Verizon Wireless 2011 Annual Report Download - page 65

nOtEs tO cOnsOlidatEd Financial statEMEnts continued
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NOTE 4
PLANT, PROPERTY AND EQUIPMENT
The following table displays the details of Plant, property and equipment,
which is stated at cost:
(dollars in millions)
At December 31, Lives (years) 2011 2010
Land – $ 862 $ 865
Buildings and equipment 15 – 45 21,969 21,064
Central office and other
network equipment 3 – 15 107,322 102,547
Cable, poles and conduit 11 – 50 67,190 67,539
Leasehold improvements 5 –20 5,030 4,816
Work in progress – 3,417 4,375
Furniture, vehicles and other 3 –12 9,836 10,449
215,626 211,655
Less accumulated depreciation 127,192 123,944
Total $ 88,434 $ 87,711
NOTE 5
INVESTMENTS IN UNCONSOLIDATED BUSINESSES
Our investments in unconsolidated businesses are comprised of the
following:
(dollars in millions)
At December 31, Ownership 2011 2010
Equity Investees
Vodafone Omnitel 23.1% $ 2,083 $ 2,002
Other Various 1,320 1,471
Total equity investees 3,403 3,473
Cost Investees Various 45 24
Total investments in
unconsolidated businesses $ 3,448 $ 3,497
Dividends and repatriations of foreign earnings received from these
investees amounted to $0.5 billion in 2011, $0.5 billion in 2010 and $0.9
billion in 2009. See Note 12 regarding undistributed earnings of our for-
eign subsidiaries.
Equity Method Investments
Vodafone Omnitel
Vodafone Omnitel N.V. (Vodafone Omnitel) is one of the largest wireless
communications companies in Italy. At December 31, 2011 and 2010, our
investment in Vodafone Omnitel included goodwill of $1.0 billion and
$1.1 billion, respectively.
Other Equity Investees
We have limited partnership investments in entities that invest in afford-
able housing projects, for which we provide funding as a limited partner
and receive tax deductions and tax credits based on our partnership
interests. At December 31, 2011 and 2010, we had equity investments in
these partnerships of $1.1 billion and $1.2 billion, respectively. We adjust
the carrying value of these investments for any losses incurred by the
limited partnerships through earnings.
The remaining investments include wireless partnerships in the U.S. and
other smaller domestic and international investments.
Summarized Financial Information
Summarized financial information for our equity investees is as follows:
Balance Sheet
(dollars in millions)
At December 31, 2011 2010
Current Assets $ 3,720 $ 3,620
Noncurrent Assets 8,469 7,568
Total Assets $ 12,189 $ 11,188
Current liabilities $ 6,123 $ 5,509
Noncurrent liabilities 8 8
Equity 6,058 5,671
Total liabilities and equity $ 12,189 $ 11,188
Income Statement
(dollars in millions)
Years Ended December 31, 2011 2010 2009
Net revenue $ 12,668 $ 12,356 $ 12,903
Operating income 4,021 4,156 4,313
Net income 2,451 2,563 2,717
NOTE 6
NONCONTROLLING INTEREST
Noncontrolling interests in equity of subsidiaries were as follows:
(dollars in millions)
At December 31, 2011 2010
Noncontrolling interests in consolidated subsidiaries:
Verizon Wireless $ 49,165 $ 47,557
Wireless partnerships 773 786
$ 49,938 $ 48,343
Wireless Joint Venture
Our Verizon Wireless segment, Cellco Partnership doing business as
Verizon Wireless (Verizon Wireless) is a joint venture formed in April
2000 by the combination of the U.S. wireless operations and interests of
Verizon and Vodafone. Verizon owns a controlling 55% interest in Verizon
Wireless and Vodafone owns the remaining 45%.
In July 2011, the Board of Representatives of Verizon Wireless declared a
distribution to its owners, payable on January 31, 2012 in proportion to
their partnership interests on that date, in the aggregate amount of $10
billion. As a result, during January 2012, Vodafone Group Plc received a
cash payment of $4.5 billion and the remainder of the distribution was
received by Verizon.