Wireless Licenses, Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2013

Wireless Licenses, Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets

3.	Wireless Licenses, Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets

Wireless Licenses

Changes in the carrying amount of Wireless licenses are as follows:


(dollars in millions)
Balance at January 1, 2013	$	77,744
Acquisitions (Note 2)		574
Dispositions (Note 2)		(2,338	)
Capitalized interest on wireless licenses		419
Reclassifications, adjustments and other		104

Balance at September 30, 2013	$	76,503

Reclassifications, adjustments and other includes the exchange of wireless licenses completed during the first quarter of 2013. See Note 2 for additional details.

At September 30, 2013, approximately $7.7 billion of Wireless licenses were under development for commercial service for which we were capitalizing interest costs.

Goodwill

Changes in the carrying amount of Goodwill are as follows:


(dollars in millions)	Wireless		Wireline			Total
Balance at January 1, 2013	$	18,172	$	5,967		$	24,139
Acquisitions		203		–			203
Reclassifications, adjustments and other		–		(3	)		(3	)

Balance at September 30, 2013	$	18,375	$	5,964		$	24,339

The increase in Goodwill at September 30, 2013 was recorded by Verizon Wireless upon obtaining control of previously unconsolidated wireless partnerships, which were previously accounted for under the equity method and are now consolidated. This resulted in an immaterial gain recorded during the nine months ended September 30, 2013.

Other Intangible Assets

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


	At September 30, 2013							At December 31, 2012
(dollars in millions)	Gross Amount		Accumulated Amortization			Net Amount		Gross Amount		Accumulated Amortization			Net Amount
Customer lists (6 to 13 years)	$	3,592	$	(2,589	)	$	1,003	$	3,556	$	(2,338	)	$	1,218
Non-network internal-use software (3 to 7 years)		11,366		(7,015	)		4,351		10,415		(6,210	)		4,205
Other (2 to 25 years)		736		(358	)		378		802		(292	)		510

Total	$	15,694	$	(9,962	)	$	5,732	$	14,773	$	(8,840	)	$	5,933

The amortization expense for Other intangible assets was as follows:


(dollars in millions)	Three Months Ended September 30,		Nine Months Ended September 30,
2013		$ 398		$ 1,183
2012		384		1,112

Estimated annual amortization expense for Other intangible assets is as follows:


Years	(dollars in millions)
2013		$ 1,574
2014		1,404
2015		1,154
2016		914
2017		723

- Definition

The entire disclosure for the aggregate amount of goodwill and a description of intangible assets, which may include (a) for amortizable intangible assets (also referred to as finite-lived intangible assets), the carrying amount, the amount of any significant residual value, and the weighted-average amortization period, (b) for intangible assets not subject to amortization (also referred to as indefinite-lived intangible assets), the carrying amount, and (c) the amount of research and development assets acquired and written off in the period, including the line item in the income statement in which the amounts written off are aggregated, if not readily apparent from the income statement. Also discloses (a) for amortizable intangibles assets in total and by major class, the gross carrying amount and accumulated amortization, the total amortization expense for the period, and the estimated aggregate amortization expense for each of the five succeeding fiscal years, (b) for intangible assets not subject to amortization the carrying amount in total and by major class, and (c) for goodwill, in total and for each reportable segment, the changes in the carrying amount of goodwill during the period (including the aggregate amount of goodwill acquired, the aggregate amount of impairment losses recognized, and the amount of goodwill included in the gain (loss) on disposal of a reporting unit). If any part of goodwill has not been allocated to a reportable segment, discloses the unallocated amount and the reasons for not allocating. For each impairment loss recognized related to an intangible asset (excluding goodwill), discloses: (a) a description of the impaired intangible asset and the facts and circumstances leading to the impairment, (b) the amount of the impairment loss and the method for determining fair value, (c) the caption in the income statement or the statement of activities in which the impairment loss is aggregated, and (d) the segment in which the impaired intangible asset is reported. For each goodwill impairment loss recognized, discloses: (a) a description of the facts and circumstances leading to the impairment, (b) the amount of the impairment loss and the method of determining the fair value of the associated reporting unit, and (c) if a recognized impairment loss is an estimate not finalized and the reasons why the estimate is not final. May also disclose the nature and amount of any significant adjustments made to a previous estimate of an impairment loss.

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