2018, respectively, due to increases in networking and wireless postpaid service revenue as a result of an increase in wireless retail postpaid connections. Revenues also increased during the nine months ended September 30, 2019 due to increases in customer premise equipment.

Wholesale

Wholesale offers wireline communications services including data, voice, local dial tone and broadband services primarily to local, long distance, and wireless carriers that use our facilities to provide services to their customers.

Wholesale revenues decreased $127 million, or 13.7%, and $417 million, or 14.5%, during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019, compared to the similar periods in 2018, respectively, due to declines in core data and traditional voice services resulting from the effect of technology substitution and continuing contraction of market rates due to competition.

Operating Expenses

	Three Months Ended									Nine Months Ended
	September 30,				Increase/					September 30,				Increase/
(dollars in millions)	2019		2018		(Decrease)					2019		2018		(Decrease)
Cost of services	$	2,666	$	2,657	$	9		0.3	%	$	7,838	$	8,027	$	(189	)	(2.4	)%
Cost of wireless equipment	1,190		1,110		80			7.2		3,356		3,247		109			3.4
Selling, general and administrative expense	2,042		1,900		142			7.5		5,984		5,694		290			5.1
Depreciation and amortization expense	1,010		1,072		(62		)	(5.8	)	3,098		3,190		(92		)	(2.9	)
Total Operating Expenses	$	6,908	$	6,739	$	169		2.5		$	20,276	$	20,158	$	118		0.6

Cost of Services

Cost of services increased 0.3%, and decreased $189 million, or 2.4%, during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019, compared to the similar periods in 2018. The increase during the three months ended September 30, 2019, compared to the similar period in 2018, was primarily due to increases in regulatory fees, which were partially offset by lower access costs resulting from a reduction of voice connections. The decrease during the nine months ended September 30, 2019, compared to the similar period in 2018, was primarily due to lower access costs resulting from a reduction of voice connections, as well as lower employee-related costs associated with the lower headcount resulting from the Voluntary Separation Program, offset by an increase in regulatory fees.

Cost of Wireless Equipment

Cost of wireless equipment increased $80 million, or 7.2%, and $109 million, or 3.4%, during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019, compared to the similar periods in 2018, primarily due to a shift to higher priced units in the mix of wireless devices sold and an increase in the number of wireless devices sold.

Selling, General and Administrative Expense

Selling, general and administrative expense increased $142 million, or 7.5%, and $290 million, or 5.1%, during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019, compared to the similar periods in 2018, primarily driven by increases in advertising expenses and sales commission expense, which were partially offset by decreases in employee-related costs resulting from the Voluntary Separation Program. The increase in sales commission expense was due to a lower net deferral of commission costs in the current year as compared to the prior year as a result of the adoption of Topic 606 on January 1, 2018 using a modified retrospective approach.

Depreciation and Amortization Expense

Depreciation and amortization expense decreased $62 million, or 5.8%, and $92 million, or 2.9%, during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019, compared to the similar periods in 2018, driven by the change in the mix of total Verizon depreciable assets and Business's usage of those assets.

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Segment Operating Income and EBITDA 

	Three Months Ended											Nine Months Ended
	September 30,						Increase/					September 30,						Increase/
(dollars in millions)	2019			2018			(Decrease)					2019			2018			(Decrease)
Segment Operating Income	$	977		$	1,154		$	(177	)	(15.3	)%	$	3,096		$	3,369		$	(273	)	(8.1	)%
Add Depreciation and amortization expense	1,010			1,072			(62		)	(5.8	)%	3,098			3,190			(92		)	(2.9	)
Segment EBITDA	$	1,987		$	2,226		$	(239	)	(10.7	)	$	6,194		$	6,559		$	(365	)	(5.6	)
Segment operating income margin	12.4		%	14.6		%						13.2		%	14.3		%
Segment EBITDA margin	25.2		%	28.2		%						26.5		%	27.9		%

The changes in the table above during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019, compared to the similar periods in 2018, were primarily a result of the factors described in connection with operating revenues and operating expenses.

Special Items

	Three Months Ended						Nine Months Ended
	September 30,						September 30,
(dollars in millions)	2019			2018			2019			2018
Severance, pension and benefits charges (credits)
Selling, general and administrative expense	$	—		$	—		$	—		$	339
Other income (expense), net	291			(454		)	195			(454		)
Acquisition and integration related charges
Selling, general and administrative expense	—			130			—			344
Depreciation and amortization expense	—			7			—			20
Product realignment charges
Cost of services	—			—			—			303
Selling, general and administrative expense	—			—			—			147
Equity in losses of unconsolidated businesses	—			—			—			207
Depreciation and amortization expense	—			—			—			1
Early debt redemption costs
Other income (expense), net	—			476			1,544			725
Net gain from dispositions of assets and businesses
Selling, general and administrative expense	(261		)	—			(261		)	—
Total	$	30		$	159		$	1,478		$	1,632

The Consolidated Adjusted EBITDA non-GAAP measure presented in the Consolidated Net Income, Consolidated EBITDA and Consolidated Adjusted EBITDA discussion (see "Consolidated Results of Operations") excludes all of the amounts included above, as described below.

The income and expenses related to special items included in our consolidated results of operations were as follows:

	Three Months Ended					Nine Months Ended
	September 30,					September 30,
(dollars in millions)	2019			2018		2019			2018
Within Total Operating Expenses	$	(261	)	$	137	$	(261	)	$	1,154
Within Equity in losses of unconsolidated businesses	—			—		—			207
Within Other income (expense), net	291			22		1,739			271
Total	$	30		$	159	$	1,478		$	1,632

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Severance, Pension and Benefits Charges (Credits)

During the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019, we recorded a net pre-tax remeasurement loss of $291 million and $195 million, respectively, in our pension plans triggered by the Voluntary Separation Program for select U.S.-based management employees and other headcount reduction initiatives. Pension and benefit activity was recorded in accordance with our accounting policy to recognize actuarial gains and losses in the period in which they occur.

Severance charges recorded during the nine months ended September 30, 2018 were recorded in Selling, general and administrative expense and are exclusive of acquisition related severance charges.

During the three and nine months ended September 30, 2018, we recorded a net pre-tax remeasurement gain of $454 million triggered by the collective bargaining negotiations, primarily driven by a $1.1 billion credit due to a change in our discount rate assumption used to determine the current year liabilities of our pension plans, offset by a $599 million charge due to the difference between our estimated return on assets and our actual return on assets. Pension and benefit activity was recorded in accordance with our accounting policy to recognize actuarial gains and losses in the period in which they occur.

See Note 9 to the condensed consolidated financial statements for additional information related to our 2019 pension and benefits charges and credits.

Acquisition and Integration Related Charges

Acquisition and integration related charges recorded during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2018 primarily related to the acquisition of Yahoo’s operating business in June 2017.

Product Realignment Charges

Product realignment charges recorded during the nine months ended September 30, 2018 primarily related to the discontinuation of the go90 platform and associated content.

Early Debt Redemption Costs

During the nine months ended September 30, 2019, we recorded early debt redemption costs of $1.5 billion in connection with the tender offers of notes issued by Verizon with coupon rates ranging from 4.672% to 5.012% and maturity dates ranging from 2054 to 2055.

During the three and nine months ended September 30, 2018, we recorded early debt redemption costs of $476 million and $725 million, respectively, primarily related to the 2018 September tender offers for 8 series of notes issued by Verizon with coupon rates ranging from 3.850% to 5.012% with maturity dates ranging from 2039 to 2055. In addition, during the nine months ended September 30, 2018, we recorded losses on early debt redemptions mainly related to the 2018 March tender offers for 13 series of notes issued by Verizon with coupon rates ranging from 1.750% to 5.012% with maturity dates ranging from 2021 to 2055.

Net Gain from Dispositions of Assets and Businesses

During the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019, we recorded a pre-tax net gain from dispositions of assets and businesses of $261 million in connection with the sale of various real estate properties and businesses.

Consolidated Financial Condition

	Nine Months Ended
	September 30,
(dollars in millions)	2019			2018			Change
Cash Flows Provided By (Used In)
Operating activities	$	26,748		$	26,244		$	504
Investing activities	(12,157		)	(13,136		)	979
Financing activities	(14,301		)	(12,421		)	(1,880		)
Increase in cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash	$	290		$	687		$	(397	)

We use the net cash generated from our operations to fund expansion and modernization of our networks, service and repay external financing, pay dividends, invest in new businesses and, when appropriate, buy back shares of our outstanding common stock. Our sources of funds, primarily from operations and, to the extent necessary, from external financing arrangements, are sufficient to meet ongoing operating and investing requirements. We expect that our capital spending requirements will continue to be financed primarily through internally generated funds. Debt or equity financing may be needed to fund additional investments or development activities or to maintain an appropriate capital structure to ensure our financial flexibility. Our cash and cash equivalents are held both domestically and internationally, and are invested to maintain principal and provide liquidity. See "Market Risk" for additional information regarding our foreign currency risk management strategies.

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Our available external financing arrangements include an active commercial paper program, credit available under credit facilities and other bank lines of credit, vendor financing arrangements, issuances of registered debt or equity securities, U.S. retail medium-term notes and other capital market securities that are privately-placed or offered overseas. In addition, we monetize our device payment plan agreement receivables through asset-backed debt transactions.

Cash Flows Provided By Operating Activities

Our primary source of funds continues to be cash generated from operations. Net cash provided by operating activities increased $504 million during the nine months ended September 30, 2019, compared to the similar period in 2018, primarily due to an increase in earnings and a decrease in discretionary contributions to qualified employee benefit plans, offset by changes in working capital, which includes an increase in cash income taxes, and severance payments as a result of the Voluntary Separation Program during the nine months ended September 30, 2019, compared to the similar period in 2018. We made $300 million and $1.7 billion in discretionary employee benefits contributions during the nine months ended September 30, 2019 and 2018, respectively, to our defined benefit pension plan. As a result of the discretionary pension contributions, we expect that there will be no required pension funding until 2024, which will continue to benefit future cash flows. Further, the funded status of our qualified pension plan improved as a result of the contributions.

Cash Flows Used In Investing Activities

Capital Expenditures

Capital expenditures continue to relate primarily to our use of capital resources to facilitate the introduction of new products and services, enhance our responsiveness to competitive challenges, maintain our existing infrastructure and increase the operating efficiency and productivity of our networks.

Capital expenditures, including capitalized software, were as follows:

	Nine Months Ended
	September 30,
(dollars in millions)	2019			2018
Capital expenditures (including capitalized software)	$	12,332		$	12,026
Total as a percentage of revenue	12.7		%	12.5		%

Capital expenditures increased during the nine months ended September 30, 2019 primarily due to an increase in investments to support multi-use fiber assets, which support the densification of our 4G LTE network and 5G technology deployment. Our investments are primarily related to network infrastructure to support the business.

Acquisitions

In 2019, the FCC completed two millimeter wave spectrum license auctions. Through September 30, 2019, we paid cash deposits of approximately $521 million for spectrum licenses in connection with these auctions. See Note 3 to the condensed consolidated financial statements for additional information.

During the nine months ended September 30, 2019, we completed various other acquisitions for an insignificant amount of cash consideration.

Disposition

During 2019, we received gross proceeds of approximately $1.0 billion for a sale-leaseback transaction for buildings and real estate. See Note 5 to the condensed consolidated financial statements for additional information.

Cash Flows Used In Financing Activities

We seek to maintain a mix of fixed and variable rate debt to lower borrowing costs within reasonable risk parameters and to protect against earnings and cash flow volatility resulting from changes in market conditions. During the nine months ended September 30, 2019 and 2018, net cash used in financing activities was $14.3 billion and $12.4 billion, respectively.

During the nine months ended September 30, 2019, our net cash used in financing activities of $14.3 billion was primarily driven by repayments, redemptions and repurchases of long-term borrowings and finance lease obligations of $12.5 billion, cash dividends of $7.5 billion, and repayments of asset-backed long-term borrowings of $5.3 billion. These uses of cash were partially offset by proceeds from long-term borrowings of $8.4 billion and proceeds from asset-backed long-term borrowings of $4.0 billion.

At September 30, 2019, our total debt of $109.6 billion included unsecured debt of $100.8 billion and secured debt of $8.8 billion. At December 31, 2018, our total debt of $113.1 billion included unsecured debt of $103.0 billion and secured debt of $10.1 billion. During the nine months ended September 30, 2019 and 2018, our effective interest rate was 4.8%. See Note 6 to the condensed consolidated financial statements for additional information regarding our debt activity.

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Verizon may continue to acquire debt securities issued by Verizon and its affiliates in the future through open market purchases, privately negotiated transactions, tender offers, exchange offers, or otherwise, upon such terms and at such prices as Verizon may from time to time determine for cash or other consideration.

Asset-Backed Debt

Cash collections on the device payment plan agreement receivables collateralizing asset-backed debt securities are required at certain specified times to be placed into segregated accounts. Deposits to the segregated accounts are considered restricted cash and are included in Prepaid expenses and other and Other assets in our condensed consolidated balance sheets.

Proceeds from our asset-backed debt transactions are reflected in Cash flows from financing activities in our condensed consolidated statements of cash flows. The asset-backed debt issued and the assets securing this debt are included in our condensed consolidated balance sheets.

See Note 6 to the consolidated financial statements for additional information.

Other, net

Other, net financing activities during the nine months ended September 30, 2019 includes $526 million premium paid due to early extinguishment of debt.

Credit Facilities

As of September 30, 2019, the unused borrowing capacity under our $9.5 billion credit facility was approximately $9.4 billion. The credit facility does not require us to comply with financial covenants or maintain specified credit ratings, and it permits us to borrow even if our business has incurred a material adverse change. We use the credit facility for the issuance of letters of credit and for general corporate purposes.

In March 2016, we entered into a $1.0 billion credit facility insured by Eksportkreditnamnden, an export credit agency, with a maturity date of December 2024. As of September 30, 2019, the outstanding balance was $647 million. We used this credit facility to finance network equipment-related purchases.

In July 2017, we entered into credit facilities insured by various export credit agencies providing us with the ability to borrow up to $4.0 billion to finance equipment-related purchases with maturity dates ranging from July 2022 to May 2027. The facilities have multiple borrowings available, portions of which extend through October 2019 contingent upon the amount of eligible equipment-related purchases that we make. During the nine months ended September 30, 2019, we drew $874 million from these facilities. As of September 30, 2019, we had an outstanding balance of $3.4 billion.

Dividends

As in prior periods, dividend payments were a significant use of capital resources. We paid $7.5 billion and $7.3 billion in cash dividends during the nine months ended September 30, 2019 and 2018, respectively.

Covenants

Our credit agreements contain covenants that are typical for large, investment grade companies. These covenants include requirements to pay interest and principal in a timely fashion, pay taxes, maintain insurance with responsible and reputable insurance companies, preserve our corporate existence, keep appropriate books and records of financial transactions, maintain our properties, provide financial and other reports to our lenders, limit pledging and disposition of assets and mergers and consolidations, and other similar covenants.

We and our consolidated subsidiaries are in compliance with all of our restrictive covenants.

Change In Cash, Cash Equivalents and Restricted Cash

Our Cash and cash equivalents at September 30, 2019 totaled $3.0 billion, a $275 million increase compared to December 31, 2018, primarily as a result of the factors discussed above.

Restricted cash totaled $1.2 billion at both September 30, 2019 and December 31, 2018, primarily related to cash collections on the device payment plan agreement receivables that are required at certain specified times to be placed into segregated accounts.

Free Cash Flow

Free cash flow is a non-GAAP financial measure that reflects an additional way of viewing our liquidity that, when viewed with our GAAP results, provides a more complete understanding of factors and trends affecting our cash flows. Free cash flow is calculated by subtracting capital expenditures from net cash provided by operating activities. We believe it is a more conservative measure of cash flow since purchases of fixed assets are necessary for ongoing operations. Free cash flow has limitations due to the fact that it does not represent the residual cash flow available for discretionary expenditures. For example, free cash flow does not incorporate payments made on finance lease obligations or cash payments for business acquisitions. Therefore, we believe it is important to view free cash flow as a complement to our entire condensed consolidated statements of cash flows.

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The following table reconciles net cash provided by operating activities to free cash flow:

	Nine Months Ended
	September 30,
(dollars in millions)	2019		2018		Change
Net cash provided by operating activities	$	26,748	$	26,244	$	504
Less Capital expenditures (including capitalized software)	12,332		12,026		306
Free cash flow	$	14,416	$	14,218	$	198

The increase in free cash flow during the nine months ended September 30, 2019, compared to the similar period in 2018, is a reflection of the increase in operating cash flows, partially offset by the increase in capital expenditures discussed above.

Market Risk

We are exposed to various types of market risk in the normal course of business, including the impact of interest rate changes, foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations, changes in investment, equity and commodity prices and changes in corporate tax rates. We employ risk management strategies, which may include the use of a variety of derivatives including, but not limited to, cross currency swaps, forward starting interest rate swaps, interest rate swaps, interest rate caps and foreign exchange forwards. We do not hold derivatives for trading purposes.

It is our general policy to enter into interest rate, foreign currency and other derivative transactions only to the extent necessary to achieve our desired objectives in optimizing exposure to various market risks. Our objectives include maintaining a mix of fixed and variable rate debt to lower borrowing costs within reasonable risk parameters and to protect against earnings and cash flow volatility resulting from changes in market conditions. We do not hedge our market risk exposure in a manner that would completely eliminate the effect of changes in interest rates and foreign exchange rates on our earnings.

Counterparties to our derivative contracts are major financial institutions with whom we have negotiated derivatives agreements (ISDA master agreements) and credit support annex (CSA) agreements which provide rules for collateral exchange. Negotiations and executions of new ISDA master agreements and CSA agreements with our counterparties continued throughout 2018 and 2019. The newly executed CSA agreements contain rating based thresholds such that we or our counterparties may be required to hold or post collateral based upon changes in outstanding positions as compared to established thresholds and changes in credit ratings. At September 30, 2019, we held an insignificant amount and at December 31, 2018, we posted approximately $0.1 billion of collateral related to derivative contracts under collateral exchange arrangements, which were recorded as Other current liabilities and Prepaid expenses and other, respectively, in our condensed consolidated balance sheets. While we may be exposed to credit losses due to the nonperformance of our counterparties, we consider the risk remote and do not expect that any such nonperformance would result in a significant effect on our results of operations or financial condition due to our diversified pool of counterparties. See Note 8 to the condensed consolidated financial statements for additional information regarding the derivative portfolio.

Interest Rate Risk

We are exposed to changes in interest rates, primarily on our short-term debt and the portion of long-term debt that carries floating interest rates. As of September 30, 2019, approximately 81% of the aggregate principal amount of our total debt portfolio consisted of fixed rate indebtedness, including the effect of interest rate swap agreements designated as hedges. The impact of a 100-basis-point change in interest rates affecting our floating rate debt would result in a change in annual interest expense, including our interest rate swap agreements that are designated as hedges, of approximately $217 million. The interest rates on our existing long-term debt obligations are unaffected by changes to our credit ratings.

Certain of our floating rate debt and our interest rate derivative transactions utilize interest rates that are linked to the London Inter-Bank Offered Rate (LIBOR) as the benchmark rate.  LIBOR is the subject of recent U.S. and international regulatory guidance and proposals for reform.  These reforms and other pressures may cause LIBOR to become unavailable or to perform or be reported differently than in the past.  The consequences of these developments cannot be entirely predicted but could include an increase in the cost of our floating rate debt or exposure under our interest rate derivative transactions.  We do not anticipate a significant impact to our financial position given our current mix of variable and fixed-rate debt, taking into account the impact of our interest rate hedging.

Interest Rate Swaps

We enter into interest rate swaps to achieve a targeted mix of fixed and variable rate debt. We principally receive fixed rates and pay variable rates based on the London Interbank Offered Rate, resulting in a net increase or decrease to Interest expense. These swaps are designated as fair value hedges and hedge against interest rate risk exposure of designated debt issuances. At September 30, 2019, the fair value of the asset and liability of these contracts were $849 million and $212 million, respectively. At December 31, 2018, the fair value of the asset and liability of these contracts were insignificant and $813 million, respectively. At September 30, 2019 and December 31, 2018, the total notional amount of the interest rate swaps was $17.0 billion and $19.8 billion, respectively.

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Forward Starting Interest Rate Swaps

We have entered into forward starting interest rate swaps designated as cash flow hedges in order to manage our exposure to interest rate changes on future forecasted transactions. At September 30, 2019, the fair value of the liability of these contracts was $886 million. At December 31, 2018, the fair value of the liability of these contracts was $60 million. At September 30, 2019 and December 31, 2018, the total notional amount of the forward starting interest rate swaps was $3.0 billion and $4.0 billion, respectively.

Interest Rate Caps

We also have interest rate caps which we use as an economic hedge but for which we have elected not to apply hedge accounting. We enter into interest rate caps to mitigate our interest exposure to interest rate increases on our ABS Financing Facilities and ABS Notes. The fair value of the asset and liability of these contracts were insignificant at both September 30, 2019 and December 31, 2018. At September 30, 2019 and December 31, 2018, the total notional value of these contracts was $975 million and $2.2 billion, respectively.

Foreign Currency Translation

The functional currency for our foreign operations is primarily the local currency. The translation of income statement and balance sheet amounts of our foreign operations into U.S. dollars is recorded as cumulative translation adjustments, which are included in Accumulated other comprehensive income in our condensed consolidated balance sheets. Gains and losses on foreign currency transactions are recorded in the condensed consolidated statements of income in Other income (expense), net. At September 30, 2019, our primary translation exposure was to the British Pound Sterling, Euro, Australian Dollar and Japanese Yen.

Cross Currency Swaps

We have entered into cross currency swaps designated as cash flow hedges to exchange our British Pound Sterling, Euro, Swiss Franc and Australian Dollar-denominated cash flows into U.S. dollars and to fix our cash payments in U.S. dollars, as well as to mitigate the impact of foreign currency transaction gains or losses. The fair value of the asset of these contracts was $79 million at September 30, 2019 and $220 million at December 31, 2018. At September 30, 2019 and December 31, 2018, the fair value of the liability of these contracts was $1.4 billion and $536 million, respectively. At September 30, 2019 and December 31, 2018, the total notional amount of the cross currency swaps was $22.2 billion and $16.6 billion, respectively.

Foreign Exchange Forwards

We also have foreign exchange forwards which we use as an economic hedge but for which we have elected not to apply hedge accounting. We enter into British Pound Sterling and Euro foreign exchange forwards to mitigate our foreign exchange rate risk related to non-functional currency denominated monetary assets and liabilities of international subsidiaries. At September 30, 2019, the fair value of the liability of these contracts was insignificant. At September 30, 2019 and December 31, 2018, the total notional amount of the foreign exchange forwards was $1.1 billion and $600 million, respectively.

Acquisitions and Divestitures

Spectrum License Transactions

From time to time, we enter into agreements to buy, sell or exchange spectrum licenses. We believe these spectrum license transactions have allowed us to continue to enhance the reliability of our wireless network, while also resulting in a more efficient use of spectrum. See Note 3 to the condensed consolidated financial statements for additional information.

Other

From time to time, we enter into strategic agreements to acquire various other businesses and investments. See Note 3 to the condensed consolidated financial statements for additional information.

Other Factors That May Affect Future Results

Regulatory and Competitive Trends

There have been no material changes to Regulatory and Competitive Trends as previously disclosed in Part I, Item I. "Business" included in our Current Report on Form 8-K dated August 8, 2019.

Environmental Matters

Reserves have been established to cover environmental matters relating to discontinued businesses and past telecommunications activities. These reserves include funds to address contamination at the site of a former Sylvania facility in Hicksville, NY, which had processed nuclear fuel rods in the 1950s and 1960s. In September 2005, the Army Corps of Engineers (ACE) accepted the site into its Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program. As a result, the ACE has taken primary responsibility for addressing the contamination at the site. An adjustment to the reserves may be made after a cost allocation is conducted with respect to the past and future expenses of all of the parties. Adjustments to the environmental reserve may also be made based upon the actual conditions found at other sites requiring remediation.

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Recently Issued Accounting Standards

See Note 1 to the condensed consolidated financial statements for a discussion of recently issued accounting standard updates not yet adopted as of September 30, 2019.

 Cautionary Statement Concerning Forward-Looking Statements

In this report we have made forward-looking statements. These statements are based on our estimates and assumptions and are subject to risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements include the information concerning our possible or assumed future results of operations. Forward-looking statements also include those preceded or followed by the words "anticipates," "believes," "estimates," "expects," "hopes" or similar expressions. For those statements, we claim the protection of the safe harbor for forward-looking statements contained in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. We undertake no obligation to revise or publicly release the results of any revision to these forward-looking statements, except as required by law. Given these risks and uncertainties, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements.

The following important factors, along with those discussed elsewhere in this report and in other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), could affect future results and could cause those results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements:

• adverse conditions in the U.S. and international economies;

• the effects of competition in the markets in which we operate;

• material changes in technology or technology substitution;

• disruption of our key suppliers’ provisioning of products or services;

• changes in the regulatory environment in which we operate, including any increase in restrictions on our ability to operate our networks;

• breaches of network or information technology security, natural disasters, terrorist attacks or acts of war or significant litigation and any resulting financial impact not covered by insurance;

• our high level of indebtedness;

• an adverse change in the ratings afforded our debt securities by nationally accredited ratings organizations or adverse conditions in the credit markets affecting the cost, including interest rates, and/or availability of further financing;

• material adverse changes in labor matters, including labor negotiations, and any resulting financial and/or operational impact;

• significant increases in benefit plan costs or lower investment returns on plan assets;

• changes in tax laws or treaties, or in their interpretation;

• changes in accounting assumptions that regulatory agencies, including the SEC, may require or that result from changes in the accounting rules or their application, which could result in an impact on earnings;

• the inability to implement our business strategies; and

• the inability to realize the expected benefits of strategic transactions.

Item 3. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk

Information relating to market risk is included in Item 2, Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations under the caption "Market Risk."

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Item 4. Controls and Procedures

Our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer have evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant’s disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934), as of the end of the period covered by this quarterly report, that ensure that information relating to the registrant which is required to be disclosed in this report is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within required time periods using the criteria for effective internal control established in Internal Control–Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission in 2013. Based on this evaluation, our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer have concluded that the registrant’s disclosure controls and procedures were effective as of September 30, 2019.

In the ordinary course of business, we routinely review our system of internal control over financial reporting and make changes to our systems and processes that are intended to ensure an effective internal control environment. There were no changes in the Company’s internal control over financial reporting during the third quarter of 2019 that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.

Part II – Other Information

Item 1. Legal Proceedings

In October 2013, the California Attorney General’s Office notified certain Verizon companies of potential violations of California state hazardous waste statutes primarily arising from the disposal of electronic components, batteries and aerosol cans at certain California facilities. We are cooperating with this investigation and continue to review our operations relating to the management of hazardous waste. While penalties relating to the alleged violations could exceed $100,000, we do not expect that any penalties ultimately incurred will be material.

See Note 12 to the condensed consolidated financial statements for additional information regarding legal proceedings.

Item 1A. Risk Factors

There have been no material changes to our risk factors as previously disclosed in Part I, Item 1A. included in our Annual Report on Form 10‑K for the year ended December 31, 2018.

Item 2. Unregistered Sales of Equity Securities and Use of Proceeds

In March 2017, the Verizon Board of Directors authorized a share buyback program to repurchase up to 100 million shares of the Company’s common stock. The program will terminate when the aggregate number of shares purchased reaches 100 million, or at the close of business on February 28, 2020, whichever is sooner. Under the program, shares may be repurchased in privately negotiated transactions and on the open market, including through plans complying with Rule 10b5-1(c) under the Exchange Act. The timing and number of shares purchased under the program, if any, will depend on market conditions and the Company’s capital allocation priorities.

Verizon did not repurchase any shares of Verizon common stock during the three months ended September 30, 2019. At September 30, 2019, the maximum number of shares that could be purchased by or on behalf of Verizon under our share buyback program was 100 million.

53

Item 6. Exhibits

Exhibit Number	Description
31.1	Certification of Chief Executive Officer pursuant to Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.
31.2	Certification of Chief Financial Officer pursuant to Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.
32.1	Certification of Chief Executive Officer pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.
32.2	Certification of Chief Financial Officer pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.
101.INS	XBRL Instance Document - the instance document does not appear in the interactive data file because its XBRL tags are embedded within the inline XBRL document.
101.SCH	XBRL Taxonomy Extension Schema Document.
101.PRE	XBRL Taxonomy Presentation Linkbase Document.
101.CAL	XBRL Taxonomy Calculation Linkbase Document.
101.LAB	XBRL Taxonomy Label Linkbase Document.
101.DEF	XBRL Taxonomy Extension Definition Linkbase Document.
104	Cover Page Interactive Data File (formatted as inline XBRL with applicable taxonomy extension information contained in Exhibits 101).

54

Signature

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned thereunto duly authorized.

