CenturyLink 2015 Annual Report Download - page 160

(2) Goodwill, Customer Relationships and Other Intangible Assets
Goodwill, customer relationships and other intangible assets consisted of the following:
As of December 31,
2015 2014
(Dollars in millions)
Goodwill ................................................................... $20,742 20,755
Customer relationships, less accumulated amortization of $5,648 and $4,682 ............. 3,928 4,893
Indefinite-life intangible assets .................................................. 269 268
Other intangible assets subject to amortization
Capitalized software, less accumulated amortization of $1,778 and $1,533 ........... 1,248 1,338
Trade names and patents, less accumulated amortization of $20 and $196 ............ 38 41
Total other intangible assets, net ......................................... $ 1,555 1,647
Total amortization expense for intangible assets for the years ended December 31, 2015, 2014 and 2013 was
$1.353 billion, $1.470 billion and $1.589 billion, respectively. As of December 31, 2015, the gross carrying
amount of goodwill, customer relationships, indefinite-life and other intangible assets was $33.671 billion.
We estimate that total amortization expense for intangible assets for the years ending December 31, 2016
through 2020 will be as follows:
(Dollars in millions)
2016 ...................................... $1,161
2017 ...................................... 1,056
2018 ...................................... 944
2019 ...................................... 827
2020 ...................................... 726
Our goodwill was derived from numerous acquisitions where the purchase price exceeded the fair value of
the net assets acquired.
We assess our goodwill and other indefinite-lived intangible assets for impairment annually, or, under
certain circumstances, more frequently, such as when events or changes in circumstances indicate there may be
impairment. We are required to write down the value of goodwill only when our assessment determines the
recorded amount of goodwill exceeds the fair value. Our annual impairment assessment date for goodwill is
October 31, at which date we assessed our reporting units, which are business (excluding wholesale), consumer
and wholesale. Our annual impairment assessment date for indefinite-lived intangible assets other than goodwill
is December 31.
Our reporting units are not discrete legal entities with discrete financial statements. Our assets and liabilities
are employed in and relate to the operations of multiple reporting units. For each reporting unit, we compare its
estimated fair value of equity to its carrying value of equity that we assign to the reporting unit. If the estimated
fair value of the reporting unit is greater than the carrying value, we conclude that no impairment exists. If the
estimated fair value of the reporting unit is less than the carrying value, a second calculation is required in which
the implied fair value of goodwill is compared to the carrying value of goodwill that we assigned to the reporting
unit. If the implied fair value of goodwill is less than its carrying value, goodwill must be written down to its
implied fair value.
At October 31, 2015, we estimated the fair value of our business (excluding wholesale), consumer and
wholesale reporting units by considering both a market approach and a discounted cash flow method, which
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