CENTURYLINK, INC, 10-K filed on 2/28/2012
Annual Report
Document and Entity Information (USD $)
In Billions, except Share data, unless otherwise specified
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2011
Feb. 21, 2012
Jun. 30, 2011
Document and Entity Information
 
 
 
Entity Registrant Name
CENTURYLINK, INC 
 
 
Entity Central Index Key
0000018926 
 
 
Document Type
10-K 
 
 
Document Period End Date
Dec. 31, 2011 
 
 
Amendment Flag
false 
 
 
Current Fiscal Year End Date
--12-31 
 
 
Entity Well-known Seasoned Issuer
Yes 
 
 
Entity Voluntary Filers
No 
 
 
Entity Current Reporting Status
Yes 
 
 
Entity Filer Category
Large Accelerated Filer 
 
 
Entity Public Float
 
 
$ 24.2 
Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding
 
619,614,139 
 
Document Fiscal Year Focus
2011 
 
 
Document Fiscal Period Focus
FY 
 
 
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS (USD $)
In Millions, except Share data in Thousands, unless otherwise specified
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2011
Dec. 31, 2010
Dec. 31, 2009
OPERATING REVENUES
$ 15,351 
$ 7,042 
$ 4,974 
OPERATING EXPENSES
 
 
 
Cost of services and products (exclusive of depreciation and amortization)
6,325 
2,544 
1,801 
Selling, general and administrative
2,975 
1,004 
965 
Depreciation and amortization
4,026 
1,434 
975 
Total operating expenses
13,326 
4,982 
3,741 
OPERATING INCOME
2,025 
2,060 
1,233 
OTHER INCOME (EXPENSE)
 
 
 
Interest expense
(1,072)
(544)
(367)
Other income (expense)
(5)
15 
(53)
Total other income (expense)
(1,077)
(529)
(420)
INCOME BEFORE INCOME TAX EXPENSE
948 
1,531 
813 
Income tax expense
375 
583 
302 
NET INCOME BEFORE EXTRAORDINARY ITEM
573 
948 
511 
Extraordinary item, net of $81 tax (Note 14)
 
 
136 
NET INCOME
$ 573 
$ 948 
$ 647 
BASIC AND DILUTED EARNINGS PER COMMON SHARE
 
 
 
Before extraordinary item (in dollars per share)
$ 1.07 
$ 3.13 
$ 2.55 
Extraordinary item (in dollars per share)
 
 
$ 0.68 
Basic and diluted earnings per common share (in dollars per share)
$ 1.07 
$ 3.13 
$ 3.23 
WEIGHTED AVERAGE COMMON SHARES OUTSTANDING
 
 
 
BASIC (in shares)
532,780 
300,619 
198,813 
DILUTED (in shares)
534,121 
301,297 
199,057 
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS (Parenthetical) (USD $)
In Millions, unless otherwise specified
3 Months Ended 12 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2009
Dec. 31, 2009
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS
 
 
Extraordinary item, tax
$ 81 
$ 81 
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF COMPREHENSIVE (LOSS) INCOME (USD $)
In Millions, unless otherwise specified
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2011
Dec. 31, 2010
Dec. 31, 2009
NET INCOME
$ 573 
$ 948 
$ 647 
Items related to employee benefit plans:
 
 
 
Change in net actuarial loss, net of $508, $32 and $(36) tax
(812)
(53)
49 
Change in net prior service credit, net of $23, $2 and $7 tax
(37)
(3)
(11)
Auction rate securities marked to market, net of $2, $- and $- tax
(4)
 
 
Foreign currency translation adjustment and other, net of $2, $- and $- tax
(18)
 
 
Other comprehensive (loss) income
(871)
(56)
38 
COMPREHENSIVE (LOSS) INCOME
$ (298)
$ 892 
$ 685 
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF COMPREHENSIVE (LOSS) INCOME (Parenthetical) (USD $)
In Millions, unless otherwise specified
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2011
Dec. 31, 2010
Dec. 31, 2009
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF COMPREHENSIVE (LOSS) INCOME
 
 
 
Change in net actuarial loss, tax
$ 508 
$ 32 
$ (36)
Change in net prior service credit, tax
23 
Auction rate securities marked to market, tax
 
 
Foreign currency translation adjustment and other, tax
$ 2 
 
 
CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS (USD $)
In Millions, unless otherwise specified
Dec. 31, 2011
Dec. 31, 2010
CURRENT ASSETS
 
 
Cash and cash equivalents
$ 128 
$ 173 
Accounts receivable, less allowance of $145 and $60
1,952 
713 
Income tax receivable
27 
102 
Deferred income taxes, net
1,026 
81 
Other
390 
74 
Total current assets
3,523 
1,143 
NET PROPERTY, PLANT AND EQUIPMENT
 
 
Property, plant and equipment
29,577 
16,329 
Accumulated depreciation
(10,141)
(7,575)
Net property, plant and equipment
19,436 
8,754 
GOODWILL AND OTHER ASSETS
 
 
Goodwill
21,724 
10,261 
Customer relationships, net
8,361 
930 
Other intangible assets, net
2,239 
622 
Other
856 
328 
Total goodwill and other assets
33,180 
12,141 
TOTAL ASSETS
56,139 
22,038 
CURRENT LIABILITIES
 
 
Current maturities of long-term debt
480 
12 
Accounts payable
1,399 
300 
Accrued expenses and other liabilities
 
 
Salaries and benefits
634 
159 
Income and other taxes
383 
124 
Interest
293 
104 
Other
250 
122 
Advance billings and customer deposits
580 
190 
Total current liabilities
4,019 
1,011 
LONG-TERM DEBT
21,356 
7,316 
DEFERRED CREDITS AND OTHER LIABILITIES
 
 
Deferred income taxes, net
3,823 
2,369 
Benefit plan obligations, net
4,855 
1,306 
Other
1,259 
389 
Total deferred credits and other liabilities
9,937 
4,064 
COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES (Note 16)
   
   
STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY
 
 
Preferred stock-non-redeemable, $25.00 par value, authorized 2,000 shares, issued and outstanding 9 and 9 shares
   
   
Common stock, $1.00 par value, authorized 800,000 shares, issued and outstanding 618,514 and 304,948 shares
619 
305 
Additional paid-in capital
18,901 
6,181 
Accumulated other comprehensive loss
(1,012)
(141)
Retained earnings
2,319 
3,302 
Total stockholders' equity
20,827 
9,647 
TOTAL LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY
$ 56,139 
$ 22,038 
CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS (Parenthetical) (USD $)
In Millions, except Share data in Thousands, unless otherwise specified
Dec. 31, 2011
Dec. 31, 2010
CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS
 
 
Accounts receivable, allowance (in dollars)
$ 145 
$ 60 
Preferred stock-non-redeemable, par value (in dollars per share)
$ 25.00 
$ 25.00 
Preferred stock-non-redeemable, authorized shares
2,000 
2,000 
Preferred stock-non-redeemable, issued shares
Preferred stock-non-redeemable, outstanding shares
Common stock, par value (in dollars per share)
$ 1.00 
$ 1.00 
Common stock, authorized shares
800,000 
800,000 
Common stock, issued shares
618,514 
304,948 
Common stock, outstanding shares
618,514 
304,948 
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS (USD $)
In Millions, unless otherwise specified
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2011
Dec. 31, 2010
Dec. 31, 2009
OPERATING ACTIVITIES
 
 
 
NET INCOME
$ 573 
$ 948 
$ 647 
Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash provided by operating activities:
 
 
 
Depreciation and amortization
4,026 
1,434 
975 
Extraordinary item, net of income tax expense
 
 
(136)
Deferred income taxes
395 
132 
154 
Provision for uncollectible accounts
153 
91 
57 
Long-term debt (premium) discount amortization
(148)
11 
Changes in current assets and current liabilities:
 
 
 
Accounts receivable
(102)
(118)
(80)
Accounts payable
(58)
(96)
(32)
Accrued income and other taxes
31 
38 
(150)
Other current assets and other current liabilities, net
(76)
(127)
121 
Retirement benefits
(688)
(271)
(82)
Changes in other noncurrent assets and liabilities
(6)
(13)
40 
Other, net
101 
26 
49 
Net cash provided by operating activities
4,201 
2,045 
1,574 
INVESTING ACTIVITIES
 
 
 
Payments for property, plant and equipment and capitalized software
(2,411)
(864)
(755)
Cash paid for Savvis acquisition, net of $61 cash acquired
(1,671)
 
 
Cash acquired in Qwest acquisition, net of $5 cash paid
419 
 
 
Cash acquired in Embarq acquisition
 
 
77 
Other, net
16 
(1)
Net cash used in investing activities
(3,647)
(859)
(679)
FINANCING ACTIVITIES
 
 
 
Net proceeds from issuance of long-term debt
4,102 
 
644 
Payments of long-term debt
(2,984)
(500)
(825)
Net (payments) borrowings on credit facility
(88)
74 
(272)
Debt issuance and retirement costs
(114)
 
(7)
Dividends paid
(1,556)
(879)
(560)
Net proceeds from issuance of common stock
103 
130 
57 
Repurchase of common stock
(31)
(17)
(16)
Other, net
(9)
17 
Net cash used in financing activities
(577)
(1,175)
(976)
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents
(22)
 
 
Net (decrease) increase in cash and cash equivalents
(45)
11 
(81)
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period
173 
162 
243 
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period
128 
173 
162 
Supplemental cash flow information:
 
 
 
Income taxes refunded (paid), net
118 
(424)
(257)
Interest (paid) (net of capitalized interest of $25, $13 and $3)
$ (1,225)
$ (548)
$ (392)
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS (Parenthetical) (USD $)
In Millions, unless otherwise specified
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2011
Dec. 31, 2010
Dec. 31, 2009
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS
 
 
 
Cash paid for Savvis acquisition, cash acquired
$ 61 
$ 61 
$ 61 
Cash acquired in Qwest acquisition, cash paid
Interest paid, capitalized interest
$ 25 
$ 13 
$ 3 
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY (USD $)
In Millions, unless otherwise specified
Total
COMMON STOCK
ADDITIONAL PAID-IN CAPITAL
ACCUMULATED OTHER COMPREHENSIVE LOSS
RETAINED EARNINGS
Balance at Dec. 31, 2008
 
$ 100 
$ 45 
$ (123)
$ 3,146 
Increase (Decrease) in Stockholders' Equity
 
 
 
 
 
Issuance of common stock to acquire Embarq, including shares issued in connection with share-based compensation awards
 
196 
5,874 
 
 
Issuance of common stock through dividend reinvestment, incentive and benefit plans
 
53 
 
 
Shares withheld to satisfy tax withholdings
 
(1)
(15)
 
 
Share-based compensation and other, net
 
 
63 
 
 
Other comprehensive (loss) income
38 
 
 
38 
 
NET INCOME
647 
 
 
 
647 
Dividends declared
 
 
 
 
(560)
Balance at Dec. 31, 2009
9,467 
299 
6,020 
(85)
3,233 
Increase (Decrease) in Stockholders' Equity
 
 
 
 
 
Issuance of common stock through dividend reinvestment, incentive and benefit plans
 
124 
 
 
Shares withheld to satisfy tax withholdings
 
 
(16)
 
 
Share-based compensation and other, net
 
 
53 
 
 
Other comprehensive (loss) income
(56)
 
 
(56)
 
NET INCOME
948 
 
 
 
948 
Dividends declared
 
 
 
 
(879)
Balance at Dec. 31, 2010
9,647 
305 
6,181 
(141)
3,302 
Increase (Decrease) in Stockholders' Equity
 
 
 
 
 
Issuance of common stock to acquire Qwest, including shares issued in connection with share-based compensation awards
 
294 
11,974 
 
 
Issuance of common stock to acquire Savvis, including shares issued in connection with share-based compensation awards
 
14 
601 
 
 
Issuance of common stock through dividend reinvestment, incentive and benefit plans
 
97 
 
 
Shares withheld to satisfy tax withholdings
 
 
(30)
 
 
Share-based compensation and other, net
 
 
78 
 
 
Other comprehensive (loss) income
(871)
 
 
(871)
 
NET INCOME
573 
 
 
 
573 
Dividends declared
 
 
 
 
(1,556)
Balance at Dec. 31, 2011
$ 20,827 
$ 619 
$ 18,901 
$ (1,012)
$ 2,319 
Basis of Presentation and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies
Basis of Presentation and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

(1)   Basis of Presentation and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

Basis of Presentation

        We are an integrated communications company engaged primarily in providing an array of communications services to our residential, business, governmental and wholesale customers. Our communications services include local and long-distance, network access, private line (including special access), public access, broadband, data, managed hosting (including cloud hosting), colocation, wireless and video services. In certain local and regional markets, we also provide local access and fiber transport services to competitive local exchange carriers and security monitoring.

        The accompanying consolidated financial statements include our accounts and the accounts of our subsidiaries over which we exercise control. These subsidiaries include our acquisition of SAVVIS, Inc. ("Savvis") on July 15, 2011, Qwest Communications International Inc. ("Qwest") on April 1, 2011 and Embarq Corporation ("Embarq") on July 1, 2009 (See Note 2—Acquisitions). All intercompany amounts and transactions with our consolidated subsidiaries have been eliminated.

        Through June 30, 2009, CenturyLink accounted for its regulated telephone operations (except for the properties acquired from Verizon in 2002) in accordance with the provisions of regulatory accounting under which certain of our assets and liabilities were required to be recorded and, accordingly, reflected in the balance sheets of our regulated entities. On July 1, 2009, we discontinued the accounting requirements of regulatory accounting upon the conversion of substantially all of our rate-of-return study areas to federal price cap regulation. In the third quarter of 2009, upon the discontinuance of regulatory accounting, we recorded a non-cash extraordinary gain in our consolidated statements of operations of $136 million after-tax. See Note 14—Discontinuance of Regulatory Accounting for additional information.

        Subsequent to the July 1, 2009 discontinuance of regulatory accounting, all intercompany transactions with affiliates have been eliminated from the consolidated financial statements. Prior to July 1, 2009, intercompany transactions with regulated affiliates subject to regulatory accounting were not eliminated in connection with preparing the consolidated financial statements, as allowed by the provisions of regulatory accounting. The amount of intercompany revenues and costs that were not eliminated related to the first half of 2009 approximated $114 million.

        Our consolidated financial statements reflect changes in the way we present the effects of noncontrolling interests in certain of our subsidiaries. To simplify the overall presentation of our financial statements, we no longer display immaterial amounts attributable to noncontrolling interests as separate items. In our revised presentation we report: (i) income attributable to noncontrolling interests in other income (expense), (ii) equity attributable to noncontrolling interests in additional paid-in capital and (iii) cash flows attributable to noncontrolling interests in other financing activities. As a result of this change, the amounts we now report as net income correspond to amounts that we previously reported as net income attributable to CenturyLink, Inc. This presentation change had no effect on earnings per common share, total equity or the classification of our cash flows.

        During 2011, we changed the definitions we use to classify expenses as cost of services and products and selling, general and administrative, and as a result, we reclassified previously reported amounts to conform to the current period presentation. These revisions resulted in the reclassification of $134 million and $49 million from selling, general and administrative to cost of services and products for years ended December 31, 2010 and 2009, respectively. Our current definitions are as follows:

  • Cost of services and products (exclusive of depreciation and amortization) are expenses incurred in providing products and services to our customers. These expenses include: employee-related expenses directly attributable to operating and maintaining our network (such as salaries, wages, benefits and professional fees); facilities expenses (which are third-party telecommunications expenses we incur for using other carriers' networks to provide services to our customers); rents and utilities expenses; equipment sales expenses (such as data integration and modem expenses); costs for universal service funds ("USF") (which are federal and state funds that are established to promote the availability of telecommunications services to all consumers at reasonable and affordable rates, among other things, and to which we are often required to contribute); and other expenses directly related to our network and hosting operations.

    Selling, general and administrative expenses are expenses incurred in selling products and services to our customers, corporate overhead and other operating expenses. These expenses include: employee-related expenses (such as salaries, wages, internal commissions, benefits and professional fees) directly attributable to selling products or services and employee-related expenses for administrative functions; marketing and advertising; taxes (such as property and other taxes) and fees; external commissions; bad debt expense; and other selling, general and administrative expenses.

        These expense classifications may not be comparable to those of other companies.

        We also have reclassified certain other prior period amounts to conform to the current period presentation, including the categorization of our revenues and our segment reporting (see Note 13—Segment Information). These changes had no impact on total revenues, total operating expenses or net income for any period.

        We have reclassified certain prior year balance sheet amounts presented in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2010. We primarily reclassified $312 million from other assets to other intangible assets, net.

Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

  • Use of Estimates

        Our consolidated financial statements are prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles. These accounting principles require us to make certain estimates, judgments and assumptions. We believe that the estimates, judgments and assumptions we made when accounting for items and matters such as, but not limited to, investments, long-term contracts, customer retention patterns, allowance for doubtful accounts, depreciation, amortization, asset valuations, internal labor capitalization rates, recoverability of assets (including deferred tax assets), impairment assessments, pension, post-retirement and other post-employment benefits, taxes, certain liabilities and other provisions and contingencies are reasonable, based on information available at the time they were made. These estimates, judgments and assumptions can affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities and components of stockholders' equity as of the dates of the consolidated balance sheets, as well as the reported amounts of revenue, expenses and components of cash flows during the periods presented in our consolidated statements of operations, our consolidated statements of comprehensive (loss) income and our consolidated statements of cash flows. We also make estimates in our assessments of potential losses in relation to threatened or pending tax and legal matters. See Note 12—Income Taxes and Note 16—Commitments and Contingencies for additional information.

        For matters not related to income taxes, if a loss is considered probable and the amount can be reasonably estimated, we recognize an expense for the estimated loss. If we have the potential to recover a portion of the estimated loss from a third party, we make a separate assessment of recoverability and reduce the estimated loss if recovery is also deemed probable.

        For matters related to income taxes, if the impact of an uncertain tax position is more likely than not to be sustained upon audit by the relevant taxing authority, then we recognize a benefit for the largest amount that is more likely than not to be sustained. No portion of an uncertain tax position will be recognized if the position has less than a 50% likelihood of being sustained. Interest is recognized on the amount of unrecognized benefit from uncertain tax positions.

        For all of these and other matters, actual results could differ from our estimates.

  • Revenue Recognition

        We recognize revenue for services when the related services are provided. Recognition of certain payments received in advance of services being provided is deferred until the service is provided. These advance payments include activation and installation charges, which we recognize as revenue over the expected customer relationship period, which ranges from eighteen months to over ten years depending on the service. We also defer costs for customer acquisitions. The deferral of customer acquisition costs is limited to the amount of revenue deferred on advance payments. Costs in excess of advance payments are recorded as expense in the period such costs are incurred. Expected customer relationship periods are estimated using historical experience. Termination fees or other fees on existing contracts that are negotiated in conjunction with new contracts are deferred and recognized over the new contract term.

        We offer bundle discounts to our customers who receive certain groupings of services. These bundle discounts are recognized concurrently with the associated revenues and are allocated to the various services in the bundled offering based on the estimated selling price of services included in each bundled combination. Revenues from installation activities are deferred and recognized as revenue over the estimated life of the customer relationship. The costs associated with such installation activities, up to the related amount of deferred revenue, are deferred and recognized as an operating expense over the same period.

        Customer arrangements that include both equipment and services are evaluated to determine whether the elements are separable. If the elements are deemed separable and separate earnings processes exist, the revenue associated with each element is allocated to each element based on the relative estimated selling price of the separate elements. We have estimated the selling prices of each element by reference to vendor-specific objective evidence of selling prices when the elements are sold separately. The revenue associated with each element is then recognized as earned. For example, if we receive an advance payment when we sell equipment and continuing service together, we immediately recognize as revenue the amount allocated to the equipment as long as all the conditions for revenue recognition have been satisfied. The portion of the advance payment allocated to the service based upon its relative selling price is recognized ratably over the longer of the contractual period or the expected customer relationship period.

        We have periodically transferred optical capacity assets on our network to other telecommunications service carriers. These transactions are structured as indefeasible rights of use, commonly referred to as IRUs, which are the exclusive right to use a specified amount of capacity or fiber for a specified term, typically 20 years. We account for the cash consideration received on transfers of optical capacity assets and on all of the other elements deliverable under an IRU, as revenue ratably over the term of the agreement. We have not recognized revenue on any contemporaneous exchanges of our optical capacity assets for other optical capacity assets.

        We offer some products and services that are provided by third-party vendors. We review the relationship between us, the vendor and the end customer to assess whether revenue should be reported on a gross or net basis. In assessing whether revenue should be reported on a gross or net basis, we consider whether we act as a principal in the transaction, take title to the products, have risk and rewards of ownership and act as an agent or broker. Based on our agreements with DIRECTV and Verizon Wireless, we offer these services through sales agency relationships which are reported on a net basis.

        For our Savvis operations, we have service level commitments pursuant to individual client contracts with certain of our clients. To the extent that such service levels are not achieved or are otherwise disputed due to performance or service issues or other service interruptions or conditions, we will estimate the amount of credits to be issued and record a reduction to revenue, with a corresponding increase in the allowance for doubtful accounts. In the event we provide credits or payments to clients related to service level claims, we may recover such costs through third party insurance agreements. Insurance proceeds received under these agreements are recorded as an offset to previously recorded revenue reductions.

  • USF, Gross Receipts Taxes and Other Surcharges

        In determining whether to include in our revenue and expenses the taxes and surcharges collected from customers and remitted to governmental authorities, including USF charges, sales, use, value added and some excise taxes, we assess, among other things, whether we are the primary obligor or principal taxpayer for the taxes assessed in each jurisdiction where we do business. In jurisdictions where we determine that we are the principal taxpayer, we record the taxes on a gross basis and include them in our revenue and costs of services and products.

        In jurisdictions where we determine that we are merely a collection agent for the government authority, we record the taxes on a net basis and do not include them in our revenue and costs of services and products.

  • Advertising Costs

        Costs related to advertising are expensed as incurred and included in selling, general and administrative expenses in our consolidated statements of operations. For the years ended December 31, 2011, 2010 and 2009, our advertising expense was $275 million, $49 million and $25 million, respectively.

  • Legal Costs

        In the normal course of our business, we incur costs to hire and retain external legal counsel to advise us on regulatory, litigation and other matters. We expense these costs as the related services are received.

  • Income Taxes

        We file a consolidated federal income tax return with our eligible subsidiaries. The provision for income taxes consists of an amount for taxes currently payable, an amount for tax consequences deferred to future periods, adjustments to our liabilities for uncertain tax positions and amortization of investment tax credits. We record deferred income tax assets and liabilities reflecting future tax consequences attributable to tax net operating loss carryforwards (NOLs), tax credit carryforwards and differences between the financial statement carrying value of assets and liabilities and the tax bases of those assets and liabilities. Deferred taxes are computed using enacted tax rates expected to apply in the year in which the differences are expected to affect taxable income. The effect on deferred income tax assets and liabilities of a change in tax rate is recognized in earnings in the period that includes the enactment date.

        We use the deferral method of accounting for federal investment tax credits earned prior to the repeal of such credits in 1986. We also defer certain transitional investment tax credits earned after the repeal, as well as investment tax credits earned in certain states. We amortize these credits ratably over the estimated service lives of the related assets as a credit to our income tax expense in our consolidated statements of operations.

        We establish valuation allowances when necessary to reduce deferred income tax assets to the amounts that we believe are more likely than not to be recovered. A significant portion of our net deferred tax assets relate to tax benefits attributable to NOLs. Each quarter we evaluate the need to retain all or a portion of the valuation allowance on our deferred tax assets. At December 31, 2011, we concluded that it was more likely than not that we would realize the majority of our deferred tax assets. See Note 12—Income Taxes for additional information.

  • Cash and Cash Equivalents

        Cash and cash equivalents include highly liquid investments that are readily convertible into cash and are not subject to significant risk from fluctuations in interest rates. As a result, the value at which cash and cash equivalents are reported in our consolidated financial statements approximates their fair value. In evaluating investments for classification as cash equivalents, we require that individual securities have original maturities of three months or less and that individual investment funds have dollar-weighted average maturities of ninety days or less. To preserve capital and maintain liquidity, we invest with financial institutions we deem to be of sound financial condition and in high quality and relatively risk-free investment products. Our cash investment policy limits the concentration of investments with specific financial institutions or among certain products and includes criteria related to credit worthiness of any particular financial institution.

        Book overdrafts occur when checks have been issued but have not been presented to our controlled disbursement bank accounts for payment. Disbursement bank accounts allow us to delay funding of issued checks until the checks are presented for payment. Until the issued checks are presented for payment, the book overdrafts are included in accounts payable on our consolidated balance sheet. This activity is included in the operating activities section in our consolidated statements of cash flows.