	VERIZON COMMUNICATIONS INC.
Date: October 30, 2019	By	/s/ Anthony T. Skiadas
		Anthony T. Skiadas
		Senior Vice President and Controller
		(Principal Accounting Officer)

55

Exhibit Number	Description
31.1	Certification of Chief Executive Officer pursuant to Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.
31.2	Certification of Chief Financial Officer pursuant to Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.
32.1	Certification of Chief Executive Officer pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.
32.2	Certification of Chief Financial Officer pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.
101.INS	XBRL Instance Document - the instance document does not appear in the interactive data file because its XBRL tags are embedded within the inline XBRL document.
101.SCH	XBRL Taxonomy Extension Schema Document.
101.PRE	XBRL Taxonomy Presentation Linkbase Document.
101.CAL	XBRL Taxonomy Calculation Linkbase Document.
101.LAB	XBRL Taxonomy Label Linkbase Document.
101.DEF	XBRL Taxonomy Extension Definition Linkbase Document.
104	Cover Page Interactive Data File (formatted as inline XBRL with applicable taxonomy extension information contained in Exhibits 101).

56

EX-31.1

EXHIBIT 31.1

I, Hans E. Vestberg, certify that:

1. I have reviewed this quarterly report on Form 10-Q of Verizon Communications Inc.;

2. Based on my knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to make the statements made, in light of the circumstances under which such statements were made, not misleading with respect to the period covered by this report;

3. Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial information included in this report, fairly present in all material respects the financial condition, results of operations and cash flows of the registrant as of, and for, the periods presented in this report;

4. The registrant’s other certifying officer and I are responsible for establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) and internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f)) for the registrant and have:

(a) Designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused such disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under our supervision, to ensure that material information relating to the registrant, including its consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to us by others within those entities, particularly during the period in which this report is being prepared;

(b) Designed such internal control over financial reporting, or caused such internal control over financial reporting to be designed under our supervision, to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles;

(c) Evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant’s disclosure controls and procedures and presented in this report our conclusions about the effectiveness of the disclosure controls and procedures, as of the end of the period covered by this report based on such evaluation; and

(d) Disclosed in this report any change in the registrant’s internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the registrant’s most recent fiscal quarter that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, the registrant’s internal control over financial reporting; and

5. The registrant’s other certifying officer and I have disclosed, based on our most recent evaluation of internal control over financial reporting, to the registrant’s auditors and the audit committee of the registrant’s board of directors (or persons performing the equivalent functions):

(a) All significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the design or operation of internal control over financial reporting which are reasonably likely to adversely affect the registrant’s ability to record, process, summarize and report financial information; and

(b) Any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or other employees who have a significant role in the registrant’s internal control over financial reporting.

Date: October 30, 2019	/s/ Hans E. Vestberg
	Hans E. Vestberg
	Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

EX-31.2

EXHIBIT 31.2

I, Matthew D. Ellis, certify that:

1. I have reviewed this quarterly report on Form 10-Q of Verizon Communications Inc.;

2. Based on my knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to make the statements made, in light of the circumstances under which such statements were made, not misleading with respect to the period covered by this report;

3. Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial information included in this report, fairly present in all material respects the financial condition, results of operations and cash flows of the registrant as of, and for, the periods presented in this report;

4. The registrant’s other certifying officer and I are responsible for establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) and internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f)) for the registrant and have:

(a) Designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused such disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under our supervision, to ensure that material information relating to the registrant, including its consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to us by others within those entities, particularly during the period in which this report is being prepared;

(b) Designed such internal control over financial reporting, or caused such internal control over financial reporting to be designed under our supervision, to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles;

(c) Evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant’s disclosure controls and procedures and presented in this report our conclusions about the effectiveness of the disclosure controls and procedures, as of the end of the period covered by this report based on such evaluation; and

(d) Disclosed in this report any change in the registrant’s internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the registrant’s most recent fiscal quarter that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, the registrant’s internal control over financial reporting; and

5. The registrant’s other certifying officer and I have disclosed, based on our most recent evaluation of internal control over financial reporting, to the registrant’s auditors and the audit committee of the registrant’s board of directors (or persons performing the equivalent functions):

(a) All significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the design or operation of internal control over financial reporting which are reasonably likely to adversely affect the registrant’s ability to record, process, summarize and report financial information; and

(b) Any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or other employees who have a significant role in the registrant’s internal control over financial reporting.

Date: October 30, 2019	/s/ Matthew D. Ellis
	Matthew D. Ellis
	Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

EX-32.1

EXHIBIT 32.1

CERTIFICATION OF CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER PURSUANT TO SECTION 906 OF THE SARBANES-OXLEY ACT OF 2002, PURSUANT TO SECTION 1350 OF CHAPTER 63 OF TITLE 18 OF THE UNITED STATES CODE

I, Hans E. Vestberg, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Verizon Communications Inc. (the Company), certify that:

(1) the report of the Company on Form 10-Q for the quarterly period ending September 30, 2019 (the Report) fully complies with the requirements of section 13(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the Exchange Act); and

(2) the information contained in the Report fairly presents, in all material respects, the financial condition and results of operations of the Company as of the dates and for the periods referred to in the Report.

Date: October 30, 2019	/s/ Hans E. Vestberg
	Hans E. Vestberg
	Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

A signed original of this written statement required by Section 906, or other document authenticating, acknowledging, or otherwise adopting the signature that appears in typed form within the electronic version of this written statement required by Section 906, has been provided to Verizon Communications Inc. and will be retained by Verizon Communications Inc. and furnished to the Securities and Exchange Commission or its staff upon request.

EX-32.2

EXHIBIT 32.2

CERTIFICATION OF CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER PURSUANT TO SECTION 906 OF THE SARBANES-OXLEY ACT OF 2002, PURSUANT TO SECTION 1350 OF CHAPTER 63 OF TITLE 18 OF THE UNITED STATES CODE

I, Matthew D. Ellis, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Verizon Communications Inc. (the Company), certify that:

(1) the report of the Company on Form 10-Q for the quarterly period ending September 30, 2019 (the Report) fully complies with the requirements of section 13(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the Exchange Act); and

(2) the information contained in the Report fairly presents, in all material respects, the financial condition and results of operations of the Company as of the dates and for the periods referred to in the Report.

Date: October 30, 2019	/s/ Matthew D. Ellis
	Matthew D. Ellis
	Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

A signed original of this written statement required by Section 906, or other document authenticating, acknowledging, or otherwise adopting the signature that appears in typed form within the electronic version of this written statement required by Section 906, has been provided to Verizon Communications Inc. and will be retained by Verizon Communications Inc. and furnished to the Securities and Exchange Commission or its staff upon request.

XML

Equity and Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income - Changes in AOCI (Detail) - USD ($) $ in Millions	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2019	Sep. 30, 2018	Sep. 30, 2019	Sep. 30, 2018
AOCI Including Portion Attributable to Noncontrolling Interest [Abstract]
Beginning Balance			$ 54,710
Other comprehensive income (loss)			(1,390)
Amounts reclassified to net income			124
Net other comprehensive income (loss)			(1,266)
Ending Balance	$ 60,312	$ 56,087	60,312	$ 56,087
Foreign currency translation adjustments
AOCI Including Portion Attributable to Noncontrolling Interest [Abstract]
Beginning Balance			(600)
Other comprehensive income (loss)			(52)
Amounts reclassified to net income			(1)
Net other comprehensive income (loss)			(53)
Ending Balance	(653)		(653)
Unrealized gain (loss) on cash flow hedges
AOCI Including Portion Attributable to Noncontrolling Interest [Abstract]
Beginning Balance			(80)
Other comprehensive income (loss)			(1,348)
Amounts reclassified to net income			632
Net other comprehensive income (loss)			(716)
Ending Balance	(796)		(796)
Unrealized gain on marketable securities
AOCI Including Portion Attributable to Noncontrolling Interest [Abstract]
Beginning Balance			20
Other comprehensive income (loss)			10
Amounts reclassified to net income			0
Net other comprehensive income (loss)			10
Ending Balance	30		30
Defined benefit pension and postretirement plans
AOCI Including Portion Attributable to Noncontrolling Interest [Abstract]
Beginning Balance			3,030
Other comprehensive income (loss)			0
Amounts reclassified to net income			(507)
Net other comprehensive income (loss)			(507)
Ending Balance	2,523		2,523
Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income
AOCI Including Portion Attributable to Noncontrolling Interest [Abstract]
Beginning Balance	1,447	3,205	2,370	2,659
Net other comprehensive income (loss)	(343)	(4)	(1,266)	(88)
Ending Balance	$ 1,104	$ 3,201	$ 1,104	$ 3,201

XML

Segment Information - Reconciliation of Segments Operating Income to Consolidated Income (Detail) - USD ($) $ in Millions	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2019	Sep. 30, 2018	Sep. 30, 2019	Sep. 30, 2018
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Operating income	$ 8,180	$ 7,675	$ 23,739	$ 21,641
Severance charges	0	0	0	(339)
Other components of net periodic benefit charges	(203)	(205)	(610)	(621)
Acquisition and integration related charges	0	(137)	0	(364)
Product realignment charges	0	0	0	(451)
Net gain from dispositions of assets and businesses	261	0	261	0
Equity in losses of unconsolidated businesses	(1)	(3)	(20)	(250)
Other income (expense), net	(110)	214	(1,127)	499
Interest expense	(1,146)	(1,211)	(3,571)	(3,634)
Income Before Provision For Income Taxes	6,923	6,675	19,021	18,256
Operating Segments
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Operating income	8,466	8,367	25,171	24,577
Corporate and other
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Operating income	$ (344)	$ (350)	$ (1,083)	$ (1,161)

XML

Debt - Debt Issuances (Details)	3 Months Ended			9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2019 USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2019 USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2019 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2019 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2019 EUR (€)	Sep. 30, 2019 GBP (£)	Jun. 30, 2019 EUR (€)	Jun. 30, 2019 GBP (£)
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Principal Amount Issued			$ 1,510,000,000
Proceeds from long-term borrowings	$ 2,099,000,000	$ 3,423,000,000	1,500,000,000	$ 7,022,000,000
Verizon 3.875% notes due 2029
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Principal Amount Issued			1,000,000,000
Proceeds from long-term borrowings			$ 994,000,000
Stated interest rate on debt instrument			3.875%
Verizon 5.000% notes due 2051
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Principal Amount Issued			$ 510,000,000
Proceeds from long-term borrowings			$ 506,000,000
Stated interest rate on debt instrument			5.00%
Verizon 0.875% notes due 2027
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Principal Amount Issued | €							€ 1,250,000,000
Proceeds from long-term borrowings		1,391,000,000
Stated interest rate on debt instrument							0.875%	0.875%
Verizon 1.250% notes due 2030
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Principal Amount Issued | €							€ 1,250,000,000
Proceeds from long-term borrowings		1,385,000,000
Stated interest rate on debt instrument							1.25%	1.25%
Verizon 2.500% notes due 2031
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Principal Amount Issued | £								£ 500,000,000
Proceeds from long-term borrowings		$ 647,000,000
Stated interest rate on debt instrument							2.50%	2.50%
0.875% Notes due 2032
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Principal Amount Issued | €					€ 800,000,000
Proceeds from long-term borrowings	882,000,000
Stated interest rate on debt instrument					0.875%	0.875%
1.500% Notes due 2039
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Principal Amount Issued | €					€ 500,000,000
Proceeds from long-term borrowings	545,000,000
Stated interest rate on debt instrument					1.50%	1.50%
1.875% Notes due 2030
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Principal Amount Issued | £						£ 550,000,000
Proceeds from long-term borrowings	$ 672,000,000
Stated interest rate on debt instrument					1.875%	1.875%

XML

Leasing Arrangements - Schedule of Lease Liability Maturity (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions	Sep. 30, 2019	Jan. 01, 2019
Operating Leases
Remainder of 2019	$ 1,009
2020	3,896
2021	3,558
2022	3,162
2023	2,807
Thereafter	11,344
Total lease payments	25,776
Less interest	(4,603)
Present value of lease liabilities	21,173
Less current obligation	(2,959)	$ (2,931)
Long-term obligation at September 30, 2019	18,214	$ 19,203
Finance Leases
Remainder of 2019	93
2020	329
2021	232
2022	172
2023	118
Thereafter	146
Total lease payments	1,090
Less interest	(96)
Total Finance lease liabilities	994
Less current obligation	(327)
Long-term obligation at September 30, 2019	$ 667

XML

Debt - Assets and Liabilities Related to Asset-backed Debt Arrangements (Detail) - USD ($) $ in Millions	Sep. 30, 2019	Dec. 31, 2018
Account receivable, net
Assets and Associated Liabilities of Transfers Accounted for as Secured Borrowings [Line Items]
Assets	$ 9,912	$ 8,861
Prepaid expenses and other
Assets and Associated Liabilities of Transfers Accounted for as Secured Borrowings [Line Items]
Assets	1,016	989
Other assets
Assets and Associated Liabilities of Transfers Accounted for as Secured Borrowings [Line Items]
Assets	3,130	2,725
Accounts payable and accrued liabilities
Assets and Associated Liabilities of Transfers Accounted for as Secured Borrowings [Line Items]
Liabilities	8	7
Short-term portion of long-term debt
Assets and Associated Liabilities of Transfers Accounted for as Secured Borrowings [Line Items]
Liabilities	4,160	5,352
Long-term debt
Assets and Associated Liabilities of Transfers Accounted for as Secured Borrowings [Line Items]
Liabilities	$ 4,640	$ 4,724

XML

Acquisitions and Divestitures (Details) $ in Millions	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2019 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2018 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2019 USD ($) auction License	Sep. 30, 2018 USD ($)
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Number of millimeter wave spectrum license auctions participated | auction			2
Net gain from dispositions of assets and businesses | $	$ 261	$ 0	$ 261	$ 0
Spectrum licenses
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Payments for deposits | $			$ 521
Spectrum Licenses, 24 GHz
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Number of licenses acquired | License			9
Spectrum Licenses, 28 GHz
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Number of licenses acquired | License			1,066

XML

Basis of Presentation - Additional Information (Detail) shares in Millions, $ in Millions	3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2019 USD ($) shares	Sep. 30, 2018 shares	Sep. 30, 2019 USD ($) segment	Sep. 30, 2019 USD ($) segment shares	Sep. 30, 2018 shares	Jan. 01, 2019 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2018 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2017 USD ($)
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]
Restricted stock units outstanding to purchase shares included in diluted earnings per common share (in shares) | shares	2	4		2	4
New Accounting Pronouncements or Change in Accounting Principle [Line Items]
Number of reportable segments | segment			2	2
Operating lease, liability	$ 21,173		$ 21,173	$ 21,173
Operating lease right-of-use assets	$ 22,218		$ 22,218	$ 22,218		$ 23,241
Accounting Standards Update 2016-02
New Accounting Pronouncements or Change in Accounting Principle [Line Items]
Operating lease, liability						22,100
Operating lease right-of-use assets						23,241
Retained Earnings
New Accounting Pronouncements or Change in Accounting Principle [Line Items]
Cumulative effect of applying new accounting standards, pre-tax							$ 410	$ 2,232
Retained Earnings | Accounting Standards Update 2016-02
New Accounting Pronouncements or Change in Accounting Principle [Line Items]
Cumulative effect of applying new accounting standards, pre-tax						$ 410

XML

Revenues and Contract Costs - Revenue Performance Obligations (Details) $ in Billions	Sep. 30, 2019 USD ($)
Revenue, Remaining Performance Obligation, Expected Timing of Satisfaction, Start Date [Axis]: 2019-10-01
Revenue, Remaining Performance Obligation, Expected Timing of Satisfaction [Line Items]
Revenue, remaining performance obligation	$ 5.8
Revenue, remaining performance obligation, expected timing of satisfaction, period	3 months
Revenue, Remaining Performance Obligation, Expected Timing of Satisfaction, Start Date [Axis]: 2020-01-01
Revenue, Remaining Performance Obligation, Expected Timing of Satisfaction [Line Items]
Revenue, remaining performance obligation	$ 17.3
Revenue, remaining performance obligation, expected timing of satisfaction, period	1 year
Revenue, Remaining Performance Obligation, Expected Timing of Satisfaction, Start Date [Axis]: 2021-01-01
Revenue, Remaining Performance Obligation, Expected Timing of Satisfaction [Line Items]
Revenue, remaining performance obligation	$ 7.6
Revenue, remaining performance obligation, expected timing of satisfaction, period
Customer Contracts that Have Contract Minimum over Total Contract Term | Revenue, Remaining Performance Obligation, Expected Timing of Satisfaction, Start Date [Axis]: 2019-10-01
Revenue, Remaining Performance Obligation, Expected Timing of Satisfaction [Line Items]
Revenue, remaining performance obligation	$ 3.7
Revenue, remaining performance obligation, expected timing of satisfaction, period	5 years

XML

Basis of Presentation

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2019

Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]

Basis of Presentation

Note 1. Basis of Presentation

The accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) in the United States (U.S.) and based upon Securities and Exchange Commission rules that permit reduced disclosure for interim periods. For a more complete discussion of significant accounting policies and certain other information, you should refer to the financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2018 of Verizon Communications Inc. (Verizon or the Company) included in its Current Report on Form 8-K dated August 8, 2019. These financial statements reflect all adjustments that are necessary for a fair presentation of results of operations and financial condition for the interim periods shown, including normal recurring accruals and other items. The results for the interim periods are not necessarily indicative of results for the full year.

In November 2018, we announced a strategic reorganization of our business. Under the new structure, effective April 1, 2019, there are two reportable segments that we operate and manage as strategic business units - Verizon Consumer Group (Consumer) and Verizon Business Group (Business). In conjunction with the new reporting structure, we recast our segment disclosures for all periods presented.

Our Consumer segment provides consumer-focused wireless and wireline communications services and products. Our wireless services are provided across one of the most extensive wireless networks in the U.S. under the Verizon Wireless brand and through wholesale and other arrangements. Our wireline services are provided in nine states in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern U.S., as well as Washington D.C., over our 100% fiber-optic network under the Fios brand and over a traditional copper-based network to customers who are not served by Fios. Our Consumer segment’s wireless and wireline products and services are available to our retail customers, as well as resellers that purchase wireless network access from us on a wholesale basis.

Our Business segment provides wireless and wireline communications services and products, video and data services, corporate networking solutions, security and managed network services, local and long distance voice services and network access to deliver various Internet of Things (IoT) services and products. We provide these products and services to businesses, government customers and wireless and wireline carriers across the U.S. and select products and services to customers around the world.

Basis of Presentation

We have reclassified certain prior year amounts to conform to the current year presentation, including impacts for changes in our reportable segments.

Earnings Per Common Share

There were a total of approximately 2 million outstanding dilutive securities, primarily consisting of restricted stock units, included in the computation of diluted earnings per common share for both the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019. There were a total of approximately 4 million outstanding dilutive securities, primarily consisting of restricted stock units, included in the computation of diluted earnings per common share for both the three and nine months ended September 30, 2018.

Cash, Cash Equivalents and Restricted Cash

We consider all highly liquid investments with an original maturity of 90 days or less when purchased to be cash equivalents. Cash equivalents are stated at cost, which approximates quoted market value and includes amounts held in money market funds.

Cash collections on the device payment plan agreement receivables collateralizing asset-backed debt securities are required at certain specified times to be placed into segregated accounts. Deposits to the segregated accounts are considered restricted cash and are included in Prepaid expenses and other and Other assets in our condensed consolidated balance sheets.

Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash are included in the following line items in the condensed consolidated balance sheets:

	At September 30,		At December 31,		Increase / (Decrease)
(dollars in millions)	2019		2018
Cash and cash equivalents	$	3,020	$	2,745	$	275
Restricted cash:
Prepaid expenses and other	1,077		1,047		30
Other assets	109		124		(15		)
Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash	$	4,206	$	3,916	$	290

Goodwill

Goodwill is the excess of the acquisition cost of businesses over the fair value of the identifiable net assets acquired. Impairment testing for goodwill is performed annually in the fourth quarter or more frequently if impairment indicators are present. We transitioned into our new segment reporting structure effective April 1, 2019, which resulted in certain changes to our operating segments and reporting units. Upon the

date of reorganization, the goodwill of our historical Wireless reporting unit, historical Wireline reporting unit and historical Verizon Connect reporting unit were reallocated to our new Consumer and Business reporting units using a relative fair value approach.

We performed an impairment assessment of the impacted reporting units, specifically our historical Wireless, historical Wireline and historical Connect reporting units on March 31, 2019, immediately before our strategic reorganization became effective. Our impairment assessments indicated that the fair value for each of our historical Wireless, historical Wireline and historical Connect reporting units exceeded their respective carrying value, and therefore did not result in a goodwill impairment. We then performed an impairment assessment for our Consumer and Business reporting units on April 1, 2019, immediately following our strategic reorganization. Our impairment assessments indicated that the fair value for each of our Consumer and Business reporting units exceeded their respective carrying values and therefore, did not result in a goodwill impairment. Our Media reporting unit was not impacted by the strategic reorganization and there was no indicator of impairment.

Recently Adopted Accounting Standard

The following Accounting Standard Updates (ASUs) were issued by Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB), and have been recently adopted by Verizon.

Description	Date of Adoption	Effect on Financial Statements
ASU 2016-02, ASU 2018-01, ASU 2018-10, ASU 2018-11, ASU 2018-20 and ASU 2019-01, Leases (Topic 842)
The FASB issued Topic 842 requiring entities to recognize assets and liabilities on the balance sheet for all leases, with certain exceptions. In addition, Topic 842 enables users of financial statements to further understand the amount, timing and uncertainty of cash flows arising from leases. Topic 842 allowed for a modified retrospective application and was effective as of the first quarter of 2019. Entities were allowed to apply the modified retrospective approach: (1) retrospectively to each prior reporting period presented in the financial statements with the cumulative-effect adjustment recognized at the beginning of the earliest comparative period presented; or (2) retrospectively at the beginning of the period of adoption (January 1, 2019) through a cumulative-effect adjustment. The modified retrospective approach includes a number of optional practical expedients that entities may elect to apply.	1/1/2019	We adopted Topic 842 beginning on January 1, 2019, using the modified retrospective approach with a cumulative-effect adjustment to opening retained earnings recorded at the beginning of the period of adoption. Therefore, upon adoption, we have recognized and measured leases without revising comparative period information or disclosure. We recorded an increase of $410 million (net of tax) to retained earnings on January 1, 2019 which related to deferred sale leaseback gains recognized from prior transactions. Additionally, the adoption of the standard had a significant impact in our condensed consolidated balance sheet due to the recognition of $22.1 billion of operating lease liabilities, along with $23.2 billion of operating lease right-of-use-assets.

The cumulative after-tax effect of the changes made to our condensed consolidated balance sheet for the adoption of Topic 842 were as follows:

(dollars in millions)	At December 31, 2018		Adjustments due to Topic 842			At January 1, 2019
Prepaid expenses and other	$	5,453	$	(329	)	$	5,124
Operating lease right-of-use assets	—		23,241			23,241
Other assets	11,717		(2,048		)	9,669
Accounts payable and accrued liabilities	22,501		(3		)	22,498
Other current liabilities	8,239		(2		)	8,237
Current operating lease liabilities	—		2,931			2,931
Deferred income taxes	33,795		139			33,934
Non-current operating lease liabilities	—		19,203			19,203
Other liabilities	13,922		(1,815		)	12,107
Retained earnings	43,542		410			43,952
Noncontrolling interests	1,565		1			1,566

In addition to the increase to the operating lease liabilities and right-of-use assets and the derecognition of deferred sale leaseback gains through opening retained earnings, Topic 842 also resulted in reclassifying the presentation of prepaid and deferred rent to operating lease right-of-use assets. The operating lease right-of-use assets amount also includes the balance of any prepaid lease payments, unamortized initial direct costs and lease incentives.

We elected the package of practical expedients permitted under the transition guidance within the new standard. Accordingly, we have adopted these practical expedients and did not reassess: (1) whether an expired or existing contract is a lease or contains an embedded lease; (2) lease classification of an expired or existing lease; or (3) capitalization of initial direct costs for an expired or existing lease. In addition, we have elected the land easement transition practical expedient, and did not reassess whether an existing or expired land easement is a lease or contains a lease if it has not historically been accounted for as a lease.

We lease network equipment including towers, distributed antenna systems, small cells, real estate, connectivity mediums which include dark fiber, equipment, and other various types of assets for use in our operations under both operating and finance leases. We assess whether an arrangement is a lease or contains a lease at inception. For arrangements considered leases or that contain a lease that is accounted for separately,

we determine the classification and initial measurement of the right-of-use asset and lease liability at the lease commencement date, which is the date that the underlying asset becomes available for use.

For both operating and finance leases, we recognize a right-of-use asset, which represents our right to use the underlying asset for the lease term, and a lease liability, which represents the present value of our obligation to make payments arising over the lease term. The present value of the lease payments is calculated using the incremental borrowing rate for operating and finance leases. The incremental borrowing rate is determined using a portfolio approach based on the rate of interest that the Company would have to pay to borrow an amount equal to the lease payments on a collateralized basis over a similar term. Management uses the unsecured borrowing rate and risk-adjusts that rate to approximate a collateralized rate, which will be updated on a quarterly basis for measurement of new lease liabilities.

In those circumstances where the Company is the lessee, we have elected to account for non-lease components associated with our leases (e.g., common area maintenance costs) and lease components as a single lease component for substantially all of our asset classes. Additionally, in arrangements where we are the lessor, we have customer premise equipment for which we apply the lease and non-lease component practical expedient and account for non-lease components (e.g., service revenue) and lease components as combined components under the revenue recognition guidance in ASU 2014-09, "Revenue from Contracts with Customers" (Topic 606) as the service revenues are the predominant components in the arrangements.

Rent expense for operating leases is recognized on a straight-line basis over the term of the lease and is included in either Cost of services or Selling, general and administrative expense in our condensed consolidated statements of income, based on the use of the facility on which rent is being paid. Variable rent payments related to both operating and finance leases are expensed in the period incurred. Our variable lease payments consist of payments dependent on various external indicators, including real estate taxes, common area maintenance charges and utility usage.

Operating leases with a term of 12 months or less are not recorded on the balance sheet; we recognize a rent expense for these leases on a straight-line basis over the lease term.

We recognize the amortization of the right-of-use asset for our finance leases on a straight-line basis over the shorter of the term of the lease or the useful life of the right-of-use asset in Depreciation and amortization expense in our condensed consolidated statements of income. The interest expense related to finance leases is recognized using the effective interest method based on the discount rate determined at lease commencement and is included within Interest expense in our condensed consolidated statements of income.

See Note 5 for additional information related to leases, including disclosure required under Topic 842.

Recently Issued Accounting Standards

The following ASUs have been recently issued by the FASB.

Description	Date of Adoption	Effect on Financial Statements
ASU 2016-13, ASU 2018-19, ASU 2019-04, ASU 2019-05, Financial Instruments - Credit Losses (Topic 326)
In June 2016, the FASB issued this standard update which requires certain financial assets be measured at amortized cost net of an allowance for estimated credit losses such that the net receivable represents the present value of expected cash collection. In addition, this standard update requires that certain financial assets be measured at amortized cost reflecting an allowance for estimated credit losses expected to occur over the life of the assets. The estimate of credit losses must be based on all relevant information including historical information, current conditions and reasonable and supportable forecasts that affect the collectability of the amounts. An entity will apply the update through a cumulative effect adjustment to retained earnings as of the beginning of the first reporting period in which the guidance is effective (January 1, 2020). A prospective transition approach is required for debt securities for which an other-than-temporary impairment has been recognized before the effective date. Early adoption of this standard is permitted.	1/1/2020	Over the course of 2019, our cross-functional coordinated team has been evaluating the requirements and scoping the possible impacts that this standard update will have on our various financial assets, which we expected to include, but were not limited to, our device payment plan agreement receivables, service receivables and contract assets. During the fourth quarter of 2019, we will be finalizing our assessment of the expected impacts to our accounting, reporting, processes and internal controls arising from this standard update which we will adopt on January 1, 2020. Although we have not yet finalized our evaluation of the standard update, we do not currently expect the impact to be significant. We anticipate any impact will be primarily related to certain device payment plan agreement receivables.

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Condensed Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income (Parenthetical) - USD ($) $ in Millions	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2019	Sep. 30, 2018	Sep. 30, 2019	Sep. 30, 2018
Statement of Comprehensive Income [Abstract]
Foreign currency translation adjustments, tax	$ (10)	$ 2	$ (12)	$ 8
Unrealized gain (loss) on cash flow hedges, tax	59	(118)	257	(243)
Unrealized gain (loss) on marketable securities, tax	(1)	2	(3)	3
Defined benefit pension and postretirement plans, tax	$ 56	$ 117	$ 168	$ 235

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Employee Benefits

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2019

Retirement Benefits [Abstract]

Employee Benefits

Note 9. Employee Benefits

We maintain non-contributory defined benefit pension plans for certain employees. In addition, we maintain postretirement health care and life insurance plans for certain retirees and their dependents, which are both contributory and non-contributory, and include a limit on our share of the cost for certain current and future retirees. In accordance with our accounting policy for pension and other postretirement benefits, operating expenses include service costs associated with pension and other postretirement benefits while other credits and/or charges based on actuarial assumptions, including projected discount rates, an estimated return on plan assets, and impact from health care trend rates are reported in Other income (expense), net. These estimates are updated in the fourth quarter to reflect actual return on plan assets and updated actuarial assumptions or upon a remeasurement event. The adjustment is recognized in the income statement during the fourth quarter or upon a remeasurement event pursuant to our accounting policy for the recognition of actuarial gains and losses.

