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Wireless Licenses, Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2022
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:
(dollars in millions)
At December 31,20222021
Wireless licenses$149,796 $147,619 

At December 31, 2022 and 2021, approximately $41.7 billion and $54.9 billion, respectively, of wireless licenses were under development for commercial service for which we were capitalizing interest costs. We recorded approximately $1.7 billion and $1.6 billion of capitalized interest on wireless licenses for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively.

During 2022 and 2021, we renewed various wireless licenses in accordance with FCC regulations with an average renewal period of 15 years and 11 years, respectively. See Note 1 for additional information.

As discussed in Note 1, we test our wireless licenses for potential impairment annually or more frequently if impairment indicators are present. In 2022, we performed a qualitative impairment assessment, which indicated it was more likely than not that the fair value of our wireless licenses remained above their carrying amount and, therefore, did not result in an impairment. In 2021, we performed a quantitative impairment test, which compared the estimated fair value of our aggregate wireless licenses, estimated using the Greenfield approach, to the aggregated carrying amount of the licenses as of the test date. Our annual assessment in 2021 indicated that the fair value of our wireless licenses exceeded the carrying value and, therefore, did not result in an impairment.
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.

Goodwill
Changes in the carrying amount of Goodwill are as follows:
(dollars in millions)
ConsumerBusinessOtherTotal
Balance at January 1, 2021 (1)
$17,222 $7,535 $16 $24,773 
Acquisitions (2)
3,818 — 34 3,852 
Reclassifications, adjustments and other(20)(4)(22)
Balance at December 31, 202121,042 7,515 46 28,603 
Acquisitions (3)
100   100 
Reclassifications, adjustments and other (4)
 (13)(19)(32)
Balance at December 31, 2022$21,142 $7,502 $27 $28,671 
(1) Goodwill is net of accumulated impairment charges of $4.8 billion, related to our historical Media reporting unit, which included Verizon Media. On September 1, 2021, we completed the sale of Verizon Media. See Note 3 for additional information.
(2) Changes in goodwill due to acquisitions is related to TracFone, Bluegrass and other insignificant transactions. See Note 3 for additional information.
(3) Changes in goodwill due to acquisitions is related to TracFone. See Note 3 for additional information.
(4) Includes a goodwill impairment charge of $16 million related to an early stage development company presented within Other, recorded in Selling, general and administrative expense in our consolidated statement of income for the year ended December 31, 2022.

We performed a qualitative impairment assessment for our Consumer reporting unit during the fourth quarter of 2022. Our qualitative impairment assessment indicated that it was more likely than not that the fair value of our Consumer reporting unit exceeded its carrying value and, therefore, did not result in an impairment.

We performed a quantitative impairment assessment for our Business reporting unit during the fourth quarter of 2022. We applied a combination of a market approach and a discounted cash flow method, as a form of the income approach, reflecting current assumptions and inputs, including our revised projections, discount rate and expected growth rates, which indicated that the fair value of our Business reporting unit exceeded its carrying value and, therefore, did not result in an impairment. We do not anticipate reasonable changes in significant estimates to change the outcome of the quantitative impairment assessment. However, as a result of our 2022 goodwill assessment, management believes there is an increasing risk that our Business reporting unit may be required to recognize an impairment charge in the future.

A projected sustained decline in the reporting unit's revenues and earnings could have a significant negative impact on its fair value and may result in impairment charges. Such a decline could be driven by, among other things: (1) decreases in sales volumes or long-term growth rate as a result of competitive pressures or other factors; or (2) the inability to achieve or delays in achieving the goals in strategic initiatives. Also, adverse changes to macroeconomic factors, such as increases in long-term interest rates, would also negatively impact the fair value of the reporting unit.

We performed quantitative impairment assessments for both our Consumer and Business reporting units in 2021. We applied a combination of a market approach and a discounted cash flow method, as a form of the income approach, which indicated that the fair values for our Consumer and Business reporting units exceeded their carrying values and, therefore, did not result in an impairment.
Other Intangible Assets
The following table displays the composition of Other intangible assets, net as well as the respective amortization period:
(dollars in millions)
20222021
At December 31,Gross
Amount
Accumulated
Amortization
Net
Amount
Gross (1)
Amount
Accumulated
Amortization
Net
Amount
Customer lists (5 to 13 years)
$4,335 $(1,646)$2,689 $4,201 $(1,126)$3,075 
Non-network internal-use software (7 years)
23,421 (16,397)7,024 21,310 (14,897)6,413 
Other (4 to 25 years)
2,806 (1,058)1,748 2,974 (785)2,189 
Total$30,562 $(19,101)$11,461 $28,485 $(16,808)$11,677 
(1) Other intangible assets are net of assets disposed as a result of the closing of the Verizon Media sale on September 1, 2021 and includes assets acquired as a result of the acquisition of TracFone on November 23, 2021. See Note 3 for additional information.

The amortization expense for Other intangible assets was as follows:
Years(dollars in millions)
2022$2,507 
20212,087 
20202,445 

Estimated annual amortization expense for Other intangible assets is as follows:
Years(dollars in millions)
2023$2,497 
20242,256 
20252,059 
20261,813 
20271,260