  • Accounts Receivable and Allowance for Doubtful Accounts

        Accounts Receivable are recognized based upon the amount due from customers for the services provided or at cost for purchased and other receivables less an allowance for doubtful accounts. The allowance for doubtful accounts receivable reflects our best estimate of probable losses inherent in our receivable portfolio determined on the basis of historical experience, specific allowances for known troubled accounts and other currently available evidence. We generally consider our accounts past due if they are outstanding over 30 days. Our collection process varies by the customer segment, amount of the receivable, and our evaluation of the customer's credit risk. Our past due accounts are written off against our allowance for doubtful accounts when collection is considered to be not probable. Any recoveries of accounts previously written off are generally recognized as a reduction in bad debt expense in the period received. The carrying value of accounts receivable net of the allowance for doubtful accounts approximates fair value.

  • Property, Plant and Equipment

        Property, plant and equipment acquired in connection with our acquisitions was recorded based on its estimated fair value as of its acquisition date plus the estimated value of any associated legally or contractually required retirement obligations. Substantially all other property, plant and equipment is stated at original cost plus the estimated value of any associated legally or contractually required retirement obligations. Property, plant and equipment is depreciated primarily using the straight-line group method. Under the straight-line group method, assets dedicated to providing telecommunications services (which comprise the majority of our property, plant and equipment) that have similar physical characteristics, use and expected useful lives are categorized in the year acquired on the basis of equal life groups for purposes of depreciation and tracking. Generally, under the straight-line group method, when an asset is sold or retired, the cost is deducted from property, plant and equipment and charged to accumulated depreciation without recognition of a gain or loss. A gain or loss is recognized in our consolidated statements of operations only if a disposal is abnormal or unusual. Leasehold improvements are amortized over the shorter of the useful lives of the assets or the expected lease term. Expenditures for maintenance and repairs are expensed as incurred. Interest is capitalized during the construction phase of network and other internal-use capital projects. Employee-related costs for construction of network and other internal use assets are also capitalized during the construction phase. Property, plant and equipment supplies used internally are carried at average cost, except for significant individual items for which cost is based on specific identification.

        We perform annual internal reviews to evaluate the reasonableness of the depreciable lives for our property, plant and equipment. Our reviews utilize models that take into account actual usage, physical wear and tear, replacement history, assumptions about technology evolution and, in certain instances, actuarially determined probabilities to estimate the remaining life of our asset base. The changes in our estimates incorporated as a result of our most recent reviews did not have a material impact on the level of our depreciation expense.

        We have asset retirement obligations associated with the legally or contractually required removal of a limited group of property, plant and equipment assets from leased properties and the disposal of certain hazardous materials present in our owned properties. When an asset retirement obligation is identified, usually in association with the acquisition of the asset, we record the fair value of the obligation as a liability. The fair value of the obligation is also capitalized as property, plant and equipment and then amortized over the estimated remaining useful life of the associated asset. Where the removal obligation is not legally binding, the net cost to remove assets is expensed in the period in which the costs are actually incurred.

        We review long-lived assets, other than goodwill and other intangible assets with indefinite lives, for impairment whenever facts and circumstances indicate that the carrying amounts of the assets may not be recoverable. For measurement purposes, long-lived assets are grouped with other assets and liabilities at the lowest level for which identifiable cash flows are largely independent of the cash flows of other assets and liabilities, absent a material change in operations. An impairment loss is recognized only if the carrying amount of the asset group is not recoverable and exceeds its fair value. Recoverability of the asset group to be held and used is measured by comparing the carrying amount of the asset group to the estimated undiscounted future net cash flows expected to be generated by the asset group. If the asset group's carrying value is not recoverable, an impairment charge is recognized for the amount by which the carrying amount of the asset group exceeds its fair value. We determine fair values by using a combination of comparable market values and discounted cash flows, as appropriate.

  • Goodwill, Customer Relationships and Other Intangible Assets

        Intangible assets arising from business combinations, such as goodwill, customer relationships, trademarks and tradenames, are initially recorded at fair value. We amortize customer relationships primarily over an estimated life of 10 years, using either the sum-of-the-years-digits or straight-line methods, depending on the type of customer. We amortize capitalized software using the straight-line method over estimated lives ranging up to seven years and amortize our other intangible assets predominantly using the sum-of-the-years digits method over an estimated life of four years. Other intangible assets not arising from business combinations are initially recorded at cost. Where there are no legal, regulatory, contractual or other factors that would reasonably limit the useful life of an intangible asset, we classify the intangible asset as indefinite-lived and such intangible assets are not amortized.

        Internally used software, whether purchased or developed by us, is capitalized and amortized using the straight-line group method over its estimated useful life. We have capitalized certain costs associated with software such as costs of employees devoting time to the projects and external direct costs for materials and services. Costs associated with software to be used for internal purposes are expensed until the point at which the project has reached the development stage. Subsequent additions, modifications or upgrades to internal-use software are capitalized only to the extent that they allow the software to perform a task it previously did not perform. Software maintenance, data conversion and training costs are expensed in the period in which they are incurred. We review the remaining economic lives of our capitalized software annually. Capitalized software is included in other intangible assets, net, in our consolidated balance sheets.

        Our long-lived intangible assets with indefinite lives are reviewed for impairment annually or whenever an event occurs or circumstances change that would indicate an impairment may have occurred. These assets are carried at historical cost if their estimated fair value is greater than their carrying amounts. However, if their estimated fair value is less than the carrying amount, other indefinite-lived intangible assets are reduced to their estimated fair value through an impairment charge to our consolidated statements of operations. In the fourth quarter of 2011, we completed our annual review and determined that the fair value of our indefinite-lived intangible assets exceeded their carrying amounts; accordingly, no impairment charge was recorded in 2011.

        We are required to review goodwill for impairment at least annually, or more frequently if events or a change in circumstances indicate that an impairment may have occurred. We are required to write-down the value of goodwill only in periods in which the recorded amount of goodwill exceeds the fair value. Our annual measurement date for testing goodwill impairment is September 30. Subsequent to our acquisitions of Qwest on April 1, 2011 and Savvis on July 15, 2011, we managed our operations based on four operating segments (regional markets, business markets, wholesale markets and Savvis operations) and have considered these four operating segments to be the appropriate level for testing goodwill impairment as of September 30, 2011. Prior to our acquisition of Qwest, our reporting units were generally aligned to our five geographic operating regions, under which we managed the substantial portion of our operations. See Note 3—Goodwill, Customer Relationships and Other Intangible Assets for additional information.

        We periodically review the estimated lives and methods used to amortize our other intangible assets. The actual amounts of amortization expense may differ materially from our estimates, depending on the results of our periodic reviews and our final determinations of acquisition date fair value related to Savvis' and Qwest's intangible assets. For more information, see Note 2—Acquisitions.

  • Pension and Post-Retirement Benefits

        We recognize the overfunded or underfunded status of our defined benefit and post-retirement plans as an asset or a liability on our balance sheet. Accumulated actuarial gains and losses are a component of our other comprehensive (loss) income, which is then included in our accumulated other comprehensive (loss) income. Pension and post-retirement benefit expenses are recognized over the period in which the employee renders service and becomes eligible to receive benefits. We make significant assumptions (including the discount rate, expected rate of return on plan assets and health care trend rates) in computing the pension and post-retirement benefits expense and obligations. See Note 8—Employee Benefits.

  • Foreign Currency

        Our results of operations include foreign subsidiaries, which are translated from the applicable functional currency to the United States dollar using the average exchange rates during the reporting period, while assets and liabilities are translated at the reporting date. Resulting gains or losses from translating foreign currency are included in accumulated other comprehensive (loss) income.

  • Common Stock

        At December 31, 2011, we had unissued shares of CenturyLink common stock reserved of 43.6 million shares for incentive compensation, 4.1 million shares for acquisitions, 3.4 million shares for our employee stock purchase plan ("ESPP") and 400,000 shares for our dividend reinvestment plan.

Preferred stock

        Holders of outstanding CenturyLink preferred stock are entitled to receive cumulative dividends, receive preferential distributions equal to $25 per share plus unpaid dividends upon CenturyLink's liquidation and vote as a single class with the holders of common stock.

Recently Issued Accounting Pronouncements

        In September 2011, the Financial Accounting Standards Board ("FASB") issued Accounting Standards Update ("ASU") 2011-08, Intangibles—Goodwill and Other (Topic 350): Testing Goodwill for Impairment. This update simplifies the goodwill impairment assessment by allowing a company to first review qualitative factors to determine the likelihood of whether the fair value of a reporting unit is less than its carrying amount before applying the two-step goodwill impairment test. If it is determined that it is more likely than not that the fair value of a reporting unit is greater than its carrying amount, a company would not be required to perform the two-step goodwill impairment test for that reporting unit. This update is effective for interim and annual goodwill impairment tests performed for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2011 with early adoption permitted. This ASU, which we adopted during the third quarter of 2011, did not have any impact on our consolidated financial statements.

        In October 2009, the FASB issued ASU 2009-13, Revenue Recognition (Topic 605): Multiple-Deliverable Revenue Arrangements. This update requires the use of the relative selling price method when allocating revenue in these types of arrangements. This method requires a vendor to use its best estimate of selling price if neither vendor specific objective evidence nor third party evidence of selling price exists when evaluating multiple deliverable arrangements. This standard update was effective for us on January 1, 2011 and we have adopted it prospectively for revenue arrangements entered into or materially modified after January 1, 2011. This standard update has not had and is not expected to have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements since the allocation of revenue has historically been based upon the relative fair value of the elements as determined by reference to vendor specific objective evidence of fair value when the elements have been sold on a stand-alone basis.

Acquisitions
Acquisitions

(2)   Acquisitions

Acquisition of Savvis

        On July 15, 2011, we acquired all of the outstanding common stock of Savvis, a provider of cloud hosting, managed hosting, colocation and network services in domestic and foreign markets. We believe this acquisition enhances our ability to be an information technology partner with our existing business customers and strengthens our opportunities to attract new business customers in the future. Each share of Savvis common stock outstanding immediately prior to the acquisition converted into the right to receive $30 per share in cash and 0.2479 shares of CenturyLink common stock. The aggregate consideration of $2.382 billion consisted of:

  • cash payments of $1.732 billion;

    the 14.313 million shares of CenturyLink common stock issued to consummate the acquisition,

    the closing stock price of CenturyLink common stock at July 14, 2011 of $38.54; and

    the estimated net value of the pre-combination portion of certain share-based compensation awards assumed by CenturyLink of $98 million, of which $33 million was paid in cash.

        Upon completing the acquisition, we also paid $547 million to retire certain pre-existing Savvis debt and accrued interest, and paid related transaction expenses totaling $15 million. The cash payments required on or about the closing date were funded using existing cash balances, which included the net proceeds from the June 2011 issuance of senior notes with an aggregate principal amount of $2.0 billion. See Note 4—Long-term Debt and Credit Facilities, for additional information about our senior notes.

        We have recognized the assets and liabilities of Savvis based on our preliminary estimates of their acquisition date fair values. The determination of the fair values of the acquired assets and assumed liabilities (and the related determination of estimated lives of depreciable tangible and identifiable intangible assets) requires significant judgment. As such, we have not completed our valuation analysis and calculations in sufficient detail necessary to arrive at the final estimates of the fair value of Savvis' assets acquired and liabilities assumed, along with the related allocations to goodwill and intangible assets. All information presented is preliminary and subject to revision pending the final valuation analysis. We expect to complete our final fair value determinations no later than the second quarter of 2012. Our final fair value determinations may be significantly different than those reflected in our consolidated financial statements at December 31, 2011.

        Based on our preliminary estimate, the aggregate consideration exceeds the aggregate estimated fair value of the acquired assets and assumed liabilities by $1.357 billion, which has been recognized as goodwill. This goodwill is attributable to strategic benefits, including enhanced financial and operational scale and product and market diversification that we expect to realize. None of the goodwill associated with this acquisition is deductible for income tax purposes.

        The following is our preliminary assignment of the aggregate consideration:

 
  July 15, 2011  
 
  (Dollars in millions)
 

Cash, accounts receivable and other current assets

  $ 213  

Property, plant and equipment

    1,335  

Identifiable intangible assets

       

Customer relationships

    794  

Other

    51  

Other noncurrent assets

    27  

Current liabilities, excluding current maturities of long-term debt

    (129 )

Current maturities of long-term debt

    (38 )

Long-term debt

    (840 )

Deferred credits and other liabilities

    (388 )

Goodwill

    1,357  
       

Aggregate consideration

  $ 2,382  
       

Acquisition of Qwest

        On April 1, 2011, we acquired all of the outstanding common stock of Qwest, a provider of data, Internet, video and voice services nationwide and globally. We entered into this acquisition, among other things, to realize certain strategic benefits, including enhanced financial and operational scale, market diversification and leveraged combined networks. As of the acquisition date, Qwest served approximately 9.0 million access lines and approximately 3.0 million broadband subscribers across 14 states. Each share of Qwest common stock outstanding immediately prior to the acquisition converted into the right to receive 0.1664 shares of CenturyLink common stock, with cash paid in lieu of fractional shares. The aggregate consideration was $12.273 billion based on:

  • the 294 million shares of CenturyLink common stock issued to consummate the acquisition;

    the closing stock price of CenturyLink common stock at March 31, 2011 of $41.55;

    the estimated net value of the pre-combination portion of share-based compensation awards assumed by CenturyLink of $52 million (excluding the value of restricted stock included in the number of issued shares specified above); and

    cash paid in lieu of the issuance of fractional shares of $5 million.

        We assumed approximately $12.7 billion of long-term debt in connection with our acquisition of Qwest.

        We have recognized the assets and liabilities of Qwest based on our preliminary estimates of their acquisition date fair values. The determination of the fair values of the acquired assets and assumed liabilities (and the related determination of estimated lives of depreciable tangible and identifiable intangible assets) requires significant judgment. As such, we have not completed our valuation analysis and calculations in sufficient detail necessary to arrive at the final estimates of the fair value of Qwest's assets acquired and liabilities assumed, along with the related allocations to goodwill and intangible assets. As such, all information presented is preliminary and subject to revision pending the final valuation analysis. We expect to complete our final fair value determinations no later than the first quarter of 2012. Our final fair value determinations may be significantly different than those reflected in our consolidated financial statements at December 31, 2011.

        Based on our preliminary estimate, the aggregate consideration exceeds the aggregate estimated fair value of the acquired assets and assumed liabilities by $10.106 billion, which amount has been recognized as goodwill. This goodwill is attributable to strategic benefits, including enhanced financial and operational scale, market diversification and leveraged combined networks that we expect to realize. None of the goodwill associated with this acquisition is deductible for income tax purposes.

        The following is our preliminary assignment of the aggregate consideration:

 
  April 1, 2011  
 
  (Dollars in millions)
 

Cash, accounts receivable and other current assets

  $ 2,128  

Property, plant and equipment

    9,554  

Identifiable intangible assets

       

Customer relationships

    7,625  

Capitalized software

    1,702  

Other

    189  

Other noncurrent assets

    373  

Current liabilities, excluding current maturities of long-term debt

    (2,428 )

Current maturities of long-term debt

    (2,422 )

Long-term debt

    (10,253 )

Deferred credits and other liabilities

    (4,301 )

Goodwill

    10,106  
       

Aggregate consideration

  $ 12,273  
       

Acquisition of Embarq

        On July 1, 2009, we acquired all of the outstanding common stock of Embarq Corporation ("Embarq"), a provider of data, Internet, video and voice services. We entered into this acquisition, among other things, to realize certain strategic benefits, including enhanced financial and operational scale, market diversification and leveraged combined networks. As of the acquisition date, Embarq served approximately 5.4 million access lines and approximately 1.5 million broadband subscribers across 18 states. Each share of Embarq common stock outstanding immediately prior to the acquisition converted into the right to receive 1.37 shares of CenturyLink common stock, with cash paid in lieu of fractional shares. The aggregate consideration of $6.070 billion was based on:

  • the 196 million shares of CenturyLink common stock issued to consummate the acquisition;

    the closing stock price of CenturyLink common stock at June 30, 2009 of $30.70; and

    the estimated net value of the pre-combination portion of share-based compensation awards assumed by CenturyLink of approximately $50 million (excluding the value of restricted stock included in the number of issued shares specified above).

        We assumed approximately $4.9 billion of long-term debt in connection with our acquisition of Embarq.

        In connection the Embarq acquisition, we amended our charter to eliminate our time-phase voting structure, which previously entitled persons who beneficially owned shares of our common stock continuously since May 30, 1987 to ten votes per share.

        We have recognized the assets and liabilities of Embarq based on their acquisition date fair values. Based on our final determination of fair value in June 2010, the aggregate consideration exceeds the aggregate estimated fair value of the acquired assets and assumed liabilities by $6.245 billion, which amount has been recognized as goodwill. This goodwill is attributable to strategic benefits, including enhanced financial and operational scale, market diversification and leveraged combined networks that we expect to realize. None of the goodwill associated with this acquisition is deductible for income tax purposes.

        The following is our assignment of the aggregate consideration:

 
  July 1, 2009  
 
  (Dollars in millions)
 

Cash, accounts receivable and other current assets

  $ 676  

Property, plant and equipment

    6,078  

Identifiable intangible assets

       

Customer relationships

    1,098  

Right of way

    268  

Other

    27  

Other noncurrent assets

    24  

Current liabilities, excluding current maturities of long-term debt

    (837 )

Current maturities of long-term debt

    (2 )

Long-term debt

    (4,885 )

Deferred credits and other liabilities

    (2,622 )

Goodwill

    6,245  
       

Aggregate consideration

  $ 6,070  
       

        In connection with consummating the Embarq acquisition, we amended our charter to (i) eliminate our time-phase voting structure, which previously entitled persons who beneficially owned shares of our common stock continuously since May 30, 1987 to ten votes per share, and (ii) increase the authorized number of shares of our common stock from 350 million to 800 million. As so amended and restated, our charter provides that each share of our common stock is entitled to one vote per share with respect to each matter properly submitted to shareholders for their vote, consent, waiver, release or other action.

References to Acquired Businesses

        In the discussion that follows, we refer to the business that we operated prior to the Qwest acquisition (including Embarq's business) as "Legacy CenturyLink" and refer to the incremental business activities that we now operate as a result of the Savvis acquisition and the Qwest acquisition as "Legacy Savvis" and "Legacy Qwest", respectively.

Combined Pro Forma Operating Results (Unaudited)

        For the year ended December 31, 2011, CenturyLink's results of operations included operating revenues (net of intercompany eliminations) attributable to Qwest and Savvis of $8.2 billion and $483 million, respectively. The addition of Qwest and Savvis post-acquisition operations did not contribute significantly to our consolidated net income.

        The following unaudited pro forma financial information presents the combined results of CenturyLink as if the Qwest and Savvis acquisitions had been consummated as of January 1, 2010.

 
  Years Ended December 31,  
 
  2011   2010  
 
  (Dollars in millions)
 

Operating revenues

  $ 18,692     19,431  

Net income

    601     293  

Basic earnings per common share

    .97     .48  

Diluted earnings per common share

    .97     .48  

        This pro forma information reflects certain adjustments to previously reported operating results, consisting of primarily:

  • decreased operating revenues and expenses due to the elimination of deferred revenues and deferred expenses associated with installation activities and capacity leases that were assigned no value at the acquisition date and the elimination of transactions among CenturyLink, Qwest and Savvis that are now subject to intercompany elimination;

    increased amortization expense related to identifiable intangible assets, net of decreased depreciation expense to reflect the fair value of property, plant and equipment;

    decreased recognition of retiree benefit expenses for Qwest due to the elimination of unrecognized actuarial losses;

    decreased interest expense primarily due to the amortization of an adjustment to reflect the increased fair value of long-term debt of Qwest recognized on the acquisition date; and

    the related income tax effects.

        The pro forma information does not necessarily reflect the actual results of operations had the Qwest and Savvis acquisitions been consummated at January 1, 2010, nor is it necessarily indicative of future operating results. The pro forma information does not give effect to any potential revenue enhancements, cost synergies or other operating efficiencies that could result from the acquisitions (other than those realized in our historical financial statements after the respective acquisition dates).

        At December 31, 2011, we had incurred cumulative acquisition related expenses, consisting primarily of integration and severance related expenses, of $41 million for Savvis, $393 million for Qwest, and $459 million for Embarq. The total amount of these expenses recognized in our costs of services and products and selling, general and administrative expenses for years ended December 31, 2011, 2010 and 2009 was $467 million, $145 million and $271 million, respectively. An additional $16 million consists of transaction expenses incurred in connection with terminating an unused loan financing commitment related to our Savvis acquisition. This amount was not considered an operating activity and therefore not included as an operating expense.

        Qwest incurred cumulative pre-acquisition related expenses of $71 million, including $36 million in periods prior to being acquired and $35 million on the date of acquisition. Savvis incurred cumulative pre-acquisition related expenses of $22 million, including $3 million in periods prior to being acquired and $19 million on the date of acquisition. These amounts are not included in our results of operations.

Goodwill, Customer Relationships and Other Intangible Assets
Goodwill, Customer Relationships and Other Intangible Assets

(3)   Goodwill, Customer Relationships and Other Intangible Assets

        Goodwill, customer relationships and other intangible assets consisted of the following:

 
  December 31,
2011
  December 31,
2010
 
 
  (Dollars in millions)
 

Goodwill

  $ 21,724     10,261  
           

Customer relationships, less accumulated amortization of $1,337 and $349

    8,361     930  
           

Indefinite-life intangible assets

    418     418  

Other intangible assets subject to amortization

             

Capitalized software, less accumulated amortization of $441 and $79

    1,622     164  

Tradenames and patents, less accumulated amortization of $73 and $3

    199     40  
           

Total other intangible assets, net

  $ 2,239     622  
           

        Our goodwill was derived from numerous acquisitions whereby the purchase price exceeded the fair value of the net assets acquired (See Note 2—Acquisitions). At December 31, 2011, the net carrying amounts of goodwill, customer relationships and other intangible assets included preliminary estimates of $20.710 billion as a result of our acquisitions of Qwest and Savvis. We expect to complete the final determination of these estimates and related estimated lives for amortizable intangible assets no later than the second quarter of 2012 for Savvis and the first quarter of 2012 for Qwest.

        Total amortization expense for intangible assets for years ended December 31, 2011, 2010 and 2009 was $1.425 billion, $206 million and $136 million, respectively. The 2011 total included $42 million related to the Savvis acquisition and $1.185 billion for the Qwest acquisition for the year ended December 31, 2011.

        We estimate that total amortization expense for intangible assets for the years ending December 31, 2012 through 2016 will be as follows:

 
  (Dollars in millions)  

2012

  $ 1,656  

2013

    1,524  

2014

    1,389  

2015

    1,234  

2016

    1,090  

        Our annual measurement date for testing goodwill impairment is September 30. As of December 31, 2011, we attributed our goodwill balances to our segments as follows:

 
  December 31, 2011  
 
  (Dollars in millions)
 

Regional markets

  $ 11,813  

Business markets

    5,021  

Wholesale markets

    3,533  

Savvis operations

    1,357  
       

Total goodwill

  $ 21,724  
       

        For each segment, we compare its estimated fair value to the carrying value of the assets that we attribute to the segment. If the estimated fair value of the segment is greater than the carrying value, we conclude that no impairment exists. If the estimated fair value of the segment is less than the attributed carrying value, a second calculation is required in which the implied fair value of goodwill is compared to the carrying value goodwill that we attribute to the segment. If the implied fair value of goodwill is less than its carrying value, goodwill must be written down to its implied fair value.

        At September 30, 2011, we estimated the fair value of our regional, business and wholesale markets segments using an equal weighting based on a market approach and a discounted cash flow method. The market approach includes the use of comparable multiples of publicly traded companies whose services are comparable to ours to corroborate discounted cash flow results. The discounted cash flow method is based on the present value of projected cash flows and a terminal value, which represents the expected normalized cash flows of the segment beyond the cash flows from the discrete projection five-year period. The estimated cash flows were discounted for each segment using a rate that represents our weighted average cost of capital, which we determined to be 6.50% as of the measurement date (which was comprised of a pre-tax cost of debt of 7.0% and a cost of equity of 8.7%). We also reconciled the estimated fair values of the segments to our market capitalization as of September 30, 2011 and concluded that the indicated implied control premium of 16% was reasonable based on recent transactions in the market place. At September 30, 2011, based on our analysis performed with respect to these segments as described above, we concluded that our goodwill was not impaired as of that date.

        For our Savvis operations, we determined the preliminary fair value of the assets acquired and liabilities assumed using various methods, including an overall discounted cash flow analysis performed for all of Savvis' operations. The fair value assignments are still preliminary and could change significantly upon finalization of the fair value assignments. Due to the recentness of the acquisition and the related preliminary valuation results and the lack of any significant adverse events that have occurred to Savvis' operating results or our expectations of forecasted operating results utilized in the preliminary valuation since the July 15, 2011 acquisition date, we have concluded that the goodwill related to the Savvis operations is not impaired.