Net Periodic Benefit Cost (Income)

The following table summarizes the components of net periodic benefit cost (income) related to our pension and postretirement health care and life insurance plans:

	(dollars in millions)
	Pension						Health Care and Life
Three Months Ended September 30,	2019			2018			2019			2018
Service cost - Cost of services	$	51		$	57		$	20		$	26
Service cost - Selling, general and administrative expense	11			13			4			6
Service cost	$	62		$	70		$	24		$	32
Amortization of prior service cost (credit)	$	15		$	13		$	(242	)	$	(244	)
Expected return on plan assets	(282		)	(321		)	(9		)	(11		)
Interest cost	173			176			157			153
Remeasurement loss (gain), net	291			(454		)	—			—
Other components	$	197		$	(586	)	$	(94	)	$	(102	)
Total	$	259		$	(516	)	$	(70	)	$	(70	)

	(dollars in millions)
	Pension						Health Care and Life
Nine Months Ended September 30,	2019			2018			2019			2018
Service cost - Cost of services	$	151		$	174		$	59		$	78
Service cost - Selling, general and administrative expense	34			41			13			18
Service cost	$	185		$	215		$	72		$	96
Amortization of prior service cost (credit)	$	46		$	33		$	(728	)	$	(732	)
Expected return on plan assets	(846		)	(979		)	(28		)	(33		)
Interest cost	527			508			472			460
Remeasurement loss (gain), net	195			(454		)	—			—
Other components	$	(78	)	$	(892	)	$	(284	)	$	(305	)
Total	$	107		$	(677	)	$	(212	)	$	(209	)

The service cost component of net periodic benefit cost (income) is recorded in Cost of services and Selling, general and administrative expense in the condensed consolidated statements of income while the other components, including mark-to-market adjustments, if any, are recorded in Other income (expense), net.

2018 Voluntary Separation Program

In September 2018, we announced a Voluntary Separation Program for select U.S.-based management employees. Approximately 10,400 eligible employees separated from the Company under this program as of the end of June 2019. The severance benefits payments to these employees were substantially completed by the end of September 2019.

Severance Payments

During the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019, we paid severance benefits of $435 million and $1.9 billion, respectively. During the nine months ended September 30, 2019, we recorded net pre-tax severance charges of an insignificant amount. At September 30, 2019, we had a remaining severance liability of $355 million, a portion of which includes future contractual payments to separated employees.

Employer Contributions

During the nine months ended September 30, 2019, we made a discretionary contribution of $300 million to our qualified pension plans. As a result of the $300 million and $1.0 billion discretionary pension contributions during the nine months ended September 30, 2019 and 2018, respectively, we do not expect mandatory pension funding through December 31, 2019. There was no contribution made to our nonqualified pension plans during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019. There have been no significant changes with respect to the nonqualified pension and other postretirement benefit plans contributions in 2019.

Remeasurement loss (gain), net

During the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019, we recorded a net pre-tax remeasurement loss of $291 million and $195 million in our pension plans, respectively, triggered by the Voluntary Separation Program for select U.S.-based management employees and other headcount reduction initiatives. For the three months ended September 30, 2019, the net pre-tax remeasurement loss was primarily driven by a $589 million charge due to changes in our discount rate and lump sum interest rate assumptions used to determine the current year liabilities of our pension plans, offset by a $298 million credit due to the difference between our estimated return on assets and our actual return on assets. For the nine months ended September 30, 2019, the net pre-tax remeasurement loss of $195 million includes a pre-tax remeasurement loss of $291 million recorded during the three months ended September 30, 2019 offset by a $96 million gain recorded during the three months ended March 31, 2019.

During the three and nine months ended September 30, 2018, we recorded a net pre-tax remeasurement gain of $454 million triggered by the collective bargaining negotiations, primarily driven by a $1.1 billion credit due to a change in our discount rate assumption used to determine the current year liabilities of our pension plans, offset by a $599 million charge due to the difference between our estimated return on assets and our actual return on assets.

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Leasing Arrangements

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2019

Leases [Abstract]

Leasing Arrangements

Note 5. Leasing Arrangements

We enter into various lease arrangements for network equipment including towers, distributed antenna systems, small cells, real estate and connectivity mediums including dark fiber, equipment, and other various types of assets for use in our operations. Our leases have remaining lease terms ranging from 1 year to 28 years, some of which include options that we can elect to extend the leases term for up to 25 years, and some of which include options to terminate the leases. For the majority of leases entered into during the current period, we have concluded it is not reasonably certain that we would exercise the options to extend the lease or terminate the lease. Therefore, as of the lease commencement date, our lease terms generally do not include these options. We include options to extend the lease when it is reasonably certain that we will exercise that option.

During March 2015, we completed a transaction with American Tower Corporation (American Tower) pursuant to which American Tower acquired the exclusive rights to lease and operate approximately 11,300 of our wireless towers for an upfront payment of $5.0 billion. We have subleased capacity on the towers from American Tower for a minimum of 10 years at current market rates in 2015, with options to renew. We continue to include the towers in Property, plant and equipment, net in our condensed consolidated balance sheets and depreciate them accordingly. In addition to the rights to lease and operate the towers, American Tower assumed the interest in the underlying ground leases related to these towers. While American Tower can renegotiate the terms of and is responsible for paying the ground leases, we are still the primary obligor for these leases and accordingly, the present value of these ground leases are included in our operating lease right-of-use assets and operating lease liabilities. We do not expect to be required to make ground lease payments unless American Tower defaults, which we determined to be remote.

The components of net lease cost were as follows:

		Three Months Ended			Nine Months Ended
		September 30,			September 30,
(dollars in millions)	Classification	2019			2019
Operating lease cost (1)	Cost of services Selling, general and administrative expense	$	1,202		$	3,550
Finance lease cost:
Amortization of right-of-use assets	Depreciation and amortization expense	76			244
Interest on lease liabilities	Interest expense	9			28
Short-term lease cost (1)	Cost of services Selling, general and administrative expense	8			32
Variable lease cost (1)	Cost of services Selling, general and administrative expense	55			163
Sublease income	Service revenues and other	(68		)	(202		)
Total net lease cost		$	1,282		$	3,815
Gain on sale and leaseback transaction, net	Selling, general and administrative expense	$	(391	)	$	(391	)

⁽¹⁾ All operating lease costs, including short-term and variable lease costs, are split between Cost of services and Selling, general and administrative expense in the condensed consolidated statements of income based on the use of the facility that the rent is being paid on. See Note 1 for additional information. Variable lease costs represent payments that are dependent on a rate or index, or on usage of the asset.

Supplemental disclosure for the statement of cash flows related to operating and finance leases were as follows:

	Nine Months Ended
	September 30,
(dollars in millions)	2019
Cash Flows from Operating Activities
Cash paid for amounts included in the measurement of lease liabilities
Operating cash flows for operating leases	$	(3,192	)
Operating cash flows for finance leases	(28		)
Cash Flows from Financing Activities
Financing cash flows for finance leases	(267		)
Supplemental lease cash flow disclosures
Operating lease right-of-use assets obtained in exchange for new operating lease liabilities	2,097
Right-of-use assets obtained in exchange for new finance lease liabilities	356

Supplemental disclosures for the balance sheet related to finance leases were as follows:

	At September 30,
(dollars in millions)	2019
Assets
Property, plant and equipment, net	$	858
Liabilities
Debt maturing within one year	$	327
Long-term debt	667
Total Finance lease liabilities	$	994

The weighted-average remaining lease term and the weighted-average discount rate of our leases were as follows:

	At September 30,
	2019
Weighted-average remaining lease term (years)
Operating Leases	9
Finance Leases	4
Weighted-average discount rate
Operating Leases	4.1	%
Finance Leases	3.9	%

The Company's maturity analysis of operating and finance lease liabilities as of September 30, 2019 were as follows:

(dollars in millions)	Operating Leases			Finance Leases
Remainder of 2019	$	1,009		$	93
2020	3,896			329
2021	3,558			232
2022	3,162			172
2023	2,807			118
Thereafter	11,344			146
Total lease payments	25,776			1,090
Less interest	(4,603		)	(96		)
Present value of lease liabilities	21,173			994
Less current obligation	(2,959		)	(327		)
Long-term obligation at September 30, 2019	$	18,214		$	667

As of September 30, 2019, we have contractually obligated lease payments amounting to $1.4 billion for office facility operating leases and small cell colocation and fiber operating leases that have not yet commenced. We have legally obligated lease payments for various other operating leases that have not yet commenced for which the total obligation was not significant. We have certain rights and obligations for these leases, but have not recognized an operating lease right-of-use asset or an operating lease liability since they have not yet commenced.

Real Estate Transaction

On July 23, 2019, Verizon completed a sale-leaseback transaction for buildings and real estate. We received total gross proceeds of approximately $1.0 billion. We leased back a portion of the buildings and real estate sold and accounted for it as an operating lease. The term of the leaseback is for two years with four options to renew for an additional three months each. The proceeds received as a result of this transaction have been classified in Other, net within Cash Flows from Investing Activities in our condensed consolidated statement of cash flows for the nine months ended September 30, 2019. The net gain as a result of this transaction is included in the components of net lease cost table above.

Leasing Arrangements

Note 5. Leasing Arrangements

We enter into various lease arrangements for network equipment including towers, distributed antenna systems, small cells, real estate and connectivity mediums including dark fiber, equipment, and other various types of assets for use in our operations. Our leases have remaining lease terms ranging from 1 year to 28 years, some of which include options that we can elect to extend the leases term for up to 25 years, and some of which include options to terminate the leases. For the majority of leases entered into during the current period, we have concluded it is not reasonably certain that we would exercise the options to extend the lease or terminate the lease. Therefore, as of the lease commencement date, our lease terms generally do not include these options. We include options to extend the lease when it is reasonably certain that we will exercise that option.

During March 2015, we completed a transaction with American Tower Corporation (American Tower) pursuant to which American Tower acquired the exclusive rights to lease and operate approximately 11,300 of our wireless towers for an upfront payment of $5.0 billion. We have subleased capacity on the towers from American Tower for a minimum of 10 years at current market rates in 2015, with options to renew. We continue to include the towers in Property, plant and equipment, net in our condensed consolidated balance sheets and depreciate them accordingly. In addition to the rights to lease and operate the towers, American Tower assumed the interest in the underlying ground leases related to these towers. While American Tower can renegotiate the terms of and is responsible for paying the ground leases, we are still the primary obligor for these leases and accordingly, the present value of these ground leases are included in our operating lease right-of-use assets and operating lease liabilities. We do not expect to be required to make ground lease payments unless American Tower defaults, which we determined to be remote.

The components of net lease cost were as follows:

		Three Months Ended			Nine Months Ended
		September 30,			September 30,
(dollars in millions)	Classification	2019			2019
Operating lease cost (1)	Cost of services Selling, general and administrative expense	$	1,202		$	3,550
Finance lease cost:
Amortization of right-of-use assets	Depreciation and amortization expense	76			244
Interest on lease liabilities	Interest expense	9			28
Short-term lease cost (1)	Cost of services Selling, general and administrative expense	8			32
Variable lease cost (1)	Cost of services Selling, general and administrative expense	55			163
Sublease income	Service revenues and other	(68		)	(202		)
Total net lease cost		$	1,282		$	3,815
Gain on sale and leaseback transaction, net	Selling, general and administrative expense	$	(391	)	$	(391	)

⁽¹⁾ All operating lease costs, including short-term and variable lease costs, are split between Cost of services and Selling, general and administrative expense in the condensed consolidated statements of income based on the use of the facility that the rent is being paid on. See Note 1 for additional information. Variable lease costs represent payments that are dependent on a rate or index, or on usage of the asset.

Supplemental disclosure for the statement of cash flows related to operating and finance leases were as follows:

	Nine Months Ended
	September 30,
(dollars in millions)	2019
Cash Flows from Operating Activities
Cash paid for amounts included in the measurement of lease liabilities
Operating cash flows for operating leases	$	(3,192	)
Operating cash flows for finance leases	(28		)
Cash Flows from Financing Activities
Financing cash flows for finance leases	(267		)
Supplemental lease cash flow disclosures
Operating lease right-of-use assets obtained in exchange for new operating lease liabilities	2,097
Right-of-use assets obtained in exchange for new finance lease liabilities	356

Supplemental disclosures for the balance sheet related to finance leases were as follows:

	At September 30,
(dollars in millions)	2019
Assets
Property, plant and equipment, net	$	858
Liabilities
Debt maturing within one year	$	327
Long-term debt	667
Total Finance lease liabilities	$	994

The weighted-average remaining lease term and the weighted-average discount rate of our leases were as follows:

	At September 30,
	2019
Weighted-average remaining lease term (years)
Operating Leases	9
Finance Leases	4
Weighted-average discount rate
Operating Leases	4.1	%
Finance Leases	3.9	%

The Company's maturity analysis of operating and finance lease liabilities as of September 30, 2019 were as follows:

(dollars in millions)	Operating Leases			Finance Leases
Remainder of 2019	$	1,009		$	93
2020	3,896			329
2021	3,558			232
2022	3,162			172
2023	2,807			118
Thereafter	11,344			146
Total lease payments	25,776			1,090
Less interest	(4,603		)	(96		)
Present value of lease liabilities	21,173			994
Less current obligation	(2,959		)	(327		)
Long-term obligation at September 30, 2019	$	18,214		$	667

As of September 30, 2019, we have contractually obligated lease payments amounting to $1.4 billion for office facility operating leases and small cell colocation and fiber operating leases that have not yet commenced. We have legally obligated lease payments for various other operating leases that have not yet commenced for which the total obligation was not significant. We have certain rights and obligations for these leases, but have not recognized an operating lease right-of-use asset or an operating lease liability since they have not yet commenced.

Real Estate Transaction

On July 23, 2019, Verizon completed a sale-leaseback transaction for buildings and real estate. We received total gross proceeds of approximately $1.0 billion. We leased back a portion of the buildings and real estate sold and accounted for it as an operating lease. The term of the leaseback is for two years with four options to renew for an additional three months each. The proceeds received as a result of this transaction have been classified in Other, net within Cash Flows from Investing Activities in our condensed consolidated statement of cash flows for the nine months ended September 30, 2019. The net gain as a result of this transaction is included in the components of net lease cost table above.

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Leasing Arrangements (Tables)

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2019

Leases [Abstract]

Components of Net Lease Cost, and Supplemental Disclosure for Statement of Cash Flows related to Operating and Finance Leases

The components of net lease cost were as follows:

		Three Months Ended			Nine Months Ended
		September 30,			September 30,
(dollars in millions)	Classification	2019			2019
Operating lease cost (1)	Cost of services Selling, general and administrative expense	$	1,202		$	3,550
Finance lease cost:
Amortization of right-of-use assets	Depreciation and amortization expense	76			244
Interest on lease liabilities	Interest expense	9			28
Short-term lease cost (1)	Cost of services Selling, general and administrative expense	8			32
Variable lease cost (1)	Cost of services Selling, general and administrative expense	55			163
Sublease income	Service revenues and other	(68		)	(202		)
Total net lease cost		$	1,282		$	3,815
Gain on sale and leaseback transaction, net	Selling, general and administrative expense	$	(391	)	$	(391	)

⁽¹⁾ All operating lease costs, including short-term and variable lease costs, are split between Cost of services and Selling, general and administrative expense in the condensed consolidated statements of income based on the use of the facility that the rent is being paid on. See Note 1 for additional information. Variable lease costs represent payments that are dependent on a rate or index, or on usage of the asset.

Supplemental disclosure for the statement of cash flows related to operating and finance leases were as follows:

	Nine Months Ended
	September 30,
(dollars in millions)	2019
Cash Flows from Operating Activities
Cash paid for amounts included in the measurement of lease liabilities
Operating cash flows for operating leases	$	(3,192	)
Operating cash flows for finance leases	(28		)
Cash Flows from Financing Activities
Financing cash flows for finance leases	(267		)
Supplemental lease cash flow disclosures
Operating lease right-of-use assets obtained in exchange for new operating lease liabilities	2,097
Right-of-use assets obtained in exchange for new finance lease liabilities	356

Supplemental Disclosure for Balance Sheet related to Finance Leases

Supplemental disclosures for the balance sheet related to finance leases were as follows:

	At September 30,
(dollars in millions)	2019
Assets
Property, plant and equipment, net	$	858
Liabilities
Debt maturing within one year	$	327
Long-term debt	667
Total Finance lease liabilities	$	994

Schedule of Weighted-Average Remaining Lease Term and Weighted-Average Discount Rate related to Leases

The weighted-average remaining lease term and the weighted-average discount rate of our leases were as follows:

	At September 30,
	2019
Weighted-average remaining lease term (years)
Operating Leases	9
Finance Leases	4
Weighted-average discount rate
Operating Leases	4.1	%
Finance Leases	3.9	%

Lessee, Operating Lease, Liability, Maturity

The Company's maturity analysis of operating and finance lease liabilities as of September 30, 2019 were as follows:

(dollars in millions)	Operating Leases			Finance Leases
Remainder of 2019	$	1,009		$	93
2020	3,896			329
2021	3,558			232
2022	3,162			172
2023	2,807			118
Thereafter	11,344			146
Total lease payments	25,776			1,090
Less interest	(4,603		)	(96		)
Present value of lease liabilities	21,173			994
Less current obligation	(2,959		)	(327		)
Long-term obligation at September 30, 2019	$	18,214		$	667

Finance Lease, Liability, Maturity

The Company's maturity analysis of operating and finance lease liabilities as of September 30, 2019 were as follows:

(dollars in millions)	Operating Leases			Finance Leases
Remainder of 2019	$	1,009		$	93
2020	3,896			329
2021	3,558			232
2022	3,162			172
2023	2,807			118
Thereafter	11,344			146
Total lease payments	25,776			1,090
Less interest	(4,603		)	(96		)
Present value of lease liabilities	21,173			994
Less current obligation	(2,959		)	(327		)
Long-term obligation at September 30, 2019	$	18,214		$	667

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Basis of Presentation (Policies)

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2019

Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]

Cash, Cash Equivalents and Restricted Cash

Cash, Cash Equivalents and Restricted Cash

We consider all highly liquid investments with an original maturity of 90 days or less when purchased to be cash equivalents. Cash equivalents are stated at cost, which approximates quoted market value and includes amounts held in money market funds.

Cash collections on the device payment plan agreement receivables collateralizing asset-backed debt securities are required at certain specified times to be placed into segregated accounts. Deposits to the segregated accounts are considered restricted cash and are included in Prepaid expenses and other and Other assets in our condensed consolidated balance sheets.

Goodwill

Goodwill

Goodwill is the excess of the acquisition cost of businesses over the fair value of the identifiable net assets acquired. Impairment testing for goodwill is performed annually in the fourth quarter or more frequently if impairment indicators are present. We transitioned into our new segment reporting structure effective April 1, 2019, which resulted in certain changes to our operating segments and reporting units. Upon the

date of reorganization, the goodwill of our historical Wireless reporting unit, historical Wireline reporting unit and historical Verizon Connect reporting unit were reallocated to our new Consumer and Business reporting units using a relative fair value approach.

We performed an impairment assessment of the impacted reporting units, specifically our historical Wireless, historical Wireline and historical Connect reporting units on March 31, 2019, immediately before our strategic reorganization became effective. Our impairment assessments indicated that the fair value for each of our historical Wireless, historical Wireline and historical Connect reporting units exceeded their respective carrying value, and therefore did not result in a goodwill impairment. We then performed an impairment assessment for our Consumer and Business reporting units on April 1, 2019, immediately following our strategic reorganization. Our impairment assessments indicated that the fair value for each of our Consumer and Business reporting units exceeded their respective carrying values and therefore, did not result in a goodwill impairment. Our Media reporting unit was not impacted by the strategic reorganization and there was no indicator of impairment.

Recently Adopted Accounting Standards and Recently Issued Accounting Standards

Recently Adopted Accounting Standard

The following Accounting Standard Updates (ASUs) were issued by Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB), and have been recently adopted by Verizon.

Description	Date of Adoption	Effect on Financial Statements
ASU 2016-02, ASU 2018-01, ASU 2018-10, ASU 2018-11, ASU 2018-20 and ASU 2019-01, Leases (Topic 842)
The FASB issued Topic 842 requiring entities to recognize assets and liabilities on the balance sheet for all leases, with certain exceptions. In addition, Topic 842 enables users of financial statements to further understand the amount, timing and uncertainty of cash flows arising from leases. Topic 842 allowed for a modified retrospective application and was effective as of the first quarter of 2019. Entities were allowed to apply the modified retrospective approach: (1) retrospectively to each prior reporting period presented in the financial statements with the cumulative-effect adjustment recognized at the beginning of the earliest comparative period presented; or (2) retrospectively at the beginning of the period of adoption (January 1, 2019) through a cumulative-effect adjustment. The modified retrospective approach includes a number of optional practical expedients that entities may elect to apply.	1/1/2019	We adopted Topic 842 beginning on January 1, 2019, using the modified retrospective approach with a cumulative-effect adjustment to opening retained earnings recorded at the beginning of the period of adoption. Therefore, upon adoption, we have recognized and measured leases without revising comparative period information or disclosure. We recorded an increase of $410 million (net of tax) to retained earnings on January 1, 2019 which related to deferred sale leaseback gains recognized from prior transactions. Additionally, the adoption of the standard had a significant impact in our condensed consolidated balance sheet due to the recognition of $22.1 billion of operating lease liabilities, along with $23.2 billion of operating lease right-of-use-assets.

The cumulative after-tax effect of the changes made to our condensed consolidated balance sheet for the adoption of Topic 842 were as follows:

(dollars in millions)	At December 31, 2018		Adjustments due to Topic 842			At January 1, 2019
Prepaid expenses and other	$	5,453	$	(329	)	$	5,124
Operating lease right-of-use assets	—		23,241			23,241
Other assets	11,717		(2,048		)	9,669
Accounts payable and accrued liabilities	22,501		(3		)	22,498
Other current liabilities	8,239		(2		)	8,237
Current operating lease liabilities	—		2,931			2,931
Deferred income taxes	33,795		139			33,934
Non-current operating lease liabilities	—		19,203			19,203
Other liabilities	13,922		(1,815		)	12,107
Retained earnings	43,542		410			43,952
Noncontrolling interests	1,565		1			1,566

In addition to the increase to the operating lease liabilities and right-of-use assets and the derecognition of deferred sale leaseback gains through opening retained earnings, Topic 842 also resulted in reclassifying the presentation of prepaid and deferred rent to operating lease right-of-use assets. The operating lease right-of-use assets amount also includes the balance of any prepaid lease payments, unamortized initial direct costs and lease incentives.

We elected the package of practical expedients permitted under the transition guidance within the new standard. Accordingly, we have adopted these practical expedients and did not reassess: (1) whether an expired or existing contract is a lease or contains an embedded lease; (2) lease classification of an expired or existing lease; or (3) capitalization of initial direct costs for an expired or existing lease. In addition, we have elected the land easement transition practical expedient, and did not reassess whether an existing or expired land easement is a lease or contains a lease if it has not historically been accounted for as a lease.

We lease network equipment including towers, distributed antenna systems, small cells, real estate, connectivity mediums which include dark fiber, equipment, and other various types of assets for use in our operations under both operating and finance leases. We assess whether an arrangement is a lease or contains a lease at inception. For arrangements considered leases or that contain a lease that is accounted for separately,

we determine the classification and initial measurement of the right-of-use asset and lease liability at the lease commencement date, which is the date that the underlying asset becomes available for use.

For both operating and finance leases, we recognize a right-of-use asset, which represents our right to use the underlying asset for the lease term, and a lease liability, which represents the present value of our obligation to make payments arising over the lease term. The present value of the lease payments is calculated using the incremental borrowing rate for operating and finance leases. The incremental borrowing rate is determined using a portfolio approach based on the rate of interest that the Company would have to pay to borrow an amount equal to the lease payments on a collateralized basis over a similar term. Management uses the unsecured borrowing rate and risk-adjusts that rate to approximate a collateralized rate, which will be updated on a quarterly basis for measurement of new lease liabilities.

In those circumstances where the Company is the lessee, we have elected to account for non-lease components associated with our leases (e.g., common area maintenance costs) and lease components as a single lease component for substantially all of our asset classes. Additionally, in arrangements where we are the lessor, we have customer premise equipment for which we apply the lease and non-lease component practical expedient and account for non-lease components (e.g., service revenue) and lease components as combined components under the revenue recognition guidance in ASU 2014-09, "Revenue from Contracts with Customers" (Topic 606) as the service revenues are the predominant components in the arrangements.

Rent expense for operating leases is recognized on a straight-line basis over the term of the lease and is included in either Cost of services or Selling, general and administrative expense in our condensed consolidated statements of income, based on the use of the facility on which rent is being paid. Variable rent payments related to both operating and finance leases are expensed in the period incurred. Our variable lease payments consist of payments dependent on various external indicators, including real estate taxes, common area maintenance charges and utility usage.

Operating leases with a term of 12 months or less are not recorded on the balance sheet; we recognize a rent expense for these leases on a straight-line basis over the lease term.

We recognize the amortization of the right-of-use asset for our finance leases on a straight-line basis over the shorter of the term of the lease or the useful life of the right-of-use asset in Depreciation and amortization expense in our condensed consolidated statements of income. The interest expense related to finance leases is recognized using the effective interest method based on the discount rate determined at lease commencement and is included within Interest expense in our condensed consolidated statements of income.

See Note 5 for additional information related to leases, including disclosure required under Topic 842.

Recently Issued Accounting Standards

The following ASUs have been recently issued by the FASB.

Description	Date of Adoption	Effect on Financial Statements
ASU 2016-13, ASU 2018-19, ASU 2019-04, ASU 2019-05, Financial Instruments - Credit Losses (Topic 326)
In June 2016, the FASB issued this standard update which requires certain financial assets be measured at amortized cost net of an allowance for estimated credit losses such that the net receivable represents the present value of expected cash collection. In addition, this standard update requires that certain financial assets be measured at amortized cost reflecting an allowance for estimated credit losses expected to occur over the life of the assets. The estimate of credit losses must be based on all relevant information including historical information, current conditions and reasonable and supportable forecasts that affect the collectability of the amounts. An entity will apply the update through a cumulative effect adjustment to retained earnings as of the beginning of the first reporting period in which the guidance is effective (January 1, 2020). A prospective transition approach is required for debt securities for which an other-than-temporary impairment has been recognized before the effective date. Early adoption of this standard is permitted.	1/1/2020	Over the course of 2019, our cross-functional coordinated team has been evaluating the requirements and scoping the possible impacts that this standard update will have on our various financial assets, which we expected to include, but were not limited to, our device payment plan agreement receivables, service receivables and contract assets. During the fourth quarter of 2019, we will be finalizing our assessment of the expected impacts to our accounting, reporting, processes and internal controls arising from this standard update which we will adopt on January 1, 2020. Although we have not yet finalized our evaluation of the standard update, we do not currently expect the impact to be significant. We anticipate any impact will be primarily related to certain device payment plan agreement receivables.

