LEASES

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2019

LEASES

LEASES

4. LEASES

The Company’s significant accounting policies are detailed in “Note 2 – Summary of Significant Accounting Policies” within Item 8 of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2018. The Company’s accounting policies are updated as a result of adopting ASU 2016-02 “Leases (Topic 842)” (“ASC 842”) on January 1, 2019. The adoption of ASC 842 impacted the accounting for leases as further described below.

The Company adopted ASC 842 on January 1, 2019, utilizing the optional transition method with a cumulative adjustment on the date of adoption. Under this approach, the guidance was applied to leases that had commenced as of January 1, 2019 with a cumulative effect adjustment as of that date and prior periods were not adjusted. Upon adoption, the Company recognized an operating lease right-of-use (“ROU”) asset of $70.8 million, a short-term lease liability of $8.2 million, and a long-term lease liability of $61.2 million. The adoption had no impact on retained earnings or other components of equity.

The Company elected the package of practical expedients. Under the package of practical expedients, for existing leases, the Company does not reassess: i) whether the arrangement contains a lease; ii) lease classification and; iii) initial direct costs.

The Company determines if an agreement is a lease at inception. Operating leases are included in ROU assets, current portion of operating lease liabilities, and operating lease liabilities in the Company’s consolidated balance sheets. Finance leases are included in property and equipment in the Company’s consolidated balance sheets. To date the Company has prepaid its financing leases. As a result, there is no interest cost, lease liability, or discount rate applicable to financing leases.

ROU assets represent the right to use an underlying asset for the lease term and lease liabilities represent the obligation to make lease payments arising from the lease. Operating lease ROU assets and liabilities are recognized at commencement date based on the present value of lease payments over the lease term. The present value is calculated using the Company’s incremental borrowing rate based on the information available at the commencement date, as our leases do not contain an implicit rate. The Company utilized assumptions based on its existing borrowing facilities and other market specific data to determine its incremental borrowing rate. The operating lease ROU asset also includes any lease payments made and excludes lease incentives. The Company’s lease terms may include renewal options to extend the lease. The Company includes renewal options that are reasonably certain to be exercised in the initial lease term. When determining whether a renewal option is reasonably certain to be exercised, the Company considers several factors, including the present and anticipated future needs of its customers being serviced by the asset. Lease expense is recognized on a straight-line basis over the lease term. The Company does not separate non-lease components from lease components.

The Company has operating and financing leases for towers, land, corporate offices, retail facilities, and data transport capacity. The lease terms are generally between three and ten years, some of which include additional renewal options.

Supplemental lease information

The components of lease expense were as follows (in thousands):

	Three months ended September 30, 2019		Nine months ended September 30, 2019
Operating lease cost:
Operating lease cost	$	3,627	$	11,294
Short-term lease cost		652		2,232
Variable lease cost		1,151		2,400
Total operating lease cost	$	5,430	$	15,926
Finance lease cost:
Amortization of right-of-use asset	$	570	$	1,749
Variable costs		244		802
Total finance lease cost	$	814	$	2,551

During the nine months ended September 30, 2019, the Company paid $10.2 million of operating cash flows, which were included in the measurement of lease liabilities. Also during the nine months ended September 30, 2019, the Company recorded $7.3 million of lease liabilities arising from right-of-use assets. At September 30, 2019, finance leases with a cost of $25.9 million and accumulated amortization of $8.8 million were included in property, plant and equipment.

The weighted average remaining lease terms and discount rates as of September 30, 2019 are noted in the table below:

Weighted average remaining lease term
Operating leases	6.7 years
Financing leases	11.8 years
Weighted average discount rate
Operating leases	5.0%
Financing leases	n/a

Maturities of lease liabilities as of September 30, 2019 were as follows (in thousands):

	Operating Leases
2019 (excluding the nine months ended September 30, 2019)	$	4,247
2020		13,516
2021		13,510
2022		12,551
2023		10,693
Thereafter		28,062
Total lease payments		82,579
Less imputed interest		(13,002)
Total	$	69,577

Maturities of lease liabilities as of December 31, 2018 were as follows (in thousands):

	Operating Leases
2019	$	11,801
2020		12,650
2021		11,491
2022		10,713
2023		9,990
Thereafter		27,325
Total lease payments	$	83,970

As of September 30, 2019, the Company did not have any material operating or finance leases that have not yet commenced.