        On October 27, 2011, the FCC adopted the Connect America and Intercarrier Compensation Reform order. This order will reduce the amount of switched access revenues we recognize in our wholesale markets segment in the future. This CAF order was considered to be an event or change in circumstance that may indicate that an impairment may have occurred. At December 31, 2011, we performed the first step of the goodwill impairment test to identify a potential impairment by comparing the estimated fair value of the wholesale markets segment with its attributed carrying amount, including goodwill. We concluded the goodwill of this segment is not impaired and no further testing was necessary.

Long-Term Debt and Credit Facilities
Long-Term Debt and Credit Facilities

(4)   Long-Term Debt and Credit Facilities

        Long-term debt, including unamortized discounts and premiums, at December 31, 2011 and 2010 consisted of borrowings by CenturyLink, Inc. and certain of its subsidiaries, as follows:

 
   
   
  Years Ended December 31,  
 
  Interest Rates   Maturities   2011   2010  
 
   
   
  (Dollars in millions)
 

CenturyLink, Inc.

                       

Senior notes

    5.000% - 7.875%   2012 - 2039   $ 4,518     2,518  

Credit facility

    2.550% - 4.500% (*) 2015     277     365  

Subsidiaries

                       

Qwest

                       

Senior notes

    7.125% - 8.000%   2014 - 2018     2,650      

Debentures

    6.875% - 7.750%   2014 - 2043     3,182      

Other notes

    6.500% - 8.375%   2013 - 2051     5,628      

Embarq Corporation

                       

Senior notes

    6.738% - 7.995%   2013 - 2036     4,013     4,013  

First mortgage bonds

    6.875% - 8.770%   2013 - 2025     322     322  

Other

    6.750% - 9.000%   2013 - 2019     200     200  

First mortgage notes

      2.00% - 10.00%   2012 - 2018     65     83  

Capital lease and other obligations

    Various   Various     712      

Unamortized premiums (discounts) and other, net

              269     (173 )
                     

Total long-term debt

              21,836     7,328  
                     

Less current maturities

              (480 )   (12 )
                     

Long-term debt, excluding current maturities

            $ 21,356     7,316  
                     

(*)
This range includes the weighted average interest on our credit facility of 2.74% as of December 31, 2011.

Long-Term Debt Acquired

        As a result of the acquisition of Qwest on April 1, 2011, Qwest's pre-existing debt obligations, which consisted primarily of debt securities issued by Qwest Communications International Inc. and two of its subsidiaries, are now included in our consolidated debt balances. On the acquisition date, Qwest's debt securities had stated principal balances totaling $11.598 billion, predominantly fixed contractual interest rates ranging from 6.5% to 8.875% (weighted average of 7.63%) and maturities ranging from 2012 to 2051. In accounting for the Qwest acquisition, we recorded Qwest's debt securities at their estimated fair values, which totaled $12.675 billion as of April 1, 2011 (which included $383 million of capital leases and certain other obligations). Our acquisition date fair value estimates were based primarily on quoted market prices in active markets and other observable inputs where quoted market prices were not available. The amount by which the fair value of Qwest debt securities exceeded their stated principal balances on the acquisition date of $693 million is being recognized as a reduction to interest expense over the remaining terms of the debt.

        Upon completing the acquisition of Savvis on July 15, 2011, we paid $547 million to retire certain pre-existing Savvis debt and accrued interest, and paid related transaction expenses totaling $15 million. The cash payments required on or about the closing date were funded using existing cash balances, which included the net proceeds from the June 16, 2011 issuance of senior notes with an aggregate principal amount of $2.0 billion, as discussed below.

New Issuances

        On October 4, 2011, our indirect wholly owned subsidiary, Qwest Corporation ("QC") issued $950 million aggregate principal amount of its 6.75% Notes due 2021 in exchange for net proceeds, after deducting underwriting discounts and expenses, of $927 million. The notes are senior unsecured obligations of QC and may be redeemed, in whole or in part, at a redemption price equal to the greater of their principal amount or the present value of the remaining principal and interest payments discounted at a U.S. Treasury interest rate specified in the indenture agreement plus 50 basis points. In October 2011, QC used the net proceeds from this offering, together with the $557 million of net proceeds received on September 21, 2011 from the debt issuance described below and available cash, to redeem the $1.500 billion aggregate principal amount of its 8.875% Notes due 2012 and to pay all related fees and expenses, which resulted in an immaterial loss.

        On September 21, 2011, QC issued $575 million aggregate principal amount of its 7.50% Notes due 2051 in exchange for net proceeds, after deducting underwriting discounts and expenses, of $557 million. The notes are senior unsecured obligations of QC and may be redeemed, in whole or in part, on or after September 15, 2016 at a redemption price equal to 100% of the principal amount redeemed plus accrued and unpaid interest to the redemption date.

        On June 16, 2011, we issued unsecured senior notes with an aggregate principal amount of $2.0 billion ("Senior Notes"), consisting of (i) $400 million of 7.60% Senior Notes, Series P, due 2039, (ii) $350 million of 5.15% Senior Notes, Series R, due 2017 and (iii) $1.250 billion of 6.45% Senior Notes, Series S, due 2021. After deducting underwriting discounts and expenses, we received aggregate net proceeds of $1.959 billion in exchange for the Senior Notes. We may redeem the Senior Notes, in whole or in part, at any time at a redemption price equal to the greater of their principal amount or the present value of the remaining principal and interest payments discounted at a U.S. Treasury interest rates plus 50 basis points. We used the net proceeds to fund a portion of our acquisition of Savvis and repay certain of Savvis' debt (see Note 2—Acquisitions). In April 2011, we received commitment letters from two banks to provide up to $2.0 billion in bridge financing for the Savvis acquisition. This arrangement was terminated in June 2011 in connection with the issuance of the Senior Notes resulting in $16 million in transaction expenses recognized in other income (expense), net.

        On June 8, 2011, QC issued $661 million aggregate principal amount of its 7.375% Notes due 2051 in exchange for net proceeds, after deducting underwriting discounts and expenses, of $642 million. The notes are unsecured obligations of QC and may be redeemed, in whole or in part, on or after June 1, 2016 at a redemption price equal to 100% of the principal amount redeemed plus accrued and unpaid interest to the redemption date.

        In April 2011, we entered into a $160 million uncommitted revolving letter of credit facility, which enables us to provide letters of credit under terms that may be more favorable than those under the Credit Facility. At December 31, 2011, our outstanding letters of credit totaled $129 million.

        In January 2011, we entered into a new four-year revolving credit facility with various lenders (the "Credit Facility"). The Credit Facility initially allowed us to borrow up to $1 billion. Upon consummation of the Qwest acquisition, our borrowing capacity under the Credit Facility increased to $1.7 billion, for the general corporate purposes of us and our subsidiaries. Up to $400 million of the Credit Facility can be used for letters of credit, which reduce the amount available for other extensions of credit. Interest is assessed on borrowings using the London Interbank Offered Rate ("LIBOR") plus an applicable margin between 0.5% and 2.5% per annum depending on the type of loan and CenturyLink's then-current senior unsecured long-term debt rating. At December 31, 2011, we had $277 million in borrowings and an immaterial amount of letters of credit outstanding under the Credit Facility.

Repayments

        In October 2011, QC used the net proceeds of $927 million from the October 4, 2011 issuance, together with the $557 million of net proceeds received from the September 21, 2011 debt issuance described above and available cash, to redeem the $1.5 billion aggregate principal amount of its 8.875% Notes due 2012 and to pay all related fees and expenses, which resulted in an immaterial loss.

        In June 2011, QC used the net proceeds of $642 million from the June 8, 2011 debt issuance, together with available cash, to redeem $825 million aggregate principal amount of its 7.875% Notes due 2011 and to pay related fees and expenses, which resulted in an immaterial loss.

        Aggregate maturities of our long-term debt (excluding unamortized premiums, discounts, and other):

 
  (Dollars in millions)  

2012

  $ 480  

2013

    1,717  

2014

    2,057  

2015

    1,659  

2016

    2,856  

2017 and thereafter

    12,798  
       

Total notes and debentures

  $ 21,567  
       

Interest Expense

        Interest expense includes interest on long-term debt. The following table presents the amount of gross interest expense, net of capitalized interest:

 
  Years Ended December 31,  
 
  2011   2010   2009  
 
  (Dollars in millions)
 

Interest expense on long-term debt:

                   

Gross interest expense

  $ 1,097     557     370  

Capitalized interest

    (25 )   (13 )   (3 )
               

Total interest expense on long-term debt

  $ 1,072     544     367  
               

Long-Term Debt Covenants

        Certain of our loan agreements contain various restrictions, among which are limitations regarding issuance or guarantee of additional debt or issuance of preferred stock, payment of cash dividends, reacquisition or sale of capital stock and other matters. In addition, the transfer of funds from certain consolidated subsidiaries to CenturyLink is restricted by various loan agreements. Subsidiaries that have loans from government agencies and cooperative lending associations, or have issued first mortgage bonds, generally may not loan or advance any funds to CenturyLink, but may pay dividends if certain financial ratios are met. At December 31, 2011, all of our consolidated retained earnings reflected on the balance sheet were available under our loan agreements for the declaration of dividends.

        The senior notes of CenturyLink were issued under an indenture dated March 31, 1994. This indenture does not contain any financial covenants, but does include restrictions that limit our ability to (i) incur, issue or create liens upon our property and (ii) consolidate with or merge into, or transfer or lease all or substantially all of its assets to, any other party. The indenture does not contain any provisions that are impacted by our credit ratings, or that restrict the issuance of new securities in the event of a material adverse change to us.

        The indentures governing Qwest's debt securities contain customary covenants that restrict the ability of Qwest or its subsidiaries from incurring additional debt, making certain payments and investments, granting liens, and selling or transferring assets. We do not anticipate that these covenants will significantly restrict our ability to manage cash balances or transfer cash between entities within our consolidated group of companies as needed.

        Since the Qwest parent company has achieved investment grade ratings from one of the rating agencies, most of the covenants listed above have been suspended. Under the indenture governing these notes, we must repurchase the notes upon certain changes of control, which were not triggered upon the acquisition on April 1, 2011. This indenture also contains provisions for cross acceleration relating to any of our other debt obligations and the debt obligations of our restricted subsidiaries in an aggregate amount in excess of $100 million.

        Embarq's senior notes were issued pursuant to an indenture dated as of May 17, 2006. While Embarq is generally prohibited from creating liens on its property unless its senior notes are secured equally and ratably, Embarq can create liens on its property without equally and ratably securing its senior notes so long as the sum of all indebtedness so secured does not exceed 15% of Embarq's consolidated net tangible assets. The indenture contains customary events of default, none of which are impacted by Embarq's credit rating. The indenture does not contain any financial covenants or restrictions on the ability to issue new securities in accordance with the terms of the indenture.

        Several of our other subsidiaries have outstanding first mortgage bonds or notes. Each issue of these first mortgage bonds or notes are secured by substantially all of the property, plant and equipment of the issuing subsidiary. Approximately 23% of our property, plant and equipment is pledged to secure the long-term debt of subsidiaries.

        Under the Credit Facility, we, and our indirect subsidiary, Qwest Corporation, ("QC"), must maintain a debt to EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, as defined in our Credit Facility) ratio of not more than 4:1 and 2.85:1, respectively, as of the last day of each fiscal quarter for the four quarters then ended. The Credit Facility also contains a negative pledge covenant, which generally provides restrictions if we pledge assets or permit liens on our property, and requires that any advances under the Credit Facility must also be secured equally and ratably. The Credit Facility also has a cross payment default provision, and the Credit Facility and certain of our debt securities also have cross acceleration provisions. At December 31, 2011, we were in compliance with all of the provisions and covenants contained in our Credit Facility and other debt agreements.

  • Subsequent Event

        On January 27, 2012 we called $800 million of Qwest 7.5% notes due February 15, 2014. The principal amount plus all accrued interest will be redeemed on March 1, 2012 at a redemption price of 100%.

Accounts Receivable
Accounts Receivable

(5)   Accounts Receivable

        The following table presents details of our accounts receivable balances:

 
  December 31,  
 
  2011   2010  
 
  (Dollars in millions)
 

Trade receivables

  $ 1,609     718  

Earned and unbilled receivables

    349     51  

Purchased and other receivables

    139     4  
           

Total accounts receivable

    2,097     773  

Less: allowance for doubtful accounts

    (145 )   (60 )
           

Accounts receivable, less allowance

  $ 1,952     713  
           

        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   Other   Ending Balance  
 
  (Dollars in millions)
 

2011

  $ 60     153     (68 )       145  

2010

  $ 48     91     (79 )       60  

2009

  $ 16     57     (25 )       48  
Property, Plant and Equipment
Property, Plant and Equipment

(6)   Property, Plant and Equipment

        Net property, plant and equipment is composed of the following:

 
   
  December 31,  
 
  Depreciable Lives  
 
  2011   2010  
 
   
  (Dollars in millions)
 

Land

    N/A   $ 590     206  

Fiber, conduit and other outside plant(1)

    8-45 years     12,423     8,382  

Central office and other network electronics(2)

    3-10 years     9,730     5,412  

Support assets(3)

    5-35 years     6,090     2,057  

Construction in progress(4)

    N/A     744     272  
                 

Gross property, plant and equipment

          29,577     16,329  

Accumulated depreciation

          (10,141 )   (7,575 )
                 

Net property, plant and equipment

        $ 19,436     8,754  
                 

(1)
Fiber, conduit and other outside plant consists of fiber and metallic cable, conduit, poles and other supporting structures.

(2)
Central office and other network electronics consists of circuit and packet switches, routers, transmission electronics and electronics providing service to customers.

(3)
Support assets consist of buildings, computers and other administrative and support equipment.

(4)
Construction in progress includes property of the foregoing categories that has not been placed in service as it is still under construction.

        We recorded depreciation expense of $2.601 billion, $1.228 billion and $839 million for the years ended December 31, 2011, 2010 and 2009, respectively.

Asset Retirement Obligations

        At December 31, 2011, our asset retirement obligations balance was primarily related to estimated future costs of removing equipment from leased properties and estimated future costs of properly disposing of asbestos and other hazardous materials upon remodeling or demolishing buildings. Asset retirement obligations are included in other long-term liabilities on our consolidated balance sheets.

        As of the Qwest and Savvis acquisition dates, we recorded liabilities to reflect our preliminary estimates of fair values of Qwest and Savvis asset retirement obligations. Our fair value estimates were determined using discounted cash flow methods.

        The following table provides asset retirement obligation activity:

 
  Years Ended December 31,  
 
  2011   2010   2009  
 
  (Dollars in millions)
 

Balance at beginning of year

  $ 41     39      

Accretion expense

    9     2     1  

Liabilities incurred

            38  

Liabilities assumed in Qwest and Savvis acquisitions

    124          

Liabilities settled and other

    (3 )        

Change in estimate

    (62 )        
               

Balance at end of year

  $ 109     41     39  
               

        During 2011, we revised our estimates for the cost of removal of network equipment, asbestos remediation, and other obligations by $62 million. These revisions resulted in a reduction of the asset retirement obligation and offsetting reduction to gross property, plant and equipment.

Severance and Leased Real Estate
Severance and Leased Real Estate

(7)   Severance and Leased Real Estate

        Periodically, we have reductions in our workforce and have accrued liabilities for related severance costs. These workforce reductions resulted primarily from the progression or completion of our integration plans, increased competitive pressures and reduced workload demands due to the loss of access lines.

        We report severance liabilities within accrued expenses and other liabilities-salaries and benefits in our consolidated balance sheets and report severance expenses in cost of services and products and selling, general and administrative expenses in our consolidated statements of operations. We have not allocated any severance expense to our regional, business and wholesale markets segments.

        In periods prior to our acquisition of Qwest, Qwest had ceased using certain real estate that it was leasing under long-term operating leases. As of the April 1, 2011 acquisition date, we recorded liabilities to reflect our preliminary estimates of the fair values of the existing lease obligations for real estate for which we had ceased using, net of estimated sublease rentals. Our fair value estimates were determined using discounted cash flow methods. We recognize expense to reflect accretion of the discounted liabilities and periodically, we adjust the expense when our actual experience differs from our initial estimates. We report the current portion of liabilities for ceased-use real estate leases in accrued expenses and other liabilities and report the noncurrent portion in deferred credits and other liabilities in our consolidated balance sheets. We report the related expenses in selling, general and administrative expenses in our consolidated statements of operations. At December 31, 2011, the current and noncurrent portions of our leased real estate accrual were $27 million and $126 million, respectively. The remaining lease terms range from 0.1 to 14.0 years, with a weighted average of 9.1 years.

        Changes in our accrued liabilities for severance expenses and leased real estate were as follows:

 
  Severance   Real Estate  
 
  (Dollars in millions)
 

Balance at January 1, 2010

  $ 69      

Accrued to expense

    27      

Payments, net

    (78 )    
           

Balance at December 31, 2010

    18      

Accrued to expense

    132     6  

Liabilities assumed in Qwest acquisition

    20     168  

Payments, net

    (133 )   (21 )
           

Balance at December 31, 2011

  $ 37     153  
           

        Our severance expenses for the year ended December 31, 2011 also included $12 million of share-based compensation associated with the accelerated vesting of stock awards that occurred in connection with workforce reductions relating to the acquisition of Qwest.

Employee Benefits
Employee Benefits

(8)   Employee Benefits

Pension, Post-Retirement and Other Post-Employment Benefits

        We sponsor several defined benefit pension plans, which in the aggregate cover a substantial portion of our employees including separate plans for Legacy CenturyLink, Legacy Qwest and Embarq employees. Until such time as we elect to integrate the Qwest and Embarq benefit plans with ours, we plan to continue to operate these plans independently. Pension benefits for participants of these plans who are represented by a collective bargaining agreement are based on negotiated schedules. All other participants' pension benefits are based on each individual participant's years of service and compensation. We use a December 31 measurement date for all our plans. In addition to these tax qualified pension plans, we also maintain non-qualified pension plans for certain former highly compensated employees. We maintain post-retirement benefit plans that provide health care and life insurance benefits for certain eligible retirees. We also provide other post-employment benefits for eligible former employees.

  • Pension

        In connection with the acquisition of Qwest on April 1, 2011, we assumed defined benefit pension plans sponsored by Qwest for its employees. Based on a valuation analysis, we recognized a $490 million net liability at April 1, 2011 for the unfunded status of the Qwest pension plans, reflecting projected benefit obligations of $8.3 billion in excess of the $7.8 billion fair value of plan assets.

        Current funding laws require a company with a plan shortfall to fund the annual cost of benefits earned in addition to a seven-year amortization of the shortfall. Our funding policy for the pension plan is to make contributions with the objective of accumulating sufficient assets to pay all qualified pension benefits when due under the terms of the plan. The accounting unfunded status of our qualified pension plans was $1.7 billion as of December 31, 2011. We expect to make a contribution of less than $50 million in 2012, based on current laws and circumstances.

        In 2010, to align our benefit structure closer to those offered by our competitors, we froze our Legacy CenturyLink and Embarq pension benefit accruals for our non-represented employees at December 31, 2010. Such action resulted in a reduction of our benefit obligation of approximately $110 million and resulted in the recognition of a curtailment gain of approximately $21 million in 2010. Prior to their acquisition on April 1, 2011, Qwest had frozen its pension benefit accruals for non-represented employees.

  • Other Post-Retirement Benefits

        Our post-retirement health care plans provide post-retirement benefits to qualified retirees. The post-retirement health care plans we assumed as part of our acquisitions of Qwest and Embarq provide post-retirement benefits to qualified retirees and allows (i) eligible employees retiring before certain dates to receive benefits at no or reduced cost and (ii) eligible employees retiring after certain dates to receive benefits on a shared cost basis. The post-retirement health care plans are generally funded by us and we expect to continue funding these post-retirement obligations as benefits are paid. Our plan uses a December 31 measurement date.

        In connection with the acquisition of Qwest on April 1, 2011, we assumed post-retirement benefit plans sponsored by Qwest for certain of its employees. At April 1, 2011, we recognized a $2.5 billion liability for the unfunded status of Qwest's post-retirement benefit plans, reflecting estimated accumulated post-retirement benefit obligations of $3.3 billion in excess of the $768 million fair value of the plan assets.

        No contributions were made to the post-retirement trusts in 2011 or 2010 and we do not expect to make a contribution in 2012.

        A change of 100 basis points in the assumed initial health care cost trend rate would have had the following effects in 2011:

 
  100 Basis Points Change  
 
  Increase   (Decrease)  
 
  (Dollars in millions)
 

Effect on the aggregate of the service and interest cost components of net periodic post-retirement benefit expense (statements of operations)

  $ 2     (2 )

Effect on benefit obligation (balance sheets)

    70     (65 )

        We expect our health care cost trend rate to decrease by 0.5% per year from 7.5% in 2012 to an ultimate rate of 5.0% in 2018. Our post-retirement health care expense, for certain eligible Legacy Qwest retirees and certain eligible Legacy CenturyLink retirees, is capped at a set dollar amount. Therefore, those health care benefit obligations are not subject to increasing health care trends after the effective date of the caps.

Expected Cash Flows

        The pension, non-qualified pension and post-retirement health care benefit payments and premiums and life insurance premium payments are paid by us or distributed from plan assets. The estimated benefit payments provided below are based on actuarial assumptions using the demographics of the employee and retiree populations and have been reduced by estimated participant contributions.

 
  Pension Plans   Post-Retirement
Benefit Plans
  Medicare Part D
Subsidy Receipts
 
 
  (Dollars in millions)
 

Estimated future benefit payments:

                   

2012

  $ 1,029     391     (24 )

2013

    996     386     (26 )

2014

    985     378     (28 )

2015

    974     369     (30 )

2016

    966     359     (32 )

2017—2021

    4,623     1,604     (183 )

Net Periodic Benefit Expense

        The measurement date used to determine pension, non-qualified pension and post-retirement health care and life insurance benefits is December 31. The actuarial assumptions used to compute the net periodic benefit expense for our pension, non-qualified pension and post-retirement benefit plans are based upon information available as of the beginning of the year, as presented in the following table.

 
  Pension Plans   Post-Retirement Benefit Plans  
 
  2011(1)   2010   2009   2011(2)   2010   2009  

Actuarial assumptions at beginning of year:

                                     

Discount rate

    5.00%-5.50%     5.50%-6.00%     6.60%-6.90%     5.30%     5.70%-5.80%     6.40%-6.90%  

Rate of compensation increase

    3.25%     3.50%-4.00%     4.00%     N/A     N/A     N/A  

Expected long-term rate of return on plan assets

    7.50%-8.00%     8.25%-8.50%     8.25%-8.50%     7.25%     7.25%     8.25%-8.50%  

Initial health care cost trend rate

    N/A     N/A     N/A     8.50%     8.00%     7.00%  

Ultimate health care cost trend rate

    N/A     N/A     N/A     5.00%     5.00%     5.00%  

Year ultimate trend rate is reached

    N/A     N/A     N/A     2018     2014     2011  

N/A—Not applicable

(1)
This column does not consider Qwest's actuarial assumptions for its pension plan as of the beginning of the year due to the acquisition date of April 1, 2011. Qwest had the following actuarial assumptions as of April 1, 2011: discount rate of 5.40%; expected long-term rate of return on plan assets 7.50%; and a rate of compensation increase of 3.50%.

(2)
This column does not consider Qwest's actuarial assumptions for its post-retirement benefit plan as of the beginning of the year due to the acquisition date of April 1, 2011. Qwest had the following actuarial assumptions as of April 1, 2011: discount rate of 5.30%; expected long-term rate of return on plan assets of 7.50%; initial health care cost trend rate of 7.50% and ultimate health care trend rate of 5.00% to be reached in 2016.

        Net periodic pension expense, which includes the effects of the Qwest acquisition subsequent to April 1, 2011 and the Embarq acquisition subsequent to July 1, 2009, included the following components:

 
  Pension Plans
Years Ended December 31,
 
 
  2011   2010   2009  
 
  (Dollars in millions)
 

Service cost

  $ 70     61     36  

Interest cost

    560     246     135  

Expected return on plan assets

    (709 )   (283 )   (128 )

Curtailment gain

        (21 )    

Settlements

    1         18  

Contractual retirement benefits

            15  

Amortization of unrecognized prior service cost

    2     2      

Amortization of unrecognized actuarial loss

    13     17     16  
               

Net periodic pension (income) expense(1)(2)

  $ (63 )   22     92  
               

(1)
Includes $58 million of income related to the Qwest plans subsequent to the April 1, 2011 acquisition date.