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Employee Benefits (Tables)

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2019

Retirement Benefits [Abstract]

Benefit or (Income) Cost Related to Pension and Postretirement Health Care and Life Insurance

The following table summarizes the components of net periodic benefit cost (income) related to our pension and postretirement health care and life insurance plans:

	(dollars in millions)
	Pension						Health Care and Life
Three Months Ended September 30,	2019			2018			2019			2018
Service cost - Cost of services	$	51		$	57		$	20		$	26
Service cost - Selling, general and administrative expense	11			13			4			6
Service cost	$	62		$	70		$	24		$	32
Amortization of prior service cost (credit)	$	15		$	13		$	(242	)	$	(244	)
Expected return on plan assets	(282		)	(321		)	(9		)	(11		)
Interest cost	173			176			157			153
Remeasurement loss (gain), net	291			(454		)	—			—
Other components	$	197		$	(586	)	$	(94	)	$	(102	)
Total	$	259		$	(516	)	$	(70	)	$	(70	)

	(dollars in millions)
	Pension						Health Care and Life
Nine Months Ended September 30,	2019			2018			2019			2018
Service cost - Cost of services	$	151		$	174		$	59		$	78
Service cost - Selling, general and administrative expense	34			41			13			18
Service cost	$	185		$	215		$	72		$	96
Amortization of prior service cost (credit)	$	46		$	33		$	(728	)	$	(732	)
Expected return on plan assets	(846		)	(979		)	(28		)	(33		)
Interest cost	527			508			472			460
Remeasurement loss (gain), net	195			(454		)	—			—
Other components	$	(78	)	$	(892	)	$	(284	)	$	(305	)
Total	$	107		$	(677	)	$	(212	)	$	(209	)

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Fair Value Measurements - Debt Excluding Capital Leases (Detail) - USD ($) $ in Millions	Sep. 30, 2019	Dec. 31, 2018
Carrying Amount
Fair Value, Balance Sheet Grouping, Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]
Short- and long-term debt, excluding finance leases	$ 108,604	$ 112,159
Fair Value
Fair Value, Balance Sheet Grouping, Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]
Short- and long-term debt, excluding finance leases	$ 128,380	$ 118,535

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Wireless Device Payment Plans - Balance and Aging of Receivables (Detail) - USD ($) $ in Millions	Sep. 30, 2019	Dec. 31, 2018
Accounts, Notes, Loans and Financing Receivable [Line Items]
Device payment plan agreement receivables, gross	$ 18,261	$ 19,313
Unbilled
Accounts, Notes, Loans and Financing Receivable [Line Items]
Device payment plan agreement receivables, current	16,972	18,043
Billed
Accounts, Notes, Loans and Financing Receivable [Line Items]
Device payment plan agreement receivables, current	1,021	986
Device payment plan agreement receivables, past due	$ 268	$ 284

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Leasing Arrangements - Schedule of Weighted-Average Remaining Lease Term and Weighted-Average Discount Rate related to Leases (Details)	Sep. 30, 2019
Leases [Abstract]
Operating leases, weighted average remaining lease term	9 years
Finance leases, weighted average remaining lease term	4 years
Operating leases, weighted average discount rate	4.10%
Finance leases, weighted average discount rate	3.90%

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Wireless Licenses, Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets - Additional Information (Detail) - Wireless Licenses - USD ($) $ in Millions	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2019	Sep. 30, 2018
Indefinite-lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Wireless licenses under development	$ 6,500	$ 11,100
Interest costs capitalized	$ 248	$ 406
Average remaining renewal period of wireless license portfolio (in years)	4 years 1 month 6 days

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Leasing Arrangements - Additional Information (Details) $ in Billions		1 Months Ended	9 Months Ended
	Jul. 23, 2019 USD ($) option	Mar. 31, 2015 USD ($) Lease	Sep. 30, 2019 USD ($)
Lessee, Lease, Description [Line Items]
Leases renewal term			25 years
Contractually obligated lease payments for operating leases not yet commenced			$ 1.4
Gross proceeds of sale-leaseback transaction	$ 1.0
Sale-leaseback transaction, lease terms	P2Y
Sale-leaseback transaction, number of renewal options | option	4
Sale-leaseback transaction, renewal term	3 months
Minimum
Lessee, Lease, Description [Line Items]
Leases remaining lease term			1 year
Maximum
Lessee, Lease, Description [Line Items]
Leases remaining lease term			28 years
Tower Monetization Transaction
Lessee, Lease, Description [Line Items]
Number of towers subject to failed sale leaseback | Lease		11,300
Proceeds from failed sale lease back		$ 5.0
Minimum number of years to sublease capacity on towers		10 years

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Equity and Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income (Tables)

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2019

Stockholders' Equity Note [Abstract]

Schedule of Changes in Components of Total Equity

Changes in the components of Total equity were as follows:

(dollars in millions, except per share amounts, and shares in thousands)
Three months ended September 30,	2019					2018
	Shares		Amount			Shares		Amount
Common Stock
Balance at beginning of period	4,291,434		$	429		4,291,434		$	429
Balance at end of period	4,291,434		429			4,291,434		429
Additional Paid In Capital
Balance at beginning of period			13,419					13,438
Other			(1		)			(2		)
Balance at end of period			13,418					13,436
Retained Earnings
Balance at beginning of period			47,945					41,657
Net income attributable to Verizon			5,194					4,924
Dividends declared ($0.6150, $0.6025 per share)			(2,544		)			(2,490		)
Balance at end of period			50,595					44,091
Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income
Balance at beginning of period attributable to Verizon			1,447					3,205
Foreign currency translation adjustments			(10		)			10
Unrealized gain (loss) on cash flow hedges			(166		)			329
Unrealized gain (loss) on marketable securities			2					(1		)
Defined benefit pension and postretirement plans			(169		)			(342		)
Other comprehensive loss			(343		)			(4		)
Balance at end of period attributable to Verizon			1,104					3,201
Treasury Stock
Balance at beginning of period	(155,669	)	(6,823		)	(159,498	)	(6,990		)
Employee plans	20		1			79		3
Balance at end of period	(155,649	)	(6,822		)	(159,419	)	(6,987		)
Deferred Compensation-ESOPs and Other
Balance at beginning of period			165					285
Restricted stock equity grant			32					41
Amortization			—					(1		)
Balance at end of period			197					325
Noncontrolling Interests
Balance at beginning of period			1,365					1,551
Total comprehensive income			143					138
Distributions and other			(117		)			(97		)
Balance at end of period			1,391					1,592
Total Equity			$	60,312				$	56,087

(dollars in millions, except per share amounts, and shares in thousands)
Nine months ended September 30,	2019						2018
	Shares		Amount				Shares		Amount
Common Stock
Balance at beginning of year	4,291,434		$	429			4,242,374		$	424
Common shares issued	—		—				49,060		5
Balance at end of period	4,291,434		429				4,291,434		429
Additional Paid In Capital
Balance at beginning of year			13,437						11,101
Other			(19		)				2,335
Balance at end of period			13,418						13,436
Retained Earnings
Balance at beginning of year			43,542						35,635
Opening balance sheet adjustment			410			(1)			2,232			(2)
Adjusted opening balance			43,952						37,867
Net income attributable to Verizon			14,170						13,589
Dividends declared ($1.8200, $1.7825 per share)			(7,527		)				(7,365		)
Balance at end of period			50,595						44,091
Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income
Balance at beginning of year attributable to Verizon			2,370						2,659
Opening balance sheet adjustment			—						630			(2)
Adjusted opening balance			2,370						3,289
Foreign currency translation adjustments			(53		)				(73		)
Unrealized gain (loss) on cash flow hedges			(716		)				678
Unrealized gain (loss) on marketable securities			10						(5		)
Defined benefit pension and postretirement plans			(507		)				(688		)
Other comprehensive loss			(1,266		)				(88		)
Balance at end of period attributable to Verizon			1,104						3,201
Treasury Stock
Balance at beginning of year	(159,400	)	(6,986		)		(162,898	)	(7,139		)
Employee plans	3,746		164				3,475		152
Shareholder plans	5		—				4		—
Balance at end of period	(155,649	)	(6,822		)		(159,419	)	(6,987		)
Deferred Compensation-ESOPs and Other
Balance at beginning of year			353						416
Restricted stock equity grant			111						132
Amortization			(267		)				(223		)
Balance at end of period			197						325
Noncontrolling Interests
Balance at beginning of year			1,565						1,591
Opening balance sheet adjustment			1			(1)			44			(2)
Adjusted opening balance			1,566						1,635
Total comprehensive income			401						385
Distributions and other			(576		)				(428		)
Balance at end of period			1,391						1,592
Total Equity			$	60,312					$	56,087

⁽¹⁾ Opening balance sheet adjustments for the nine months ended September 30, 2019 are due to the adoption of Topic 842 on January 1, 2019. See Note 1 for additional information.

⁽²⁾ Opening balance sheet adjustments for the nine months ended September 30, 2018 are due to the adoption of multiple ASUs on January 1, 2018. Refer to the consolidated financial statements and notes thereto included in the Company's Current Report on Form 8-K dated August 8, 2019 for additional information.

Schedule of Components in Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income

The changes in the balances of Accumulated other comprehensive income by component were as follows:

(dollars in millions)	Foreign  currency translation adjustments			Unrealized gain (loss) on cash flow hedges			Unrealized gain on marketable securities		Defined benefit pension and postretirement plans			Total
Balance at January 1, 2019	$	(600	)	$	(80	)	$	20	$	3,030		$	2,370
Other comprehensive income (loss)	(52		)	(1,348		)	10		—			(1,390		)
Amounts reclassified to net income	(1		)	632			—		(507		)	124
Net other comprehensive income (loss)	(53		)	(716		)	10		(507		)	(1,266		)
Balance at September 30, 2019	$	(653	)	$	(796	)	$	30	$	2,523		$	1,104

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Debt (Tables)

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2019

Debt Disclosure [Abstract]

Schedule of Debt Transactions

During the nine months ended September 30, 2019, we completed the following ABS Notes transactions:

(dollars in millions)	Interest Rates %		Expected Weighted-average Life to Maturity (in years)	Principal Amount Issued
March 2019
A-1a Senior class notes	2.930		2.50	$	900
A-1b Senior floating rate class notes	LIBOR + 0.330	(1)	2.50	100
B Junior class notes	3.020		3.22	69
C Junior class notes	3.220		3.40	53
March 2019 total				1,122
June 2019
A-1a Senior class notes	2.330		2.52	855
A-1b Senior floating rate class notes	LIBOR + 0.450	(1)	2.52	145
B Junior class notes	2.400		3.28	69
C Junior class notes	2.600		3.47	53
June 2019 total				1,122
Total				$	2,244

⁽¹⁾ The one-month London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) rate at September 30, 2019 was 2.016%.

The following table shows the transactions that occurred during the nine months ended September 30, 2019.

February Exchange Offers

(dollars in millions)	Principal Amount Exchanged		Principal Amount Issued
Verizon 1.750% - 5.150% notes and floating rate notes, due 2021 - 2025	$	3,892	$	—
GTE LLC 8.750% debentures, due 2021	21		—
Verizon 4.016% notes due 2029 (1)	—		4,000
Total	$	3,913	$	4,000

⁽¹⁾ Total exchange amount issued in consideration does not include an insignificant amount of cash used to settle.

May Tender Offers

(dollars in millions)	Principal Amount Purchased		Cash Consideration(1)
Verizon 5.012% notes due 2054	$	3,192	$	3,626
Verizon 4.672% notes due 2055	1,308		1,404
Total	$	4,500	$	5,030

⁽¹⁾ In addition to the purchase price, any accrued and unpaid interest on the purchased notes was paid to the date of purchase.

Debt Redemptions, Repurchases and Repayments

(dollars in millions)	Principal Redeemed / Repaid		Amount Paid as % of Principal (1)
Three Months Ended March 31, 2019
Verizon 5.900% notes due 2054	$	500	100.000	%
Verizon 1.375% notes due 2019	206		100.000	%
Verizon 1.750% notes due 2021	621		100.000	%
Verizon 3.000% notes due 2021	930		101.061	%
Verizon 3.500% notes due 2021	315		102.180	%
Open market repurchases of various Verizon notes	163		Various
Three Months Ended March 31, 2019 total	2,735
Three Months Ended June 30, 2019
Verizon 2.625% notes due 2020	831		100.037	%
Verizon 3.500% notes due 2021	736		102.238	%
Verizon floating rate (LIBOR + 0.770%) notes due 2019	229		100.000	%
Three Months Ended June 30, 2019 total	1,796
Three Months Ended September 30, 2019
Verizon 4.200% notes due 2046	2,059		100.000	%
Verizon floating rate (LIBOR + 0.370%) notes due 2019	306		100.000	%
Verizon 2.600% - 4.300% Internotes due 2022 - 2029	177		100.000	%
Three Months Ended September 30, 2019 total	2,542
Nine Months Ended September 30, 2019 total	$	7,073

⁽¹⁾ Percentages represent price paid to redeem, repurchase and repay.

Debt Issuances

(amounts in millions)	Principal Amount Issued		Net Proceeds (1)
Three Months Ended March 31, 2019
Verizon 3.875% notes due 2029 (2)	$	1,000	$	994
Verizon 5.000% notes due 2051	510		506
Three Months Ended March 31, 2019 total	$	1,510	1,500
Three Months Ended June 30, 2019
Verizon 0.875% notes due 2027	€	1,250	1,391
Verizon 1.250% notes due 2030	€	1,250	1,385
Verizon 2.500% notes due 2031	£	500	647
Three Months Ended June 30, 2019 total			3,423
Three Months Ended September 30, 2019
Verizon 0.875% notes due 2032	€	800	882
Verizon 1.500% notes due 2039	€	500	545
Verizon 1.875% Notes due 2030	£	550	672
Three Months Ended September 30, 2019 total			2,099
Nine Months Ended September 30, 2019 total			$	7,022

⁽¹⁾ Net proceeds were net of discount and issuance costs.

⁽²⁾ An amount equal to the net proceeds from this green bond will be used to fund, in whole or in part, "Eligible Green Investments." "Eligible Green Investments" include new and existing investments made by us during the period from two years prior to the issuance of the green bond through the maturity date of the green bond, in the following categories: (1) renewable energy; (2) energy efficiency; (3) green buildings; (4) sustainable water management; and (5) biodiversity and conservation.

Schedule of Assets and Liabilities Related to Asset-backed Debt Arrangements

The assets and liabilities related to our asset-backed debt arrangements included in our condensed consolidated balance sheets were as follows:

	At September 30,		At December 31,
(dollars in millions)	2019		2018
Assets
Account receivable, net	$	9,912	$	8,861
Prepaid expenses and other	1,016		989
Other assets	3,130		2,725
Liabilities
Accounts payable and accrued liabilities	8		7
Short-term portion of long-term debt	4,160		5,352
Long-term debt	4,640		4,724

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Basis of Presentation (Tables)

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2019

Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]

Schedule of Cash and Cash Equivalents

Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash are included in the following line items in the condensed consolidated balance sheets:

	At September 30,		At December 31,		Increase / (Decrease)
(dollars in millions)	2019		2018
Cash and cash equivalents	$	3,020	$	2,745	$	275
Restricted cash:
Prepaid expenses and other	1,077		1,047		30
Other assets	109		124		(15		)
Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash	$	4,206	$	3,916	$	290

Schedule of Restricted Cash

Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash are included in the following line items in the condensed consolidated balance sheets:

	At September 30,		At December 31,		Increase / (Decrease)
(dollars in millions)	2019		2018
Cash and cash equivalents	$	3,020	$	2,745	$	275
Restricted cash:
Prepaid expenses and other	1,077		1,047		30
Other assets	109		124		(15		)
Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash	$	4,206	$	3,916	$	290

Schedule of New Accounting Pronouncements

The following Accounting Standard Updates (ASUs) were issued by Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB), and have been recently adopted by Verizon.

Description	Date of Adoption	Effect on Financial Statements
ASU 2016-02, ASU 2018-01, ASU 2018-10, ASU 2018-11, ASU 2018-20 and ASU 2019-01, Leases (Topic 842)
The FASB issued Topic 842 requiring entities to recognize assets and liabilities on the balance sheet for all leases, with certain exceptions. In addition, Topic 842 enables users of financial statements to further understand the amount, timing and uncertainty of cash flows arising from leases. Topic 842 allowed for a modified retrospective application and was effective as of the first quarter of 2019. Entities were allowed to apply the modified retrospective approach: (1) retrospectively to each prior reporting period presented in the financial statements with the cumulative-effect adjustment recognized at the beginning of the earliest comparative period presented; or (2) retrospectively at the beginning of the period of adoption (January 1, 2019) through a cumulative-effect adjustment. The modified retrospective approach includes a number of optional practical expedients that entities may elect to apply.	1/1/2019	We adopted Topic 842 beginning on January 1, 2019, using the modified retrospective approach with a cumulative-effect adjustment to opening retained earnings recorded at the beginning of the period of adoption. Therefore, upon adoption, we have recognized and measured leases without revising comparative period information or disclosure. We recorded an increase of $410 million (net of tax) to retained earnings on January 1, 2019 which related to deferred sale leaseback gains recognized from prior transactions. Additionally, the adoption of the standard had a significant impact in our condensed consolidated balance sheet due to the recognition of $22.1 billion of operating lease liabilities, along with $23.2 billion of operating lease right-of-use-assets.

The following ASUs have been recently issued by the FASB.

Description	Date of Adoption	Effect on Financial Statements
ASU 2016-13, ASU 2018-19, ASU 2019-04, ASU 2019-05, Financial Instruments - Credit Losses (Topic 326)
In June 2016, the FASB issued this standard update which requires certain financial assets be measured at amortized cost net of an allowance for estimated credit losses such that the net receivable represents the present value of expected cash collection. In addition, this standard update requires that certain financial assets be measured at amortized cost reflecting an allowance for estimated credit losses expected to occur over the life of the assets. The estimate of credit losses must be based on all relevant information including historical information, current conditions and reasonable and supportable forecasts that affect the collectability of the amounts. An entity will apply the update through a cumulative effect adjustment to retained earnings as of the beginning of the first reporting period in which the guidance is effective (January 1, 2020). A prospective transition approach is required for debt securities for which an other-than-temporary impairment has been recognized before the effective date. Early adoption of this standard is permitted.	1/1/2020	Over the course of 2019, our cross-functional coordinated team has been evaluating the requirements and scoping the possible impacts that this standard update will have on our various financial assets, which we expected to include, but were not limited to, our device payment plan agreement receivables, service receivables and contract assets. During the fourth quarter of 2019, we will be finalizing our assessment of the expected impacts to our accounting, reporting, processes and internal controls arising from this standard update which we will adopt on January 1, 2020. Although we have not yet finalized our evaluation of the standard update, we do not currently expect the impact to be significant. We anticipate any impact will be primarily related to certain device payment plan agreement receivables.

The cumulative after-tax effect of the changes made to our condensed consolidated balance sheet for the adoption of Topic 842 were as follows:

(dollars in millions)	At December 31, 2018		Adjustments due to Topic 842			At January 1, 2019
Prepaid expenses and other	$	5,453	$	(329	)	$	5,124
Operating lease right-of-use assets	—		23,241			23,241
Other assets	11,717		(2,048		)	9,669
Accounts payable and accrued liabilities	22,501		(3		)	22,498
Other current liabilities	8,239		(2		)	8,237
Current operating lease liabilities	—		2,931			2,931
Deferred income taxes	33,795		139			33,934
Non-current operating lease liabilities	—		19,203			19,203
Other liabilities	13,922		(1,815		)	12,107
Retained earnings	43,542		410			43,952
Noncontrolling interests	1,565		1			1,566

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Fair Value Measurements - Notional Amounts of Outstanding Derivative Instruments (Detail) - USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2019	Dec. 31, 2018
Interest rate swaps
Derivative [Line Items]
Notional Amount	$ 16,993,000,000	$ 19,813,000,000
Cross currency swaps
Derivative [Line Items]
Notional Amount	22,212,000,000	16,638,000,000
Forward starting interest rate swaps
Derivative [Line Items]
Notional Amount	3,000,000,000	4,000,000,000
Interest rate caps
Derivative [Line Items]
Notional Amount	975,000,000	2,218,000,000
Foreign exchange forwards
Derivative [Line Items]
Notional Amount	$ 1,085,000,000	$ 600,000,000

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Wireless Device Payment Plans - Allowance for Credit Losses (Detail) - USD ($) $ in Millions	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2019	Sep. 30, 2018
Financing Receivable, Allowance for Credit Loss [Roll Forward]
Beginning balance	$ 597	$ 848
Bad debt expense	640	333
Write-offs	(777)	(519)
Ending balance	$ 460	$ 662

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Wireless Licenses, Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets - Carrying Amount of Wireless Licenses (Detail) - USD ($) $ in Millions	Sep. 30, 2019	Dec. 31, 2018
Goodwill and Intangible Assets Disclosure [Abstract]
Wireless licenses	$ 94,433	$ 94,130

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Wireless Licenses, Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets - Estimated Future Amortization Expense (Detail) - USD ($) $ in Millions	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2019	Sep. 30, 2018	Sep. 30, 2019	Sep. 30, 2018
Goodwill and Intangible Assets Disclosure [Abstract]
Amortization expense for other intangible assets	$ 580	$ 557	$ 1,704	$ 1,648
Remainder of 2019	571		571
2020	2,046		2,046
2021	1,751		1,751
2022	1,471		1,471
2023	1,163		1,163
2024	$ 821		$ 821

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Leasing Arrangements - Supplemental Disclosure for Balance Sheet related to Finance Leases (Details) $ in Millions	Sep. 30, 2019 USD ($)
Finance Lease, Assets [Abstract]
Property, plant and equipment, net	$ 858
Finance Lease, Liabilities [Abstract]
Debt maturing within one year	327
Long-term debt	667
Total Finance lease liabilities	$ 994

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Equity and Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income - Additional Information (Detail) - USD ($) $ in Billions	1 Months Ended	9 Months Ended
	Feb. 28, 2018	Sep. 30, 2019
Stockholders' Equity Note [Abstract]
Stock repurchase program, number of shares authorized to be repurchased (in shares)		100,000,000
Number of common shares issued from treasury stock (in shares)		3,800,000
Straight Path Communications Inc.
Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income (Loss) [Line Items]
Number of shares issued related to business acquisition (in shares)	49,000,000
Equity issued related to business acquisition	$ 2.4

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Segment Information - Reconciliation of Operating Revenues (Detail) - USD ($) $ in Millions	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2019	Sep. 30, 2018	Sep. 30, 2019	Sep. 30, 2018
Segment Reporting, Revenue Reconciling Item [Line Items]
Operating revenues	$ 32,894	$ 32,607	$ 97,093	$ 96,582
Operating Segments
Segment Reporting, Revenue Reconciling Item [Line Items]
Operating revenues	30,591	30,292	90,221	89,556
Corporate and other
Segment Reporting, Revenue Reconciling Item [Line Items]
Operating revenues	2,400	2,400	7,147	7,291
Eliminations
Segment Reporting, Revenue Reconciling Item [Line Items]
Operating revenues	$ (97)	$ (85)	$ (275)	$ (265)

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Debt - Credit Facilities, Non-Cash Transaction, Early Debt Redemptions, Guarantees (Detail)	3 Months Ended	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2018 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2019 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2018 USD ($) Agreement	Jul. 31, 2017 USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2016 USD ($)
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Borrowing capacity		$ 9,500,000,000
Amount of unused borrowing capacity under credit facility		9,400,000,000
Guarantee of Debentures of Operating Telephone Company Subsidiaries
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Principal amount outstanding in connection with the guarantee of debt obligations		796,000,000
Guarantee of Debt Obligations of GTE Corporation
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Principal amount outstanding in connection with the guarantee of debt obligations		423,000,000
Network Equipment | Vendor Financing Facility
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Value of purchase assets financed		356,000,000	$ 967,000,000
Long-term debt maturing within one year	$ 1,100,000,000	1,000,000,000.0	1,100,000,000
Equipment Credit Facilities
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Borrowing capacity				$ 4,000,000,000.0
Amount drawn from credit facilities		874,000,000	3,000,000,000.0
Debt outstanding		3,400,000,000
Equipment Credit Facilities | Network Equipment
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Borrowing capacity					$ 1,000,000,000.0
Line of credit outstanding balance		647,000,000
May Tender Offers
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Net pre-tax losses on early debt redemption		$ (1,600,000,000)
September 2018 Tender Offers
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Net pre-tax losses on early debt redemption	$ 420,000,000		$ 690,000,000
Number of debt instruments in debt tender offer | Agreement			8
March 2018 Tender Offers
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Number of debt instruments in debt tender offer | Agreement			13
Minimum | September 2018 Tender Offers | Verizon 3.850% to 5.012% Notes Due 2039 to 2055
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Stated interest rate on debt instrument	3.85%		3.85%
Minimum | March 2018 Tender Offers | Verizon 1.750% to 5.012% Notes Due 2021 to 2055
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Stated interest rate on debt instrument	1.75%		1.75%
Maximum | September 2018 Tender Offers | Verizon 3.850% to 5.012% Notes Due 2039 to 2055
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Stated interest rate on debt instrument	5.012%		5.012%
Maximum | March 2018 Tender Offers | Verizon 1.750% to 5.012% Notes Due 2021 to 2055
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Stated interest rate on debt instrument	5.012%		5.012%

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Debt - Commercial Paper Program (Details)	Sep. 30, 2019 USD ($)
Debt Disclosure [Abstract]
Commercial paper	$ 0

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Debt - February Exchange Offers (Details) - USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2019	Mar. 31, 2019
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Principal Amount Issued		$ 1,510,000,000
February Exchange Offers
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Principal Amount Exchanged	$ 3,913,000,000
Principal Amount Issued	4,000,000,000
February Exchange Offers | Verizon 1.750% - 5.150% notes and floating rate notes, due 2021 - 2025
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Principal Amount Exchanged	$ 3,892,000,000
February Exchange Offers | GTE LLC 8.750% debentures, due 2021
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Stated interest rate on debt instrument	8.75%
Principal Amount Exchanged	$ 21,000,000
February Exchange Offers | Verizon 4.016% notes due 2029
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Stated interest rate on debt instrument	4.016%
Principal Amount Issued	$ 4,000,000,000
Minimum | February Exchange Offers | Verizon 1.750% - 5.150% notes and floating rate notes, due 2021 - 2025
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Stated interest rate on debt instrument	1.75%
Maximum | February Exchange Offers | Verizon 1.750% - 5.150% notes and floating rate notes, due 2021 - 2025
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Stated interest rate on debt instrument	5.15%

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Segment Information (Tables)

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2019

Segment Reporting [Abstract]

Schedule of Segment Operating Information

Our segments and their principal activities consist of the following:

Segment	Description
Verizon Consumer Group	Our Consumer segment provides consumer-focused wireless and wireline communications services and products. Our wireless services are provided across one of the most extensive wireless networks in the U.S. under the Verizon Wireless brand and through wholesale and other arrangements. Our wireline services are provided in nine states in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern U.S., as well as Washington D.C., over our 100% fiber-optic network under the Fios brand and over a traditional copper-based network to customers who are not served by Fios.
Verizon Business Group	Our Business segment provides wireless and wireline communications services and products, video and data services, corporate networking solutions, security and managed network services, local and long distance voice services and network access to deliver various IoT services and products. We provide these products and services to businesses, government customers and wireless and wireline carriers across the U.S. and select products and services to customers around the world.

The following table provides operating financial information for our two reportable segments:

	Three Months Ended				Nine Months Ended
	September 30,				September 30,
(dollars in millions)	2019		2018		2019		2018
External Operating Revenues
Consumer
Service	$	16,432	$	16,194	$	49,043	$	48,058
Wireless equipment	4,256		4,507		12,326		13,028
Other	1,953		1,642		5,303		4,772
Total Consumer	22,641		22,343		66,672		65,858
Business
Global Enterprise	2,714		2,781		8,077		8,413
Small and Medium Business	2,894		2,725		8,379		7,891
Public Sector and Other	1,472		1,454		4,435		4,320
Wholesale	790		918		2,440		2,859
Total Business	7,870		7,878		23,331		23,483
Total reportable segments	$	30,511	$	30,221	$	90,003	$	89,341
Intersegment Revenues
Consumer	$	65	$	56	$	177	$	171
Business	15		15		41		44
Total reportable segments	$	80	$	71	$	218	$	215
Total Operating Revenues
Consumer	$	22,706	$	22,399	$	66,849	$	66,029
Business(1)	7,885		7,893		23,372		23,527
Total reportable segments	$	30,591	$	30,292	$	90,221	$	89,556
Operating Income
Consumer	$	7,489	$	7,213	$	22,075	$	21,208
Business	977		1,154		3,096		3,369
Total reportable segments	$	8,466	$	8,367	$	25,171	$	24,577

⁽¹⁾ Service and other revenues included in our Business segment amounted to approximately $7.0 billion and $20.9 billion for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019, respectively, and approximately $7.1 billion and $21.1 billion for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2018, respectively. Wireless equipment revenues included in our Business segment amounted to approximately $880 million and $2.5 billion for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019, respectively, and approximately $845 million and $2.4 billion for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2018, respectively.

