Property, Plant and Equipment (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2021

Property, Plant and Equipment [Abstract]

Property, plant and equipment

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

	Depreciable Lives	As of December 31,
		2021		2020
		(Dollars in millions)
Land	N/A	$	305	320
Fiber conduit and other outside plant (1)	15-45 years	5,531		6,186
Central office and other network electronics (2)	7-10 years	3,280		3,388
Support assets (3)	3-30 years	2,504		2,722
Construction-in-progress (4)	N/A	624		720
Gross property, plant and equipment		12,244		13,336
Accumulated depreciation		(3,202)		(2,818)
Net property, plant and equipment		$	9,042	10,518

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

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

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

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

Schedule of change in asset retirement obligation

The following table provides asset retirement obligation activity:

	Years Ended December 31,
	2021		2020	2019
	(Dollars in millions)
Balance at beginning of period	$	122	113	105
Accretion expense	5		6	5
Liabilities settled	(10)		(7)	(12)
Revision in estimated cash flows	7		10	15
Reclassified as held for sale (1)	(3)		—	—
Balance at end of period	$	121	122	113

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(1)Represents the amounts reclassified as held for sale related to our planned divestiture. See Note 2—Planned Divestiture of the Latin American Business.