(2)
The Legacy Embarq pension plan contains a provision that grants early retirement benefits for certain participants affected by workforce reductions. During 2009, we recognized approximately $15 million of additional pension expense related to these contractual benefits.

        Net periodic post-retirement benefit expense, which includes the effects of the Qwest acquisition subsequent to April 1, 2011 and the Embarq acquisition subsequent to July 1, 2009, included the following components:

 
  Post-Retirement Plans
Years Ended December 31,
 
 
  2011   2010   2009  
 
  (Dollars in millions)
 

Service cost

  $ 18     15     9  

Interest cost

    152     32     27  

Expected return on plan assets

    (41 )   (4 )   (2 )

Amortization of unrecognized prior service cost

    (2 )   (3 )   (4 )

Amortization of unrecognized actuarial loss

        1      
               

Net periodic post-retirement benefit expense(1)

  $ 127     41     30  
               

(1)
Includes $92 million related to the Qwest plans subsequent to the April 1, 2011 acquisition date.

Benefit Obligations

        The actuarial assumptions used to compute the funded status for the plans are based upon information available as of December 31, 2011 and December 31, 2010 and are as follows:

 
  Pension Plans   Post-Retirement Benefit Plans  
 
  December 31,   December 31,  
 
  2011   2010   2011   2010  

Actuarial assumptions at end of year:

                         

Discount rate

    4.25%-5.10%     5.00%-5.50%     4.60%-4.80%     5.30%  

Rate of compensation increase

    3.25%     3.25%-4.00%     N/A     N/A  

Initial health care cost trend rate

    N/A     N/A     7.25%-8.00%     8.50%  

Ultimate health care cost trend rate

    N/A     N/A     5.00%     5.00%  

Year ultimate trend rate is reached

    N/A     N/A     2018     2018  

N/A—Not applicable

        The following table summarizes the change in the benefit obligations for the pension and post-retirement benefit plans:

 
  Pension Plans
Years Ended December 31,
 
 
  2011   2010   2009  
 
  (Dollars in millions)
 

Change in benefit obligation

                   

Benefit obligation at beginning of year

  $ 4,534     4,182     463  

Service cost

    70     61     36  

Interest cost

    560     246     135  

Plan amendments

    12     4     16  

Acquisitions

    8,267         3,467  

Actuarial loss

    930     427     232  

Contractual retirement benefits

            15  

Curtailment gain

        (110 )    

Settlements

            8  

Benefits paid by company

    (16 )   (5 )   (57 )

Benefits paid from plan assets

    (761 )   (271 )   (133 )
               

Benefit obligation at end of year

  $ 13,596     4,534     4,182  
               

 

 
  Post-Retirement Benefit Plans
Years Ended December 31,
 
 
  2011   2010   2009  
 
  (Dollars in millions)
 

Change in benefit obligation

                   

Benefit obligation at beginning of year

  $ 558     582     293  

Service cost

    18     15     9  

Interest cost

    152     32     27  

Participant contributions

    64     14     3  

Plan amendments

    31          

Acquisitions

    3,284         228  

Direct subsidy receipts

    22     1      

Actuarial loss (gain)

    153     (32 )   58  

Benefits paid

    (352 )   (54 )   (36 )
               

Benefit obligation at end of year

  $ 3,930     558     582  
               

        Our aggregate accumulated benefit obligation as of December 31, 2011, 2010 and 2009 was $17.499 billion, $4.509 billion and $4.042 billion, respectively.

Plan Assets

        We maintain plan assets for our pension plans and certain post-retirement benefit plans. The pension plan assets are used for the payment of pension benefits and certain eligible plan expenses. The post-retirement benefit plan assets are used to pay health care benefits and premiums on behalf of eligible retirees who are former union-represented plan participants and to pay certain eligible plan expenses. The expected rate of return on plan assets is the long-term rate of return we expect to earn on the plans' assets. The rate of return is determined by the strategic allocation of plan assets and the long-term risk and return forecast for each asset class. The forecasts for each asset class are generated primarily from an analysis of the long-term expectations of various third party investment management organizations. The expected rate of return on plan assets is reviewed annually and revised, as necessary, to reflect changes in the financial markets and our investment strategy. The following table summarizes the change in the fair value of plan assets for the pension and post-retirement benefit plans:

 
  Pension Plans
Years Ended December 31,
 
 
  2011   2010   2009  
 
  (Dollars in millions)
 

Change in plan assets

                   

Fair value of plan assets at beginning of year

  $ 3,732     3,220     353  

Return on plan assets

    479     483     474  

Acquisitions

    7,777         2,407  

Employer contributions

    587     300     119  

Settlements

             

Benefits paid

    (761 )   (271 )   (133 )
               

Fair value of plan assets at end of year

  $ 11,814     3,732     3,220  
               

 
  Post-Retirement Benefit Plans
Years Ended December 31,
 
 
  2011   2010   2009  
 
  (Dollars in millions)
 

Change in plan assets

                   

Fair value of plan assets at beginning of year

  $ 54     57     17  

Return on plan assets

    4     6     6  

Acquisitions

    768         33  

Employer contributions

    155     31     34  

Participant contributions

    64     14     3  

Benefits paid

    (352 )   (54 )   (36 )
               

Fair value of plan assets at end of year

  $ 693     54     57  
               

        Pension Plans:    Our investment objective for the pension plan assets is to achieve an attractive risk-adjusted return over time that will provide for the payment of benefits and minimize the risk of large losses. Our pension plan investment strategy is designed to meet this objective by broadly diversifying plan assets across numerous strategies with differing expected returns, volatilities and correlations. The pension plan assets have target allocations of 53% to interest rate sensitive investments and 47% to investments designed to provide higher expected returns than the interest rate sensitive investments. Interest rate sensitive investments include 32% of plan assets targeted primarily to long-duration investment grade bonds, 10% to high yield and emerging market bonds, 5% to convertible bonds and 6% targeted to diversified strategies, which primarily have exposures to global government, corporate and inflation-linked bonds, as well as some exposures to global stocks and commodities. Assets expected to provide higher returns than the interest rate sensitive assets include broadly diversified equity investments with approximately 15% targeted to U.S. stocks, 12% to developed market non-U.S. stocks and 3% to emerging market stocks. Approximately 12% is allocated to other private markets investments including funds primarily invested in private equity, debt and hedge funds. Real estate investments are targeted at 5% of plan assets. At the beginning of 2012, our expected annual long-term rate of return on pension assets is assumed to be 7.5%.

        Post-Retirement Benefit Plans:    Our investment objective for the post-retirement benefit plan assets is to achieve an attractive risk-adjusted return and minimize the risk of large losses over the expected life of the assets. Investment risk is managed by broadly diversifying assets across numerous strategies with differing expected returns, volatilities and correlations. Our investment strategy is designed to be consistent with the investment objective, with particular focus on providing liquidity for the reimbursement of our union-represented employees post-retirement health care costs. The post-retirement benefit plan assets have target allocations of 35% to equities and 65% to non-equity investments. Specific target allocations within these broad categories are allowed to vary to provide liquidity in order to meet reimbursement requirements. Equity investments are broadly diversified with exposure to publicly traded U.S., non-U.S. and emerging market stocks and private equity. While no new private equity investments have been made in recent years, the percent allocation to existing private equity investments is expected to increase in the near term as liquid, publicly traded stocks are drawn down for the reimbursement of health care costs. The 65% non-equity allocation includes investment grade bonds, high yield bonds, convertible bonds, emerging market debt, real estate, hedge funds, private debt and diversified strategies. At the beginning of 2012, our expected annual long-term rate of return on post-retirement benefit plan assets is assumed to be 7.5%.

        Permitted investments:    Plan assets are managed consistent with the restrictions set forth by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended, which requires diversification of assets and also generally prohibits defined benefit and welfare plans from investing more than 10% of their assets in securities issued by the sponsor company. At December 31, 2011, the pension and post-retirement benefit plans did not directly own any shares of our common stock or any of our debt, which is consistent with December 31, 2010.

        Derivative instruments:    Derivative instruments are used to reduce risk as well as provide return. The pension and post-retirement benefit plans use exchange traded futures to gain exposure to equity and Treasury markets consistent with target asset allocations. Interest rate swaps are used in the pension plan to reduce risk relative to measurement of the benefit obligation, which is sensitive to interest rate changes. Foreign exchange forward contracts and total return swaps are used primarily to manage currency exposures. Credit default swaps are used to manage credit risk exposures in a cost effective and targeted manner relative to transacting with physical corporate fixed income securities. Options are currently used to manage interest rate exposure taking into account the implied volatility and current pricing of the specific underlying market instrument. Some derivative instruments subject the plans to counterparty risk. We closely monitor counterparty exposure and mitigate this risk by diversifying the exposure among multiple high credit quality counterparties, requiring collateral and limiting exposure by periodically settling contracts.

        The gross notional exposure of the derivative instruments directly held by the plans is shown below. The notional amount of the derivatives corresponds to market exposure but does not represent an actual cash investment.

 
  Gross notional exposure  
 
  Pension Plan   Post-Retirement
Benefit Plans
 
 
  Year Ended December 31, 2011  
Derivative instrument:
  (Dollars in millions)
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Exchange-traded U.S. equity futures

  $ 535     12  

Exchange-traded non-U.S. equity futures

   
4
   
 

Exchange-traded Treasury futures

   
1,512
   
19
 

Interest rate swaps

   
635
   
 

Total return swaps

   
110
   
51
 

Credit default swaps

   
201
   
 

Foreign exchange forwards

   
635
   
23
 

Options

   
917
   
 

        Fair Value Measurements:    Fair value is defined as the price that would be received to sell an asset or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between independent and knowledgeable parties who are willing and able to transact for an asset or liability at the measurement date. We use valuation techniques that maximize the use of observable inputs and minimize the use of unobservable inputs when determining fair value and then we rank the estimated values based on the reliability of the inputs used following the fair value hierarchy set forth by the FASB. For additional information on the fair value hierarchy, see Note 11—Fair Value Disclosure.

        At December 31, 2011, we used the following valuation techniques to measure fair value for assets. There were no changes to these methodologies during 2011:

  • Level 1—Assets were valued using the closing price reported in the active market in which the individual security was traded.

    Level 2—Assets were valued using quoted prices in markets that are not active, broker dealer quotations, net asset value of shares held by the plans and other methods by which all significant input were observable at the measurement date.

    Level 3—Assets were valued using unobservable inputs in which little or no market data exists as reported by the respective institutions at the measurement date.

        The tables below presents the fair value of plan assets by category and the input levels used to determine those fair values at December 31, 2011. It is important to note that the asset allocations do not include market exposures that are gained with derivatives.

 
  Fair value of pension plan assets at December 31, 2011  
 
  Level 1   Level 2   Level 3   Total  
 
  (Dollars in millions)
 

Investment grade bonds (a)

  $ 694     2,206         2,900  

High yield bonds (b)

        541     79     620  

Emerging market bonds (c)

        295         295  

Convertible bonds (d)

        337         337  

Diversified strategies (e)

        489         489  

U.S. stocks (f)

    401     944         1,345  

Non-U.S. stocks (g)

    994     459         1,453  

Emerging market stocks (h)

    102     136         238  

Private equity (i)

            791     791  

Private debt (j)

            461     461  

Market neutral hedge funds (k)

        620     188     808  

Directional hedge funds (k)

        268     183     451  

Real estate (l)

        48     535     583  

Derivatives (m)

    12     (5 )       7  

Cash equivalents and short-term investments (n)

    13     1,183         1,196  
                   

Total investments

  $ 2,216     7,521     2,237     11,974  
                     

Dividends and interest receivable

                      32  

Pending trades receivable

                      436  

Accrued expenses

                      (8 )

Pending trades payable

                      (620 )
                         

Total pension plan assets

                    $ 11,814  
                         

 

 
  Fair value of post-retirement plan assets at December 31, 2011  
 
  Level 1   Level 2   Level 3   Total  
 
  (Dollars in millions)
 

Investment grade bonds (a)

  $ 45     100       $ 145  

High yield bonds (b)

        61         61  

Emerging market bonds (c)

        33         33  

Convertible bonds (d)

        30         30  

Diversified strategies (e)

        62         62  

U.S. stocks (f)

    64     4         68  

Non-U.S. stocks (g)

    62     2         64  

Emerging market stocks (h)

        17         17  

Private equity (i)

            60     60  

Private debt (j)

            8     8  

Market neutral hedge funds (k)

        67         67  

Directional hedge funds (k)

        20         20  

Real estate (l)

        19     26     45  

Cash equivalents and short-term investments (n)

    5     20         25  
                   

Total investments

  $ 176     435     94     705  
                     

Dividends and interest receivable

                      3  

Pending trades receivable

                      23  

Accrued expenses

                      (15 )

Pending trades payable

                      (23 )
                         

Total post-retirement plan assets

                    $ 693  
                         

        The tables below presents the fair value of plan assets by category and the input levels used to determine those fair values at December 31, 2010. It is important to note that the asset allocations do not include market exposures that are gained with derivatives. Investments include dividend and interest receivable, pending trades, trades payable and accrued expenses.

 
  Fair value of pension plan assets at December 31, 2010  
 
  Level 1   Level 2   Level 3   Total  
 
  (Dollars in millions)
 

Investment grade bonds (a)

  $     331         331  

High yield bonds (b)

        913         913  

U.S. stocks (f)

    1,168     277         1,445  

Non-U.S. stocks (g)

    508             508  

Private equity (i)

            1     1  

Private debt (j)

            3     3  

Directional hedge funds (k)

            161     161  

Real estate (l)

            182     182  

Cash equivalents and short-term investments (n)

    26             26  

Other (o)

    13     146     3     162  
                   

Total pension plan assets

  $ 1,715     1,667     350     3,732  
                   

 

 
  Fair value of post-retirement plan assets at December 31, 2010  
 
  Level 1   Level 2   Level 3   Total  
 
  (Dollars in millions)
 

Fixed income (a)(d)

  $ 35     5         40  

U.S. stocks (f)

    5     5         10  

Cash equivalents and short-term investments (n)

    4             4  
                   

Total post-retirement plan assets

  $ 44     10         54  
                   

        The plans' assets are invested in various asset categories utilizing multiple strategies and investment managers. For several of the investments in the tables above and discussed below, the plans own units in commingled funds and limited partnerships that invest in various types of assets. Interests in commingled funds are valued using the net asset value (NAV) per unit of each fund. The NAV reported by the fund manager is based on the market value of the underlying investments owned by each fund, minus its liabilities, divided by the number of shares outstanding. Commingled funds held by the plans that can be redeemed at NAV within a year of the financial statement date are generally classified as Level 2. Investments in limited partnerships represent long-term commitments with a fixed maturity date, typically ten years. Valuation inputs for these limited partnership interests are generally based on assumptions and other information not observable in the market and are classified as Level 3 investments. The assumptions and valuation methodologies of the pricing vendors, account managers, fund managers and partnerships are monitored and evaluated for reasonableness. Below is an overview of the asset categories, the underlying strategies and valuation inputs used to value the assets in the preceding tables:

  •         (a)   Investment grade bonds represent investments in fixed income securities as well as commingled bond funds with characteristics similar to the Barclays Capital U.S. Aggregate Bond Index. This index is comprised of U.S. Treasury securities, agencies, corporate bonds, mortgage-backed securities, asset-backed securities and commercial mortgage-backed securities. Treasury securities are valued at the bid price reported in the active market in which the security is traded and are classified as Level 1. The valuation inputs of other investment grade bonds primarily utilize observable market information and are based on a spread to U.S. Treasury securities and consider yields available on comparable securities of issuers with similar credit ratings. The primary observable inputs include references to the new issue market for similar securities, the secondary trading markets and dealer quotes. Option adjusted spread models are utilized to evaluate securities such as asset backed securities that have early redemption features. These securities are classified as Level 2. The commingled funds are valued at NAV based on the market value of the underlying fixed income securities using the same valuation inputs described above. The commingled funds can be redeemed at NAV within a year of the financial statement date and are classified as Level 2.

            (b)   High yield bonds represent investments in below investment grade fixed income securities as well as commingled high yield bond funds. The valuation inputs for the securities primarily utilize observable market information and are based on a spread to U.S. Treasury securities and consider yields available on comparable securities of issuers with similar credit ratings. These securities are classified as Level 2. The commingled funds are valued at NAV based on the market value of the underlying high yield instruments using the same valuation inputs described above. Commingled funds that can be redeemed at NAV within a year of the financial statement date are classified as Level 2. Commingled funds that cannot be redeemed at NAV or that cannot be redeemed at NAV within a year of the financial statement date are classified as Level 3.

            (c)   Emerging market bonds represent investments in securities issued by governments and other entities located in developing countries as well as commingled emerging market bond funds. The valuation inputs for the securities utilize observable market information and are primarily based on dealer quotes or a spread relative to the local government bonds. These securities are classified as Level 2. The commingled funds are valued at NAV based on the market value of the underlying emerging market bonds using the same valuation inputs described above. The commingled funds can be redeemed at NAV within a year of the financial statement date and are classified as Level 2.

            (d)   Convertible bonds primarily represent investments in corporate debt securities that have features that allow the debt to be converted into equity securities under certain circumstances. The valuation inputs for the individual convertible bonds primarily utilize observable market information including a spread to U.S. Treasuries and the value and volatility of the underlying equity security. Convertible bonds are classified as Level 2.

            (e)   Diversified strategies represent an investment in a commingled fund that primarily has exposures to global government, corporate and inflation linked bonds, global stocks and commodities. The commingled fund is valued at NAV based on the market value of the underlying investments. The valuation inputs utilize observable market information including published prices for exchange traded securities, bid prices for government bonds, and spreads and yields available for comparable fixed income securities with similar credit ratings. This fund can be redeemed at NAV within a year of the financial statement date and is classified as Level 2.

            (f)    U.S. stocks represent investments in stocks of U.S. based companies as well as commingled U.S. stock funds. The valuation inputs for U.S. stocks are based on the last published price reported on the major stock market on which the securities are traded and are classified as Level 1. The commingled funds are valued at NAV based on the market value of the underlying investments using the same valuation inputs described above. These commingled funds can be redeemed at NAV within a year of the financial statement date and are classified as Level 2.

            (g)   Non-U.S. stocks represent investments in stocks of companies based in developed countries outside the U.S. as well as commingled funds. The valuation inputs for non-U.S. stocks are based on the last published price reported on the major stock market on which the securities are traded and are classified as Level 1. The commingled funds are valued at NAV based on the market value of the underlying investments using the same valuation inputs described above. These commingled funds can be redeemed at NAV within a year of the financial statement date and are classified as Level 2.

            (h)   Emerging market stocks represent investments in a registered mutual fund and commingled funds comprised of stocks of companies located in developing markets. Registered mutual funds are valued at the last published price reported on the major market on which the mutual funds are traded and are classified as Level 1. The commingled funds are valued at NAV based on the market value of the underlying investments using the same valuation inputs described previously for individual stocks. These commingled funds can be redeemed at NAV within a year of the financial statement date and are classified as Level 2.

            (i)    Private equity represents non-public investments in domestic and foreign buy out and venture capital funds. Private equity funds are structured as limited partnerships and are valued according to the valuation policy of each partnership, subject to prevailing accounting and other regulatory guidelines. The partnerships use valuation methodologies that give consideration to a range of factors, including but not limited to the price at which investments were acquired, the nature of the investments, market conditions, trading values on comparable public securities, current and projected operating performance, and financing transactions subsequent to the acquisition of the investments. These valuation methodologies involve a significant degree of judgment. Private equity investments are classified as Level 3.

            (j)    Private debt represents non-public investments in distressed or mezzanine debt funds. Mezzanine debt instruments are debt instruments that are subordinated to other debt issues and may include embedded equity instruments such as warrants. Private debt funds are structured as limited partnerships and are valued according to the valuation policy of each partnership, subject to prevailing accounting and other regulatory guidelines. The valuation of underlying fund investments are based on factors including the issuer's current and projected credit worthiness, the security's terms, reference to the securities of comparable companies, and other market factors. These valuation methodologies involve a significant degree of judgment. Private debt investments are classified as Level 3.

            (k)   Market neutral hedge funds hold investments in a diversified mix of instruments that are intended in combination to exhibit low correlations to market fluctuations. These investments are typically combined with futures to achieve uncorrelated excess returns over various markets. Directional hedge funds—This asset category represents investments that may exhibit somewhat higher correlations to market fluctuations than the market neutral hedge funds. Investments in hedge funds include both direct investments and investments in diversified funds of funds. Hedge Funds are valued at NAV based on the market value of the underlying investments which include publicly traded equity and fixed income securities and privately negotiated debt securities. The hedge funds are valued by third party administrators using the same valuation inputs previously described. Hedge funds that can be redeemed at NAV within a year of the financial statement date are classified as Level 2. Hedge fund investments that cannot be redeemed at NAV or that cannot be redeemed at NAV within a year of the financial statement date are classified as Level 3.

            (l)    Real estate represents investments in commingled funds and limited partnerships that invest in a diversified portfolio of real estate properties. These investments are valued at NAV according to the valuation policy of each fund or partnership, subject to prevailing accounting and other regulatory guidelines. The valuation inputs of the underlying properties are generally based on third-party appraisals that use comparable sales or a projection of future cash flows to determine fair value. Real estate investments that can be redeemed at NAV within a year of the financial statement date are classified as Level 2. Real estate investments that cannot be redeemed at NAV or that cannot be redeemed at NAV within a year of the financial statement date are classified as Level 3.

            (m)  Derivatives include the market value of exchange traded futures contracts which are classified as Level 1, as well as privately negotiated over-the-counter swaps that are valued based on the change in interest rates or a specific market index and classified as Level 2. The market values represent gains or losses that occur due to fluctuations in interest rates, foreign currency exchange rates, security prices, or other factors.

            (n)   Cash equivalents and short-term investments represent investments that are used in conjunction with derivatives positions or are used to provide liquidity for the payment of benefits or other purposes. U.S. Treasury Bills are valued at the bid price reported in the active market in which the security is traded and are classified as Level 1. The valuation inputs of other securities are based on a spread to U.S. Treasury Bills, the Federal Funds Rate, or London Interbank Offered Rate and consider yields available on comparable securities of issuers with similar credit ratings and are classified as Level 2. The commingled funds are valued at NAV based on the market value of the underlying investments using the same valuation inputs described above. These commingled funds can be redeemed at NAV within a year of the financial statement date and are classified as Level 2.

            (o)   Other represents investment in private debt, high yield bonds and net payables and receivables associated with the securities. The valuation of underlying fund investments are based on factors including the issuer's current and projected credit worthiness, the security's terms, reference to the securities of comparable companies, and other market factors. These valuation methodologies involve a significant degree of judgment. These investments are classified as Level 3.

        Concentrations of Risk:    Investments, in general, are exposed to various risks, such as significant world events, interest rate, credit, foreign currency and overall market volatility risk. These risks are managed by broadly diversifying assets across numerous asset classes and strategies with differing expected returns, volatilities and correlations. Risk is also broadly diversified across numerous market sectors and individual companies. Financial instruments that potentially subject the plans to concentrations of counterparty risk consist principally of investment contracts with high quality financial institutions. These investment contracts are typically collateralized obligations and/or are actively managed, limiting the amount of counterparty exposure to any one financial institution. Although the investments are well diversified, the value of plan assets could change materially depending upon the overall market volatility, which could affect the funded status of the plans.

        The table below presents a rollforward of the pension plan assets valued using Level 3 inputs:

 
  Pension Plan Assets Valued Using Level 3 Inputs  
 
  High
Yield
Bonds
  Private
Equity
  Private
Debt
  Market
Neutral
Hedge
Fund
  Directional
Hedge
Funds
  Real
Estate
  Other   Total  
 
  (Dollars in millions)
 

Balance at December 31, 2009

  $                 160     162         322  

Net acquisitions (dispositions)

        1     3         (9 )   2     3      

Actual return on plan assets:

                                                 

(Losses) gains relating to assets sold during the year

                    2     (2 )        

Gains (losses) relating to assets still held at year-end

                    8     20         28  
                                   

Balance at December 31, 2010

        1     3         161     182     3     350  

Net acquisitions (dispositions)

    96     795     453     185     30     318     (3 )   1,874  

Actual return on plan assets:

                                                 

(Losses) gains relating to assets sold during the year

    (12 )   197     13     3     (1 )   9         209  

(Losses) gains relating to assets still held at year-end

    (5 )   (202 )   (8 )       (7 )   26         (196 )
                                   

Balance at December 31, 2011

  $ 79     791     461     188     183     535         2,237  
                                   

        The table below presents a rollforward of the post-retirement plan assets valued using Level 3 inputs:

 
  Post-Retirement Plan Assets Valued Using Level 3 Inputs  
 
  Private
Equity
  Private
Debt
  Real
Estate
  Total  
 
  (Dollars in millions)
 

Balance at December 31, 2010

  $              

Net acquisitions

    55     8     24     87  

Actual return on plan assets:

                         

Gains relating to assets sold during the year

    33     1         34  

(Losses) gains relating to assets still held at year-end

    (28 )   (1 )   2     (27 )
                   

Balance at December 31, 2011

  $ 60     8     26     94  
                   

        Certain gains and losses are allocated between assets sold during the year and assets still held at year-end based on transactions and changes in valuations that occurred during the year. These allocations also impact our calculation of net acquisitions and dispositions.