The following table provides Fios revenue for our two reportable segments:

	Three Months Ended				Nine Months Ended
	September 30,				September 30,
(dollars in millions)	2019		2018		2019		2018
Consumer	$	2,811	$	2,764	$	8,347	$	8,236
Business	243		222		725		657
Total Fios revenue	$	3,054	$	2,986	$	9,072	$	8,893

The following table provides Wireless service revenue under our current reportable structure and includes intersegment activity:

	Three Months Ended				Nine Months Ended
	September 30,				September 30,
(dollars in millions)	2019		2018		2019		2018
Consumer	$	13,533	$	13,257	$	40,346	$	39,260
Business	2,850		2,687		8,319		7,803
Total Wireless service revenue	$	16,383	$	15,944	$	48,665	$	47,063

Summary of Reconciliation of Segment Operating Revenues

A reconciliation of the reportable segment operating revenues to consolidated operating revenues is as follows:

	Three Months Ended						Nine Months Ended
	September 30,						September 30,
(dollars in millions)	2019			2018			2019			2018
Total reportable segment operating revenues	$	30,591		$	30,292		$	90,221		$	89,556
Corporate and other	2,400			2,400			7,147			7,291
Eliminations	(97		)	(85		)	(275		)	(265		)
Total consolidated operating revenues	$	32,894		$	32,607		$	97,093		$	96,582

Summary of Reconciliation of Segment Operating Income

A reconciliation of total reportable segment operating income to consolidated income before provision for income taxes is as follows:

	Three Months Ended						Nine Months Ended
	September 30,						September 30,
(dollars in millions)	2019			2018			2019			2018
Total reportable segment operating income	$	8,466		$	8,367		$	25,171		$	24,577
Corporate and other	(344		)	(350		)	(1,083		)	(1,161		)
Severance charges (Note 9)	—			—			—			(339		)
Other components of net periodic benefit charges (Note 9)	(203		)	(205		)	(610		)	(621		)
Acquisition and integration related charges	—			(137		)	—			(364		)
Product realignment charges	—			—			—			(451		)
Net gain from dispositions of assets and businesses	261			—			261			—
Total consolidated operating income	8,180			7,675			23,739			21,641
Equity in losses of unconsolidated businesses	(1		)	(3		)	(20		)	(250		)
Other income (expense), net	(110		)	214			(1,127		)	499
Interest expense	(1,146		)	(1,211		)	(3,571		)	(3,634		)
Income Before Provision For Income Taxes	$	6,923		$	6,675		$	19,021		$	18,256

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Revenues and Contract Costs - Additional Information (Details)	3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2019 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2018 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2019 segment	Sep. 30, 2019 USD ($) segment	Sep. 30, 2018 USD ($)
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Number of reportable segments | segment			2	2
Revenues from leasing arrangements, captive reinsurance arrangements and interest on equipment financed	$ 779,000,000	$ 1,100,000,000		$ 2,400,000,000	$ 3,400,000,000
Contract description of timing				Contracts for wireless services are generally either month-to-month and cancellable at any time (typically under a device payment plan) or contain terms ranging from greater than one month to up to two years (typically under a fixed-term plan).
Amortization of deferred contract costs	687,000,000	523,000,000		$ 1,900,000,000	1,400,000,000
Contract assets impairment charge	0	0		0	0
Media Business
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Revenue from contract with customer	$ 1,800,000,000	$ 1,800,000,000		$ 5,400,000,000	$ 5,600,000,000
Wireless postpaid contracts
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Percentage of month-to-month contracts of total service contracts	87.00%	85.00%	87.00%	87.00%	85.00%
Wireline Consumer and Small and Medium Business contracts
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Percentage of month-to-month contracts of total service contracts	59.00%	56.00%	59.00%	59.00%	56.00%
Reseller Arrangements
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Contract description of timing				Reseller arrangements generally include a stated contract term, which typically extends longer than two years and, in some cases, include a periodic minimum revenue commitment over the contract term for which revenues will be recognized in future periods.
Consumer
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Customer contracts service term				2 years
Business
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Contract description of timing				These contracts have varying terms spanning over approximately five years
Maximum | Business
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Customer contracts service term				12 months

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Revenues and Contract Costs - Schedule of Cost Incurred to Obtain or Fulfill Contracts with Customers (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions	Sep. 30, 2019	Dec. 31, 2018
Capitalized Contract Cost [Line Items]
Cost incurred to obtain or fulfill contracts with customers	$ 4,248	$ 3,895
Minimum
Capitalized Contract Cost [Line Items]
Deferred contract cost, amortization period	2 years
Maximum
Capitalized Contract Cost [Line Items]
Deferred contract cost, amortization period	5 years
Prepaid expenses and other
Capitalized Contract Cost [Line Items]
Cost incurred to obtain or fulfill contracts with customers	$ 2,455	2,083
Other assets
Capitalized Contract Cost [Line Items]
Cost incurred to obtain or fulfill contracts with customers	$ 1,793	$ 1,812

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Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets - USD ($) $ in Millions	Sep. 30, 2019	Dec. 31, 2018
Current assets
Cash and cash equivalents	$ 3,020	$ 2,745
Accounts receivable, net of allowances of $706 and $765	24,713	25,102
Inventories	1,538	1,336
Prepaid expenses and other	5,624	5,453
Total current assets	34,895	34,636
Property, plant and equipment	260,053	252,835
Less accumulated depreciation	171,204	163,549
Property, plant and equipment, net	88,849	89,286
Investments in unconsolidated businesses	628	671
Wireless licenses	94,433	94,130
Goodwill	24,570	24,614
Other intangible assets, net	9,264	9,775
Operating lease right-of-use assets	22,218
Other assets	10,018	11,717
Total assets	284,875	264,829
Current liabilities
Debt maturing within one year	7,830	7,190
Accounts payable and accrued liabilities	19,566	22,501
Current operating lease liabilities	2,959
Other current liabilities	8,854	8,239
Total current liabilities	39,209	37,930
Long-term debt	101,769	105,873
Employee benefit obligations	18,236	18,599
Deferred income taxes	34,592	33,795
Non-current operating lease liabilities	18,214
Other liabilities	12,543	13,922
Total long-term liabilities	185,354	172,189
Commitments and Contingencies
Equity
Series preferred stock ($0.10 par value; 250,000,000 shares authorized; none issued)	0	0
Common stock ($0.10 par value; 6,250,000,000 shares authorized in each period; 4,291,433,646 issued in each period)	429	429
Additional paid in capital	13,418	13,437
Retained earnings	50,595	43,542
Accumulated other comprehensive income	1,104	2,370
Common stock in treasury, at cost (155,649,437 and 159,400,267 shares outstanding)	(6,822)	(6,986)
Deferred compensation – employee stock ownership plans and other	197	353
Noncontrolling interests	1,391	1,565
Total equity	60,312	54,710
Total liabilities and equity	$ 284,875	$ 264,829

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Equity and Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2019

Stockholders' Equity Note [Abstract]

Equity and Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income

Note 10. Equity and Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income

Equity

Changes in the components of Total equity were as follows:

(dollars in millions, except per share amounts, and shares in thousands)
Three months ended September 30,	2019					2018
	Shares		Amount			Shares		Amount
Common Stock
Balance at beginning of period	4,291,434		$	429		4,291,434		$	429
Balance at end of period	4,291,434		429			4,291,434		429
Additional Paid In Capital
Balance at beginning of period			13,419					13,438
Other			(1		)			(2		)
Balance at end of period			13,418					13,436
Retained Earnings
Balance at beginning of period			47,945					41,657
Net income attributable to Verizon			5,194					4,924
Dividends declared ($0.6150, $0.6025 per share)			(2,544		)			(2,490		)
Balance at end of period			50,595					44,091
Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income
Balance at beginning of period attributable to Verizon			1,447					3,205
Foreign currency translation adjustments			(10		)			10
Unrealized gain (loss) on cash flow hedges			(166		)			329
Unrealized gain (loss) on marketable securities			2					(1		)
Defined benefit pension and postretirement plans			(169		)			(342		)
Other comprehensive loss			(343		)			(4		)
Balance at end of period attributable to Verizon			1,104					3,201
Treasury Stock
Balance at beginning of period	(155,669	)	(6,823		)	(159,498	)	(6,990		)
Employee plans	20		1			79		3
Balance at end of period	(155,649	)	(6,822		)	(159,419	)	(6,987		)
Deferred Compensation-ESOPs and Other
Balance at beginning of period			165					285
Restricted stock equity grant			32					41
Amortization			—					(1		)
Balance at end of period			197					325
Noncontrolling Interests
Balance at beginning of period			1,365					1,551
Total comprehensive income			143					138
Distributions and other			(117		)			(97		)
Balance at end of period			1,391					1,592
Total Equity			$	60,312				$	56,087

(dollars in millions, except per share amounts, and shares in thousands)
Nine months ended September 30,	2019						2018
	Shares		Amount				Shares		Amount
Common Stock
Balance at beginning of year	4,291,434		$	429			4,242,374		$	424
Common shares issued	—		—				49,060		5
Balance at end of period	4,291,434		429				4,291,434		429
Additional Paid In Capital
Balance at beginning of year			13,437						11,101
Other			(19		)				2,335
Balance at end of period			13,418						13,436
Retained Earnings
Balance at beginning of year			43,542						35,635
Opening balance sheet adjustment			410			(1)			2,232			(2)
Adjusted opening balance			43,952						37,867
Net income attributable to Verizon			14,170						13,589
Dividends declared ($1.8200, $1.7825 per share)			(7,527		)				(7,365		)
Balance at end of period			50,595						44,091
Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income
Balance at beginning of year attributable to Verizon			2,370						2,659
Opening balance sheet adjustment			—						630			(2)
Adjusted opening balance			2,370						3,289
Foreign currency translation adjustments			(53		)				(73		)
Unrealized gain (loss) on cash flow hedges			(716		)				678
Unrealized gain (loss) on marketable securities			10						(5		)
Defined benefit pension and postretirement plans			(507		)				(688		)
Other comprehensive loss			(1,266		)				(88		)
Balance at end of period attributable to Verizon			1,104						3,201
Treasury Stock
Balance at beginning of year	(159,400	)	(6,986		)		(162,898	)	(7,139		)
Employee plans	3,746		164				3,475		152
Shareholder plans	5		—				4		—
Balance at end of period	(155,649	)	(6,822		)		(159,419	)	(6,987		)
Deferred Compensation-ESOPs and Other
Balance at beginning of year			353						416
Restricted stock equity grant			111						132
Amortization			(267		)				(223		)
Balance at end of period			197						325
Noncontrolling Interests
Balance at beginning of year			1,565						1,591
Opening balance sheet adjustment			1			(1)			44			(2)
Adjusted opening balance			1,566						1,635
Total comprehensive income			401						385
Distributions and other			(576		)				(428		)
Balance at end of period			1,391						1,592
Total Equity			$	60,312					$	56,087

⁽¹⁾ Opening balance sheet adjustments for the nine months ended September 30, 2019 are due to the adoption of Topic 842 on January 1, 2019. See Note 1 for additional information.

⁽²⁾ Opening balance sheet adjustments for the nine months ended September 30, 2018 are due to the adoption of multiple ASUs on January 1, 2018. Refer to the consolidated financial statements and notes thereto included in the Company's Current Report on Form 8-K dated August 8, 2019 for additional information.

Common Stock

Verizon did not repurchase any shares of Verizon common stock through its previously authorized share buyback program during the nine months ended September 30, 2019. At September 30, 2019, the maximum number of shares that could be purchased by or on behalf of Verizon under our share buyback program was 100 million.

Common stock has been used from time to time to satisfy some of the funding requirements of employee and shareowner plans, including 3.8 million common shares issued from Treasury stock during the nine months ended September 30, 2019.

In connection with our acquisition of Straight Path Communications, Inc. in February 2018, we issued approximately 49 million shares of Verizon common stock, valued at approximately $2.4 billion.

Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income

The changes in the balances of Accumulated other comprehensive income by component were as follows:

(dollars in millions)	Foreign  currency translation adjustments			Unrealized gain (loss) on cash flow hedges			Unrealized gain on marketable securities		Defined benefit pension and postretirement plans			Total
Balance at January 1, 2019	$	(600	)	$	(80	)	$	20	$	3,030		$	2,370
Other comprehensive income (loss)	(52		)	(1,348		)	10		—			(1,390		)
Amounts reclassified to net income	(1		)	632			—		(507		)	124
Net other comprehensive income (loss)	(53		)	(716		)	10		(507		)	(1,266		)
Balance at September 30, 2019	$	(653	)	$	(796	)	$	30	$	2,523		$	1,104

The amounts presented above in net other comprehensive income (loss) are net of taxes. The amounts reclassified to net income related to unrealized gain on cash flow hedges in the table above are included in Other income (expense), net and Interest expense in our condensed consolidated statements of income. See Note 8 for additional information. The amounts reclassified to net income related to defined benefit pension and postretirement plans in the table above are included in Cost of services and Selling, general and administrative expense in our condensed consolidated statements of income. See Note 9 for additional information.

XML

Cover	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2019 shares
Entity Information [Line Items]
Document Type	10-Q
Document Quarterly Report	true
Document Period End Date	Sep. 30, 2019
Document Transition Report	false
Entity File Number	1-8606
Entity Registrant Name	Verizon Communications Inc.
Entity Incorporation, State or Country Code	DE
Entity Tax Identification Number	23-2259884
Entity Address, Address Line One	1095 Avenue of the Americas
Entity Address, City or Town	New York,
Entity Address, State or Province	NY
Entity Address, Postal Zip Code	10036
City Area Code	212
Local Phone Number	395-1000
Entity Current Reporting Status	Yes
Entity Interactive Data Current	Yes
Entity Filer Category	Large Accelerated Filer
Entity Small Business	false
Entity Emerging Growth Company	false
Entity Shell Company	false
Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding	4,135,784,209
Amendment Flag	false
Document Fiscal Year Focus	2019
Document Fiscal Period Focus	Q3
Entity Central Index Key	0000732712
Current Fiscal Year End Date	--12-31
Common Stock | New York Stock Exchange
Entity Information [Line Items]
Title of 12(b) Security	Common Stock, par value $0.10
Trading Symbol	VZ
Security Exchange Name	NYSE
Common Stock | The NASDAQ Global Select Market
Entity Information [Line Items]
Title of 12(b) Security	Common Stock, par value $0.10
Trading Symbol	VZ
Security Exchange Name	NASDAQ
2.375% Notes due 2022
Entity Information [Line Items]
Title of 12(b) Security	2.375% Notes due 2022
Trading Symbol	VZ22A
Security Exchange Name	NYSE
0.500% Notes due 2022
Entity Information [Line Items]
Title of 12(b) Security	0.500% Notes due 2022
Trading Symbol	VZ22B
Security Exchange Name	NYSE
1.625% Notes due 2024
Entity Information [Line Items]
Title of 12(b) Security	1.625% Notes due 2024
Trading Symbol	VZ24B
Security Exchange Name	NYSE
4.073% Notes due 2024
Entity Information [Line Items]
Title of 12(b) Security	4.073% Notes due 2024
Trading Symbol	VZ24C
Security Exchange Name	NYSE
0.875% Notes due 2025
Entity Information [Line Items]
Title of 12(b) Security	0.875% Notes due 2025
Trading Symbol	VZ25
Security Exchange Name	NYSE
3.250% Notes due 2026
Entity Information [Line Items]
Title of 12(b) Security	3.250% Notes due 2026
Trading Symbol	VZ26
Security Exchange Name	NYSE
1.375% Notes due 2026
Entity Information [Line Items]
Title of 12(b) Security	1.375% Notes due 2026
Trading Symbol	VZ26B
Security Exchange Name	NYSE
0.875% Notes due 2027
Entity Information [Line Items]
Title of 12(b) Security	0.875% Notes due 2027
Trading Symbol	VZ27E
Security Exchange Name	NYSE
1.375% Notes due 2028
Entity Information [Line Items]
Title of 12(b) Security	1.375% Notes due 2028
Trading Symbol	VZ28
Security Exchange Name	NYSE
1.875% Notes due 2029
Entity Information [Line Items]
Title of 12(b) Security	1.875% Notes due 2029
Trading Symbol	VZ29B
Security Exchange Name	NYSE
1.250% Notes due 2030
Entity Information [Line Items]
Title of 12(b) Security	1.250% Notes due 2030
Trading Symbol	VZ30
Security Exchange Name	NYSE
1.875% Notes due 2030
Entity Information [Line Items]
Title of 12(b) Security	1.875% Notes due 2030
Trading Symbol	VZ30A
Security Exchange Name	NYSE
2.625% Notes due 2031
Entity Information [Line Items]
Title of 12(b) Security	2.625% Notes due 2031
Trading Symbol	VZ31
Security Exchange Name	NYSE
2.500% Notes due 2031
Entity Information [Line Items]
Title of 12(b) Security	2.500% Notes due 2031
Trading Symbol	VZ31A
Security Exchange Name	NYSE
0.875% Notes due 2032
Entity Information [Line Items]
Title of 12(b) Security	0.875% Notes due 2032
Trading Symbol	VZ32
Security Exchange Name	NYSE
4.750% Notes due 2034
Entity Information [Line Items]
Title of 12(b) Security	4.750% Notes due 2034
Trading Symbol	VZ34
Security Exchange Name	NYSE
3.125% Notes due 2035
Entity Information [Line Items]
Title of 12(b) Security	3.125% Notes due 2035
Trading Symbol	VZ35
Security Exchange Name	NYSE
3.375% Notes due 2036
Entity Information [Line Items]
Title of 12(b) Security	3.375% Notes due 2036
Trading Symbol	VZ36A
Security Exchange Name	NYSE
2.875% Notes due 2038
Entity Information [Line Items]
Title of 12(b) Security	2.875% Notes due 2038
Trading Symbol	VZ38B
Security Exchange Name	NYSE
1.500% Notes due 2039
Entity Information [Line Items]
Title of 12(b) Security	1.500% Notes due 2039
Trading Symbol	VZ39C
Security Exchange Name	NYSE

XML

Debt

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2019

Debt Disclosure [Abstract]

Debt

Note 6. Debt

Significant Debt Transactions

The following table shows the transactions that occurred during the nine months ended September 30, 2019.

February Exchange Offers

(dollars in millions)	Principal Amount Exchanged		Principal Amount Issued
Verizon 1.750% - 5.150% notes and floating rate notes, due 2021 - 2025	$	3,892	$	—
GTE LLC 8.750% debentures, due 2021	21		—
Verizon 4.016% notes due 2029 (1)	—		4,000
Total	$	3,913	$	4,000

⁽¹⁾ Total exchange amount issued in consideration does not include an insignificant amount of cash used to settle.

May Tender Offers

(dollars in millions)	Principal Amount Purchased		Cash Consideration(1)
Verizon 5.012% notes due 2054	$	3,192	$	3,626
Verizon 4.672% notes due 2055	1,308		1,404
Total	$	4,500	$	5,030

⁽¹⁾ In addition to the purchase price, any accrued and unpaid interest on the purchased notes was paid to the date of purchase.

Debt Redemptions, Repurchases and Repayments

(dollars in millions)	Principal Redeemed / Repaid		Amount Paid as % of Principal (1)
Three Months Ended March 31, 2019
Verizon 5.900% notes due 2054	$	500	100.000	%
Verizon 1.375% notes due 2019	206		100.000	%
Verizon 1.750% notes due 2021	621		100.000	%
Verizon 3.000% notes due 2021	930		101.061	%
Verizon 3.500% notes due 2021	315		102.180	%
Open market repurchases of various Verizon notes	163		Various
Three Months Ended March 31, 2019 total	2,735
Three Months Ended June 30, 2019
Verizon 2.625% notes due 2020	831		100.037	%
Verizon 3.500% notes due 2021	736		102.238	%
Verizon floating rate (LIBOR + 0.770%) notes due 2019	229		100.000	%
Three Months Ended June 30, 2019 total	1,796
Three Months Ended September 30, 2019
Verizon 4.200% notes due 2046	2,059		100.000	%
Verizon floating rate (LIBOR + 0.370%) notes due 2019	306		100.000	%
Verizon 2.600% - 4.300% Internotes due 2022 - 2029	177		100.000	%
Three Months Ended September 30, 2019 total	2,542
Nine Months Ended September 30, 2019 total	$	7,073

⁽¹⁾ Percentages represent price paid to redeem, repurchase and repay.

Debt Issuances

(amounts in millions)	Principal Amount Issued		Net Proceeds (1)
Three Months Ended March 31, 2019
Verizon 3.875% notes due 2029 (2)	$	1,000	$	994
Verizon 5.000% notes due 2051	510		506
Three Months Ended March 31, 2019 total	$	1,510	1,500
Three Months Ended June 30, 2019
Verizon 0.875% notes due 2027	€	1,250	1,391
Verizon 1.250% notes due 2030	€	1,250	1,385
Verizon 2.500% notes due 2031	£	500	647
Three Months Ended June 30, 2019 total			3,423
Three Months Ended September 30, 2019
Verizon 0.875% notes due 2032	€	800	882
Verizon 1.500% notes due 2039	€	500	545
Verizon 1.875% Notes due 2030	£	550	672
Three Months Ended September 30, 2019 total			2,099
Nine Months Ended September 30, 2019 total			$	7,022

⁽¹⁾ Net proceeds were net of discount and issuance costs.

⁽²⁾ An amount equal to the net proceeds from this green bond will be used to fund, in whole or in part, "Eligible Green Investments." "Eligible Green Investments" include new and existing investments made by us during the period from two years prior to the issuance of the green bond through the maturity date of the green bond, in the following categories: (1) renewable energy; (2) energy efficiency; (3) green buildings; (4) sustainable water management; and (5) biodiversity and conservation.

Commercial Paper Program

As of September 30, 2019, we had no commercial paper outstanding.

Asset-Backed Debt

As of September 30, 2019, the carrying value of our asset-backed debt was $8.8 billion. Our asset-backed debt includes Asset-Backed Notes (ABS Notes) issued to third-party investors (Investors) and loans (ABS Financing Facilities) received from banks and their conduit facilities (collectively, the Banks). Our consolidated asset-backed debt bankruptcy remote legal entities (each, an ABS Entity or collectively, the ABS Entities) issue the debt or are otherwise party to the transaction documentation in connection with our asset-backed debt transactions. Under the terms of our asset-backed debt, Cellco Partnership (Cellco) and certain other affiliates of Verizon (collectively, the Originators) transfer device payment plan agreement receivables to one of the ABS Entities, which in turn transfers such receivables to another ABS Entity that issues the debt. Verizon entities retain the equity interests in the ABS Entities, which represent the rights to all funds not needed to make required payments on the asset-backed debt and other related payments and expenses.

Our asset-backed debt is secured by the transferred device payment plan agreement receivables and future collections on such receivables. The device payment plan agreement receivables transferred to the ABS Entities and related assets, consisting primarily of restricted cash, will only be available for payment of asset-backed debt and expenses related thereto, payments to the Originators in respect of additional transfers of device payment plan agreement receivables, and other obligations arising from our asset-backed debt transactions, and will not be available to pay other obligations or claims of Verizon’s creditors until the associated asset-backed debt and other obligations are satisfied. The Investors or Banks, as applicable, which hold our asset-backed debt have legal recourse to the assets securing the debt, but do not have any recourse to Verizon with respect to the payment of principal and interest on the debt. Under a parent support agreement, Verizon has agreed to guarantee certain of the payment obligations of Cellco and the Originators to the ABS Entities.

Cash collections on the device payment plan agreement receivables collateralizing asset-backed debt securities are required at certain specified times to be placed into segregated accounts. Deposits to the segregated accounts are considered restricted cash and are included in Prepaid expenses and other and Other assets in our condensed consolidated balance sheets.

Proceeds from our asset-backed debt transactions are reflected in Cash flows from financing activities in our condensed consolidated statements of cash flows. The asset-backed debt issued and the assets securing this debt are included in our condensed consolidated balance sheets.

ABS Notes

During the nine months ended September 30, 2019, we completed the following ABS Notes transactions:

(dollars in millions)	Interest Rates %		Expected Weighted-average Life to Maturity (in years)	Principal Amount Issued
March 2019
A-1a Senior class notes	2.930		2.50	$	900
A-1b Senior floating rate class notes	LIBOR + 0.330	(1)	2.50	100
B Junior class notes	3.020		3.22	69
C Junior class notes	3.220		3.40	53
March 2019 total				1,122
June 2019
A-1a Senior class notes	2.330		2.52	855
A-1b Senior floating rate class notes	LIBOR + 0.450	(1)	2.52	145
B Junior class notes	2.400		3.28	69
C Junior class notes	2.600		3.47	53
June 2019 total				1,122
Total				$	2,244

⁽¹⁾ The one-month London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) rate at September 30, 2019 was 2.016%.

Under the terms of each series of ABS Notes, there is a two year revolving period during which we may transfer additional receivables to the ABS Entity. In April 2019, the two year revolving period of the ABS Notes issued in March 2017 ended and we began to repay principal on the 2017-1 Class A senior ABS Notes. In July 2019, the two year revolving period of the ABS Notes issued in June 2017 ended and we began to repay principal on the 2017-2 Class A Notes. During the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019, we made aggregate principal repayments of $956 million and $2.3 billion, respectively, for all ABS Notes. In October 2019, we issued approximately $1.6 billion aggregate principal amount of senior and junior Asset-Backed Notes through an ABS Entity.

ABS Financing Facilities

In May 2018, we entered into an ABS financing facility with a number of financial institutions (2018 ABS Financing Facility). One loan agreement was entered into in connection with the 2018 ABS financing facility. In May 2019, the remaining $540 million outstanding under the loan agreement was prepaid, and the loan agreement was terminated.

In September 2016, we entered into an ABS Financing Facility with a number of financial institutions, which was amended and restated in May 2019 (2019 ABS Financing Facility). Under the terms of the 2019 ABS Financing Facility, the financial institutions made advances under asset-backed loans backed by device payment plan agreement receivables of both consumer and business customers. Two loan agreements were entered into in connection with the 2019 ABS Financing Facility in September 2016 and May 2017 and a third was entered into in May 2019. The 2016 and 2017 loan agreements had a final maturity date in March 2021 and bore interest at a floating rate. The two year revolving period of the two loan agreements ended in September 2018. The 2019 loan agreement has a final maturity date in May 2023 and bears interest at floating rates. There is a one year revolving period until May 2020, which may be extended with the approval of the financial institutions. Under all of the loan agreements, we have the right to prepay all or a portion of the advances at any time without penalty, but in certain cases, with breakage costs. Subject to certain conditions, we may also remove receivables from the ABS Entity. In April and May of 2019, we paid off both the 2016 and 2017 loans for an aggregate of $671 million primarily with proceeds from the 2019 loan agreement. In August 2019, we prepaid $1.5 billion of the loan made in May 2019 under the 2019 ABS Financing Facility. As of September 30, 2019, there was an outstanding balance under the 2019 ABS Financing Facility of $250 million.

Variable Interest Entities (VIEs)

The ABS Entities meet the definition of a VIE for which we have determined that we are the primary beneficiary as we have both the power to direct the activities of the entity that most significantly impact the entity’s performance and the obligation to absorb losses or the right to receive benefits of the entity. Therefore, the assets, liabilities and activities of the ABS Entities are consolidated in our financial results and are included in amounts presented on the face of our condensed consolidated balance sheets.

The assets and liabilities related to our asset-backed debt arrangements included in our condensed consolidated balance sheets were as follows:

	At September 30,		At December 31,
(dollars in millions)	2019		2018
Assets
Account receivable, net	$	9,912	$	8,861
Prepaid expenses and other	1,016		989
Other assets	3,130		2,725
Liabilities
Accounts payable and accrued liabilities	8		7
Short-term portion of long-term debt	4,160		5,352
Long-term debt	4,640		4,724

See Note 7 for additional information on device payment plan agreement receivables used to secure asset-backed debt.

Credit Facilities

As of September 30, 2019, the unused borrowing capacity under our $9.5 billion credit facility was approximately $9.4 billion. The credit facility does not require us to comply with financial covenants or maintain specified credit ratings, and it permits us to borrow even if our business has incurred a material adverse change. We use the credit facility for the issuance of letters of credit and for general corporate purposes.

In March 2016, we entered into a $1.0 billion credit facility insured by Eksportkreditnamnden, an export credit agency, with a maturity date of December 2024. As of September 30, 2019, the outstanding balance was $647 million. We used this credit facility to finance network equipment-related purchases.

In July 2017, we entered into credit facilities insured by various export credit agencies providing us with the ability to borrow up to $4.0 billion to finance equipment-related purchases with maturity dates ranging from July 2022 to May 2027. The facilities have multiple borrowings available, portions of which extend through October 2019, contingent upon the amount of eligible equipment-related purchases that we make. During the nine months ended September 30, 2019, we drew down $874 million from these facilities, and we had an outstanding balance of $3.4 billion as of September 30, 2019. During the nine months ended September 30, 2018, we drew down $3.0 billion from these facilities.

Non-Cash Transaction

During the nine months ended September 30, 2019 and 2018, we financed, primarily through vendor financing arrangements, the purchase of approximately $356 million and $967 million, respectively, of long-lived assets consisting primarily of network equipment. At both September 30, 2019 and 2018, $1.0 billion and $1.1 billion, respectively, relating to these financing arrangements, including those entered into in prior years and liabilities assumed through acquisitions, remained outstanding. These purchases are non-cash financing activities and therefore are not reflected within Capital expenditures in our condensed consolidated statements of cash flows.

Early Debt Redemptions

During the three months ended September 30, 2019, we recorded insignificant losses on early debt redemptions. During the nine months ended September 30, 2019, we recorded losses on early debt redemptions of $1.6 billion primarily related to the May tender offers, which were recorded in Other income (expense), net in our condensed consolidated statements of income.

During the three and nine months ended September 30, 2018, we recorded losses on early debt redemptions of $420 million and $690 million, respectively, primarily related to the 2018 September tender offers for 8 series of notes issued by Verizon with coupon rates ranging from 3.850% to 5.012% with maturity dates ranging from 2039 to 2055. In addition, during the nine months ended September 30, 2018, we recorded losses on early debt redemptions primarily related to the 2018 March tender offers for 13 series of notes issued by Verizon with coupon rates ranging from 1.750% to 5.012% with maturity dates ranging from 2021 to 2055. We recorded losses on early debt redemptions in Other income (expense), net in our condensed consolidated statements of income.

