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Revenue Recognition
 12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2023
Revenue from Contract with Customer [Abstract]  
Revenue Recognition Revenue Recognition
We categorize our products and services and related revenue among the following categories:
•Grow, which includes products and services that we anticipate will grow, including our colocation, dark fiber, Edge Cloud services, IP, managed security, Unified Communications and Collaboration ("UC&C") and wavelengths services;
•Nurture, which includes our more mature offerings, including ethernet and VPN data network services;
•Harvest, which includes our legacy services managed for cash flow, including Time Division Multiplexing ("TDM") voice, private line and other legacy services;
•Other, which includes primarily IT solutions; and
•Affiliate Services, which include communications services provided to our affiliates that we also provide to our external customers.

From time to time, we may change the categorization of our products and services.
Disaggregated Revenue by Service Offering

The following tables provide disaggregation of revenue from contracts with customers based on service offering for the years ended December 31, 2023, 2022 and 2021. It also shows the amount of revenue that is not subject to ASC 606, but is instead governed by other accounting standards. The amounts in the tables below include the Latin American and EMEA businesses revenues prior to being sold on August 1, 2022 and November 1, 2023, respectively:
Year Ended December 31, 2023
Total Revenue
Adjustments for Non-ASC 606 Revenue (1)
Total Revenue from Contracts with Customers
(Dollars in millions)
Grow$3,890 (595)3,295 
Nurture1,704 (15)1,689 
Harvest1,068 — 1,068 
Other151 — 151 
Affiliate Services224 (224)— 
Total Revenue$7,037 (834)6,203 
Timing of revenue:
Goods transferred at a point in time$— 
Services performed over time6,203 
Total revenue from contracts with customers$6,203 
Year Ended December 31, 2022
Total Revenue
Adjustments for Non-ASC 606 Revenue (1)
Total Revenue from Contracts with Customers
(Dollars in millions)
Grow$3,960 (665)3,295 
Nurture1,905 (15)1,890 
Harvest1,283 — 1,283 
Other118 — 118 
Affiliate Services227 (227)— 
Total Revenue$7,493 (907)6,586 
Timing of revenue:
Goods transferred at a point in time$4 
Services performed over time6,582 
Total revenue from contracts with customers$6,586 

Year Ended December 31, 2021
Total Revenue
Adjustments for Non-ASC 606 Revenue (1)
Total Revenue from Contracts with Customers
(Dollars in millions)
Grow$4,021 (724)3,297 
Nurture2,087 (12)2,075 
Harvest1,440 — 1,440 
Other181 — 181 
Affiliate Services223 (223)— 
Total Revenue$7,952 (959)6,993 
Timing of revenue:
Goods transferred at a point in time$13 
Services performed over time6,980 
Total revenue from contracts with customers$6,993 
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(1)     Includes lease revenue which is not within the scope of ASC 606.
We do not have any single external customer that comprises more than 10% of our total consolidated operating revenue. Substantially all of our consolidated revenue comes from customers located in the United States.

Customer Receivables and Contract Balances

The following table provides balances of customer receivables, contract assets and contract liabilities, net of amounts classified as held for sale as of December 31, 2023 and 2022:
December 31, 2023December 31, 2022
(Dollars in millions)
Customer receivables (1)
$544 515 
Contract assets (2)
8 13 
Contract liabilities (3)
222 222 
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(1)Reflects gross customer receivables of $557 million and $534 million, net of allowance for credit losses of $13 million and $19 million, as of December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively. At December 31, 2022 amounts exclude customer receivables, net, classified as held for sale of $76 million related to the EMEA business which was sold November 1, 2023.
(2)At December 31, 2022 these amounts exclude contract assets classified as held for sale of $16 million at related to the EMEA business which was sold November 1, 2023.
(3)At December 31, 2022 these amounts exclude contract liabilities classified as held for sale of $59 million related to the EMEA business which was sold November 1, 2023.

Contract liabilities are consideration we have received from our customers or billed in advance of providing the goods or services promised in the future. We defer recognizing this consideration until we have satisfied the related performance obligation to the customer. Contract liabilities include recurring services billed one month in advance and installation and maintenance charges that are deferred and recognized over the actual or expected contract term, which typically ranges from one to five years depending on the service. Contract liabilities are included within deferred revenue and liabilities held for sale in our consolidated balance sheets. During the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, we recognized $139 million and $148 million, respectively, of revenue that was included in contract liabilities of $281 million and $305 million as of January 1, 2023 and 2022, respectively, including contract liabilities that were classified as held for sale.

Performance Obligations

As of December 31, 2023, we expect to recognize approximately $4.0 billion of revenue in the future related to performance obligations associated with existing customer contracts that are partially or wholly unsatisfied. As of December 31, 2023, the transaction price related to unsatisfied performance obligation that are expected to be recognized in 2024, 2025 and thereafter was $1.8 billion, $1.2 billion and $1.0 billion, respectively.

These amounts exclude (i) the value of unsatisfied performance obligations for contracts for which we recognize revenue at the amount to which we have the right to invoice for services performed (for example, uncommitted usage or non-recurring charges associated with professional or technical services to be completed) and (ii) contracts that are classified as leasing arrangements that are not subject to ASC 606.
Contract Costs

The following tables provide changes in our contract acquisition costs and fulfillment costs for the years ended:
Year Ended December 31, 2023
Acquisition CostsFulfillment Costs
(Dollars in millions)
Beginning of period balance$76 106 
Costs incurred55 87 
Amortization(57)(69)
Change in contract costs held for sale(4)(27)
End of period balance$70 97 
Year Ended December 31, 2022
Acquisition CostsFulfillment Costs
(Dollars in millions)
Beginning of period balance$76 99 
Costs incurred61 83 
Amortization(55)(76)
Classified as held for sale(1)
(6)— 
End of period balance$76 106 
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(1)     Represents the amounts classified as held for sale related to the divestiture of our Latin American and EMEA businesses on August 1, 2022 and November 1, 2023, respectively. See Note 2—Divestitures of the Latin American and EMEA Businesses.

Acquisition costs include commission fees paid to employees as a result of obtaining contracts. Fulfillment costs include third party and internal costs associated with the provision, installation and activation of services to customers, including labor and materials consumed for these activities.

We amortize deferred acquisition and fulfillment costs based on the transfer of services on a straight-line basis over the average expected contract life of approximately 35 months for our business customers. We include amortized fulfillment costs in cost of services and products and amortized acquisition costs in selling, general and administrative expenses in our consolidated statements of operations. We include the amount of deferred costs that are anticipated to be amortized in the next 12 months in other current assets on our consolidated balance sheets. The amount of deferred costs expected to be amortized beyond 12 months is included in other non-current assets on our consolidated balance sheets. We assess deferred acquisition and fulfillment costs for impairment on a quarterly basis.