        At December 31, 2011, the investment program produced actual gains on pension and post-retirement plan assets of $483 million as compared to the expected returns of $750 million for a difference of $267 million. As of December 31, 2010, the investment program produced actual gains on pension and post-retirement plan assets of $489 million as compared to the expected returns of $287 million for a difference of $202 million. The short-term annual returns on plan assets will almost always be different from the expected long-term returns and the plans could experience net gains or losses, due primarily to the volatility occurring in the financial markets during any given year.

Unfunded Status

        The following table presents the unfunded status of the pensions and post-retirement benefit plans:

 
  Pension Plans   Post-Retirement Benefit Plans  
 
  Years Ended December 31,   Years Ended December 31,  
 
  2011   2010   2011   2010  
 
  (Dollars in millions)
 

Benefit obligation

  $ (13,596 )   (4,534 )   (3,930 )   (558 )

Fair value of plan assets

    11,814     3,732     693     54  
                   

Unfunded status

  $ (1,782 )   (802 )   (3,237 )   (504 )
                   

Current portion of unfunded status

 
$

   
   
(164

)
 
 

Non-current portion of unfunded status

  $ (1,782 )   (802 )   (3,073 )   (504 )

        The current portion of our post-retirement benefit obligations is recorded on our consolidated balance sheets in accrued expenses and other current liabilities—other.

Accumulated Other Comprehensive (Loss) Income—Recognition and Deferrals

        The following tables present cumulative items not recognized as a component of net periodic benefits expense as of December 31, 2010, items recognized as a component of net periodic benefits expense, additional items deferred during 2011 and cumulative items not recognized as a component of net periodic benefits expense as of December 31, 2011. The items not recognized as a component of net periodic benefits expense have been recorded on our consolidated balance sheets in accumulated other comprehensive loss:

 
  As of and for the Years Ended December 31,  
 
  2010   Recognition
of Net
Periodic
Benefits
Expense
  Deferrals   Net
Change in
AOCI
  2011  
 
  (Dollars in millions)
 

Accumulated other comprehensive (loss) income:

                               

Pension plans:

                               

Net actuarial (loss) gain

  $ (188 )   13     (1,160 )   (1,147 )   (1,335 )

Prior service (cost) benefit

    (19 )   2     (12 )   (10 )   (29 )

Deferred income tax benefit (expense)

    80     (5 )   451     446     526  
                       

Total pension plans

    (127 )   10     (721 )   (711 )   (838 )
                       

Post-retirement benefit plans:

                               

Net actuarial (loss) gain

    (31 )       (190 )   (190 )   (221 )

Prior service benefit (cost)

    12     (2 )   (31 )   (33 )   (21 )

Deferred income tax benefit (expense)

    7         85     85     92  
                       

Total post-retirement benefit plans

    (12 )   (2 )   (136 )   (138 )   (150 )
                       

Total accumulated other comprehensive (loss) income

  $ (139 )   8     (857 )   (849 )   (988 )
                       

        The following table presents estimated items to be recognized in 2012 as a component of net periodic benefit expense of the pension, non-qualified pension and post-retirement benefit plans:

 
  Pension
Plans
  Post-Retirement
Plans
 
 
  (Dollars in millions)
 

Estimated recognition of net periodic benefit expense in 2012:

             

Net actuarial (loss)

  $ (30 )    

Prior service (cost)

    (3 )    

Deferred income tax benefit

    12      
           

Estimated net periodic benefit expense to be recorded in 2012 as a component of other comprehensive income (loss)

  $ (21 )    
           

Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement and Modernization Act of 2003

        We sponsor post-retirement health care plans with several benefit options that provide prescription drug benefits that we deem actuarially equivalent to or exceeding Medicare Part D. We recognize the impact of the federal subsidy received under the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement and Modernization Act of 2003 in the calculation of our post-retirement benefit obligation and net periodic post-retirement benefit expense.

Other Benefit Plans

  • Health Care and Life Insurance

        We provide health care and life insurance benefits to essentially all of our active employees. We are largely self-funded for the cost of the health care plan. Our health care benefit expenses for current employees were $377 million, $190 million and $67 million for the years ended December 31, 2011, 2010 and 2009, respectively. Union-represented employee benefits are based on negotiated collective bargaining agreements. Employees are required to partially fund the health care benefits provided by us, in addition to paying their own out-of-pocket costs. Participating non-represented employees contributed $62 million, $30 million and $9 million December 31, 2011, 2010 and 2009, respectively. Participating union-represented employees contributed $28 million, $17 million and $4 million for the years ended December 31, 2011, 2010 and 2009, respectively. Our group life insurance plans are fully insured and the premiums are paid by us.

  • 401(k) Plan

        We sponsor a qualified defined contribution benefit plan covering substantially all of our employees. Under this plan, employees may contribute a percentage of their annual compensation to the plan up to certain maximums, as defined by the plan and by the Internal Revenue Service ("IRS"). Currently, we match a percentage of employee contributions in cash. At December 31, 2011 and December 31, 2010, the assets of the plan included approximately 9 million and 4 million shares of our common stock, respectively, as a result of the combination of previous employer match and participant directed contributions. We recognized expenses related to this plan of $70 million, $17 million and $14 million for the years ended December 31, 2011, 2010 and 2009, respectively.

  • Deferred Compensation Plans

        We sponsored non-qualified unfunded deferred compensation plans for various groups that included certain of our current and former highly compensated employees. Participants in these plans could, at their discretion, invest their deferred compensation in various investment choices including our common stock. The value of assets and liabilities related to these plans was not significant.

Share-based Compensation
Share-based Compensation

(9)   Share-based Compensation

        We maintain programs that allow our Board of Directors (through its Compensation Committee or our Chief Executive Officer as its delegate) to grant incentives to certain employees and our outside directors in any one or a combination of several forms, including incentive and non-qualified stock options; stock appreciation rights; restricted stock awards; restricted stock units and market and performance shares. Stock options generally expire ten years from the date of grant. We also offer an ESPP which allows eligible employees to purchase our common stock at a 15% discount based on the lower of the beginning or ending stock price during recurring six month offering periods.

Acquisitions

        Upon the July 15, 2011, closing of our acquisition of Savvis, and pursuant to the terms of the acquisition agreement, we assumed certain obligations under Savvis' share-based compensation arrangements. Specifically:

  • all Savvis stock options outstanding immediately prior to the acquisition were vested in full and were converted into 2,420,532 fully vested CenturyLink stock options, and

    all non-vested Savvis restricted stock units outstanding immediately prior to the acquisition converted into an aggregate 1,080,070 non-vested CenturyLink awards.

        We estimate the aggregate fair value of the assumed Savvis share-based compensation arrangements was $123 million, of which $98 million was attributable to services performed prior to the acquisition date and was included in the cost of the acquisition. The fair value of CenturyLink shares was determined based on the $38.54 closing price of our common stock on July 14, 2011. The remaining $25 million of the aggregate fair value of the assumed Savvis awards was attributable to post-acquisition services and is being recognized as compensation expense, net of estimated forfeitures, over the remaining 1.5 year vesting period.

        Upon the April 1, 2011, closing of our acquisition of Qwest, pursuant to the terms of the acquisition agreement, we assumed certain obligations under Qwest's pre-existing share-based compensation arrangements. Specifically:

  • all Qwest non-qualified stock options outstanding immediately prior to the acquisition converted into an aggregate of 7,198,331 CenturyLink non-qualified stock options (including 5,562,198 fully vested options),

    all non-vested shares of Qwest restricted stock outstanding immediately prior to the acquisition converted into an aggregate of 780,455 non-vested shares of CenturyLink restricted stock, and

    all Qwest market-based awards outstanding immediately prior to the acquisition vested in full and were paid out by us through the issuance of an aggregate of 563,269 shares of CenturyLink common stock in April 2011.

        The aggregate fair value of the assumed Qwest awards was $114 million, of which $85 million was attributable to services performed prior to the acquisition date and was included in the cost of the acquisition. The fair value of CenturyLink shares was determined based on the $41.55 closing price of our common stock on March 31, 2011. We determined the fair value of Qwest's non-qualified stock options, using the Black-Scholes option-pricing model, reflecting a risk-free interest rate ranging from 0% to 2.13% (depending on the expected life of the option), an expected dividend yield of 6.98%, an expected term ranging from 0.1 to 4.8 years (depending on the option's remaining contractual term and exercise price and on historical experience), and expected volatility ranging from 11.1% to 35.3% (based on the expected term and historical experience). The remaining $29 million of the aggregate fair value of the assumed Qwest awards was attributable to post-acquisition period and was included in the cost of the acquisition, which is being recognized as compensation expense, net of estimated forfeitures, over the remaining vesting periods from 0.1 years to 3.0 years.

        Upon the July 1, 2009, closing of our acquisition of Embarq, pursuant to the terms of the acquisition agreement, we assumed certain obligations under Embarq pre-existing share-based compensation arrangements. Specifically:

  • all Embarq stock options outstanding immediately prior to the acquisition were vested in full and were converted into 7.2 million fully vested CenturyLink stock options, and

    all non-vested Embarq restricted stock units outstanding immediately prior to the acquisition converted into an aggregate 2.4 million non-vested CenturyLink awards.

        The aggregate fair value of the assumed Embarq awards was $99 million, of which $50 million was attributable to services performed prior to the acquisition date and was included in the cost of the acquisition. The fair value of CenturyLink shares was determined based on the $30.70 closing price of our common stock on June 30, 2009. We determined the fair value of Embarq's non-qualified stock options, using the Black-Scholes option-pricing model, reflecting a risk-free interest rate ranging from 0.5% to 2.6% (depending on the expected life of the option), an expected dividend yield of 9.12%, an expected term ranging from 0.3 to 6.0 years (depending on the option's remaining contractual term and exercise price and on historical experience), and expected volatility ranging from 27% to 50% (based on the expected term and historical experience). The remaining $49 million of the aggregate fair value of the assumed Embarq awards was attributable to post-acquisition period and was included in the cost of the acquisition, which is being recognized as compensation expense, net of estimated forfeitures, over the remaining vesting periods.

Stock Options

        The following table summarizes activity involving stock option awards for the year ended December 31, 2011:

 
  Number of
Options
  Weighted-
Average
Exercise
Price
 
 
  (in thousands)
   
 

Outstanding at December 31, 2010

    5,040   $ 39.06  

Assumed in Savvis acquisition

    2,421   $ 14.29  

Assumed in Qwest acquisition

    7,198   $ 34.50  

Exercised

    (3,072 ) $ 23.59  

Forfeited/Expired

    (1,198 ) $ 68.43  
             

Outstanding at December 31, 2011

    10,389   $ 31.05  
             

Exercisable at December 31, 2011

    9,321   $ 29.56  
             

        The aggregate intrinsic value of our options outstanding and exercisable at December 31, 2011 was $87 million and $77 million, respectively. The weighted average remaining contractual term for such options was 4.9 years and 4.5 years, respectively.

        During 2011, we received net cash proceeds of $72 million in connection with our option exercises. The tax benefit realized from these exercises was $19 million. The total intrinsic value of options exercised for the years ended December 31, 2011, 2010 and 2009 was $47 million, $28 million and $6 million, respectively.

Restricted Stock

        For awards that contain only service conditions for vesting, we calculate its fair value based on the closing stock price on the date of grant. For restricted stock units that contain market and performance conditions, the award fair value is calculated through Monte-Carlo simulations.

        During the second and third quarter of 2011, we granted approximately 624,000 shares of restricted stock to certain executive-level employees as part of our long-term incentive program, of which approximately 474,000 contained only service conditions and will vest on a straight-line basis on May 31, 2012, 2013 and 2014. The remaining awards contain market conditions and will vest on May 31, 2014. These shares represent only the target for the award as each recipient has the opportunity to ultimately receive between 0% and 200% of the target restricted stock award depending on our total shareholder return for 2011, 2012 and 2013 in relation to that of the S&P 500 Index.

        In addition to these awards, during 2011 we granted approximately 689,000 shares of restricted stock awards to certain other key employees and our outside directors as part of our equity compensation and retention programs. These awards require only service conditions for vesting.

        During the first quarter of 2010, we granted approximately 397,000 shares of restricted stock to certain executive-level employees as part of our long-term incentive program, of which approximately 198,000 contained only service conditions and will vest on a straight-line basis in March 15, 2011, 2012 and 2013. The remaining awards contain service and market conditions. One half of these awards will vest on March 15, 2012 based on our two-year total shareholder return for 2010 and 2011 as measured against the total shareholder return of the companies comprising the S&P 500 Index. The other half will vest on March 15, 2013 based on our three-year total shareholder return for 2010, 2011 and 2012 as measured against the total shareholder return of the companies comprising the S&P 500 Index. These shares represent only the target for the award as each recipient has the opportunity to ultimately receive between 0% and 200% of the target restricted stock award depending on our total shareholder return in relation to that of the S&P 500 Index.

        In addition to these awards, during 2010 we granted approximately 600,000 shares of restricted stock awards to certain other key employees and our outside directors as part of our equity compensation and retention programs. These awards require only service conditions for vesting.

        In anticipation of our acquisition of Qwest, during the third quarter of 2010, we granted 407,000 shares of restricted stock to certain executive officers and other key employees as part of a retention program. The shares of restricted stock contain only service conditions and will vest in equal installments on the first, second and third anniversaries of the April 1, 2011 closing date of the acquisition. As this retention program was contingent upon the consummation of the Qwest acquisition, we did not begin expensing these awards until the closing of the acquisition on April 1, 2011.

        The following table summarizes activity involving restricted stock and restricted stock unit awards for the year ended December 31, 2011:

 
  Number of
Shares
  Weighted-
Average
Grant Date
Fair Value
 
 
  (in thousands)
   
 

Non-vested at December 31, 2010

    2,892   $ 33.69  

Granted

    1,313   $ 36.15  

Assumed in Savvis acquisition

    1,080   $ 38.54  

Assumed in Qwest acquisition

    780   $ 41.55  

Vested

    (1,780 ) $ 34.58  

Forfeited

    (77 ) $ 33.99  
             

Non-vested at December 31, 2011

    4,208   $ 36.78  
             

        During 2010, we granted 1.4 million shares of restricted stock at a weighted-average price of $36.56. During 2009, we granted 820,000 shares of restricted stock at a weighted-average price of $27.34, excluding the 2.4 million shares issued in connection with our acquisition of Embarq. The total fair value of restricted stock that vested during 2011, 2010 and 2009 was $72 million, $48 million and $45 million, respectively.

Compensation Expense and Tax Benefit

        We recognize compensation expense related to our share-based awards with graded vesting that only have a service condition on a straight-line basis over the requisite service period for the entire award. Total compensation expense for all share-based payment arrangements for the years ended December 31, 2011, 2010 and 2009 was $65 million, $38 million and $55 million, respectively. These amounts included $12 million in compensation expense recognized in 2011 and $21 million in 2009 for the acceleration of certain awards resulting from the consummation of the Qwest and Embarq acquisitions. Our tax benefit recognized in the income statements for our share-based payment arrangements for the years ended December 31, 2011, 2010 and 2009 was $25 million, $14 million and $21 million, respectively. At December 31, 2011, there was $96 million of total unrecognized compensation expense related to our share-based payment arrangements, which we expect to recognize over a weighted-average period of 1.79 years.

Earnings Per Common Share
Earnings Per Common Share

(10) Earnings Per Common Share

        Basic and diluted earnings per common share for the years ended December 31, 2011, 2010 and 2009 were calculated as follows:

 
  Years Ended December 31,  
 
  2011   2010   2009  
 
  (Dollars in millions, except per share amounts,
shares in thousands)

 

Income (Numerator):

                   

Net income before extraordinary item

  $ 573     948     511  

Extraordinary item, net of income tax expense

            136  
               

Net income

    573     948     647  

Earnings applicable to non-vested restricted stock

    (2 )   (6 )   (4 )
               

Net income applicable to common stock for computing basic earnings per common share

    571     942     643  
               

Net income as adjusted for purposes of computing diluted earnings per common share

  $ 571     942     643  
               

Shares (Denominator):

                   

Weighted average number of shares:

                   

Outstanding during period

    534,320     301,428     199,177  

Non-vested restricted stock

    (2,209 )   (1,756 )   (1,387 )

Non-vested restricted stock units

    669     947     1,023  
               

Weighted average shares outstanding for computing basic earnings per common share

    532,780     300,619     198,813  

Incremental common shares attributable to dilutive securities:

                   

Shares issuable under convertible securities

    13     13     13  

Shares issuable under incentive compensation plans

    1,328     665     231  
               

Number of shares as adjusted for purposes of computing diluted earnings per common share

    534,121     301,297     199,057  
               

Basic earnings per common share:

                   

Before extraordinary item

  $ 1.07     3.13     2.55  

Extraordinary item

            .68  
               

Basic earnings per common share

  $ 1.07     3.13     3.23  
               

Diluted earnings per common share:

                   

Before extraordinary item

  $ 1.07     3.13     2.55  

Extraordinary item

            .68  
               

Diluted earnings per common share

  $ 1.07     3.13     3.23  
               

        Our calculations of diluted earnings per common share exclude shares of common stock that are issuable upon exercise of stock options when the exercise price is greater than the average market price of our common stock during the period. Such potentially issuable shares totaled 2.4 million, 2.9 million and 4.1 million for 2011, 2010 and 2009, respectively.

Fair Value Disclosure
Fair Value Disclosure

(11) Fair Value Disclosure

        Our financial instruments consist of cash and cash equivalents, accounts receivable, investments, accounts payable and long-term debt, excluding capital lease obligations. The carrying amounts of our cash and cash equivalents, accounts receivable and accounts payable approximate their fair values.

        Fair value is defined as the price that would be received to sell an asset or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between independent and knowledgeable parties who are willing and able to transact for an asset or liability at the measurement date. We use valuation techniques that maximize the use of observable inputs and minimize the use of unobservable inputs when determining fair value and then we rank the estimated values based on the reliability of the inputs used following the fair value hierarchy set forth by the FASB.

        We determined the fair values of our long-term notes, including the current portion, based on quoted market prices where available or, if not available, based on discounted future cash flows using current market interest rates

        The three input levels in the hierarchy of fair value measurements are defined by the FASB generally as follows:

Input Level
  Description of Input
Level 1   Observable inputs such as quoted market prices in active markets.
Level 2   Inputs other than quoted prices in active markets that are either directly or indirectly observable.
Level 3   Unobservable inputs in which little or no market data exists.

        The following table presents the carrying amounts and estimated fair values of our investment securities, which are reported in noncurrent other assets, and long-term debt, excluding capital lease obligations, as well as the input levels used to determine the fair values:

 
   
  December 31, 2011   December 31, 2010  
 
  Input
Level
  Carrying
Amount
  Fair Value   Carrying
Amount
  Fair Value  
 
   
  (Dollars in millions)
 

Assets—Investments securities

    3   $ 73     73          

Liabilities—Long-term debt excluding capital lease obligations

    2   $ 21,124     22,052     7,328     8,007  

        In connection with the acquisition of Qwest on April 1, 2011, we acquired auction rate securities maturing in 2033 to 2036 that are not actively traded in liquid markets. We have designated these securities as available for sale and, accordingly, we report them on our balance sheet under our "goodwill and other assets—other" line item at fair value on a recurring basis. We estimated the fair value of these securities at December 31, 2011 using a probability-weighted cash flow model that considers the coupon rate for the securities, probabilities of default and liquidation prior to maturity, and a discount rate commensurate with the creditworthiness of the issuer. These securities have a cost basis of $79 million.

Income Taxes
Income Taxes

(12) Income Taxes

 
  Years Ended December 31,  
 
  2011   2010   2009  
 
  (Dollars in millions)
 

Income tax expense was as follows:

                   

Federal

                   

Current

  $ (49 )   384     158  

Deferred

    401     145     210  
               

State

                   

Current

    25     67     3  

Deferred

    (6 )   (13 )   12  
               

Foreign

                   

Current

    4          

Deferred

             
               

Total income tax expense

  $ 375     583     383  
               

 

 
  Years Ended December 31,  
 
  2011   2010   2009  
 
  (Dollars in millions)
 

Income tax expense was allocated as follows:

                   

Income tax expense in the consolidated statements of income:

                   

Attributable to income before extraordinary item

  $ 375     583     302  

Attributable to extraordinary item

            81  
               

Stockholders' equity:

                   

Compensation expense for tax purposes in excess of amounts recognized for financial reporting purposes

    (13 )   (12 )   (4 )

Tax effect of the change in accumulated other comprehensive loss

    (535 )   (34 )   29  

        The following is a reconciliation from the statutory federal income tax rate to our effective income tax rate:

 
  Years Ended December 31,  
 
  2011   2010   2009  
 
  (Percentage of pre-tax income)
 

Statutory federal income tax rate

    35.0%     35.0%     35.0%  

State income taxes, net of federal income tax benefit

    1.3%     1.9%     2.0%  

Change in tax treatment of Medicare subsidy

        0.3%      

Nondeductible acquisition related costs

    0.9%     0.2%     0.7%  

Nondeductible compensation pursuant to executive compensation limitations

    0.4%     0.2%     0.9%  

Recognition of previously unrecognized tax benefits

            (1.5)%  

Foreign income taxes

    0.4%          

Foreign valuation allowance

    0.8%          

Other, net

    0.8%     0.5%     0.1%  
               

Effective income tax rate

    39.6%     38.1%     37.2%  
               

        Included in income tax expense for the years ended December 31, 2011, 2010 and 2009 is $24 million, $4 million and $7 million, respectively, which related to a portion of our transaction costs associated with our recent acquisitions. The 2011 and 2010 transaction costs were primarily related to the acquisition of Qwest. The 2009 transaction costs were related to the acquisition of Embarq. These costs are considered non-deductible for income tax purposes.

        In 2011, our effective tax rate decreased due to a $16 million reduction to our net deferred tax asset valuation allowance associated with state operating loss carryforwards. We also recorded an additional valuation allowance of $8 million on deferred tax assets that require future income of a special character to realize the benefits. Because we are not currently forecasting income of an appropriate character for these benefits to be realized, we will continue to maintain a valuation allowance equal to the amount we do not believe is more likely than not to be realized.

        The tax effects of temporary differences that gave rise to significant portions of the deferred tax assets and deferred tax liabilities at December 31, 2011 and 2010 were as follows:

 
  Years Ended December 31,  
 
  2011   2010  
 
  (Dollars in millions)
 

Deferred tax assets

             

Post-retirement and pension benefit costs

  $ 2,052     510  

Net operating loss carryforwards

    2,492     75  

Other employee benefits

    118     45  

Other

    836     116  
           

Gross deferred tax assets

    5,498     746  

Less valuation allowance

    (276 )   (43 )
           

Net deferred tax assets

    5,222     703  
           

Deferred tax liabilities

             

Property, plant and equipment, primarily due to depreciation differences

    (3,641 )   (1,762 )

Goodwill and other intangible assets

    (4,215 )   (1,159 )

Other

    (163 )   (70 )
           

Gross deferred tax liabilities

    (8,019 )   (2,991 )
           

Net deferred tax liability

  $ (2,797 )   (2,288 )
           

        Of the $2.797 billion and $2.288 billion net deferred tax liability at December 31, 2011 and 2010, respectively, $3.823 billion and $2.369 billion is reflected as a long-term liability and $1.026 billion and $81 million is reflected as a net current deferred tax asset.

        In connection with our acquisitions of Savvis on July 15, 2011 and Qwest on April 1, 2011, we recognized net noncurrent deferred tax liabilities of approximately $320 million and $595 million, respectively, which reflects the expected future tax effects of certain differences between the financial reporting carrying amounts and tax bases of Savvis' and Qwest's assets and liabilities. In addition, due to the Qwest acquisition, we recognized a net current deferred tax asset of $271 million, which relates primarily to certain accrued liabilities that are expected to result in future tax deductions. These primary differences involve Qwest's pension and other post-retirement benefit obligations as well as tax effects for acquired intangible assets, property, plant and equipment and long-term debt, including the effects of acquisition date valuation adjustments, for both entities. The net deferred tax liability is partially offset by a deferred tax asset for expected future tax deductions relating to Savvis' and Qwest's net operating loss carryforwards.