Guarantees

We guarantee the debentures of our operating telephone company subsidiaries. As of September 30, 2019, $796 million aggregate principal amount of these obligations remained outstanding. Each guarantee will remain in place for the life of the obligation unless terminated pursuant to its terms, including the operating telephone company no longer being a wholly-owned subsidiary of Verizon.

We also guarantee the debt obligations of GTE LLC as successor in interest to GTE Corporation that were issued and outstanding prior to July 1, 2003. As of September 30, 2019, $423 million aggregate principal amount of these obligations remained outstanding.

XML

Revenues and Contract Costs

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2019

Revenue from Contract with Customer [Abstract]

Revenues and Contract Costs

Note 2. Revenues and Contract Costs

We earn revenue from contracts with customers, primarily through the provision of telecommunications and other services and through the sale of wireless equipment.

Revenue by Category

We have two reportable segments that we operate and manage as strategic business units - Consumer and Business. Revenue is disaggregated by products and services within Consumer, and customer groups (Global Enterprise, Small and Medium Business, Public Sector and Other and Wholesale) within Business. See Note 11 for additional information on revenue by segment.

Corporate and other includes the results of our media business, Verizon Media Group (Verizon Media), which operated under the "Oath" brand until January 2019, and other businesses. Verizon Media generated revenues from contracts with customers under Topic 606 of approximately $1.8 billion and $5.4 billion, during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019, respectively. Verizon Media generated revenues from contracts with customers under Topic 606 of approximately $1.8 billion and $5.6 billion during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2018, respectively.

We also earn revenues that are not accounted for under Topic 606, from leasing arrangements (such as towers), captive reinsurance arrangements primarily related to wireless device insurance and the interest on equipment financed on a device payment plan agreement when sold to the customer by an authorized agent. As allowed by the practical expedient within Topic 842, we have elected to combine the lease and non-lease components for those arrangements of customer premise equipment where we are the lessor as components accounted for under Topic 606. During the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019, revenues from arrangements that were not accounted for under Topic 606 were approximately $779 million and $2.4 billion, respectively. During the three and nine months ended September 30, 2018, revenues from arrangements that were not accounted for under Topic 606 were approximately $1.1 billion and $3.4 billion, respectively.

Remaining Performance Obligations

When allocating the total contract transaction price to identified performance obligations, a portion of the total transaction price may relate to service performance obligations which were not satisfied or are partially satisfied as of the end of the reporting period. Below we disclose information relating to these unsatisfied performance obligations. Upon adoption, we elected to apply the practical expedient available under Topic 606 that provides the option to exclude the expected revenues arising from unsatisfied performance obligations related to contracts that have an original expected duration of one year or less. This situation primarily arises with respect to certain month-to-month service contracts. At September 30, 2019, month-to-month service contracts represented approximately 87% of our wireless postpaid contracts and approximately 59% of our wireline Consumer and Small and Medium Business contracts, compared to September 30, 2018, for which month-to-month service contracts represented approximately 85% of our wireless postpaid contracts and 56% of our wireline Consumer and Small and Medium Business contracts.

Additionally, certain contracts provide customers the option to purchase additional services. The fees related to these additional services are recognized when the customer exercises the option (typically on a month-to-month basis).

Contracts for wireless services are generally either month-to-month and cancellable at any time (typically under a device payment plan) or contain terms ranging from greater than one month to up to two years (typically under a fixed-term plan). Additionally, customers may incur charges based on usage or additional optional services purchased in conjunction with entering into a contract that can be cancelled at any time and therefore are not included in the transaction price. The transaction price allocated to service performance obligations, which are not satisfied or are partially satisfied as of the end of the reporting period, are generally related to our fixed-term plans.

Our Consumer group customers also include traditional wholesale resellers that purchase and resell wireless service under their own brands to their respective customers. Reseller arrangements generally include a stated contract term, which typically extends longer than two years and, in some cases, include a periodic minimum revenue commitment over the contract term for which revenues will be recognized in future periods.

Consumer customer contracts for wireline services generally have a service term of two years; however, this term may be shorter than twelve months or may be month-to-month. Certain contracts with Business customers for wireline services extend into future periods, contain fixed monthly fees and usage-based fees, and can include annual commitments in each year of the contract or commitments over the entire specified contract term; however, a significant number of contracts for wireline services with our Business customers have a contract term that is twelve months or less.

Additionally, there are certain contracts with Business customers for wireline services that have a contractual minimum fee over the total contract term. We cannot predict the time period when revenue will be recognized related to those contracts; thus, they are excluded from the time bands below. These contracts have varying terms spanning over approximately five years ending in September 2024 and have aggregate contract minimum payments totaling $3.7 billion.

At September 30, 2019, the transaction price related to unsatisfied performance obligations for total Verizon that is expected to be recognized for 2019, 2020 and thereafter was $5.8 billion, $17.3 billion and $7.6 billion, respectively. Remaining performance obligation estimates are subject to change and are affected by several factors, including terminations and changes in the timing and scope of contracts, arising from contract modifications.

Accounts Receivable and Contract Balances

The timing of revenue recognition may differ from the time of billing to our customers. Receivables presented in our condensed consolidated balance sheet represent an unconditional right to consideration. Contract balances represent amounts from an arrangement when either Verizon has performed, by transferring goods or services to the customer in advance of receiving all or partial consideration for such goods and services

from the customer, or the customer has made payment to Verizon in advance of obtaining control of the goods and/or services promised to the customer in the contract.

Contract assets primarily relate to our rights to consideration for goods or services provided to customers but for which we do not have an unconditional right at the reporting date. Under a fixed-term plan, total contract revenue is allocated between wireless service and equipment revenues. In conjunction with these arrangements, a contract asset is created, which represents the difference between the amount of equipment revenue recognized upon sale and the amount of consideration received from the customer when the performance obligation related to the transfer of control of the equipment is satisfied. The contract asset is reclassified to accounts receivable as wireless services are provided and billed. We have the right to bill the customer as service is provided over time, which results in our right to the payment being unconditional. The contract asset balances are presented in our condensed consolidated balance sheet as Prepaid expenses and other and Other assets. We assess our contract assets for impairment on a quarterly basis and will recognize an impairment charge to the extent their carrying amount is not recoverable.

Contract liabilities arise when we bill our customers and receive consideration in advance of providing the goods or services promised in the contract. We typically bill service one month in advance, which is the primary component of the contract liability balance. Contract liabilities are recognized as revenue when services are provided to the customer. The contract liability balances are presented in our condensed consolidated balance sheet as Other current liabilities and Other liabilities.

The following table presents information about receivables from contracts with customers:

	At September 30,		At January 1,		At September 30,		At January 1,
(dollars in millions)	2019		2019		2018		2018
Receivables(1)	$	11,900	$	12,104	$	11,966	$	12,073
Device payment plan agreement receivables(2)	10,538		8,940		6,723		1,461

⁽¹⁾  Balances do not include receivables related to the following contracts: leasing arrangements (such as towers), captive reinsurance arrangements primarily related to wireless device insurance and the interest on equipment financed on a device payment plan agreement when sold to the customer by an authorized agent.

⁽²⁾  Included in device payment plan agreement receivables presented in Note 7. Balances do not include receivables related to contracts completed prior to January 1, 2018 and receivables derived from the sale of equipment on a device payment plan through an authorized agent.

The following table presents information about contract balances:

	At September 30,		At January 1,		At September 30,		At January 1,
(dollars in millions)	2019		2019		2018		2018
Contract asset	$	1,102	$	1,003	$	997	$	1,170
Contract liability (1)	5,082		4,943		4,693		4,452

⁽¹⁾ Revenue recognized related to contract liabilities existing at January 1, 2019 and January 1, 2018 were $235 million and $4.1 billion, for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019, respectively, and $101 million and $3.9 billion, for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2018.

The balance of contract assets and contract liabilities recorded in our condensed consolidated balance sheet were as follows:

	At September 30,		At December 31,
(dollars in millions)	2019		2018
Assets
Prepaid expenses and other	$	818	$	757
Other assets	284		246
Total	$	1,102	$	1,003
Liabilities
Other current liabilities	$	4,480	$	4,207
Other liabilities	602		736
Total	$	5,082	$	4,943

Contract Costs

Topic 606 requires the recognition of an asset for incremental costs to obtain a customer contract, which are then amortized to expense over the respective periods of expected benefit. We recognize an asset for incremental commission expenses paid to internal and external sales personnel and agents in conjunction with obtaining customer contracts. We only defer these costs when we have determined the commissions are incremental costs that would not have been incurred absent the customer contract and are expected to be recoverable. Costs to obtain a contract are amortized and recorded ratably as commission expense over the period representing the transfer of goods or services to which the assets relate. Costs to obtain wireless contracts are amortized over both of our Consumer and Business customers' estimated device upgrade cycles, as such costs are typically incurred each time a customer upgrades. Costs to obtain wireline contracts are amortized as expense over the estimated customer

relationship period for our Consumer customers. Incremental costs to obtain wireline contracts for our Business customers are insignificant. Costs to obtain contracts are recorded in Selling, general and administrative expense.

We also defer costs incurred to fulfill contracts that: (1) relate directly to the contract; (2) are expected to generate resources that will be used to satisfy our performance obligation under the contract; and (3) are expected to be recovered through revenue generated under the contract. Contract fulfillment costs are expensed as we satisfy our performance obligations and recorded in Cost of services. These costs principally relate to direct costs that enhance our wireline business resources, such as costs incurred to install circuits.

We determine the amortization periods for our costs incurred to obtain or fulfill a customer contract at a portfolio level due to the similarities within these customer contract portfolios.

Other costs, such as general costs or costs related to past performance obligations, are expensed as incurred.

Collectively, costs to obtain a contract and costs to fulfill a contract are referred to as deferred contract costs, and amortized over a two- to five-year period. Deferred contract costs are classified as current or non-current within Prepaid expenses and other and Other assets, respectively.

The balances of deferred contract costs included in our condensed consolidated balance sheet were as follows:

	At September 30,		At December 31,
(dollars in millions)	2019		2018
Assets
Prepaid expenses and other	$	2,455	$	2,083
Other assets	1,793		1,812
Total	$	4,248	$	3,895

For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019, we recognized expense of $687 million and $1.9 billion, respectively, associated with the amortization of deferred contract costs, primarily within Selling, general and administrative expense in our condensed consolidated statements of income. For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2018, we recognized expense of $523 million and $1.4 billion, respectively, associated with the amortization of deferred contract costs, primarily within Selling, general and administrative expense in our condensed consolidated statements of income.

We assess our deferred contract costs for impairment on a quarterly basis. We recognize an impairment charge to the extent the carrying amount of a deferred cost exceeds the remaining amount of consideration we expect to receive in exchange for the goods and services related to the cost, less the expected costs related directly to providing those goods and services that have not yet been recognized as expenses. There have been no impairment charges recognized for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019 or September 30, 2018.

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Fair Value Measurements (Tables)

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2019

Fair Value Disclosures [Abstract]

Schedule of Assets and Liabilities Measured at Fair Value on Recurring Basis

The following table presents the balances of assets and liabilities measured at fair value on a recurring basis as of September 30, 2019:

(dollars in millions)	Level 1(1)		Level 2(2)		Level 3(3)		Total
Assets:
Other assets:
Fixed income securities	$	—	$	444	$	—	$	444
Interest rate swaps	—		849		—		849
Cross currency swaps	—		79		—		79
Total	$	—	$	1,372	$	—	$	1,372
Liabilities:
Other liabilities:
Interest rate swaps	$	—	$	212	$	—	$	212
Cross currency swaps	—		1,381		—		1,381
Forward starting interest rate swaps	—		886		—		886
Foreign exchange forwards	—		10		—		10
Total	$	—	$	2,489	$	—	$	2,489

The following table presents the balances of assets and liabilities measured at fair value on a recurring basis as of December 31, 2018:

(dollars in millions)	Level 1(1)		Level 2(2)		Level 3(3)		Total
Assets:
Other assets:
Fixed income securities	$	—	$	405	$	—	$	405
Interest rate swaps	—		3		—		3
Cross currency swaps	—		220		—		220
Interest rate caps	—		14		—		14
Total	$	—	$	642	$	—	$	642
Liabilities:
Other liabilities:
Interest rate swaps	$	—	$	813	$	—	$	813
Cross currency swaps	—		536		—		536
Forward starting interest rate swaps	—		60		—		60
Interest rate caps	—		4		—		4
Total	$	—	$	1,413	$	—	$	1,413

⁽¹⁾  Quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities

⁽²⁾  Observable inputs other than quoted prices in active markets for identical assets and liabilities

⁽³⁾ 

Unobservable pricing inputs in the market

Schedule of Fair Value of Short-Term and Long-Term Debt, Excluding Capital Leases

The fair value of our short-term and long-term debt, excluding finance leases, was as follows:

	At September 30,				At December 31,
	2019				2018
(dollars in millions)	Carrying Amount		Fair Value		Carrying Amount		Fair Value
Short- and long-term debt, excluding finance leases	$	108,604	$	128,380	$	112,159	$	118,535

Notional Amounts of Outstanding Derivative Instruments

The following table sets forth the notional amounts of our outstanding derivative instruments:

	At September 30,		At December 31,
(dollars in millions)	2019		2018
Interest rate swaps	$	16,993	$	19,813
Cross currency swaps	22,212		16,638
Forward starting interest rate swaps	3,000		4,000
Interest rate caps	975		2,218
Foreign exchange forwards	1,085		600

Schedule of Cumulative Basis Adjustments for Fair Value hedges

The following amounts were recorded in Long-term debt in our condensed consolidated balance sheets related to cumulative basis adjustments for fair value hedges:

	At September 30,		At December 31,
(dollars in millions)	2019		2018
Carrying amount of hedged liabilities	$	17,535	$	18,903
Cumulative amount of fair value hedging adjustment included in the carrying amount of the hedged liabilities	645		(785		)

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Wireless Licenses, Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets (Tables)

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2019

Goodwill and Intangible Assets Disclosure [Abstract]

Carrying Amount of Wireless Licenses

The carrying amounts of Wireless licenses are as follows:

	At September 30,		At December 31,
(dollars in millions)	2019		2018
Wireless licenses	$	94,433	$	94,130

Changes in Carrying Amount of Goodwill

Changes in the carrying amount of Goodwill are as follows:

(dollars in millions)	Consumer		Business			Wireless			Wireline			Other (1)			Total
Balance at January 1, 2019	$	—	$	—		$	18,397		$	3,871		$	2,346		$	24,614
Acquisitions	—		—			—			20			—			20
Reclassifications, adjustments and other	—		—			—			1			—			1
Balance at March 31, 2019	—		—			18,397			3,892			2,346			24,635
Reporting Unit reallocation (2)	17,104		7,269			(18,397		)	(3,892		)	(2,084		)	—
Balance at April 1, 2019	17,104		7,269			—			—			262			24,635
Acquisitions	—		2			—			—			—			2
Reclassifications, adjustments and other	—		(7		)	—			—			(60		)	(67		)
Balance at September 30, 2019	$	17,104	$	7,264		$	—		$	—		$	202		$	24,570

⁽¹⁾ Goodwill is net of accumulated impairment charge of $4.6 billion, related to our Media reporting unit, which was recorded in the fourth quarter of 2018.

⁽²⁾ Represents the reallocation of goodwill as a result of the Company reorganizing its segments as described in Note 1.

Composition of Other Intangible Assets, Net

The following table displays the composition of Other intangible assets, net:

	At September 30, 2019							At December 31, 2018
(dollars in millions)	Gross Amount		Accumulated Amortization			Net Amount		Gross Amount		Accumulated Amortization			Net Amount
Customer lists (8 to 13 years)	$	3,895	$	(1,393	)	$	2,502	$	3,951	$	(1,121	)	$	2,830
Non-network internal-use software (3 to 7 years)	19,721		(13,990		)	5,731		18,603		(12,785		)	5,818
Other (2 to 25 years)	1,968		(937		)	1,031		1,988		(861		)	1,127
Total	$	25,584	$	(16,320	)	$	9,264	$	24,542	$	(14,767	)	$	9,775

Amortization Expense for Other Intangible Assets

The amortization expense for Other intangible assets was as follows: 

	Three Months Ended		Nine Months Ended
(dollars in millions)	September 30,		September 30,
2019	$	580	$	1,704
2018	557		1,648

Estimated Future Amortization Expense for Other Intangible Assets

The estimated future amortization expense for Other intangible assets for the remainder of the current year and next 5 years is as follows:

Years	(dollars in millions)
Remainder of 2019	$	571
2020	2,046
2021	1,751
2022	1,471
2023	1,163
2024	821

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Wireless Licenses, Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets - Changes in Carrying Value of Goodwill (Detail) - USD ($) $ in Millions		3 Months Ended	6 Months Ended
	Apr. 01, 2019	Mar. 31, 2019	Sep. 30, 2019	Dec. 31, 2018
Goodwill [Line Items]
Beginning balance	$ 24,635	$ 24,614	$ 24,635
Acquisitions		20	2
Reclassifications, adjustments and other		1	(67)
Ending balance	24,635	24,635	24,570
Goodwill accumulated impairment charge				$ 4,600
Operating Segments
Goodwill [Line Items]
Acquisitions
Operating Segments | Wireless
Goodwill [Line Items]
Beginning balance	18,397	18,397
Acquisitions		0
Reclassifications, adjustments and other		0
Reporting Unit reallocation	(18,397)
Ending balance		18,397
Operating Segments | Wireline
Goodwill [Line Items]
Beginning balance	3,892	3,871
Acquisitions		20
Reclassifications, adjustments and other		1
Reporting Unit reallocation	(3,892)
Ending balance		3,892
Operating Segments | Consumer
Goodwill [Line Items]
Beginning balance			17,104
Acquisitions			0
Reclassifications, adjustments and other			0
Reporting Unit reallocation	17,104
Ending balance	17,104		17,104
Operating Segments | Business
Goodwill [Line Items]
Beginning balance			7,269
Acquisitions			2
Reclassifications, adjustments and other			(7)
Reporting Unit reallocation	7,269
Ending balance	7,269		7,264
Other
Goodwill [Line Items]
Beginning balance	2,346	2,346	262
Acquisitions		0	0
Reclassifications, adjustments and other		0	(60)
Reporting Unit reallocation	(2,084)
Ending balance	$ 262	$ 2,346	$ 202

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Leasing Arrangements - Components of Net Lease Cost (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions	3 Months Ended	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2019	Sep. 30, 2019
Leases [Abstract]
Operating lease cost	$ 1,202	$ 3,550
Amortization of right-of-use assets	76	244
Interest on lease liabilities	9	28
Short-term lease cost	8	32
Variable lease cost	55	163
Sublease income	(68)	(202)
Total net lease cost	1,282	3,815
Gain on sale and leaseback transaction, net	$ (391)	$ (391)

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Fair Value Measurements - Additional Information (Detail)	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2019 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2018 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2019 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2018 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2019 EUR (€)	Dec. 31, 2018 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2018 EUR (€)
Derivatives, Fair Value [Line Items]
Carrying amount of our investments without readily determinable fair values	$ 293,000,000		$ 293,000,000			$ 248,000,000
Investments without readily determinable fair values, impairment loss	0		0
Investments without readily determinable fair values, cumulative adjustments due to observable price changes	50,000,000		50,000,000
Collateral posted related to derivative contracts						100,000,000
Interest rate swaps
Derivatives, Fair Value [Line Items]
Net investment hedge	16,993,000,000		16,993,000,000			19,813,000,000
Interest rate swaps | Fair Value Hedges
Derivatives, Fair Value [Line Items]
Notional amount of derivative instruments entered during period			510,000,000
Notional amount of derivative settled during period	2,100,000,000		3,300,000,000
Ineffectiveness portion of interest rate swaps			88,000,000
Cross currency swaps
Derivatives, Fair Value [Line Items]
Net investment hedge	22,212,000,000		22,212,000,000			16,638,000,000
Cross currency swaps | Cash Flow Hedging
Derivatives, Fair Value [Line Items]
Notional amount of derivative instruments entered during period	2,100,000,000		5,600,000,000
Pre-tax gains (loss) recognized in other comprehensive income (loss)	(658,000,000)	$ 214,000,000	(986,000,000)	$ 220,000,000
Forward starting interest rate swaps
Derivatives, Fair Value [Line Items]
Net investment hedge	3,000,000,000		3,000,000,000			4,000,000,000
Forward starting interest rate swaps | Cash Flow Hedging
Derivatives, Fair Value [Line Items]
Notional amount of derivative instruments entered during period	0		0
Notional amount of derivative settled during period	0		1,000,000,000.0
Pre-tax gains (loss) recognized in other comprehensive income (loss)	(350,000,000)		(847,000,000)
Euro Denominated Debt | Net Investment Hedges
Derivatives, Fair Value [Line Items]
Net investment hedge | €					€ 750,000,000		€ 750,000,000
Foreign exchange forwards
Derivatives, Fair Value [Line Items]
Notional amount of derivative instruments entered during period	3,100,000,000		9,200,000,000
Notional amount of derivative settled during period	3,000,000,000.0		8,600,000,000
Pre-tax gain (loss) on undesignated derivatives			(53,000,000)
Net investment hedge	$ 1,085,000,000		$ 1,085,000,000			$ 600,000,000

XML

Wireless Device Payment Plans - Additional Information (Detail) - USD ($) $ in Millions	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2019	Jan. 01, 2019	Dec. 31, 2018	Sep. 30, 2018	Jan. 01, 2018
Accounts, Notes, Loans and Financing Receivable [Line Items]
Receivables transferred to ABS Entities	$ 13,000		$ 11,500
Device payment plan agreement, trade-in liability	$ 5,082	$ 4,943	4,943	$ 4,693	$ 4,452
Minimum
Accounts, Notes, Loans and Financing Receivable [Line Items]
Number of customer tenure days	45 days
Required down payment percentage	0.00%
Maximum
Accounts, Notes, Loans and Financing Receivable [Line Items]
Number of customer tenure days	45 days
Required down payment percentage	100.00%
Product Trade-in
Accounts, Notes, Loans and Financing Receivable [Line Items]
Device payment plan agreement, trade-in liability	$ 73		$ 64

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Employee Benefits - Costs by Plans (Detail) - USD ($) $ in Millions	3 Months Ended			9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2019	Mar. 31, 2019	Sep. 30, 2018	Sep. 30, 2019	Sep. 30, 2018
Pension
Defined Benefit Plan Disclosure [Line Items]
Service cost	$ 62		$ 70	$ 185	$ 215
Amortization of prior service cost (credit)	15		13	46	33
Expected return on plan assets	(282)		(321)	(846)	(979)
Interest cost	173		176	527	508
Remeasurement loss (gain), net	291	$ (96)	(454)	195	(454)
Other components	197		(586)	(78)	(892)
Total	259		(516)	107	(677)
Pension | Cost of services
Defined Benefit Plan Disclosure [Line Items]
Service cost	51		57	151	174
Pension | Selling, general and administrative expense
Defined Benefit Plan Disclosure [Line Items]
Service cost	11		13	34	41
Health Care and Life
Defined Benefit Plan Disclosure [Line Items]
Service cost	24		32	72	96
Amortization of prior service cost (credit)	(242)		(244)	(728)	(732)
Expected return on plan assets	(9)		(11)	(28)	(33)
Interest cost	157		153	472	460
Remeasurement loss (gain), net	0		0	0	0
Other components	(94)		(102)	(284)	(305)
Total	(70)		(70)	(212)	(209)
Health Care and Life | Cost of services
Defined Benefit Plan Disclosure [Line Items]
Service cost	20		26	59	78
Health Care and Life | Selling, general and administrative expense
Defined Benefit Plan Disclosure [Line Items]
Service cost	$ 4		$ 6	$ 13	$ 18

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Debt - Schedule of ABS Notes Transactions (Details) - USD ($)	1 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2019	Mar. 31, 2019	Sep. 30, 2019
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Principal Amount Issued		$ 1,510,000,000
Asset Backed Notes
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Principal Amount Issued			$ 2,244,000,000
Asset Backed Notes, March
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Principal Amount Issued		$ 1,122,000,000
Asset Backed Notes, June
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Principal Amount Issued	$ 1,122,000,000
A-1a Senior class notes | Asset Backed Notes, March
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Stated interest rate on debt instrument		2.93%
Expected Weighted-average Life to Maturity		2 years 6 months
Principal Amount Issued		$ 900,000,000
A-1a Senior class notes | Asset Backed Notes, June
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Stated interest rate on debt instrument	2.33%
Expected Weighted-average Life to Maturity	2 years 6 months 7 days
Principal Amount Issued	$ 855,000,000
A-1b Senior floating rate class notes | Asset Backed Notes
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Debt effective rate			2.016%
A-1b Senior floating rate class notes | Asset Backed Notes, March
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Expected Weighted-average Life to Maturity		2 years 6 months
Principal Amount Issued		$ 100,000,000
A-1b Senior floating rate class notes | Asset Backed Notes, June
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Expected Weighted-average Life to Maturity	2 years 6 months 7 days
Principal Amount Issued	$ 145,000,000
B Junior class notes | Asset Backed Notes, March
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Stated interest rate on debt instrument		3.02%
Expected Weighted-average Life to Maturity		3 years 2 months 19 days
Principal Amount Issued		$ 69,000,000
B Junior class notes | Asset Backed Notes, June
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Stated interest rate on debt instrument	2.40%
Expected Weighted-average Life to Maturity	3 years 3 months 10 days
Principal Amount Issued	$ 69,000,000
C Junior class notes | Asset Backed Notes, March
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Stated interest rate on debt instrument		3.22%
Expected Weighted-average Life to Maturity		3 years 4 months 24 days
Principal Amount Issued		$ 53,000,000
C Junior class notes | Asset Backed Notes, June
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Stated interest rate on debt instrument	2.60%
Expected Weighted-average Life to Maturity	3 years 5 months 19 days
Principal Amount Issued	$ 53,000,000
London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) | A-1b Senior floating rate class notes | Asset Backed Notes, March
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Basis spread on variable rate		0.33%
London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) | A-1b Senior floating rate class notes | Asset Backed Notes, June
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Basis spread on variable rate	0.45%

XML

Debt - Debt Redemptions, Repurchases and Repayments (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions	3 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2019	Jun. 30, 2019	Mar. 31, 2019
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Principal Redeemed / Repaid	$ 7,073
Verizon 5.900% notes due 2054
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Stated interest rate on debt instrument			5.90%
Verizon 1.375% notes due 2019
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Stated interest rate on debt instrument			1.375%
Verizon 1.750% notes due 2021
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Stated interest rate on debt instrument			1.75%
Verizon 3.000% notes due 2021
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Stated interest rate on debt instrument			3.00%
Verizon 3.500% notes due 2021
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Stated interest rate on debt instrument		3.50%	3.50%
Verizon 2.625% notes due 2020
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Stated interest rate on debt instrument		2.625%
Verizon 4.200% notes due 2046
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Stated interest rate on debt instrument	4.20%
March 2019
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Principal Redeemed / Repaid			$ 2,735
March 2019 | Verizon 5.900% notes due 2054
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Principal Redeemed / Repaid			$ 500
Amount Paid as % of Principal			100.00%
March 2019 | Verizon 1.375% notes due 2019
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Principal Redeemed / Repaid			$ 206
Amount Paid as % of Principal			100.00%
March 2019 | Verizon 1.750% notes due 2021
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Principal Redeemed / Repaid			$ 621
Amount Paid as % of Principal			100.00%
March 2019 | Verizon 3.000% notes due 2021
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Principal Redeemed / Repaid			$ 930
Amount Paid as % of Principal			101.061%
March 2019 | Verizon 3.500% notes due 2021
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Principal Redeemed / Repaid			$ 315
Amount Paid as % of Principal			102.18%
March 2019 | Open market repurchases of various Verizon notes
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Principal Redeemed / Repaid			$ 163
June 2019
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Principal Redeemed / Repaid		$ 1,796
June 2019 | Verizon 3.500% notes due 2021
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Principal Redeemed / Repaid		$ 736
Amount Paid as % of Principal		102.238%
June 2019 | Verizon 2.625% notes due 2020
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Principal Redeemed / Repaid		$ 831
Amount Paid as % of Principal		100.037%
June 2019 | Verizon floating rate (LIBOR 0.770%) notes due 2019
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Principal Redeemed / Repaid		$ 229
Amount Paid as % of Principal		100.00%
September 2019
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Principal Redeemed / Repaid	$ 2,542
September 2019 | Verizon 4.200% notes due 2046
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Principal Redeemed / Repaid	$ 2,059
Amount Paid as % of Principal	100.00%
September 2019 | Verizon floating rate (LIBOR 0.370%) notes due 2019
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Principal Redeemed / Repaid	$ 306
Amount Paid as % of Principal	100.00%
September 2019 | Verizon 2.600% - 4.300% Internotes due 2022 - 2029
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Principal Redeemed / Repaid	$ 177
Amount Paid as % of Principal	100.00%
London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) | Verizon floating rate (LIBOR 0.770%) notes due 2019
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Basis spread on variable rate		0.77%
London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) | Verizon floating rate (LIBOR 0.370%) notes due 2019
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Basis spread on variable rate	0.37%
Minimum | Verizon 2.600% - 4.300% Internotes due 2022 - 2029
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Stated interest rate on debt instrument	2.60%
Maximum | Verizon 2.600% - 4.300% Internotes due 2022 - 2029
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Stated interest rate on debt instrument	4.30%

