CenturyLink 2015 Annual Report Download - page 166

Guarantees
We do not guarantee the debt of any unaffiliated parties, but certain of our subsidiaries guarantee the
outstanding senior notes issued by other subsidiaries. In addition, seven of our largest non-regulated subsidiaries
guarantee the obligations of (i) CenturyLink, Inc. under the Credit Facility and its term loan and (ii) Qwest
Corporation under its term loan.
Subsequent Event
In January 2016, Qwest Corporation issued $235 million aggregate principal amount of 7% Notes due 2056,
in exchange for net proceeds, after deducting underwriting discounts and other expenses, of approximately $227
million. All of the 7% Notes are unsecured obligations and may be redeemed by Qwest Corporation, in whole or
in part, on or after February 1, 2021, at a redemption price equal to 100% of the principal amount redeemed plus
accrued and unpaid interest to the redemption date.
(4) Accounts Receivable
The following table presents details of our accounts receivable balances:
As of
December 31,
2015 2014
(Dollars in millions)
Trade and purchased receivables ..................... $1,789 1,821
Earned and unbilled receivables ..................... 288 307
Other .......................................... 18 22
Total accounts receivable .............................. 2,095 2,150
Less: allowance for doubtful accounts ................ (152) (162)
Accounts receivable, less allowance ...................... $1,943 1,988
We are exposed to concentrations of credit risk from residential and business customers within our local
service area, business customers outside of our local service area and from other telecommunications service
providers. We generally do not require collateral to secure our receivable balances. We have agreements with
other telecommunications service providers whereby we agree to bill and collect on their behalf for services
rendered by those providers to our customers within our local service area. We purchase accounts receivable
from other telecommunications service providers primarily on a recourse basis and include these amounts in our
accounts receivable balance. We have not experienced any significant loss associated with these purchased
receivables.
The following table presents details of our allowance for doubtful accounts:
Beginning
Balance Additions Deductions
Ending
Balance
(Dollars in millions)
2015 ........................................ $162 177 (187) 152
2014 ........................................ $155 159 (152) 162
2013 ........................................ $158 152 (155) 155
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