        At December 31, 2011, we had NOLs of $6.2 billion. If unused, the NOLs will expire between 2015 and 2031; however, no significant amounts expire until 2020. At December 31, 2011, we had $72 million ($47 million net of federal income tax) of state investment tax credit carryforwards that will expire between 2012 and 2024 if not utilized. In addition, at December 31, 2011 we had $30 million of alternative minimum tax, or AMT, credits. Our acquisitions of Qwest and Savvis caused "ownership changes" within the meaning of Section 382 of the Internal Revenue Code. As a result, our ability to use these NOLs is subject to annual limits imposed by Section 382. Despite this, we expect to use substantially all of these NOLs as an offset against our future taxable income, although the timing of that use will depend upon our future earnings and future tax circumstances.

        We establish valuation allowances when necessary to reduce the deferred tax assets to amounts we expect to realize. At December 31, 2011, a valuation allowance of $276 million was established as it is more likely than not that this amount of net operating loss carryforwards will not be utilized prior to expiration.

        Based on our consideration of preliminary information, we recorded valuation allowances of $10 million and $231 million, respectively on the acquisition dates for the portion of the acquired net deferred tax assets that we do not believe is more likely than not to be realized. Our preliminary acquisition date assignment of deferred income taxes and the related valuation allowance are subject to adjustment as discussed in Note 2—Acquisitions.

        The activity of our gross unrecognized tax benefits (excluding both interest and any related federal benefit) during 2011 was as follows:

 
  Unrecognized Tax
Benefits
 
 
  (Dollars in millions)
 

Unrecognized tax benefits at December 31, 2010

  $ 311  

Assumed in Qwest and Savvis acquisitions

    206  

Decrease due to the reversal of tax positions taken in a prior year

    (13 )

Decrease from the lapse of statute of limitations

    (1 )

Settlements

    (392 )
       

Unrecognized tax benefits at December 31, 2011

  $ 111  
       

        Upon the dismissal of our refund appeal in October 2011, we recorded a $242 million settlement related to the treatment of universal service fund receipts of certain subsidiaries acquired in our Embarq acquisition, effectively settling the issue for the 1990 through 1994 years. We are currently in the process of dismissing our (2004-2006) proceedings, due to an agreement in place with the IRS Chief Counsel's office. Dismissal of the Tax Court proceedings will result in an agreed tax deficiency amount for each period. Since the Tax Court proceedings involved years that Embarq was owned by Sprint, Sprint will receive the deficiency and the payment to the IRS will trigger a settlement obligation under the Tax Sharing agreement with Sprint. During 2011, Qwest also withdrew their claims associated with the treatment of universal services fund receipts resulting in a $141 million settlement decrease in our unrecognized tax benefits. Due to Qwest's NOL carryforward, the settlement of the position resulted in a reduction in our unrecognized tax benefit but no cash payment is required.

        If we were to prevail on all unrecognized tax benefits recorded on our balance sheet, we would recognize approximately $118 million (including interest and net of federal benefit), which would lower our effective tax rate.

        Our policy is to reflect interest expense associated with unrecognized tax benefits in income tax expense. We had accrued interest (presented before related tax benefits) of approximately $33 million and $12 million at December 31, 2011 and December 31, 2010, respectively.

        We file income tax returns, including returns for our subsidiaries, with federal, state and local jurisdictions. Our uncertain income tax positions are related to tax years that are currently under or remain subject to examination by the relevant taxing authorities.

        Beginning with our 2009 tax year, we are subject to annual examination by the IRS.

        In 2010, Qwest and its subsidiaries filed amended federal income tax returns for 2006-2007 to make protective claims with respect to items reserved in their audit settlements and to correct items not addressed in prior audits. Those amended federal income tax returns are subject to adjustment in an IRS audit. Additionally, in 2009, Qwest and its subsidiaries filed amended federal income tax returns for 2002-2005 to make protective claims with respect to items reserved in their audit settlements and to correct items not addressed in prior audits. Those amended federal income tax returns are subject to adjustment in an IRS audit.

        Our open income tax years by major jurisdiction are as follows at December 31, 2011:

Jurisdiction
  Open tax years

Federal

  2008—current

State

   

Florida

  2006—current

Louisiana

  2008—current

Minnesota

  1996—1999 and 2002—current

New York

  2001—2006 and 2008—current

North Carolina

  2006—current

Oregon

  2002—current

Texas

  2008—current

Other states

  2005—current

        Since the period for assessing additional liability typically begins upon the filing of a return, it is possible that certain jurisdictions could assess tax for years prior to the open tax years disclosed above. Additionally, it is possible that certain jurisdictions in which we do not believe we have an income tax filing responsibility, and accordingly did not file a return, may attempt to assess a liability, or that other jurisdictions to which we pay taxes may attempt to assert that we owe additional taxes.

        Based on our current assessment of various factors, including (i) the potential outcomes of these ongoing examinations, (ii) the expiration of statute of limitations for specific jurisdictions, (iii) the negotiated settlement of certain disputed issues, and (iv) the administrative practices of applicable taxing jurisdictions, it is reasonably possible that the related unrecognized tax benefits for uncertain tax positions previously taken may decrease by up to $9 million within the next 12 months. The actual amount of such decrease, if any, will depend on several future developments and events, many of which are outside our control.

Segment Information
Segment Information

(13) Segment Information

        For several years prior to 2011, we reported our operations as a single segment. However, after our acquisitions of Qwest on April 1, 2011 and Savvis on July 15, 2011, we have reorganized our business into the following operating segments:

  • Regional markets.  Consists generally of providing strategic and legacy products and services to residential consumers, small to medium-sized businesses and regional enterprise customers. Our strategic products and services offered to these customers include our private line, broadband, Multi-Protocol Label Switching ("MPLS"), hosting and video services. Our legacy services offered to these customers include local and long-distance service;

    Business markets.  Consists generally of providing strategic and legacy products and services to enterprise and government customers. Our strategic products and services offered to these customers include our private line, broadband, MPLS, hosting and video services. Our legacy services offered to these customers include local and long-distance service;

    Wholesale markets.  Consists generally of providing strategic and legacy products and services to other communications providers. Our strategic products and services offered to these customers are mainly private line (including special access) and MPLS. Our legacy services offered to these customers include unbundled network elements ("UNEs") which allow our wholesale customers the use our network or a combination of our network and their own networks to provide voice and data services to their customers, long-distance and switched access services; and

    Savvis operations.  Currently consists of the entire centrally-managed operations of our Savvis subsidiaries, which provides hosting and network services primarily to business customers when provided by Legacy Savvis. Some of these services are the same as those provided through our business markets segment. In the future, we may reclassify the revenues and expenses associated with those business markets services as part of our Savvis operations segment. However, until we are able to further integrate Legacy Savvis, we will continue to classify those services as part of the business markets segment.

        We may make further changes to our segment reporting as we continue to integrate the operations of Legacy Qwest and Legacy Savvis.

        In addition, we have revised the way we categorize our products and services and report our related revenues. These products and services are now described as follows:

  • Strategic services, which include primarily private line (including special access), broadband, hosting (including cloud hosting and managed hosting), colocation, multi protocol line switching ("MPLS") (which is a data networking technology that can deliver the quality of service required to support real-time voice and video), video (including DIRECTV), voice over Internet Protocol ("VoIP") and Verizon Wireless services;

    Legacy services, which include primarily local, long-distance, switched access, public access, integrated services digital network ("ISDN") (which uses regular telephone lines to support voice, video and data applications), and traditional wide area network ("WAN") services (which allows a local communications network to link to networks in remote locations);

    Data integration, which is telecommunications equipment we sell that is located on customers' premises and related professional services, such as network management, installation and maintenance of data equipment and building of proprietary fiber-optic broadband networks for our government and business customer; and

    Other revenues, which consists primarily of USF revenue and surcharges.

        We have revised our prior period revenue classifications to conform to our current categories.

        Previously, we had categorized our products and services related to revenue as voice, data and network access. These products and services were described as follows:

  • Voice.  We offered local calling services to residential and business customers within our local service area, generally for a fixed monthly charge. We offered a number of enhanced voice services (such as call forwarding, caller identification, conference calling, voicemail, selective call ringing and call waiting) to our local exchange customers for an additional monthly fee. We also offered long-distance services to our customers based on either usage or pursuant to flat-rate calling plans.

    Data.  We derived our data revenues primarily from monthly recurring charges for providing broadband access services, data transmission services over special circuits and private lines and switched digital television services. Our special access data service consisted of providing dedicated circuits connecting other carriers' networks to their customers' locations, wireless carriers' cell towers to mobile switching centers, or business customers to our network. Although the traffic handled through special access facilities may have included voice as well as data, we reported revenues associated with special access as data revenues.

    Network Access.  We derived our network access revenues primarily from providing wholesale services to various carriers and customers in connection with the use of our facilities to originate and terminate their interstate and intrastate voice transmissions. This revenue also included charges for receiving universal support funds, receiving reciprocal compensation from CLECs and wireless service providers for terminating their calls on our networks and offering certain network facilities and related services to CLECs. Our revenues for switched access services depended primarily on the level of call volumes.

    Other.  We derived our other revenues principally by providing fiber transport, security monitoring services, leasing, selling, installing and maintaining customer premise telecommunications equipment and wiring and providing payphone services.

        In connection with the recent reorganization of our segments, we also revised the way we categorize our segment revenues and expenses. Our segment revenues include all revenues from our strategic services, legacy services and data integration as described in more detail above. We report our segment expenses for regional markets, business markets and wholesale markets as follows:

  • Direct expenses, which primarily are specific, incremental expenses incurred as a direct result of providing services and products to segment customers, along with selling, general and administrative expenses that are directly associated with specific segment customers or activities; and

    Allocated expenses, which are determined by applying activity-based costing and other methodologies to include network expenses, facilities expenses and other expenses such as fleet, product management, and real estate expenses.

        We do not assign depreciation and amortization expense to our segments, as the related assets and capital expenditures are centrally-managed. Other unassigned operating expenses consist primarily of expenses for centrally-managed administrative functions (such as finance, information technology, legal and human resources), severance expenses and restructuring expenses. Interest expense is also excluded from segment results because we manage our financing on a total company basis and have not allocated assets or debt to specific segments. In addition, other income (expense) does not relate to our segment operations and is therefore excluded from our segment results. Our segment results do not include any intersegment revenue or expenses. Our chief operating decision maker does not review assets and capital expenditures by segment, nor does he include the centrally-managed income and expenses noted above in the calculation of segment income.

        Our operating revenues for our products and services consisted of the following categories for the years ended December 31, 2011 and 2010:

 
  Years Ended December 31,  
 
  2011   2010  
 
  (Dollars in millions)
 

Strategic services

  $ 6,254     2,049  

Legacy services

    7,680     4,288  

Data integration

    537     158  

Other

    880     547  
           

Total operating revenues

  $ 15,351     7,042  
           

        Due to system limitations we have not reported our 2009 segment information using our current segments or our 2009 revenues using our current presentation of products and services, as we have deemed it impracticable to do so. Our operating revenues for our products and services consisted of the following categories for the years ended December 31, 2010 and 2009:

 
  Years Ended December 31,  
 
  2010   2009  
 
  (Dollars in millions)
 

Voice

  $ 3,138     2,168  

Data

    1,909     1,202  

Network access

    1,080     928  

Other

    915     676  
           

Total operating revenues

  $ 7,042     4,974  
           

        Other operating revenues include revenue from universal support funds which allows us to recover a portion of our costs under federal and state cost recovery mechanisms and certain surcharges to our customers, including billings for our required contributions to several USF programs. These surcharge billings to our customers are reflected on a gross basis in our statements of operations (included in both operating revenues and expenses) and aggregated approximately $392 million, $115 million and $84 million for the years ended December 31, 2011, 2010 and 2009, respectively. We also generate other operating revenues from leasing and subleasing of space in our office buildings, warehouses and other properties. We centrally-manage the activities that generate these other operating revenues and consequently these revenues are not included in any of our four segments presented below.

        Segment information for the years ended December 31, 2011 and 2010 is summarized below:

 
  Years Ended December 31,  
 
  2011   2010  
 
  (Dollars in millions)
 

Total segment revenues

  $ 14,471     6,495  

Total segment expenses

    6,535     2,403  
           

Total segment income

  $ 7,936     4,092  
           

Total margin percentage

    55%     63%  

Regional markets:

             

Revenues

  $ 7,832     4,640  

Expenses

    3,398     1,783  
           

Income

  $ 4,434     2,857  
           

Margin percentage

    57%     62%  

Business markets:

             

Revenues

  $ 2,861     266  

Expenses

    1,736     120  
           

Income

  $ 1,125     146  
           

Margin percentage

    39%     55%  

Wholesale markets:

             

Revenues

  $ 3,295     1,589  

Expenses

    1,021     500  
           

Income

  $ 2,274     1,089  
           

Margin percentage

    69%     69%  

Savvis operations:

             

Revenues

  $ 483      

Expenses

    380      
           

Income

  $ 103      
           

Margin percentage

    21%      

        The following table reconciles segment income to net income for the years ended December 31, 2011 and 2010:

 
  Years Ended December 31,  
 
  2011   2010  
 
  (Dollars in millions)
 

Total segment income

  $ 7,936     4,092  

Other operating revenues

    880     547  

Depreciation and amortization

    (4,026 )   (1,434 )

Other unassigned operating expenses

    (2,765 )   (1,145 )

Other income (expense), net

    (1,077 )   (529 )

Income tax expense

    (375 )   (583 )
           

Net income

  $ 573     948  
           

        We do not have any single customer that provides more than 10% of our total operating revenues. Substantially all of our revenues come from customers located in the United States.

Discontinuance of Regulatory Accounting
Discontinuance of Regulatory Accounting

(14) Discontinuance of Regulatory Accounting

        Through June 30, 2009, we accounted for our regulated telephone operations (except for the properties acquired from Verizon in 2002) in accordance with the provisions of regulatory accounting under which actions by regulators can provide reasonable assurance of the recognition of an asset, reduce or eliminate the value of an asset and impose a liability on a regulated enterprise. Such regulatory assets and liabilities were required to be recorded and, accordingly, reflected in the balance sheet of entities subject to regulatory accounting.

        On July 1, 2009, we discontinued the accounting requirements of regulatory accounting upon the conversion of substantially all of our rate-of-return study areas to federal price cap regulation (based on the FCC's approval of our petition to convert our study areas to price cap regulation).

        Upon the discontinuance of regulatory accounting, we reversed previously established regulatory assets and liabilities. Depreciation rates of certain assets established by regulatory authorities for our telephone operations subject to regulatory accounting have historically included a component for removal costs in excess of the related salvage value. Notwithstanding the adoption of accounting guidance related to the accounting for asset retirement obligations, regulatory accounting required us to continue to reflect this accumulated liability for removal costs in excess of salvage value even though there was no legal obligation to remove the assets. Therefore, we did not adopt the asset retirement obligation provisions for our telephone operations that were subject to regulatory accounting. Upon the discontinuance of regulatory accounting, such accumulated liability for removal costs included in accumulated depreciation was removed and an asset retirement obligation was established. Upon the discontinuance of regulatory accounting, we were required to adjust the carrying amounts of property, plant and equipment only to the extent the assets were impaired, as judged in the same manner applicable to nonregulated enterprises. We did not record an impairment charge related to the carrying value of the property, plant and equipment of our regulated telephone operations as a result of the discontinuance of regulatory accounting.

        In the third quarter of 2009, upon the discontinuance of regulatory accounting, we recorded a non-cash extraordinary gain in our consolidated statements of income comprised of the following components:

 
  Gain (loss)  
 
  (Dollars in millions)
 

Elimination of removal costs embedded in accumulated depreciation

  $ 221  

Establishment of asset retirement obligation

    (2 )

Elimination of other regulatory assets and liabilities

    (2 )
       

Net extraordinary gain before income tax expense

    217  

Income tax expense associated with extraordinary gain

    (81 )
       

Extraordinary gain attributable to CenturyLink, Inc. 

  $ 136  
       

Basic earnings per common share of extraordinary gain

    .68  

Diluted earnings per common share of extraordinary gain

    .68  

        Upon the discontinuance of regulatory accounting, we revised the lives of our property, plant and equipment to reflect the economic estimated remaining useful lives of the assets. In general, the estimated remaining useful lives of our telephone property were lengthened as compared to the lives related to the depreciation rates used that were established by regulatory authorities.

        Upon the discontinuance of regulatory accounting, we eliminated certain intercompany transactions with regulated affiliates that previously were not eliminated under the application of regulatory accounting. This has caused our operating revenues and operating expenses to be lower by equivalent amounts beginning in the third quarter of 2009.

Quarterly Financial Data (Unaudited)
Quarterly Financial Data (Unaudited)

(15) Quarterly Financial Data (Unaudited)

 
  First
Quarter
  Second
Quarter
  Third
Quarter
  Fourth
Quarter
  Total  
 
  (Dollars in millions, except per share amounts)
 

2011

                               

Operating revenues

  $ 1,696     4,406     4,596     4,653     15,351  

Operating income

    464     480     548     533     2,025  

Net income

    211     115     138     109     573  

Basic earnings per common share

    .69     .19     .23     .18     1.07  

Diluted earnings per common share

    .69     .19     .23     .18     1.07  

2010

                               

Operating revenues

  $ 1,800     1,772     1,748     1,722     7,042  

Operating income

    545     523     506     486     2,060  

Net income

    253     238     232     225     948  

Basic earnings per common share

    .84     .79     .76     .74     3.13  

Diluted earnings per common share

    .84     .79     .76     .74     3.13  

        These results include Savvis operations for periods beginning July 15, 2011 and Qwest operations for periods beginning April 1, 2011 (See Note 2—Acquisitions).

Commitments and Contingencies
Commitments and Contingencies

(16) Commitments and Contingencies

        In this section, when we refer to a class action as "putative" it is because a class has been alleged, but not certified in that matter. Until and unless a class has been certified by the court, it has not been established that the named plaintiffs represent the class of plaintiffs they purport to represent.

        We have established accrued liabilities for the matters described below where losses are deemed probable and reasonably estimable.

Litigation Matters Relating to CenturyLink and Embarq

        In December 2009, subsidiaries of CenturyLink filed two lawsuits against subsidiaries of Sprint Nextel to recover terminating access charges for VoIP traffic owed under various interconnection agreements and tariffs which presently approximate $34 million. The lawsuits allege that Sprint Nextel has breached contracts, violated tariffs, and violated the Federal Communications Act by failing to pay these charges. One lawsuit, filed on behalf of all legacy Embarq operating entities, was tried in federal court in Virginia in August 2010 and, in March 2011, a ruling was issued in our favor and against Sprint Nextel. We currently expect Sprint Nextel to file an appeal of this decision. The other lawsuit, filed on behalf of all Legacy CenturyLink operating entities, is pending in federal court in Louisiana. In that case, in early 2011 the Court dismissed certain of CenturyLink's claims, referred other claims to the FCC, and stayed the litigation. We have not deferred revenue related to these matters as an adverse outcome is not probable based upon current circumstances.

        In William Douglas Fulghum, et al. v. Embarq Corporation, et al., filed on December 28, 2007 in the United States District Court for the District of Kansas, a group of retirees filed a putative class action lawsuit challenging the decision to make certain modifications in retiree benefits programs relating to life insurance, medical insurance and prescription drug benefits, generally effective January 1, 2006 and January 1, 2008 (which, at the time of the modifications, was expected to reduce estimated future expenses for the subject benefits by more than $300 million). Defendants include Embarq, certain of its benefit plans, its Employee Benefits Committee and the individual plan administrator of certain of its benefits plans. Additional defendants include Sprint Nextel and certain of its benefit plans. The Court certified a class on certain of plaintiffs' claims, but rejected class certification as to other claims. Embarq and other defendants continue to vigorously contest these claims and charges. On October 14, 2011, the Fulghum lawyers filed a new, related lawsuit, Abbott et al. v. Sprint Nextel et al. CenturyLink/Embarq is not named a defendant in the lawsuit. In Abbott, approximately 1,800 plaintiffs allege breach of fiduciary duty in connection with the changes in retiree benefits that also are at issue in the Fulghum case. The Abbott plaintiffs are all members of the class that was certified in Fulghum on claims for allegedly vested benefits (Counts I and III), and the Abbott claims are similar to the Fulghum breach of fiduciary duty claim (Count II), on which the Fulghum court denied class certification. We have not accrued a liability for these matters as it is premature to determine whether an accrual is warranted and, if so, a reasonable estimate of probable liability.

        Over 60 years ago, one of our indirect subsidiaries, Centel Corporation, acquired entities that may have owned or operated seven former plant sites that produced "manufactured gas" under a process widely used through the mid-1900s. Centel has been a subsidiary of Embarq since being spun-off in 2006 from Sprint Nextel, which acquired Centel in 1993. None of these plant sites are currently owned or operated by either Sprint Nextel, Embarq or their subsidiaries. On three sites, Embarq and the current landowners are working with the Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") pursuant to administrative consent orders. Remediation expenditures pursuant to the orders are not expected to be material. On five sites, including the three sites where the EPA is involved, Centel has entered into agreements with other potentially responsible parties to share remediation costs. Further, Sprint Nextel has agreed to indemnify Embarq for most of any eventual liability arising from all seven of these sites. Based upon current circumstances, we do not expect this issue to have a material adverse impact on our results of operations or financial condition. We have accrued an amount that we believe is probable for these matters; however, the amount is not material to our financial statements.

Litigation Matters Relating to Qwest

        The terms and conditions of applicable bylaws, certificates or articles of incorporation, agreements or applicable law may obligate Qwest to indemnify its former directors, officers or employees with respect to certain of the matters described below, and Qwest has been advancing legal fees and costs to certain former directors, officers or employees in connection with certain matters described below.

        On September 29, 2010, the trustees in the Dutch bankruptcy proceeding for KPNQwest, N.V. (of which Qwest was a major shareholder) filed a lawsuit in district court in Haarlem, the Netherlands, alleging tort and mismanagement claims under Dutch law. Qwest and Koninklijke KPN N.V. ("KPN") are defendants in this lawsuit along with a number of former KPNQwest supervisory board members and a former officer of KPNQwest, some of whom were formerly affiliated with Qwest. Plaintiffs allege, among other things, that defendants' actions were a cause of the bankruptcy of KPNQwest, and they seek damages for the bankruptcy deficit of KPNQwest, which is claimed to be approximately €4.200 billion (or approximately $5.4 billion based on the exchange rate on December 31, 2011), plus statutory interest. Two lawsuits asserting similar claims were previously filed against Qwest and others in federal courts in New Jersey in 2004 and Colorado in 2009; those courts dismissed the lawsuits without prejudice on the grounds that the claims should not be litigated in the United States.

        On September 13, 2006, Cargill Financial Markets, Plc and Citibank, N.A. filed a lawsuit in the District Court of Amsterdam, the Netherlands, against Qwest, KPN, KPN Telecom B.V., and other former officers, employees or supervisory board members of KPNQwest, some of whom were formerly affiliated with Qwest. The lawsuit alleges that defendants misrepresented KPNQwest's financial and business condition in connection with the origination of a credit facility and wrongfully allowed KPNQwest to borrow funds under that facility. Plaintiffs allege damages of approximately €219 million (or approximately $284 million based on the exchange rate on December 31, 2011).

        We have not accrued a liability for the above matters as it is premature to determine whether an accrual is warranted and, if so, a reasonable estimate of probable liability. We will continue to defend against the pending KPNQwest litigation matters vigorously.

        Several putative class actions relating to the installation of fiber-optic cable in certain rights-of-way were filed against Qwest on behalf of landowners on various dates and in various courts in Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois (where there is a federal and a state court case), Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and Washington. For the most part, the complaints challenge our right to install our fiber-optic cable in railroad rights-of-way. The complaints allege that the railroads own the right-of-way as an easement that did not include the right to permit us to install our fiber-optic cable in the right-of-way without the Plaintiffs' consent. Most of the actions purport to be brought on behalf of state-wide classes in the named Plaintiffs' respective states, although two of the currently pending actions purport to be brought on behalf of multi-state classes. Specifically, the Illinois state court action purports to be on behalf of landowners in Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Ohio and Wisconsin, and the Indiana state court action purports to be on behalf of a national class of landowners. In general, the complaints seek damages on theories of trespass and unjust enrichment, as well as punitive damages. On July 18, 2008, a federal district court in Massachusetts entered an order preliminarily approving a settlement of all of the actions described above, except the action pending in Tennessee. On September 10, 2009, the court denied final approval of the settlement on grounds that it lacked subject matter jurisdiction. On December 9, 2009, the court issued a revised ruling that, among other things, denied a motion for approval as moot and dismissed the matter for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. The parties are now engaged in negotiating and finalizing settlements on a state-by-state basis, and have filed and received final approval of settlements in Alabama and Illinois federal court, and in Tennessee state court. Final approval also has been granted in federal court actions in Idaho and North Dakota, to which Qwest is not a party. We have accrued an amount that we believe is probable for these matters; however, the amount is not material to our financial statements.