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Commitments and Contingencies (Detail)	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2019 legal_matter
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]
Approximate number of federal district court actions alleged for patent infringement	25
Guarantee obligations, term	30 years

XML

Employee Benefits - Additional Information (Detail)	3 Months Ended			9 Months Ended		10 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2019 USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2019 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2018 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2019 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2018 USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2019 Employee
Defined Benefit Plan Disclosure [Line Items]
Amount paid in severance benefits over the period	$ 435,000,000			$ 1,900,000,000
Post employment benefits liability	355,000,000			355,000,000
Pension
Defined Benefit Plan Disclosure [Line Items]
Remeasurement gain (loss)	(291,000,000)	$ 96,000,000	$ 454,000,000	(195,000,000)	$ 454,000,000
Credit due to change in discount rate assumption	589,000,000		(1,100,000,000)		(1,100,000,000)
Charge due to difference between estimated and actual return on assets	298,000,000		$ (599,000,000)		(629,000,000)
Pension | Qualified Plan
Defined Benefit Plan Disclosure [Line Items]
Employer discretionary contribution amount				300,000,000	$ 1,000,000,000.0
Pension | Nonqualified Plan
Defined Benefit Plan Disclosure [Line Items]
Defined benefit plan contributions by employer	$ 0			$ 0
2018 Voluntary Separation Program
Defined Benefit Plan Disclosure [Line Items]
Number of employees separated | Employee						10,400

XML

Segment Information - Additional Information (Detail) - segment	6 Months Ended	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2019	Sep. 30, 2019
Segment Reporting [Abstract]
Number of reportable segments	2	2

XML

Fair Value Measurements

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2019

Fair Value Disclosures [Abstract]

Fair Value Measurements

Note 8. Fair Value Measurements

Recurring Fair Value Measurements

The following table presents the balances of assets and liabilities measured at fair value on a recurring basis as of September 30, 2019:

(dollars in millions)	Level 1(1)		Level 2(2)		Level 3(3)		Total
Assets:
Other assets:
Fixed income securities	$	—	$	444	$	—	$	444
Interest rate swaps	—		849		—		849
Cross currency swaps	—		79		—		79
Total	$	—	$	1,372	$	—	$	1,372
Liabilities:
Other liabilities:
Interest rate swaps	$	—	$	212	$	—	$	212
Cross currency swaps	—		1,381		—		1,381
Forward starting interest rate swaps	—		886		—		886
Foreign exchange forwards	—		10		—		10
Total	$	—	$	2,489	$	—	$	2,489

The following table presents the balances of assets and liabilities measured at fair value on a recurring basis as of December 31, 2018:

(dollars in millions)	Level 1(1)		Level 2(2)		Level 3(3)		Total
Assets:
Other assets:
Fixed income securities	$	—	$	405	$	—	$	405
Interest rate swaps	—		3		—		3
Cross currency swaps	—		220		—		220
Interest rate caps	—		14		—		14
Total	$	—	$	642	$	—	$	642
Liabilities:
Other liabilities:
Interest rate swaps	$	—	$	813	$	—	$	813
Cross currency swaps	—		536		—		536
Forward starting interest rate swaps	—		60		—		60
Interest rate caps	—		4		—		4
Total	$	—	$	1,413	$	—	$	1,413

⁽¹⁾  Quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities

⁽²⁾  Observable inputs other than quoted prices in active markets for identical assets and liabilities

⁽³⁾  Unobservable pricing inputs in the market

Certain of our equity investments do not have readily determinable fair values and are excluded from the tables above. Such investments are measured at cost, less any impairment, plus or minus changes resulting from observable price changes in orderly transactions for an identical or similar investment of the same issuer and are included in Investments in unconsolidated businesses in our condensed consolidated balance sheets. As of September 30, 2019 and December 31, 2018, the carrying amount of our investments without readily determinable fair values were $293 million and $248 million, respectively. During the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019, there were insignificant adjustments due to observable price changes and there were no impairment charges. Cumulative adjustments due to observable price changes and impairment charges were $50 million and insignificant, respectively.

Fixed income securities consist primarily of investments in municipal bonds. For fixed income securities that do not have quoted prices in active markets, we use alternative matrix pricing resulting in these debt securities being classified as Level 2.

Derivative contracts are valued using models based on readily observable market parameters for all substantial terms of our derivative contracts and thus are classified within Level 2. We use mid-market pricing for fair value measurements of our derivative instruments. Our derivative instruments are recorded on a gross basis.

We recognize transfers between levels of the fair value hierarchy as of the end of the reporting period. There were no transfers between Level 1 and Level 2 during the nine months ended September 30, 2019 and 2018.

Fair Value of Short-term and Long-term Debt

The fair value of our debt is determined using various methods, including quoted prices for identical terms and maturities, which is a Level 1 measurement, as well as quoted prices for similar terms and maturities in inactive markets and future cash flows discounted at current rates, which are Level 2 measurements. The fair value of our short-term and long-term debt, excluding finance leases, was as follows:

	At September 30,				At December 31,
	2019				2018
(dollars in millions)	Carrying Amount		Fair Value		Carrying Amount		Fair Value
Short- and long-term debt, excluding finance leases	$	108,604	$	128,380	$	112,159	$	118,535

Derivative Instruments

The following table sets forth the notional amounts of our outstanding derivative instruments:

	At September 30,		At December 31,
(dollars in millions)	2019		2018
Interest rate swaps	$	16,993	$	19,813
Cross currency swaps	22,212		16,638
Forward starting interest rate swaps	3,000		4,000
Interest rate caps	975		2,218
Foreign exchange forwards	1,085		600

Interest Rate Swaps

We enter into interest rate swaps to achieve a targeted mix of fixed and variable rate debt. We principally receive fixed rates and pay variable rates based on LIBOR, resulting in a net increase or decrease to Interest expense. These swaps are designated as fair value hedges and hedge against interest rate risk exposure of designated debt issuances. We record the interest rate swaps at fair value in our condensed consolidated balance sheets as assets and liabilities. Changes in the fair value of the interest rate swaps are recorded to Interest expense, which are offset by changes in the fair value of the hedged debt due to changes in interest rates.

During the nine months ended September 30, 2019, we entered into interest rate swaps with a total notional value of $510 million. During the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019, we settled interest rate swaps with a total notional value of $2.1 billion and $3.3 billion, respectively.

The ineffective portions of these interest rate swaps for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019 were insignificant and $88 million, respectively, and insignificant for the similar periods in 2018.

The following amounts were recorded in Long-term debt in our condensed consolidated balance sheets related to cumulative basis adjustments for fair value hedges:

	At September 30,		At December 31,
(dollars in millions)	2019		2018
Carrying amount of hedged liabilities	$	17,535	$	18,903
Cumulative amount of fair value hedging adjustment included in the carrying amount of the hedged liabilities	645		(785		)

Cross Currency Swaps

We have entered into cross currency swaps designated as cash flow hedges to exchange our British Pound Sterling, Euro, Swiss Franc and Australian Dollar-denominated cash flows into U.S. dollars and to fix our cash payments in U.S. dollars, as well as to mitigate the impact of foreign currency transaction gains or losses.

During the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019, we entered into cross currency swaps with a total notional value of $2.1 billion and $5.6 billion, respectively. During the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019, pre-tax losses of $658 million and $986 million, respectively, were recognized in Other comprehensive income (loss). During the three and nine months ended September 30, 2018, pre-tax gains of $214 million and $220 million, respectively, were recognized in Other comprehensive income (loss). A portion of the gains recognized in Other comprehensive income (loss) was reclassified to Other income (expense), net to offset the related pre-tax foreign currency transaction gain or loss on the underlying hedged item.

Forward Starting Interest Rate Swaps

We have entered into forward starting interest rate swaps designated as cash flow hedges in order to manage our exposure to interest rate changes on future forecasted transactions.

During the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019, we did not enter into any new forward starting interest rate swaps. During the three months ended September 30, 2019, we did not settle any forward starting interest rate swaps and for the nine months ended September 30, 2019, we settled forward starting interest rate swaps with a total notional value of $1.0 billion. During the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019, pre-tax losses of $350 million and $847 million, respectively, were recognized in Other comprehensive income (loss).

We hedge our exposure to the variability in future cash flows based on the expected maturities of the related forecasted debt issuance.

Net Investment Hedges

We have designated certain foreign currency debt instruments as net investment hedges to mitigate foreign exchange exposure related to non-U.S. dollar net investments in certain foreign subsidiaries against changes in foreign exchange rates. The notional amount of the Euro-denominated debt as a net investment hedge was €750 million as of both September 30, 2019 and December 31, 2018.

Undesignated Derivatives

We also have the following derivative contracts which we use as economic hedges but for which we have elected not to apply hedge accounting.

Interest Rate Caps

We enter into interest rate caps to mitigate our interest exposure to interest rate increases on our ABS Financing Facilities and ABS Notes. During the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019 and 2018, we recognized an insignificant amount in Interest expense.

Foreign Exchange Forwards

We enter into British Pound Sterling and Euro foreign exchange forwards to mitigate our foreign exchange rate risk related to non-functional currency denominated monetary assets and liabilities of international subsidiaries. During the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019, we entered into foreign exchange forwards with a total notional value of $3.1 billion and $9.2 billion, respectively, and settled foreign exchange forwards with a total notional value of $3.0 billion and $8.6 billion, respectively. During the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019, pre-tax losses of an insignificant amount and $53 million, respectively, were recognized in Other income (expense), net.

Concentrations of Credit Risk

Financial instruments that subject us to concentrations of credit risk consist primarily of temporary cash investments, short-term and long-term investments, trade receivables, including device payment plan agreement receivables, certain notes receivable, including lease receivables, and derivative contracts.

Counterparties to our derivative contracts are major financial institutions with whom we have negotiated derivatives agreements (ISDA master agreements) and credit support annex (CSA) agreements which provide rules for collateral exchange. Negotiations and executions of new ISDA master agreements and CSA agreements with our counterparties continued throughout 2018 and 2019. The newly executed CSA agreements contain rating based thresholds such that we or our counterparties may be required to hold or post collateral based upon changes in outstanding positions as compared to established thresholds and changes in credit ratings. At September 30, 2019, we held an insignificant amount and at December 31, 2018, we posted approximately $0.1 billion of collateral related to derivative contracts under collateral exchange arrangements, which were recorded as Other current liabilities and Prepaid expenses and other, respectively, in our condensed consolidated balance sheets. While we may be exposed to credit losses due to the nonperformance of our counterparties, we consider the risk remote and do not expect that any such nonperformance would result in a significant effect on our results of operations or financial condition due to our diversified pool of counterparties.

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Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows - USD ($) $ in Millions	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2019	Sep. 30, 2018
Cash Flows from Operating Activities
Net Income	$ 14,571	$ 13,974
Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash provided by operating activities:
Depreciation and amortization expense	12,577	13,051
Employee retirement benefits	(105)	(886)
Deferred income taxes	1,070	2,023
Provision for uncollectible accounts	1,131	699
Equity in losses of unconsolidated businesses, net of dividends received	64	291
Net loss on sale of divested businesses	94	0
Changes in current assets and liabilities, net of effects from acquisition/disposition of businesses	(3,902)	(1,944)
Discretionary employee benefits contributions	(300)	(1,679)
Other, net	1,548	715
Net cash provided by operating activities	26,748	26,244
Cash Flows from Investing Activities
Capital expenditures (including capitalized software)	(12,332)	(12,026)
Acquisitions of businesses, net of cash acquired	(29)	(39)
Acquisitions of wireless licenses	(299)	(1,307)
Proceeds from dispositions of businesses	27	0
Other, net	476	236
Net cash used in investing activities	(12,157)	(13,136)
Cash Flows from Financing Activities
Proceeds from long-term borrowings	8,360	5,932
Proceeds from asset-backed long-term borrowings	3,982	3,216
Repayments of long-term borrowings and finance lease obligations	(12,486)	(9,776)
Repayments of asset-backed long-term borrowings	(5,273)	(2,915)
Dividends paid	(7,474)	(7,283)
Other, net	(1,410)	(1,595)
Net cash used in financing activities	(14,301)	(12,421)
Increase in cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash	290	687
Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash, beginning of period	3,916	2,888
Cash, Cash equivalents and restricted cash, end of period (Note 1)	$ 4,206	$ 3,575

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Wireless Licenses, Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2019

Goodwill and Intangible Assets Disclosure [Abstract]

Wireless Licenses, Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets

Note 4. Wireless Licenses, Goodwill, and Other Intangible Assets

Wireless Licenses

The carrying amounts of Wireless licenses are as follows:

	At September 30,		At December 31,
(dollars in millions)	2019		2018
Wireless licenses	$	94,433	$	94,130

At September 30, 2019 and 2018, approximately $6.5 billion and $11.1 billion, respectively, of wireless licenses were under development for commercial service for which we were capitalizing interest costs. We recorded approximately $248 million and $406 million of capitalized interest on wireless licenses for the nine months ended September 30, 2019 and 2018, respectively.

The average remaining renewal period of our wireless licenses portfolio was 4.1 years as of September 30, 2019.

Goodwill

The Company transitioned into our new reporting structure as of April 1, 2019. The table below shows the reallocation of goodwill from our historical reporting structure to our current reporting structure.

Changes in the carrying amount of Goodwill are as follows:

(dollars in millions)	Consumer		Business			Wireless			Wireline			Other (1)			Total
Balance at January 1, 2019	$	—	$	—		$	18,397		$	3,871		$	2,346		$	24,614
Acquisitions	—		—			—			20			—			20
Reclassifications, adjustments and other	—		—			—			1			—			1
Balance at March 31, 2019	—		—			18,397			3,892			2,346			24,635
Reporting Unit reallocation (2)	17,104		7,269			(18,397		)	(3,892		)	(2,084		)	—
Balance at April 1, 2019	17,104		7,269			—			—			262			24,635
Acquisitions	—		2			—			—			—			2
Reclassifications, adjustments and other	—		(7		)	—			—			(60		)	(67		)
Balance at September 30, 2019	$	17,104	$	7,264		$	—		$	—		$	202		$	24,570

⁽¹⁾ Goodwill is net of accumulated impairment charge of $4.6 billion, related to our Media reporting unit, which was recorded in the fourth quarter of 2018.

⁽²⁾ Represents the reallocation of goodwill as a result of the Company reorganizing its segments as described in Note 1.

Other Intangible Assets

The following table displays the composition of Other intangible assets, net:

	At September 30, 2019							At December 31, 2018
(dollars in millions)	Gross Amount		Accumulated Amortization			Net Amount		Gross Amount		Accumulated Amortization			Net Amount
Customer lists (8 to 13 years)	$	3,895	$	(1,393	)	$	2,502	$	3,951	$	(1,121	)	$	2,830
Non-network internal-use software (3 to 7 years)	19,721		(13,990		)	5,731		18,603		(12,785		)	5,818
Other (2 to 25 years)	1,968		(937		)	1,031		1,988		(861		)	1,127
Total	$	25,584	$	(16,320	)	$	9,264	$	24,542	$	(14,767	)	$	9,775

The amortization expense for Other intangible assets was as follows: 

	Three Months Ended		Nine Months Ended
(dollars in millions)	September 30,		September 30,
2019	$	580	$	1,704
2018	557		1,648

The estimated future amortization expense for Other intangible assets for the remainder of the current year and next 5 years is as follows:

Years	(dollars in millions)
Remainder of 2019	$	571
2020	2,046
2021	1,751
2022	1,471
2023	1,163
2024	821

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Condensed Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income - USD ($) $ in Millions	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2019	Sep. 30, 2018	Sep. 30, 2019	Sep. 30, 2018
Statement of Comprehensive Income [Abstract]
Net Income	$ 5,337	$ 5,062	$ 14,571	$ 13,974
Other Comprehensive Income (Loss), Net of Tax (Expense) Benefit
Foreign currency translation adjustments, net of tax of $(10), $2, $(12) and $8	(10)	10	(53)	(73)
Unrealized gain (loss) on cash flow hedges, net of tax of $59, $(118), $257 and $(243)	(166)	329	(716)	678
Unrealized gain (loss) on marketable securities, net of tax of $(1), $2, $(3) and $3	2	(1)	10	(5)
Defined benefit pension and postretirement plans, net of tax of $56, $117, $168 and $235	(169)	(342)	(507)	(688)
Other comprehensive loss attributable to Verizon	(343)	(4)	(1,266)	(88)
Total Comprehensive Income	4,994	5,058	13,305	13,886
Comprehensive income attributable to noncontrolling interests	143	138	401	385
Comprehensive income attributable to Verizon	4,851	4,920	12,904	13,501
Total Comprehensive Income	$ 4,994	$ 5,058	$ 13,305	$ 13,886

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Commitments and Contingencies

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2019

Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]

Commitments and Contingencies

Note 12. Commitments and Contingencies

In the ordinary course of business, Verizon is involved in various commercial litigation and regulatory proceedings at the state and federal level. Where it is determined, in consultation with counsel based on litigation and settlement risks, that a loss is probable and estimable in a given matter, the Company establishes an accrual. In none of the currently pending matters is the amount of accrual material. An estimate of the reasonably possible loss or range of loss in excess of the amounts already accrued cannot be made at this time due to various factors typical in contested proceedings, including: (1) uncertain damage theories and demands; (2) a less than complete factual record; (3) uncertainty concerning legal theories and their resolution by courts or regulators; and (4) the unpredictable nature of the opposing party and its demands. We continuously monitor these proceedings as they develop and adjust any accrual or disclosure as needed. We do not expect that the ultimate resolution of any pending regulatory or legal matter in future periods, including the Hicksville matter described below, will have a material effect on our financial condition, but it could have a material effect on our results of operations for a given reporting period.

Reserves have been established to cover environmental matters relating to discontinued businesses and past telecommunications activities. These reserves include funds to address contamination at the site of a former Sylvania facility in Hicksville, NY, which had processed nuclear fuel rods in the 1950s and 1960s. In September 2005, the Army Corps of Engineers (ACE) accepted the site into its Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program. As a result, the ACE has taken primary responsibility for addressing the contamination at the site. An adjustment to the reserves may be made after a cost allocation is conducted with respect to the past and future expenses of all of the parties. Adjustments to the environmental reserve may also be made based upon the actual conditions found at other sites requiring remediation.

Verizon is currently involved in approximately 25 federal district court actions alleging that Verizon is infringing various patents. Most of these cases are brought by non-practicing entities and effectively seek only monetary damages; a small number are brought by companies that have sold products and could seek injunctive relief as well. These cases have progressed to various stages and a small number may go to trial in the coming 12 months if they are not otherwise resolved.

In connection with the execution of agreements for the sales of businesses and investments, Verizon ordinarily provides representations and warranties to the purchasers pertaining to a variety of nonfinancial matters, such as ownership of the securities being sold, as well as indemnity

from certain financial losses. From time to time, counterparties may make claims under these provisions, and Verizon will seek to defend against those claims and resolve them in the ordinary course of business.

Subsequent to the sale of Verizon Information Services Canada in 2004, we continue to provide a guarantee to publish directories, which was issued when the directory business was purchased in 2001 and had a 30-year term (before extensions). The preexisting guarantee continues, without modification, despite the subsequent sale of Verizon Information Services Canada and the spin-off of our domestic print and Internet yellow pages directories business. The possible financial impact of the guarantee, which is not expected to be adverse, cannot be reasonably estimated as a variety of the potential outcomes available under the guarantee result in costs and revenues or benefits that may offset each other. We do not believe performance under the guarantee is likely.

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Basis of Presentation - Schedule of Cash, Cash Equivalents and Restricted Cash (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2019	Sep. 30, 2018	Dec. 31, 2018	Dec. 31, 2017
Cash and Cash Equivalents [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents	$ 3,020		$ 2,745
Increase (decrease) of cash and cash equivalents	275
Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash	4,206	$ 3,575	3,916	$ 2,888
Increase in cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash	290	$ 687
Prepaid expenses and other
Cash and Cash Equivalents [Line Items]
Restricted cash	1,077		1,047
Increase (decrease) in restricted cash	30
Other assets
Cash and Cash Equivalents [Line Items]
Restricted cash	109		$ 124
Increase (decrease) in restricted cash	$ (15)

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Revenues and Contract Costs - Schedule of Receivables from Contracts with Customers (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions	Sep. 30, 2019	Jan. 01, 2019	Sep. 30, 2018	Jan. 01, 2018
Revenue from Contract with Customer [Abstract]
Receivables	$ 11,900	$ 12,104	$ 11,966	$ 12,073
Device payment plan agreement receivables	$ 10,538	$ 8,940	$ 6,723	$ 1,461

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Debt - Asset-Backed Debt Narrative (Detail)	1 Months Ended		2 Months Ended	3 Months Ended	9 Months Ended
	Aug. 31, 2019 USD ($)	May 31, 2019 USD ($)	May 31, 2019 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2019 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2019 USD ($) Agreement	Oct. 30, 2019 USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2019 USD ($)
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Principal Amount Issued							$ 1,510,000,000
Asset-Backed Debt
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Secured debt, carrying value				$ 8,800,000,000	$ 8,800,000,000
Asset Backed Notes
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Debt revolving period					2 years
Principal Amount Issued				2,244,000,000	$ 2,244,000,000
2018 ABS Financing Facility
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Repayments of debt		$ 540,000,000
2019 ABS Financing Facility
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Debt revolving period					1 year
Repayments of debt	$ 1,500,000,000		$ 671,000,000
Debt outstanding				250,000,000	$ 250,000,000
Number of loan agreements | Agreement					2
2019 ABS Financing Facility Entered Into September 2016 and May 2017
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Debt revolving period					2 years
Senior asset-backed notes | Asset Backed Notes
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Repayments of debt				$ 956,000,000	$ 2,300,000,000
Subsequent Event | Senior and Junior Asset Backed Notes | Asset Backed Notes, October 2019
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Principal Amount Issued						$ 1,600,000,000

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Debt - May Tender Offers (Details) - USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2019	Mar. 31, 2019
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Cash Consideration		$ 1,510,000,000
May Tender Offers
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Principal Amount Purchased	$ 4,500,000,000
Cash Consideration	$ 5,030,000,000
May Tender Offers | Verizon 5.012% notes due 2054
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Stated interest rate on debt instrument	5.012%
Principal Amount Purchased	$ 3,192,000,000
Cash Consideration	$ 3,626,000,000
May Tender Offers | Verizon 4.672% notes due 2055
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Stated interest rate on debt instrument	4.672%
Principal Amount Purchased	$ 1,308,000,000
Cash Consideration	$ 1,404,000,000

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Equity and Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income - Changes in Components of Total equity (Detail) - USD ($) $ / shares in Units, shares in Thousands, $ in Millions	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2019	Sep. 30, 2018	Sep. 30, 2019	Sep. 30, 2018	Dec. 31, 2018	Dec. 31, 2017
Increase (Decrease) in Stockholders' Equity [Roll Forward]
Beginning Balance			$ 54,710
Net income attributable to Verizon	$ 5,194	$ 4,924	14,170	$ 13,589
Foreign currency translation adjustments	(10)	10	(53)	(73)
Unrealized gain (loss) on cash flow hedges, net of tax of $59, $(118), $257 and $(243)	(166)	329	(716)	678
Unrealized gain (loss) on marketable securities	2	(1)	10	(5)
Defined benefit pension and postretirement plans	(169)	(342)	(507)	(688)
Other comprehensive loss			$ (1,266)
Shareholder plans (in shares)			3,800
Total comprehensive income	4,994	5,058	$ 13,305	13,886
Ending Balance	$ 60,312	$ 56,087	$ 60,312	$ 56,087
Dividends declared per common share (USD per share)	$ 0.615	$ 0.6025	$ 1.82	$ 1.7825
Common Stock
Increase (Decrease) in Stockholders' Equity [Roll Forward]
Beginning Balance	$ 429	$ 429	$ 429	$ 424
Beginning balance (in shares)	4,291,434	4,291,434	4,291,434	4,242,374
Common shares issued (in shares)			0	49,060
Common shares issued			$ 0	$ 5
Ending Balance (in shares)	4,291,434	4,291,434	4,291,434	4,291,434
Ending Balance	$ 429	$ 429	$ 429	$ 429
Additional Paid In Capital
Increase (Decrease) in Stockholders' Equity [Roll Forward]
Beginning Balance	13,419	13,438	13,437	11,101
Other	(1)	(2)	(19)	2,335
Ending Balance	13,418	13,436	13,418	13,436
Retained Earnings
Increase (Decrease) in Stockholders' Equity [Roll Forward]
Beginning Balance	47,945	41,657	43,542	35,635
Opening balance sheet adjustment					$ 410	$ 2,232
Adjusted Beginning Balance					43,952	37,867
Net income attributable to Verizon	5,194	4,924	14,170	13,589
Dividends declared ($0.6150, $0.6025 per share)	(2,544)	(2,490)	(7,527)	(7,365)
Ending Balance	50,595	44,091	50,595	44,091
Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income
Increase (Decrease) in Stockholders' Equity [Roll Forward]
Beginning Balance	1,447	3,205	2,370	2,659
Opening balance sheet adjustment					0	630
Adjusted Beginning Balance					2,370	3,289
Foreign currency translation adjustments	(10)	10	(53)	(73)
Unrealized gain (loss) on cash flow hedges, net of tax of $59, $(118), $257 and $(243)	(166)	329	(716)	678
Unrealized gain (loss) on marketable securities	2	(1)	10	(5)
Defined benefit pension and postretirement plans	(169)	(342)	(507)	(688)
Other comprehensive loss	(343)	(4)	(1,266)	(88)
Ending Balance	1,104	3,201	1,104	3,201
Treasury Stock
Increase (Decrease) in Stockholders' Equity [Roll Forward]
Beginning Balance	$ (6,823)	$ (6,990)	$ (6,986)	$ (7,139)
Beginning balance (in shares)	155,669	159,498	159,400	162,898
Employee plans (in shares)	20	79	3,746	3,475
Employee plans	$ 1	$ 3	$ 164	$ 152
Shareholder plans (in shares)			5	4
Shareholder plans			$ 0	$ 0
Ending Balance (in shares)	155,649	159,419	155,649	159,419
Ending Balance	$ (6,822)	$ (6,987)	$ (6,822)	$ (6,987)
Deferred Compensation-ESOPs and Other
Increase (Decrease) in Stockholders' Equity [Roll Forward]
Beginning Balance	165	285	353	416
Restricted stock equity grant	32	41	111	132
Amortization	0	(1)	(267)	(223)
Ending Balance	197	325	197	325
Noncontrolling Interests
Increase (Decrease) in Stockholders' Equity [Roll Forward]
Beginning Balance	1,365	1,551	1,565	1,591
Opening balance sheet adjustment					1	44
Adjusted Beginning Balance					$ 1,566	$ 1,635
Total comprehensive income	143	138	401	385
Distributions and other	(117)	(97)	(576)	(428)
Ending Balance	$ 1,391	$ 1,592	$ 1,391	$ 1,592

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Segment Information - Operating Financial Information (Detail) - USD ($) $ in Millions	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2019	Sep. 30, 2018	Sep. 30, 2019	Sep. 30, 2018
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Operating revenues	$ 32,894	$ 32,607	$ 97,093	$ 96,582
Operating Income	8,180	7,675	23,739	21,641
Wireless equipment
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Operating revenues	5,141	5,353	14,792	15,437
Service and Other
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Operating revenues	27,753	27,254	82,301	81,145
Fios revenues
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Operating revenues	3,054	2,986	9,072	8,893
Wireless service
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Operating revenues	16,383	15,944	48,665	47,063
Consumer
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Operating revenues	22,641	22,343	66,672	65,858
Consumer | Service
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Operating revenues	16,432	16,194	49,043	48,058
Consumer | Wireless equipment
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Operating revenues	4,256	4,507	12,326	13,028
Consumer | Other
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Operating revenues	1,953	1,642	5,303	4,772
Consumer | Fios revenues
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Operating revenues	2,811	2,764	8,347	8,236
Consumer | Wireless service
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Operating revenues	13,533	13,257	40,346	39,260
Business
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Operating revenues	7,870	7,878	23,331	23,483
Business | Wireless equipment
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Operating revenues	880	845	2,500	2,400
Business | Global Enterprise
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Operating revenues	2,714	2,781	8,077	8,413
Business | Small and Medium Business
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Operating revenues	2,894	2,725	8,379	7,891
Business | Public Sector and Other
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Operating revenues	1,472	1,454	4,435	4,320
Business | Wholesale
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Operating revenues	790	918	2,440	2,859
Business | Service and Other
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Operating revenues	7,000	7,100	20,900	21,100
Business | Fios revenues
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Operating revenues	243	222	725	657
Business | Wireless service
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Operating revenues	2,850	2,687	8,319	7,803
Total reportable segments
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Operating revenues	30,511	30,221	90,003	89,341
Intersegment Eliminations
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Operating revenues	80	71	218	215
Intersegment Eliminations | Consumer
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Operating revenues	65	56	177	171
Intersegment Eliminations | Business
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Operating revenues	15	15	41	44
Operating Segments
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Operating revenues	30,591	30,292	90,221	89,556
Operating Income	8,466	8,367	25,171	24,577
Operating Segments | Consumer
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Operating revenues	22,706	22,399	66,849	66,029
Operating Income	7,489	7,213	22,075	21,208
Operating Segments | Business
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Operating revenues	7,885	7,893	23,372	23,527
Operating Income	$ 977	$ 1,154	$ 3,096	$ 3,369

XML

Segment Information

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2019

Segment Reporting [Abstract]

Segment Information

Note 11. Segment Information

Reportable Segments

As discussed in Note 1, in November 2018, we announced a strategic reorganization of our business. Under the new structure, effective April 1, 2019, there are two reportable segments that we operate and manage as strategic business units - Consumer and Business. In conjunction with the new reporting structure, we recast our segment disclosures for all periods presented. We measure and evaluate our reportable segments based on segment operating income, consistent with the chief operating decision maker’s assessment of segment performance.

Our segments and their principal activities consist of the following:

Segment	Description
Verizon Consumer Group	Our Consumer segment provides consumer-focused wireless and wireline communications services and products. Our wireless services are provided across one of the most extensive wireless networks in the U.S. under the Verizon Wireless brand and through wholesale and other arrangements. Our wireline services are provided in nine states in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern U.S., as well as Washington D.C., over our 100% fiber-optic network under the Fios brand and over a traditional copper-based network to customers who are not served by Fios.
Verizon Business Group	Our Business segment provides wireless and wireline communications services and products, video and data services, corporate networking solutions, security and managed network services, local and long distance voice services and network access to deliver various IoT services and products. We provide these products and services to businesses, government customers and wireless and wireline carriers across the U.S. and select products and services to customers around the world.

Our Consumer segment’s wireless and wireline products and services are available to our retail customers, as well as resellers that purchase wireless network access from us on a wholesale basis. Our Business segment’s wireless and wireline products and services are organized by the primary customer groups targeted by these offerings: Global Enterprise, Small and Medium Business, Public Sector and Other, and Wholesale.

Corporate and other includes the results of Verizon Media, and other businesses, investments in unconsolidated businesses, unallocated corporate expenses, certain pension and other employee benefit related costs and interest and financing expenses. Corporate and other also includes the historical results of divested businesses and other adjustments and gains and losses that are not allocated in assessing segment performance due to their nature. Although such transactions are excluded from the segment results, they are included in reported consolidated earnings. Gains and losses from these transactions that are not individually significant are included in segment results as these items are included in the chief operating decision maker’s assessment of segment performance.

The reconciliation of segment operating revenues and expenses to consolidated operating revenues and expenses below includes the effects of special items that the chief operating decision maker does not consider in assessing segment performance, primarily because of their nature.

The following table provides operating financial information for our two reportable segments:

	Three Months Ended				Nine Months Ended
	September 30,				September 30,
(dollars in millions)	2019		2018		2019		2018
External Operating Revenues
Consumer
Service	$	16,432	$	16,194	$	49,043	$	48,058
Wireless equipment	4,256		4,507		12,326		13,028
Other	1,953		1,642		5,303		4,772
Total Consumer	22,641		22,343		66,672		65,858
Business
Global Enterprise	2,714		2,781		8,077		8,413
Small and Medium Business	2,894		2,725		8,379		7,891
Public Sector and Other	1,472		1,454		4,435		4,320
Wholesale	790		918		2,440		2,859
Total Business	7,870		7,878		23,331		23,483
Total reportable segments	$	30,511	$	30,221	$	90,003	$	89,341
Intersegment Revenues
Consumer	$	65	$	56	$	177	$	171
Business	15		15		41		44
Total reportable segments	$	80	$	71	$	218	$	215
Total Operating Revenues
Consumer	$	22,706	$	22,399	$	66,849	$	66,029
Business(1)	7,885		7,893		23,372		23,527
Total reportable segments	$	30,591	$	30,292	$	90,221	$	89,556
Operating Income
Consumer	$	7,489	$	7,213	$	22,075	$	21,208
Business	977		1,154		3,096		3,369
Total reportable segments	$	8,466	$	8,367	$	25,171	$	24,577

⁽¹⁾ Service and other revenues included in our Business segment amounted to approximately $7.0 billion and $20.9 billion for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019, respectively, and approximately $7.1 billion and $21.1 billion for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2018, respectively. Wireless equipment revenues included in our Business segment amounted to approximately $880 million and $2.5 billion for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019, respectively, and approximately $845 million and $2.4 billion for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2018, respectively.

The following table provides Fios revenue for our two reportable segments:

	Three Months Ended				Nine Months Ended
	September 30,				September 30,
(dollars in millions)	2019		2018		2019		2018
Consumer	$	2,811	$	2,764	$	8,347	$	8,236
Business	243		222		725		657
Total Fios revenue	$	3,054	$	2,986	$	9,072	$	8,893

The following table provides Wireless service revenue under our current reportable structure and includes intersegment activity:

	Three Months Ended				Nine Months Ended
	September 30,				September 30,
(dollars in millions)	2019		2018		2019		2018
Consumer	$	13,533	$	13,257	$	40,346	$	39,260
Business	2,850		2,687		8,319		7,803
Total Wireless service revenue	$	16,383	$	15,944	$	48,665	$	47,063

Reconciliation to Consolidated Financial Information

A reconciliation of the reportable segment operating revenues to consolidated operating revenues is as follows:

	Three Months Ended						Nine Months Ended
	September 30,						September 30,
(dollars in millions)	2019			2018			2019			2018
Total reportable segment operating revenues	$	30,591		$	30,292		$	90,221		$	89,556
Corporate and other	2,400			2,400			7,147			7,291
Eliminations	(97		)	(85		)	(275		)	(265		)
Total consolidated operating revenues	$	32,894		$	32,607		$	97,093		$	96,582

A reconciliation of total reportable segment operating income to consolidated income before provision for income taxes is as follows:

	Three Months Ended						Nine Months Ended
	September 30,						September 30,
(dollars in millions)	2019			2018			2019			2018
Total reportable segment operating income	$	8,466		$	8,367		$	25,171		$	24,577
Corporate and other	(344		)	(350		)	(1,083		)	(1,161		)
Severance charges (Note 9)	—			—			—			(339		)
Other components of net periodic benefit charges (Note 9)	(203		)	(205		)	(610		)	(621		)
Acquisition and integration related charges	—			(137		)	—			(364		)
Product realignment charges	—			—			—			(451		)
Net gain from dispositions of assets and businesses	261			—			261			—
Total consolidated operating income	8,180			7,675			23,739			21,641
Equity in losses of unconsolidated businesses	(1		)	(3		)	(20		)	(250		)
Other income (expense), net	(110		)	214			(1,127		)	499
Interest expense	(1,146		)	(1,211		)	(3,571		)	(3,634		)
Income Before Provision For Income Taxes	$	6,923		$	6,675		$	19,021		$	18,256

No single customer accounted for more than 10% of our total operating revenues during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019 and 2018.

The chief operating decision maker does not review disaggregated assets on a segment basis; therefore, such information is not presented. Depreciation included in the measure of segment profitability is allocated primarily based on proportional usage.

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Wireless Device Payment Plans

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2019

Receivables [Abstract]

Wireless Device Payment Plans

Note 7. Wireless Device Payment Plans

Under the Verizon device payment program, our eligible wireless customers purchase wireless devices under a device payment plan agreement. Customers that activate service on devices purchased under the device payment program pay lower service fees as compared to those under our fixed-term service plans, and their device payment plan charge is included on their wireless monthly bill. As of January 2017, we no longer offer Consumer customers new fixed-term, subsidized service plans for phones; however, we continue to offer subsidized plans to our Business customers. We also continue to service existing plans for customers who have not yet purchased and activated devices under the Verizon device payment program.

Wireless Device Payment Plan Agreement Receivables

The following table displays device payment plan agreement receivables, net, recognized in our condensed consolidated balance sheets:

	At September 30,			At December 31,
(dollars in millions)	2019			2018
Device payment plan agreement receivables, gross	$	18,261		$	19,313
Unamortized imputed interest	(434		)	(546		)
Device payment plan agreement receivables, net of unamortized imputed interest	17,827			18,767
Allowance for credit losses	(460		)	(597		)
Device payment plan agreement receivables, net	$	17,367		$	18,170
Classified in our condensed consolidated balance sheets:
Accounts receivable, net	$	12,504		$	12,624
Other assets	4,863			5,546
Device payment plan agreement receivables, net	$	17,367		$	18,170

Included in our device payment plan agreement receivables, net at September 30, 2019 and December 31, 2018, are net device payment plan agreement receivables of $13.0 billion and $11.5 billion, respectively, which have been transferred to ABS Entities and continue to be reported in our condensed consolidated balance sheets. See Note 6 for additional information. We believe the carrying value of our installment loans receivables approximate their fair value using a Level 3 expected cash flow model.

We may offer certain promotions that allow a customer to trade in their owned device in connection with the purchase of a new device. Under these types of promotions, the customer receives a credit for the value of the trade-in device. In addition, we may provide the customer with additional future credits that will be applied against the customer’s monthly bill as long as service is maintained. We recognize a liability for the customer's right to trade-in the device measured at fair value, which is determined by considering several factors, including the weighted-average selling prices obtained in recent resales of similar devices eligible for trade-in. Future credits are recognized when earned by the customer. Device payment plan agreement receivables, net does not reflect the trade-in device liability. At September 30, 2019 and December 31, 2018, the amount of trade-in liability was $73 million and $64 million, respectively.

From time to time, we offer certain marketing promotions that allow our customers to upgrade to a new device after paying down a certain specified portion of the required device payment plan agreement amount, as well as trading in their device in good working order. When a customer enters into a device payment plan agreement with the right to upgrade to a new device, we account for this trade-in right as a guarantee obligation.

For indirect channel wireless contracts with customers, we impute risk adjusted interest on the device payment plan agreement receivables. We record the imputed interest as a reduction to the related accounts receivable. Interest income, which is included within Service revenues and other in our condensed consolidated statements of income, is recognized over the financed device payment term.

When originating device payment plan agreements, we use internal and external data sources to create a credit risk score to measure the credit quality of a customer and to determine eligibility for the device payment program. If a customer is either new to Verizon Wireless or has 45 days or less of customer tenure with Verizon Wireless, the credit decision process relies more heavily on external data sources. If the customer has more than 45 days of customer tenure with Verizon Wireless (an existing customer), the credit decision process relies on a combination of internal and external data sources. External data sources include obtaining a credit report from a national consumer credit reporting agency, if available. Verizon Wireless uses its internal data and/or credit data obtained from the credit reporting agencies to create a custom credit risk score. The custom credit risk score is generated automatically (except with respect to a small number of applications where the information needs manual intervention) from the applicant’s credit data using Verizon Wireless’ proprietary custom credit models, which are empirically derived, demonstrably and statistically sound. The credit risk score measures the likelihood that the potential customer will become severely delinquent and be disconnected for non-payment. For a small portion of new customer applications, a traditional credit report is not available from one of the national credit reporting agencies because the potential customer does not have sufficient credit history. In those instances, alternative credit data is used for the risk assessment.

Based on the custom credit risk score, we assign each customer to a credit class, each of which has specified offers of credit including an account level spending limit and either a maximum amount of credit allowed per device or a required down payment percentage. During the fourth

quarter of 2018, Verizon Wireless moved all Consumer customers, new and existing, from a required down payment percentage, between zero and 100%, to a maximum amount of credit per device.

Subsequent to origination, Verizon Wireless monitors delinquency and write-off experience as key credit quality indicators for its portfolio of device payment plan agreements and fixed-term service plans. The extent of our collection efforts with respect to a particular customer are based on the results of proprietary custom empirically derived internal behavioral scoring models that analyze the customer’s past performance to predict the likelihood of the customer falling further delinquent. These customer scoring models assess a number of variables, including origination characteristics, customer account history and payment patterns. Based on the score derived from these models, accounts are grouped by risk category to determine the collection strategy to be applied to such accounts. We continuously monitor collection performance results and the credit quality of our device payment plan agreement receivables based on a variety of metrics, including aging. Verizon Wireless considers an account to be delinquent and in default status if there are unpaid charges remaining on the account on the day after the bill’s due date.

The balance and aging of the device payment plan agreement receivables on a gross basis were as follows:

	At September 30,		At December 31,
(dollars in millions)	2019		2018
Unbilled	$	16,972	$	18,043
Billed:
Current	1,021		986
Past due	268		284
Device payment plan agreement receivables, gross	$	18,261	$	19,313

Activity in the allowance for credit losses for the device payment plan agreement receivables was as follows:

(dollars in millions)	2019			2018
Balance at January 1,	$	597		$	848
Bad debt expense	640			333
Write-offs	(777		)	(519		)
Balance at September 30,	$	460		$	662

XML

Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets (Parenthetical) - USD ($) $ in Millions	Sep. 30, 2019	Dec. 31, 2018
Statement of Financial Position [Abstract]
Accounts receivable, allowances	$ 706	$ 765
Series preferred stock, par value (USD per share)	$ 0.1	$ 0.1
Series preferred stock, shares authorized (in shares)	250,000,000	250,000,000
Series preferred stock, shares issued (in shares)	0	0
Common stock, par value (USD per share)	$ 0.1	$ 0.1
Common stock, shares authorized (in shares)	6,250,000,000	6,250,000,000
Common stock, shares issued (in shares)	4,291,433,646	4,291,433,646
Treasury stock, shares issued (in shares)	155,649,437	159,400,267

XML

Acquisitions and Divestitures

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2019

Business Combinations [Abstract]

Acquisitions and Divestitures

Note 3. Acquisitions and Divestitures

Spectrum License Transactions

In 2019, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) completed two millimeter wave spectrum license auctions. Verizon participated in these auctions and was the high bidder on 9 and 1,066 licenses, respectively, in the 24 Gigahertz (GHz) and 28 GHz bands. We submitted an application to the FCC and paid cash of approximately $521 million for the licenses. The deposits related to these spectrum licenses are classified within Other assets in our condensed consolidated balance sheets as of September 30, 2019.

During both the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019, we entered into and completed various other wireless license transactions for an insignificant amount of cash consideration.

Other

In July 2019, Verizon completed a sale-leaseback transaction for buildings and real estate. See Note 5 for additional information related to the transaction. In connection with this transaction and other insignificant transactions, we recorded a pre-tax net gain from dispositions of assets and businesses of $261 million in Selling, general and administrative expense in our condensed consolidated statements of income for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019.

During both the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019, we completed various other transactions for insignificant amounts of cash consideration.

XML

Condensed Consolidated Statements of Income - USD ($) shares in Millions, $ in Millions	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2019	Sep. 30, 2018	Sep. 30, 2019	Sep. 30, 2018
Operating Revenues
Operating Revenues	$ 32,894	$ 32,607	$ 97,093	$ 96,582
Operating Expenses
Selling, general and administrative expense	7,216	7,224	21,682	21,673
Depreciation and amortization expense	4,114	4,377	12,577	13,051
Total Operating Expenses	24,714	24,932	73,354	74,941
Operating Income	8,180	7,675	23,739	21,641
Equity in losses of unconsolidated businesses	(1)	(3)	(20)	(250)
Other income (expense), net	(110)	214	(1,127)	499
Interest expense	(1,146)	(1,211)	(3,571)	(3,634)
Income Before Provision For Income Taxes	6,923	6,675	19,021	18,256
Provision for income taxes	(1,586)	(1,613)	(4,450)	(4,282)
Net Income	5,337	5,062	14,571	13,974
Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests	143	138	401	385
Net income attributable to Verizon	5,194	4,924	14,170	13,589
Net Income	$ 5,337	$ 5,062	$ 14,571	$ 13,974
Basic Earnings Per Common Share
Net income attributable to Verizon (USD per share)	$ 1.26	$ 1.19	$ 3.42	$ 3.29
Weighted-average shares outstanding (in shares)	4,138	4,136	4,138	4,125
Diluted Earnings Per Common Share
Net income attributable to Verizon (USD per share)	$ 1.25	$ 1.19	$ 3.42	$ 3.29
Weighted-average shares outstanding (in shares)	4,140	4,140	4,140	4,129
Service and Other
Operating Revenues
Operating Revenues	$ 27,753	$ 27,254	$ 82,301	$ 81,145
Service
Operating Expenses
Cost of services and equipment	7,902	7,842	23,396	24,022
Wireless equipment
Operating Revenues
Operating Revenues	5,141	5,353	14,792	15,437
Operating Expenses
Cost of services and equipment	$ 5,482	$ 5,489	$ 15,699	$ 16,195

XML

Basis of Presentation - Schedule of Cumulative Effect for Adoption of New Accounting Pronouncement (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions	Sep. 30, 2019	Jan. 01, 2019	Dec. 31, 2018
New Accounting Pronouncements or Change in Accounting Principle [Line Items]
Prepaid expenses and other	$ 5,624	$ 5,124	$ 5,453
Operating lease right-of-use assets	22,218	23,241
Other assets	10,018	9,669	11,717
Accounts payable and accrued liabilities	19,566	22,498	22,501
Other current liabilities	8,854	8,237	8,239
Current operating lease liabilities	2,959	2,931
Deferred income taxes	34,592	33,934	33,795
Non-current operating lease liabilities	18,214	19,203
Other liabilities	12,543	12,107	13,922
Retained earnings	50,595	43,952	43,542
Noncontrolling interests	$ 1,391	1,566	$ 1,565
Accounting Standards Update 2016-02
New Accounting Pronouncements or Change in Accounting Principle [Line Items]
Prepaid expenses and other		(329)
Operating lease right-of-use assets		23,241
Other assets		(2,048)
Accounts payable and accrued liabilities		(3)
Other current liabilities		(2)
Current operating lease liabilities		2,931
Deferred income taxes		139
Non-current operating lease liabilities		19,203
Other liabilities		(1,815)
Retained earnings		410
Noncontrolling interests		$ 1

XML

Revenues and Contract Costs - Contract with Customer, Asset and Liability (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2019	Sep. 30, 2018	Sep. 30, 2019	Sep. 30, 2018	Jan. 01, 2019	Dec. 31, 2018	Jan. 01, 2018
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Contract asset	$ 1,102	$ 997	$ 1,102	$ 997	$ 1,003	$ 1,003	$ 1,170
Contract liability	5,082	4,693	5,082	4,693	$ 4,943	4,943	$ 4,452
Revenue recognized related to contract liabilities existing	235	$ 101	4,100	$ 3,900
Prepaid expenses and other
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Contract asset	818		818			757
Other assets
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Contract asset	284		284			246
Other current liabilities
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Contract liability	4,480		4,480			4,207
Other liabilities
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Contract liability	$ 602		$ 602			$ 736

XML

Wireless Device Payment Plans (Tables)

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2019

Receivables [Abstract]

Device Payment Plan Receivables, Net

The following table displays device payment plan agreement receivables, net, recognized in our condensed consolidated balance sheets:

	At September 30,			At December 31,
(dollars in millions)	2019			2018
Device payment plan agreement receivables, gross	$	18,261		$	19,313
Unamortized imputed interest	(434		)	(546		)
Device payment plan agreement receivables, net of unamortized imputed interest	17,827			18,767
Allowance for credit losses	(460		)	(597		)
Device payment plan agreement receivables, net	$	17,367		$	18,170
Classified in our condensed consolidated balance sheets:
Accounts receivable, net	$	12,504		$	12,624
Other assets	4,863			5,546
Device payment plan agreement receivables, net	$	17,367		$	18,170

Balance and Aging of Device Payment Plan Agreement Receivables on Gross Basis

The balance and aging of the device payment plan agreement receivables on a gross basis were as follows:

	At September 30,		At December 31,
(dollars in millions)	2019		2018
Unbilled	$	16,972	$	18,043
Billed:
Current	1,021		986
Past due	268		284
Device payment plan agreement receivables, gross	$	18,261	$	19,313

Activity in Allowance for Credit Losses for Device Payment Plan Agreement Receivables

Activity in the allowance for credit losses for the device payment plan agreement receivables was as follows:

(dollars in millions)	2019			2018
Balance at January 1,	$	597		$	848
Bad debt expense	640			333
Write-offs	(777		)	(519		)
Balance at September 30,	$	460		$	662

XML

Revenues and Contract Costs (Tables)

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2019

Revenue from Contract with Customer [Abstract]

Schedule of Receivables from Contracts with Customers

The following table presents information about receivables from contracts with customers:

	At September 30,		At January 1,		At September 30,		At January 1,
(dollars in millions)	2019		2019		2018		2018
Receivables(1)	$	11,900	$	12,104	$	11,966	$	12,073
Device payment plan agreement receivables(2)	10,538		8,940		6,723		1,461

⁽¹⁾  Balances do not include receivables related to the following contracts: leasing arrangements (such as towers), captive reinsurance arrangements primarily related to wireless device insurance and the interest on equipment financed on a device payment plan agreement when sold to the customer by an authorized agent.

⁽²⁾ 

Included in device payment plan agreement receivables presented in Note 7. Balances do not include receivables related to contracts completed prior to January 1, 2018 and receivables derived from the sale of equipment on a device payment plan through an authorized agent.

Contract with Customer, Asset and Liability

The following table presents information about contract balances:

	At September 30,		At January 1,		At September 30,		At January 1,
(dollars in millions)	2019		2019		2018		2018
Contract asset	$	1,102	$	1,003	$	997	$	1,170
Contract liability (1)	5,082		4,943		4,693		4,452

⁽¹⁾ Revenue recognized related to contract liabilities existing at January 1, 2019 and January 1, 2018 were $235 million and $4.1 billion, for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019, respectively, and $101 million and $3.9 billion, for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2018.

The balance of contract assets and contract liabilities recorded in our condensed consolidated balance sheet were as follows:

	At September 30,		At December 31,
(dollars in millions)	2019		2018
Assets
Prepaid expenses and other	$	818	$	757
Other assets	284		246
Total	$	1,102	$	1,003
Liabilities
Other current liabilities	$	4,480	$	4,207
Other liabilities	602		736
Total	$	5,082	$	4,943

Capitalized Contract Cost

The balances of deferred contract costs included in our condensed consolidated balance sheet were as follows:

	At September 30,		At December 31,
(dollars in millions)	2019		2018
Assets
Prepaid expenses and other	$	2,455	$	2,083
Other assets	1,793		1,812
Total	$	4,248	$	3,895

XML

Wireless Licenses, Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets - Composition of Other Intangible Assets, Net (Detail) - USD ($) $ in Millions	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2019	Dec. 31, 2018
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Gross Amount	$ 25,584	$ 24,542
Accumulated Amortization	(16,320)	(14,767)
Net Amount	9,264	9,775
Customer Lists
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Gross Amount	3,895	3,951
Accumulated Amortization	(1,393)	(1,121)
Net Amount	$ 2,502	2,830
Customer Lists | Minimum
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Other intangible asset, useful life	8 years
Customer Lists | Maximum
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Other intangible asset, useful life	13 years
Non-Network Internal-Use Software
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Gross Amount	$ 19,721	18,603
Accumulated Amortization	(13,990)	(12,785)
Net Amount	$ 5,731	5,818
Non-Network Internal-Use Software | Minimum
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Other intangible asset, useful life	3 years
Non-Network Internal-Use Software | Maximum
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Other intangible asset, useful life	7 years
Other
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Gross Amount	$ 1,968	1,988
Accumulated Amortization	(937)	(861)
Net Amount	$ 1,031	$ 1,127
Other | Minimum
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Other intangible asset, useful life	2 years
Other | Maximum
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Other intangible asset, useful life	25 years

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Leasing Arrangements - Supplemental Disclosure for Statement of Cash Flows related to Operating and Finance Leases (Details) $ in Millions	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2019 USD ($)
Leases [Abstract]
Operating cash flows for operating leases	$ (3,192)
Operating cash flows for finance leases	(28)
Financing cash flows for finance leases	(267)
Operating lease right-of-use assets obtained in exchange for new operating lease liabilities	2,097
Right-of-use assets obtained in exchange for new finance lease liabilities	$ 356

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Fair Value Measurements - Schedule of Cumulative Basis Adjustments for Fair Value Hedges (Details) - Long-term debt - Fair Value Hedges - USD ($) $ in Millions	Sep. 30, 2019	Dec. 31, 2018
Derivatives, Fair Value [Line Items]
Carrying amount of hedged liabilities	$ 17,535	$ 18,903
Cumulative amount of fair value hedging adjustment included in the carrying amount of the hedged liabilities	$ 645
Cumulative amount of fair value hedging adjustment included in the carrying amount of the hedged assets		$ (785)

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Fair Value Measurements - Schedule of Assets and Liabilities Measured at Fair Value on Recurring Basis (Detail) - USD ($) $ in Millions	Sep. 30, 2019	Dec. 31, 2018
Assets:
Total	$ 1,372	$ 642
Other liabilities:
Total	2,489	1,413
Fixed income securities
Assets:
Debt securities, available-for-sale	444	405
Interest rate swaps
Assets:
Derivative asset	849	3
Other liabilities:
Derivative liabilities	212	813
Cross currency swaps
Assets:
Derivative asset	79	220
Other liabilities:
Derivative liabilities	1,381	536
Interest rate caps
Assets:
Derivative asset		14
Other liabilities:
Derivative liabilities		4
Forward starting interest rate swaps
Other liabilities:
Derivative liabilities	886	60
Foreign exchange forwards
Other liabilities:
Total	10
Level 1
Assets:
Total	0	0
Other liabilities:
Total	0	0
Level 1 | Fixed income securities
Assets:
Debt securities, available-for-sale	0	0
Level 1 | Interest rate swaps
Assets:
Derivative asset	0	0
Other liabilities:
Derivative liabilities	0	0
Level 1 | Cross currency swaps
Assets:
Derivative asset	0	0
Other liabilities:
Derivative liabilities	0	0
Level 1 | Interest rate caps
Assets:
Derivative asset		0
Other liabilities:
Derivative liabilities		0
Level 1 | Forward starting interest rate swaps
Other liabilities:
Derivative liabilities	0	0
Level 1 | Foreign exchange forwards
Other liabilities:
Total	0
Level 2
Assets:
Total	1,372	642
Other liabilities:
Total	2,489	1,413
Level 2 | Fixed income securities
Assets:
Debt securities, available-for-sale	444	405
Level 2 | Interest rate swaps
Assets:
Derivative asset	849	3
Other liabilities:
Derivative liabilities	212	813
Level 2 | Cross currency swaps
Assets:
Derivative asset	79	220
Other liabilities:
Derivative liabilities	1,381	536
Level 2 | Interest rate caps
Assets:
Derivative asset		14
Other liabilities:
Derivative liabilities		4
Level 2 | Forward starting interest rate swaps
Other liabilities:
Derivative liabilities	886	60
Level 2 | Foreign exchange forwards
Other liabilities:
Total	10
Level 3
Assets:
Total	0	0
Other liabilities:
Total	0	0
Level 3 | Fixed income securities
Assets:
Debt securities, available-for-sale	0	0
Level 3 | Interest rate swaps
Assets:
Derivative asset	0	0
Other liabilities:
Derivative liabilities	0	0
Level 3 | Cross currency swaps
Assets:
Derivative asset	0	0
Other liabilities:
Derivative liabilities	0	0
Level 3 | Interest rate caps
Assets:
Derivative asset		0
Other liabilities:
Derivative liabilities		0
Level 3 | Forward starting interest rate swaps
Other liabilities:
Derivative liabilities	0	$ 0
Level 3 | Foreign exchange forwards
Other liabilities:
Total	$ 0

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Wireless Device Payment Plans - Schedule of Device Payment Plan Agreement Receivables (Detail) - USD ($) $ in Millions	Sep. 30, 2019	Dec. 31, 2018	Sep. 30, 2018	Dec. 31, 2017
Accounts, Notes, Loans and Financing Receivable [Line Items]
Device payment plan agreement receivables, gross	$ 18,261	$ 19,313
Unamortized imputed interest	(434)	(546)
Device payment plan agreement receivables, net of unamortized imputed interest	17,827	18,767
Allowance for credit losses	(460)	(597)	$ (662)	$ (848)
Device payment plan agreement receivables, net	17,367	18,170
Account receivable, net
Accounts, Notes, Loans and Financing Receivable [Line Items]
Device payment plan agreement receivables, net	12,504	12,624
Other assets
Accounts, Notes, Loans and Financing Receivable [Line Items]
Device payment plan agreement receivables, net	$ 4,863	$ 5,546