Other

        From time to time, we are involved in other proceedings incidental to our business, including administrative hearings of state public utility commissions relating primarily to rate making, actions relating to employee claims, various tax issues, occasional grievance hearings before labor regulatory agencies, patent infringement allegations and miscellaneous third party tort actions. The outcome of these other proceedings is not predictable. However, we do not believe that the ultimate resolution of these other proceedings, after considering available insurance coverage, will have a material adverse effect on our financial position, results of operations or cash flows.

Capital Leases

        We lease certain facilities and equipment under various capital lease arrangements. Depreciation of assets under capital leases is included in depreciation and amortization expense. Payments on capital leases are included in repayments of long-term debt, including current maturities in the consolidated statements of cash flows.

        The table below summarizes our capital lease activity:

 
  Years Ended December 31,  
 
  2011   2010   2009  
 
  (Dollars in millions)
 

Assets acquired through capital leases

  $ 696          

Depreciation expense

    89          

Cash payments towards capital leases

    76          

 

 
  December 31, 2011   December 31, 2010  
 
  (Dollars in millions)
 

Assets included in property, plant and equipment

  $ 698      

Accumulated depreciation

    91      

        The future minimum payments under capital leases as of December 31, 2011 are included in our consolidated balance sheet as follows:

 
  Future
Minimum
Payments
 
 
  (Dollars in
millions)

 

Capital lease obligations:

       

2012

  $ 147  

2013

    140  

2014

    121  

2015

    89  

2016

    53  

2017 and thereafter

    231  
       

Total minimum payments

    781  

Less: amount representing interest and executory costs

    (165 )
       

Present value of minimum payments

    616  

Less: current portion

    (112 )
       

Long-term portion

  $ 504  
       

Operating Leases

        CenturyLink leases various equipment, office facilities, retail outlets, switching facilities, and other network sites. These leases, with few exceptions, provide for renewal options and escalations that are either fixed or based on the consumer price index. Any rent abatements, along with rent escalations, are included in the computation of rent expense calculated on a straight-line basis over the lease term. The lease term for most leases includes the initial non-cancelable term plus any term under renewal options that are reasonably assured. For the years ended December 31, 2011, 2010 and 2009, our gross rental expense was $401 million, $174 million and $107 million. We also received sublease rental income for the year ended December 31, 2011 of $17 million. We did not have any material sublease rental income for the years ended December 31, 2010 and 2009.

        At December 31, 2011, our future rental commitments for operating leases were as follows:

 
  Future
Minimum
Payments
 
 
  (Dollars in
millions)

 

2012

  $ 280  

2013

    244  

2014

    208  

2015

    178  

2016

    147  

2017 and thereafter

    928  
       

Total future minimum payments(1)

  $ 1,985  
       

(1)
Minimum payments have not been reduced by minimum sublease rentals of $119 million due in the future under non-cancelable subleases.

Purchase Obligations

        We have several commitments primarily for marketing activities and support services from a variety of vendors to be used in the ordinary course of business totaling $706 million at December 31, 2011. Of this amount, we expect to purchase $268 million in 2012, $191 million in 2013 through 2014, $99 million in 2015 through 2016 and $148 million in 2017 and thereafter. These amounts do not represent our entire anticipated purchases in the future, but represent only those items for which we are contractually committed.

Other Financial Information
Other Financial Information

(17) Other Financial Information

  • Other Current Assets

 
  December 31,  
 
  2011   2010  
 
  (Dollars in millions)
 

Prepaid expenses

  $ 240     41  

Other

    150     33  
           

Total other current assets

  $ 390     74  
           
Labor Union Contracts
Labor Union Contracts

(18) Labor Union Contracts

        Over 40% of our employees are members of various bargaining units represented by the Communications Workers of America and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. We believe that relations with our employees continue to be generally good. Approximately 15,000 or 75% of our union-represented employees are subject to collective bargaining agreements that expire throughout 2012.

Dividends
Dividends

(19) Dividends

        Our Board of Directors declared the following dividends payable in 2011 and 2010:

Date Declared
  Record Date   Dividend
Per Share
  Total Amount   Payment Date  
 
   
   
  (in millions)
   
 

November 15, 2011

    December 6, 2011     .725   $ 449     December 16, 2011  

August 23, 2011

    September 6, 2011     .725   $ 449     September 16, 2011  

May 18, 2011

    June 6, 2011     .725   $ 436     June 16, 2011  

January 24, 2011

    February 18, 2011     .725   $ 222     February 25, 2011  

November 9, 2010

    December 7, 2010     .725   $ 220     December 20, 2010  

August 24, 2010

    September 7, 2010     .725   $ 220     September 20, 2010  

May 21, 2010

    June 8, 2010     .725   $ 220     June 21, 2010  

February 25, 2010

    March 9, 2010     .725   $ 219     March 22, 2010  
Basis of Presentation and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies (Policies)

        Our consolidated financial statements are prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles. These accounting principles require us to make certain estimates, judgments and assumptions. We believe that the estimates, judgments and assumptions we made when accounting for items and matters such as, but not limited to, investments, long-term contracts, customer retention patterns, allowance for doubtful accounts, depreciation, amortization, asset valuations, internal labor capitalization rates, recoverability of assets (including deferred tax assets), impairment assessments, pension, post-retirement and other post-employment benefits, taxes, certain liabilities and other provisions and contingencies are reasonable, based on information available at the time they were made. These estimates, judgments and assumptions can affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities and components of stockholders' equity as of the dates of the consolidated balance sheets, as well as the reported amounts of revenue, expenses and components of cash flows during the periods presented in our consolidated statements of operations, our consolidated statements of comprehensive (loss) income and our consolidated statements of cash flows. We also make estimates in our assessments of potential losses in relation to threatened or pending tax and legal matters. See Note 12—Income Taxes and Note 16—Commitments and Contingencies for additional information.

        For matters not related to income taxes, if a loss is considered probable and the amount can be reasonably estimated, we recognize an expense for the estimated loss. If we have the potential to recover a portion of the estimated loss from a third party, we make a separate assessment of recoverability and reduce the estimated loss if recovery is also deemed probable.

        For matters related to income taxes, if the impact of an uncertain tax position is more likely than not to be sustained upon audit by the relevant taxing authority, then we recognize a benefit for the largest amount that is more likely than not to be sustained. No portion of an uncertain tax position will be recognized if the position has less than a 50% likelihood of being sustained. Interest is recognized on the amount of unrecognized benefit from uncertain tax positions.

        For all of these and other matters, actual results could differ from our estimates.

        We recognize revenue for services when the related services are provided. Recognition of certain payments received in advance of services being provided is deferred until the service is provided. These advance payments include activation and installation charges, which we recognize as revenue over the expected customer relationship period, which ranges from eighteen months to over ten years depending on the service. We also defer costs for customer acquisitions. The deferral of customer acquisition costs is limited to the amount of revenue deferred on advance payments. Costs in excess of advance payments are recorded as expense in the period such costs are incurred. Expected customer relationship periods are estimated using historical experience. Termination fees or other fees on existing contracts that are negotiated in conjunction with new contracts are deferred and recognized over the new contract term.

        We offer bundle discounts to our customers who receive certain groupings of services. These bundle discounts are recognized concurrently with the associated revenues and are allocated to the various services in the bundled offering based on the estimated selling price of services included in each bundled combination. Revenues from installation activities are deferred and recognized as revenue over the estimated life of the customer relationship. The costs associated with such installation activities, up to the related amount of deferred revenue, are deferred and recognized as an operating expense over the same period.

        Customer arrangements that include both equipment and services are evaluated to determine whether the elements are separable. If the elements are deemed separable and separate earnings processes exist, the revenue associated with each element is allocated to each element based on the relative estimated selling price of the separate elements. We have estimated the selling prices of each element by reference to vendor-specific objective evidence of selling prices when the elements are sold separately. The revenue associated with each element is then recognized as earned. For example, if we receive an advance payment when we sell equipment and continuing service together, we immediately recognize as revenue the amount allocated to the equipment as long as all the conditions for revenue recognition have been satisfied. The portion of the advance payment allocated to the service based upon its relative selling price is recognized ratably over the longer of the contractual period or the expected customer relationship period.

        We have periodically transferred optical capacity assets on our network to other telecommunications service carriers. These transactions are structured as indefeasible rights of use, commonly referred to as IRUs, which are the exclusive right to use a specified amount of capacity or fiber for a specified term, typically 20 years. We account for the cash consideration received on transfers of optical capacity assets and on all of the other elements deliverable under an IRU, as revenue ratably over the term of the agreement. We have not recognized revenue on any contemporaneous exchanges of our optical capacity assets for other optical capacity assets.

        We offer some products and services that are provided by third-party vendors. We review the relationship between us, the vendor and the end customer to assess whether revenue should be reported on a gross or net basis. In assessing whether revenue should be reported on a gross or net basis, we consider whether we act as a principal in the transaction, take title to the products, have risk and rewards of ownership and act as an agent or broker. Based on our agreements with DIRECTV and Verizon Wireless, we offer these services through sales agency relationships which are reported on a net basis.

        For our Savvis operations, we have service level commitments pursuant to individual client contracts with certain of our clients. To the extent that such service levels are not achieved or are otherwise disputed due to performance or service issues or other service interruptions or conditions, we will estimate the amount of credits to be issued and record a reduction to revenue, with a corresponding increase in the allowance for doubtful accounts. In the event we provide credits or payments to clients related to service level claims, we may recover such costs through third party insurance agreements. Insurance proceeds received under these agreements are recorded as an offset to previously recorded revenue reductions.

        In determining whether to include in our revenue and expenses the taxes and surcharges collected from customers and remitted to governmental authorities, including USF charges, sales, use, value added and some excise taxes, we assess, among other things, whether we are the primary obligor or principal taxpayer for the taxes assessed in each jurisdiction where we do business. In jurisdictions where we determine that we are the principal taxpayer, we record the taxes on a gross basis and include them in our revenue and costs of services and products.

        In jurisdictions where we determine that we are merely a collection agent for the government authority, we record the taxes on a net basis and do not include them in our revenue and costs of services and products.

        Costs related to advertising are expensed as incurred and included in selling, general and administrative expenses in our consolidated statements of operations. For the years ended December 31, 2011, 2010 and 2009, our advertising expense was $275 million, $49 million and $25 million, respectively.

        In the normal course of our business, we incur costs to hire and retain external legal counsel to advise us on regulatory, litigation and other matters. We expense these costs as the related services are received.

        We file a consolidated federal income tax return with our eligible subsidiaries. The provision for income taxes consists of an amount for taxes currently payable, an amount for tax consequences deferred to future periods, adjustments to our liabilities for uncertain tax positions and amortization of investment tax credits. We record deferred income tax assets and liabilities reflecting future tax consequences attributable to tax net operating loss carryforwards (NOLs), tax credit carryforwards and differences between the financial statement carrying value of assets and liabilities and the tax bases of those assets and liabilities. Deferred taxes are computed using enacted tax rates expected to apply in the year in which the differences are expected to affect taxable income. The effect on deferred income tax assets and liabilities of a change in tax rate is recognized in earnings in the period that includes the enactment date.

        We use the deferral method of accounting for federal investment tax credits earned prior to the repeal of such credits in 1986. We also defer certain transitional investment tax credits earned after the repeal, as well as investment tax credits earned in certain states. We amortize these credits ratably over the estimated service lives of the related assets as a credit to our income tax expense in our consolidated statements of operations.

        We establish valuation allowances when necessary to reduce deferred income tax assets to the amounts that we believe are more likely than not to be recovered. A significant portion of our net deferred tax assets relate to tax benefits attributable to NOLs. Each quarter we evaluate the need to retain all or a portion of the valuation allowance on our deferred tax assets. At December 31, 2011, we concluded that it was more likely than not that we would realize the majority of our deferred tax assets. See Note 12—Income Taxes for additional information.

        Cash and cash equivalents include highly liquid investments that are readily convertible into cash and are not subject to significant risk from fluctuations in interest rates. As a result, the value at which cash and cash equivalents are reported in our consolidated financial statements approximates their fair value. In evaluating investments for classification as cash equivalents, we require that individual securities have original maturities of three months or less and that individual investment funds have dollar-weighted average maturities of ninety days or less. To preserve capital and maintain liquidity, we invest with financial institutions we deem to be of sound financial condition and in high quality and relatively risk-free investment products. Our cash investment policy limits the concentration of investments with specific financial institutions or among certain products and includes criteria related to credit worthiness of any particular financial institution.

        Book overdrafts occur when checks have been issued but have not been presented to our controlled disbursement bank accounts for payment. Disbursement bank accounts allow us to delay funding of issued checks until the checks are presented for payment. Until the issued checks are presented for payment, the book overdrafts are included in accounts payable on our consolidated balance sheet. This activity is included in the operating activities section in our consolidated statements of cash flows.

       Accounts Receivable are recognized based upon the amount due from customers for the services provided or at cost for purchased and other receivables less an allowance for doubtful accounts. The allowance for doubtful accounts receivable reflects our best estimate of probable losses inherent in our receivable portfolio determined on the basis of historical experience, specific allowances for known troubled accounts and other currently available evidence. We generally consider our accounts past due if they are outstanding over 30 days. Our collection process varies by the customer segment, amount of the receivable, and our evaluation of the customer's credit risk. Our past due accounts are written off against our allowance for doubtful accounts when collection is considered to be not probable. Any recoveries of accounts previously written off are generally recognized as a reduction in bad debt expense in the period received. The carrying value of accounts receivable net of the allowance for doubtful accounts approximates fair value.

        Property, plant and equipment acquired in connection with our acquisitions was recorded based on its estimated fair value as of its acquisition date plus the estimated value of any associated legally or contractually required retirement obligations. Substantially all other property, plant and equipment is stated at original cost plus the estimated value of any associated legally or contractually required retirement obligations. Property, plant and equipment is depreciated primarily using the straight-line group method. Under the straight-line group method, assets dedicated to providing telecommunications services (which comprise the majority of our property, plant and equipment) that have similar physical characteristics, use and expected useful lives are categorized in the year acquired on the basis of equal life groups for purposes of depreciation and tracking. Generally, under the straight-line group method, when an asset is sold or retired, the cost is deducted from property, plant and equipment and charged to accumulated depreciation without recognition of a gain or loss. A gain or loss is recognized in our consolidated statements of operations only if a disposal is abnormal or unusual. Leasehold improvements are amortized over the shorter of the useful lives of the assets or the expected lease term. Expenditures for maintenance and repairs are expensed as incurred. Interest is capitalized during the construction phase of network and other internal-use capital projects. Employee-related costs for construction of network and other internal use assets are also capitalized during the construction phase. Property, plant and equipment supplies used internally are carried at average cost, except for significant individual items for which cost is based on specific identification.

        We perform annual internal reviews to evaluate the reasonableness of the depreciable lives for our property, plant and equipment. Our reviews utilize models that take into account actual usage, physical wear and tear, replacement history, assumptions about technology evolution and, in certain instances, actuarially determined probabilities to estimate the remaining life of our asset base. The changes in our estimates incorporated as a result of our most recent reviews did not have a material impact on the level of our depreciation expense.

        We have asset retirement obligations associated with the legally or contractually required removal of a limited group of property, plant and equipment assets from leased properties and the disposal of certain hazardous materials present in our owned properties. When an asset retirement obligation is identified, usually in association with the acquisition of the asset, we record the fair value of the obligation as a liability. The fair value of the obligation is also capitalized as property, plant and equipment and then amortized over the estimated remaining useful life of the associated asset. Where the removal obligation is not legally binding, the net cost to remove assets is expensed in the period in which the costs are actually incurred.

        We review long-lived assets, other than goodwill and other intangible assets with indefinite lives, for impairment whenever facts and circumstances indicate that the carrying amounts of the assets may not be recoverable. For measurement purposes, long-lived assets are grouped with other assets and liabilities at the lowest level for which identifiable cash flows are largely independent of the cash flows of other assets and liabilities, absent a material change in operations. An impairment loss is recognized only if the carrying amount of the asset group is not recoverable and exceeds its fair value. Recoverability of the asset group to be held and used is measured by comparing the carrying amount of the asset group to the estimated undiscounted future net cash flows expected to be generated by the asset group. If the asset group's carrying value is not recoverable, an impairment charge is recognized for the amount by which the carrying amount of the asset group exceeds its fair value. We determine fair values by using a combination of comparable market values and discounted cash flows, as appropriate.

        Intangible assets arising from business combinations, such as goodwill, customer relationships, trademarks and tradenames, are initially recorded at fair value. We amortize customer relationships primarily over an estimated life of 10 years, using either the sum-of-the-years-digits or straight-line methods, depending on the type of customer. We amortize capitalized software using the straight-line method over estimated lives ranging up to seven years and amortize our other intangible assets predominantly using the sum-of-the-years digits method over an estimated life of four years. Other intangible assets not arising from business combinations are initially recorded at cost. Where there are no legal, regulatory, contractual or other factors that would reasonably limit the useful life of an intangible asset, we classify the intangible asset as indefinite-lived and such intangible assets are not amortized.

        Internally used software, whether purchased or developed by us, is capitalized and amortized using the straight-line group method over its estimated useful life. We have capitalized certain costs associated with software such as costs of employees devoting time to the projects and external direct costs for materials and services. Costs associated with software to be used for internal purposes are expensed until the point at which the project has reached the development stage. Subsequent additions, modifications or upgrades to internal-use software are capitalized only to the extent that they allow the software to perform a task it previously did not perform. Software maintenance, data conversion and training costs are expensed in the period in which they are incurred. We review the remaining economic lives of our capitalized software annually. Capitalized software is included in other intangible assets, net, in our consolidated balance sheets.

        Our long-lived intangible assets with indefinite lives are reviewed for impairment annually or whenever an event occurs or circumstances change that would indicate an impairment may have occurred. These assets are carried at historical cost if their estimated fair value is greater than their carrying amounts. However, if their estimated fair value is less than the carrying amount, other indefinite-lived intangible assets are reduced to their estimated fair value through an impairment charge to our consolidated statements of operations. In the fourth quarter of 2011, we completed our annual review and determined that the fair value of our indefinite-lived intangible assets exceeded their carrying amounts; accordingly, no impairment charge was recorded in 2011.

        We are required to review goodwill for impairment at least annually, or more frequently if events or a change in circumstances indicate that an impairment may have occurred. We are required to write-down the value of goodwill only in periods in which the recorded amount of goodwill exceeds the fair value. Our annual measurement date for testing goodwill impairment is September 30. Subsequent to our acquisitions of Qwest on April 1, 2011 and Savvis on July 15, 2011, we managed our operations based on four operating segments (regional markets, business markets, wholesale markets and Savvis operations) and have considered these four operating segments to be the appropriate level for testing goodwill impairment as of September 30, 2011. Prior to our acquisition of Qwest, our reporting units were generally aligned to our five geographic operating regions, under which we managed the substantial portion of our operations. See Note 3—Goodwill, Customer Relationships and Other Intangible Assets for additional information.

        We periodically review the estimated lives and methods used to amortize our other intangible assets. The actual amounts of amortization expense may differ materially from our estimates, depending on the results of our periodic reviews and our final determinations of acquisition date fair value related to Savvis' and Qwest's intangible assets. For more information, see Note 2—Acquisitions.

        We recognize the overfunded or underfunded status of our defined benefit and post-retirement plans as an asset or a liability on our balance sheet. Accumulated actuarial gains and losses are a component of our other comprehensive (loss) income, which is then included in our accumulated other comprehensive (loss) income. Pension and post-retirement benefit expenses are recognized over the period in which the employee renders service and becomes eligible to receive benefits. We make significant assumptions (including the discount rate, expected rate of return on plan assets and health care trend rates) in computing the pension and post-retirement benefits expense and obligations. See Note 8—Employee Benefits.

        Our results of operations include foreign subsidiaries, which are translated from the applicable functional currency to the United States dollar using the average exchange rates during the reporting period, while assets and liabilities are translated at the reporting date. Resulting gains or losses from translating foreign currency are included in accumulated other comprehensive (loss) income.

        At December 31, 2011, we had unissued shares of CenturyLink common stock reserved of 43.6 million shares for incentive compensation, 4.1 million shares for acquisitions, 3.4 million shares for our employee stock purchase plan ("ESPP") and 400,000 shares for our dividend reinvestment plan.

Preferred stock

        Holders of outstanding CenturyLink preferred stock are entitled to receive cumulative dividends, receive preferential distributions equal to $25 per share plus unpaid dividends upon CenturyLink's liquidation and vote as a single class with the holders of common stock.

Acquisitions (Tables)

 

 
  Years Ended December 31,  
 
  2011   2010  
 
  (Dollars in millions)
 

Operating revenues

  $ 18,692     19,431  

Net income

    601     293  

Basic earnings per common share

    .97     .48  

Diluted earnings per common share

    .97     .48  

 

 
  April 1, 2011  
 
  (Dollars in millions)
 

Cash, accounts receivable and other current assets

  $ 2,128  

Property, plant and equipment

    9,554  

Identifiable intangible assets

       

Customer relationships

    7,625  

Capitalized software

    1,702  

Other

    189  

Other noncurrent assets

    373  

Current liabilities, excluding current maturities of long-term debt

    (2,428 )

Current maturities of long-term debt

    (2,422 )

Long-term debt

    (10,253 )

Deferred credits and other liabilities

    (4,301 )

Goodwill

    10,106  
       

Aggregate consideration

  $ 12,273  
       

 

 
  July 15, 2011  
 
  (Dollars in millions)
 

Cash, accounts receivable and other current assets

  $ 213  

Property, plant and equipment

    1,335  

Identifiable intangible assets

       

Customer relationships

    794  

Other

    51  

Other noncurrent assets

    27  

Current liabilities, excluding current maturities of long-term debt

    (129 )

Current maturities of long-term debt

    (38 )

Long-term debt

    (840 )

Deferred credits and other liabilities

    (388 )

Goodwill

    1,357  
       

Aggregate consideration

  $ 2,382  
       

 

 
  July 1, 2009  
 
  (Dollars in millions)
 

Cash, accounts receivable and other current assets

  $ 676  

Property, plant and equipment

    6,078  

Identifiable intangible assets

       

Customer relationships

    1,098  

Right of way

    268  

Other

    27  

Other noncurrent assets

    24  

Current liabilities, excluding current maturities of long-term debt

    (837 )

Current maturities of long-term debt

    (2 )

Long-term debt

    (4,885 )

Deferred credits and other liabilities

    (2,622 )

Goodwill

    6,245  
       

Aggregate consideration

  $ 6,070  
       
Goodwill, Customer Relationships and Other Intangible Assets (Tables)

 

 
  December 31,
2011
  December 31,
2010
 
 
  (Dollars in millions)
 

Goodwill

  $ 21,724     10,261  
           

Customer relationships, less accumulated amortization of $1,337 and $349

    8,361     930  
           

Indefinite-life intangible assets

    418     418  

Other intangible assets subject to amortization

             

Capitalized software, less accumulated amortization of $441 and $79

    1,622     164  

Tradenames and patents, less accumulated amortization of $73 and $3

    199     40  
           

Total other intangible assets, net

  $ 2,239     622  
           

 

 
  (Dollars in millions)  

2012

  $ 1,656  

2013

    1,524  

2014

    1,389  

2015

    1,234  

2016

    1,090  

 

 
  December 31, 2011  
 
  (Dollars in millions)
 

Regional markets

  $ 11,813  

Business markets

    5,021  

Wholesale markets

    3,533  

Savvis operations

    1,357  
       

Total goodwill

  $ 21,724  
       
Long-term Debt and Credit Facilities (Tables)

 

 

 
   
   
  Years Ended December 31,  
 
  Interest Rates   Maturities   2011   2010  
 
   
   
  (Dollars in millions)
 

CenturyLink, Inc.

                       

Senior notes

    5.000% - 7.875%   2012 - 2039   $ 4,518     2,518  

Credit facility

    2.550% - 4.500% (*) 2015     277     365  

Subsidiaries

                       

Qwest

                       

Senior notes

    7.125% - 8.000%   2014 - 2018     2,650      

Debentures

    6.875% - 7.750%   2014 - 2043     3,182      

Other notes

    6.500% - 8.375%   2013 - 2051     5,628      

Embarq Corporation

                       

Senior notes

    6.738% - 7.995%   2013 - 2036     4,013     4,013  

First mortgage bonds

    6.875% - 8.770%   2013 - 2025     322     322  

Other

    6.750% - 9.000%   2013 - 2019     200     200  

First mortgage notes

      2.00% - 10.00%   2012 - 2018     65     83  

Capital lease and other obligations

    Various   Various     712      

Unamortized premiums (discounts) and other, net

              269     (173 )
                     

Total long-term debt

              21,836     7,328  
                     

Less current maturities

              (480 )   (12 )
                     

Long-term debt, excluding current maturities

            $ 21,356     7,316  
                     

(*)
This range includes the weighted average interest on our credit facility of 2.74% as of December 31, 2011.

 

 

 
  (Dollars in millions)  

2012

  $ 480  

2013

    1,717  

2014

    2,057  

2015

    1,659  

2016

    2,856  

2017 and thereafter

    12,798  
       

Total notes and debentures

  $ 21,567  
       
 
  Years Ended December 31,  
 
  2011   2010   2009  
 
  (Dollars in millions)
 

Interest expense on long-term debt:

                   

Gross interest expense

  $ 1,097     557     370  

Capitalized interest

    (25 )   (13 )   (3 )
               

Total interest expense on long-term debt

  $ 1,072     544     367  
               
Accounts Receivable (Tables)

 

 
  December 31,  
 
  2011   2010  
 
  (Dollars in millions)
 

Trade receivables

  $ 1,609     718  

Earned and unbilled receivables

    349     51  

Purchased and other receivables

    139     4  
           

Total accounts receivable

    2,097     773  

Less: allowance for doubtful accounts

    (145 )   (60 )
           

Accounts receivable, less allowance

  $ 1,952     713  

 

 
  Beginning Balance   Additions   Deductions   Other   Ending Balance  
 
  (Dollars in millions)
 

2011

  $ 60     153     (68 )       145  

2010

  $ 48     91     (79 )       60  

2009

  $ 16     57     (25 )       48  
Property, Plant and Equipment (Tables)

 

 
   
  December 31,  
 
  Depreciable Lives  
 
  2011   2010  
 
   
  (Dollars in millions)
 

Land

    N/A   $ 590     206  

Fiber, conduit and other outside plant(1)

    8-45 years     12,423     8,382  

Central office and other network electronics(2)

    3-10 years     9,730     5,412  

Support assets(3)

    5-35 years     6,090     2,057  

Construction in progress(4)

    N/A     744     272  
                 

Gross property, plant and equipment

          29,577     16,329  

Accumulated depreciation

          (10,141 )   (7,575 )
                 

Net property, plant and equipment

        $ 19,436     8,754  
                 

(1)
Fiber, conduit and other outside plant consists of fiber and metallic cable, conduit, poles and other supporting structures.

(2)
Central office and other network electronics consists of circuit and packet switches, routers, transmission electronics and electronics providing service to customers.

(3)
Support assets consist of buildings, computers and other administrative and support equipment.

(4)
Construction in progress includes property of the foregoing categories that has not been placed in service as it is still under construction.

 

 
  Years Ended December 31,  
 
  2011   2010   2009  
 
  (Dollars in millions)
 

Balance at beginning of year

  $ 41     39      

Accretion expense

    9     2     1  

Liabilities incurred

            38  

Liabilities assumed in Qwest and Savvis acquisitions

    124          

Liabilities settled and other

    (3 )        

Change in estimate

    (62 )        
               

Balance at end of year

  $ 109     41     39  
               
Severance and Leased Real Estate (Tables)
Schedule of changes in accrued liabilities for severance expenses and leased real estate

 

 
  Severance   Real Estate  
 
  (Dollars in millions)
 

Balance at January 1, 2010

  $ 69      

Accrued to expense

    27      

Payments, net

    (78 )    
           

Balance at December 31, 2010

    18      

Accrued to expense

    132     6  

Liabilities assumed in Qwest acquisition

    20     168  

Payments, net

    (133 )   (21 )
           

Balance at December 31, 2011

  $ 37     153  
Employee Benefits (Tables)

 

 
  Pension Plans   Post-Retirement
Benefit Plans
  Medicare Part D
Subsidy Receipts
 
 
  (Dollars in millions)
 

Estimated future benefit payments:

                   

2012

  $ 1,029     391     (24 )

2013

    996     386     (26 )

2014

    985     378     (28 )

2015

    974     369     (30 )

2016

    966     359     (32 )

2017—2021

    4,623     1,604     (183 )

 

 

 
  Pension Plans   Post-Retirement Benefit Plans  
 
  2011(1)   2010   2009   2011(2)   2010   2009  

Actuarial assumptions at beginning of year:

                                     

Discount rate

    5.00%-5.50%     5.50%-6.00%     6.60%-6.90%     5.30%     5.70%-5.80%     6.40%-6.90%  

Rate of compensation increase

    3.25%     3.50%-4.00%     4.00%     N/A     N/A     N/A  

Expected long-term rate of return on plan assets

    7.50%-8.00%     8.25%-8.50%     8.25%-8.50%     7.25%     7.25%     8.25%-8.50%  

Initial health care cost trend rate

    N/A     N/A     N/A     8.50%     8.00%     7.00%  

Ultimate health care cost trend rate

    N/A     N/A     N/A     5.00%     5.00%     5.00%  

Year ultimate trend rate is reached

    N/A     N/A     N/A     2018     2014     2011  

N/A—Not applicable

(1)
This column does not consider Qwest's actuarial assumptions for its pension plan as of the beginning of the year due to the acquisition date of April 1, 2011. Qwest had the following actuarial assumptions as of April 1, 2011: discount rate of 5.40%; expected long-term rate of return on plan assets 7.50%; and a rate of compensation increase of 3.50%.

(2)
This column does not consider Qwest's actuarial assumptions for its post-retirement benefit plan as of the beginning of the year due to the acquisition date of April 1, 2011. Qwest had the following actuarial assumptions as of April 1, 2011: discount rate of 5.30%; expected long-term rate of return on plan assets of 7.50%; initial health care cost trend rate of 7.50% and ultimate health care trend rate of 5.00% to be reached in 2016.

 

 
  Pension Plans   Post-Retirement Benefit Plans  
 
  December 31,   December 31,  
 
  2011   2010   2011   2010  

Actuarial assumptions at end of year:

                         

Discount rate

    4.25%-5.10%     5.00%-5.50%     4.60%-4.80%     5.30%  

Rate of compensation increase

    3.25%     3.25%-4.00%     N/A     N/A  

Initial health care cost trend rate

    N/A     N/A     7.25%-8.00%     8.50%  

Ultimate health care cost trend rate

    N/A     N/A     5.00%     5.00%  

Year ultimate trend rate is reached

    N/A     N/A     2018     2018  

N/A—Not applicable

 

 
  Gross notional exposure  
 
  Pension Plan   Post-Retirement
Benefit Plans
 
 
  Year Ended December 31, 2011  
Derivative instrument:
  (Dollars in millions)
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Exchange-traded U.S. equity futures

  $ 535     12  

Exchange-traded non-U.S. equity futures

   
4
   
 

Exchange-traded Treasury futures

   
1,512
   
19
 

Interest rate swaps

   
635
   
 

Total return swaps

   
110
   
51
 

Credit default swaps

   
201
   
 

Foreign exchange forwards

   
635
   
23
 

Options

   
917
   
 

 

 

 
  Pension Plans   Post-Retirement Benefit Plans  
 
  Years Ended December 31,   Years Ended December 31,  
 
  2011   2010   2011   2010  
 
  (Dollars in millions)
 

Benefit obligation

  $ (13,596 )   (4,534 )   (3,930 )   (558 )

Fair value of plan assets

    11,814     3,732     693     54  
                   

Unfunded status

  $ (1,782 )   (802 )   (3,237 )   (504 )
                   

Current portion of unfunded status

 
$

   
   
(164

)
 
 

Non-current portion of unfunded status

  $ (1,782 )   (802 )   (3,073 )   (504 )

 

 

 
  As of and for the Years Ended December 31,  
 
  2010   Recognition
of Net
Periodic
Benefits
Expense
  Deferrals   Net
Change in
AOCI
  2011  
 
  (Dollars in millions)
 

Accumulated other comprehensive (loss) income:

                               

Pension plans:

                               

Net actuarial (loss) gain

  $ (188 )   13     (1,160 )   (1,147 )   (1,335 )

Prior service (cost) benefit

    (19 )   2     (12 )   (10 )   (29 )

Deferred income tax benefit (expense)

    80     (5 )   451     446     526  
                       

Total pension plans

    (127 )   10     (721 )   (711 )   (838 )
                       

Post-retirement benefit plans:

                               

Net actuarial (loss) gain

    (31 )       (190 )   (190 )   (221 )

Prior service benefit (cost)

    12     (2 )   (31 )   (33 )   (21 )

Deferred income tax benefit (expense)

    7         85     85     92  
                       

Total post-retirement benefit plans

    (12 )   (2 )   (136 )   (138 )   (150 )
                       

Total accumulated other comprehensive (loss) income

  $ (139 )   8     (857 )   (849 )   (988 )
                       

 

 

 
  Pension
Plans
  Post-Retirement
Plans
 
 
  (Dollars in millions)
 

Estimated recognition of net periodic benefit expense in 2012:

             

Net actuarial (loss)

  $ (30 )    

Prior service (cost)

    (3 )    

Deferred income tax benefit

    12      
           

Estimated net periodic benefit expense to be recorded in 2012 as a component of other comprehensive income (loss)

  $ (21 )    
           

 

 
  Pension Plans
Years Ended December 31,
 
 
  2011   2010   2009  
 
  (Dollars in millions)
 

Service cost

  $ 70     61     36  

Interest cost

    560     246     135  

Expected return on plan assets

    (709 )   (283 )   (128 )

Curtailment gain

        (21 )    

Settlements

    1         18  

Contractual retirement benefits

            15  

Amortization of unrecognized prior service cost

    2     2      

Amortization of unrecognized actuarial loss

    13     17     16  
               

Net periodic pension (income) expense(1)(2)

  $ (63 )   22     92  
               

(1)
Includes $58 million of income related to the Qwest plans subsequent to the April 1, 2011 acquisition date.

(2)
The Legacy Embarq pension plan contains a provision that grants early retirement benefits for certain participants affected by workforce reductions. During 2009, we recognized approximately $15 million of additional pension expense related to these contractual benefits.

 

 
  Pension Plans
Years Ended December 31,
 
 
  2011   2010   2009  
 
  (Dollars in millions)
 

Change in benefit obligation

                   

Benefit obligation at beginning of year

  $ 4,534     4,182     463  

Service cost

    70     61     36  

Interest cost

    560     246     135  

Plan amendments

    12     4     16  

Acquisitions

    8,267         3,467  

Actuarial loss

    930     427     232  

Contractual retirement benefits

            15  

Curtailment gain

        (110 )    

Settlements

            8  

Benefits paid by company

    (16 )   (5 )   (57 )

Benefits paid from plan assets

    (761 )   (271 )   (133 )
               

Benefit obligation at end of year

  $ 13,596     4,534     4,182  
               

 

 

 
  Pension Plans
Years Ended December 31,
 
 
  2011   2010   2009  
 
  (Dollars in millions)
 

Change in plan assets

                   

Fair value of plan assets at beginning of year

  $ 3,732     3,220     353  

Return on plan assets

    479     483     474  

Acquisitions

    7,777         2,407  

Employer contributions

    587     305     176  

Settlements

             

Benefits paid

    (761 )   (276 )   (190 )
               

Fair value of plan assets at end of year

  $ 11,814     3,732     3,220  
               

 

 

 
  Fair value of pension plan assets at December 31, 2011  
 
  Level 1   Level 2   Level 3   Total  
 
  (Dollars in millions)
 

Investment grade bonds (a)

  $ 694     2,206         2,900  

High yield bonds (b)

        541     79     620  

Emerging market bonds (c)

        295         295  

Convertible bonds (d)

        337         337  

Diversified strategies (e)

        489         489  

U.S. stocks (f)

    401     944         1,345  

Non-U.S. stocks (g)

    994     459         1,453  

Emerging market stocks (h)

    102     136         238  

Private equity (i)

            791     791  

Private debt (j)

            461     461  

Market neutral hedge funds (k)

        620     188     808  

Directional hedge funds (k)

        268     183     451  

Real estate (l)

        48     535     583  

Derivatives (m)

    12     (5 )       7  

Cash equivalents and short-term investments (n)

    13     1,183         1,196  
                   

Total investments

  $ 2,216     7,521     2,237     11,974  
                     

Dividends and interest receivable

                      32  

Pending trades receivable

                      436  

Accrued expenses

                      (8 )

Pending trades payable

                      (620 )
                         

Total pension plan assets

                    $ 11,814  
                         


 

 
  Fair value of pension plan assets at December 31, 2010  
 
  Level 1   Level 2   Level 3   Total  
 
  (Dollars in millions)
 

Investment grade bonds (a)

  $     331         331  

High yield bonds (b)

        913         913  

U.S. stocks (f)

    1,168     277         1,445  

Non-U.S. stocks (g)

    508             508  

Private equity (i)

            1     1  

Private debt (j)

            3     3  

Directional hedge funds (k)

            161     161  

Real estate (l)

            182     182  

Cash equivalents and short-term investments (n)

    26             26  

Other (o)

    13     146     3     162  
                   

Total pension plan assets

  $ 1,715     1,667     350     3,732  
                   

 

 

 
  Pension Plan Assets Valued Using Level 3 Inputs  
 
  High
Yield
Bonds
  Private
Equity
  Private
Debt
  Market
Neutral
Hedge
Fund
  Directional
Hedge
Funds
  Real
Estate
  Other   Total  
 
  (Dollars in millions)
 

Balance at December 31, 2009

  $                 160     162         322  

Net acquisitions (dispositions)

        1     3         (9 )   2     3      

Actual return on plan assets:

                                                 

(Losses) gains relating to assets sold during the year

                    2     (2 )        

Gains (losses) relating to assets still held at year-end

                    8     20         28  
                                   

Balance at December 31, 2010

        1     3         161     182     3     350  

Net acquisitions (dispositions)

    96     795     453     185     30     318     (3 )   1,874  

Actual return on plan assets:

                                                 

(Losses) gains relating to assets sold during the year

    (12 )   197     13     3     (1 )   9         209  

(Losses) gains relating to assets still held at year-end

    (5 )   (202 )   (8 )       (7 )   26         (196 )
                                   

Balance at December 31, 2011

  $ 79     791     461     188     183     535         2,237  
                                   

 

 
  100 Basis Points Change  
 
  Increase   (Decrease)  
 
  (Dollars in millions)
 

Effect on the aggregate of the service and interest cost components of net periodic post-retirement benefit expense (statements of operations)

  $ 2     (2 )

Effect on benefit obligation (balance sheets)

    70     (65 )

 

 
  Post-Retirement Plans
Years Ended December 31,
 
 
  2011   2010   2009  
 
  (Dollars in millions)
 

Service cost

  $ 18     15     9  

Interest cost

    152     32     27  

Expected return on plan assets

    (41 )   (4 )   (2 )

Amortization of unrecognized prior service cost

    (2 )   (3 )   (4 )

Amortization of unrecognized actuarial loss

        1      
               

Net periodic post-retirement benefit expense(1)

  $ 127     41     30  
               

(1)
Includes $92 million related to the Qwest plans subsequent to the April 1, 2011 acquisition date.

 

 
  Post-Retirement Benefit Plans
Years Ended December 31,
 
 
  2011   2010   2009  
 
  (Dollars in millions)
 

Change in benefit obligation

                   

Benefit obligation at beginning of year

  $ 558     582     293  

Service cost

    18     15     9  

Interest cost

    152     32     27  

Participant contributions

    64     14     3  

Plan amendments

    31          

Acquisitions

    3,284         228  

Direct subsidy receipts

    22     1      

Actuarial loss (gain)

    153     (32 )   58  

Benefits paid

    (352 )   (54 )   (36 )
               

Benefit obligation at end of year

  $ 3,930     558     582  
               

 

 
  Post-Retirement Benefit Plans
Years Ended December 31,
 
 
  2011   2010   2009  
 
  (Dollars in millions)
 

Change in plan assets

                   

Fair value of plan assets at beginning of year

  $ 54     57     17  

Return on plan assets

    4     6     6  

Acquisitions

    768         33  

Employer contributions

    155     31     34  

Participant contributions

    64     14     3  

Benefits paid

    (352 )   (54 )   (36 )
               

Fair value of plan assets at end of year

  $ 693     54     57  
               


 
  Fair value of post-retirement plan assets at December 31, 2011  
 
  Level 1   Level 2   Level 3   Total  
 
  (Dollars in millions)
 

Investment grade bonds (a)

  $ 45     100       $ 145  

High yield bonds (b)

        61         61  

Emerging market bonds (c)

        33         33  

Convertible bonds (d)

        30         30  

Diversified strategies (e)

        62         62  

U.S. stocks (f)

    64     4         68  

Non-U.S. stocks (g)

    62     2         64  

Emerging market stocks (h)

        17         17  

Private equity (i)

            60     60  

Private debt (j)

            8     8  

Market neutral hedge funds (k)

        67         67  

Directional hedge funds (k)

        20         20  

Real estate (l)

        19     26     45  

Cash equivalents and short-term investments (n)

    5     20         25  
                   

Total investments

  $ 176     435     94     705  
                     

Dividends and interest receivable

                      3  

Pending trades receivable

                      23  

Accrued expenses

                      (15 )

Pending trades payable

                      (23 )
                         

Total post-retirement plan assets

                    $ 693  
                         

 

 
  Fair value of post-retirement plan assets at December 31, 2010  
 
  Level 1   Level 2   Level 3   Total  
 
  (Dollars in millions)
 

Fixed income (a)(d)

  $ 35     5         40  

U.S. stocks (f)

    5     5         10  

Cash equivalents and short-term investments (n)

    4             4  
                   

Total post-retirement plan assets

  $ 44     10         54  
                   

 

 

 
  Post-Retirement Plan Assets Valued Using Level 3 Inputs  
 
  Private
Equity
  Private
Debt
  Real
Estate
  Total  
 
  (Dollars in millions)
 

Balance at December 31, 2010

  $              

Net acquisitions

    55     8     24     87  

Actual return on plan assets:

                         

Gains relating to assets sold during the year

    33     1         34  

(Losses) gains relating to assets still held at year-end

    (28 )   (1 )   2     (27 )
                   

Balance at December 31, 2011

  $ 60     8     26     94  
                   
Share-based Compensation (Tables)

 

 

 
  Number of
Options
  Weighted-
Average
Exercise
Price
 
 
  (in thousands)
   
 

Outstanding at December 31, 2010

    5,040   $ 39.06  

Assumed in Savvis acquisition

    2,421   $ 14.29  

Assumed in Qwest acquisition

    7,198   $ 34.50  

Exercised

    (3,072 ) $ 23.59  

Forfeited/Expired

    (1,198 ) $ 68.43  
             

Outstanding at December 31, 2011

    10,389   $ 31.05  
             

Exercisable at December 31, 2011

    9,321   $ 29.56  
             

 

 

 
  Number of
Shares
  Weighted-
Average
Grant Date
Fair Value
 
 
  (in thousands)
   
 

Non-vested at December 31, 2010

    2,892   $ 33.69  

Granted

    1,313   $ 36.15  

Assumed in Savvis acquisition

    1,080   $ 38.54  

Assumed in Qwest acquisition

    780   $ 41.55  

Vested

    (1,780 ) $ 34.58  

Forfeited

    (77 ) $ 33.99  
             

Non-vested at December 31, 2011

    4,208   $ 36.78  
             
Earnings Per Common Share (Tables)
Schedule of basic and diluted earnings per common share

 

 

 
  Years Ended December 31,  
 
  2011   2010   2009  
 
  (Dollars in millions, except per share amounts,
shares in thousands)

 

Income (Numerator):

                   

Net income before extraordinary item

  $ 573     948     511  

Extraordinary item, net of income tax expense

            136  
               

Net income

    573     948     647  

Earnings applicable to non-vested restricted stock

    (2 )   (6 )   (4 )
               

Net income applicable to common stock for computing basic earnings per common share

    571     942     643  
               

Net income as adjusted for purposes of computing diluted earnings per common share

  $ 571     942     643  
               

Shares (Denominator):

                   

Weighted average number of shares:

                   

Outstanding during period

    534,320     301,428     199,177  

Non-vested restricted stock

    (2,209 )   (1,756 )   (1,387 )

Non-vested restricted stock units

    669     947     1,023  
               

Weighted average shares outstanding for computing basic earnings per common share

    532,780     300,619     198,813  

Incremental common shares attributable to dilutive securities:

                   

Shares issuable under convertible securities

    13     13     13  

Shares issuable under incentive compensation plans

    1,328     665     231  
               

Number of shares as adjusted for purposes of computing diluted earnings per common share

    534,121     301,297     199,057  
               

Basic earnings per common share:

                   

Before extraordinary item

  $ 1.07     3.13     2.55  

Extraordinary item

            .68  
               

Basic earnings per common share

  $ 1.07     3.13     3.23  
               

Diluted earnings per common share:

                   

Before extraordinary item

  $ 1.07     3.13     2.55  

Extraordinary item

            .68  
               

Diluted earnings per common share

  $ 1.07     3.13     3.23  
               
Fair Value Disclosure (Tables)

 

 

Input Level
  Description of Input
Level 1   Observable inputs such as quoted market prices in active markets.
Level 2   Inputs other than quoted prices in active markets that are either directly or indirectly observable.
Level 3   Unobservable inputs in which little or no market data exists.

 

 

 
   
  December 31, 2011   December 31, 2010  
 
  Input
Level
  Carrying
Amount
  Fair Value   Carrying
Amount
  Fair Value  
 
   
  (Dollars in millions)
 

Assets—Investments securities

    3   $ 73     73          

Liabilities—Long-term debt excluding capital lease obligations

    2   $ 21,124     22,052     7,328     8,007  
Income Taxes (Tables)

 

 

 
  Years Ended December 31,  
 
  2011   2010   2009  
 
  (Dollars in millions)
 

Income tax expense was as follows:

                   

Federal

                   

Current

  $ (49 )   384     158  

Deferred

    401     145     210  
               

State

                   

Current

    25     67     3  

Deferred

    (6 )   (13 )   12  
               

Foreign

                   

Current

    4          

Deferred

             
               

Total income tax expense

  $ 375     583     383  
               

 

 
  Years Ended December 31,  
 
  2011   2010   2009  
 
  (Dollars in millions)
 

Income tax expense was allocated as follows:

                   

Income tax expense in the consolidated statements of income:

                   

Attributable to income before extraordinary item

  $ 375     583     302  

Attributable to extraordinary item

            81  
               

Stockholders' equity:

                   

Compensation expense for tax purposes in excess of amounts recognized for financial reporting purposes

    (13 )   (12 )   (4 )

Tax effect of the change in accumulated other comprehensive loss

    (535 )   (34 )   29  

 

 

 
  Years Ended December 31,  
 
  2011   2010   2009  
 
  (Percentage of pre-tax income)
 

Statutory federal income tax rate

    35.0%     35.0%     35.0%  

State income taxes, net of federal income tax benefit

    1.3%     1.9%     2.0%  

Change in tax treatment of Medicare subsidy

        0.3%      

Nondeductible acquisition related costs

    0.9%     0.2%     0.7%  

Nondeductible compensation pursuant to executive compensation limitations

    0.4%     0.2%     0.9%  

Recognition of previously unrecognized tax benefits

            (1.5)%  

Foreign income taxes

    0.4%          

Foreign valuation allowance

    0.8%          

Other, net

    0.8%     0.5%     0.1%  
               

Effective income tax rate

    39.6%     38.1%     37.2%  
               

 

 

 
  Years Ended December 31,  
 
  2011   2010  
 
  (Dollars in millions)
 

Deferred tax assets

             

Post-retirement and pension benefit costs

  $ 2,052     510  

Net operating loss carryforwards

    2,492     75  

Other employee benefits

    118     45  

Other

    836     116  
           

Gross deferred tax assets

    5,498     746  

Less valuation allowance

    (276 )   (43 )
           

Net deferred tax assets

    5,222     703  
           

Deferred tax liabilities

             

Property, plant and equipment, primarily due to depreciation differences

    (3,641 )   (1,762 )

Goodwill and other intangible assets

    (4,215 )   (1,159 )

Other

    (163 )   (70 )
           

Gross deferred tax liabilities

    (8,019 )   (2,991 )
           

Net deferred tax liability

  $ (2,797 )   (2,288 )
           

 

 

 
  Unrecognized Tax
Benefits
 
 
  (Dollars in millions)
 

Unrecognized tax benefits at December 31, 2010

  $ 311  

Assumed in Qwest and Savvis acquisitions

    206  

Decrease due to the reversal of tax positions taken in a prior year

    (13 )

Decrease from the lapse of statute of limitations

    (1 )

Settlements

    (392 )
       

Unrecognized tax benefits at December 31, 2011

  $ 111  
       

 

 

Jurisdiction
  Open tax years

Federal

  2008—current

State

   

Florida

  2006—current

Louisiana

  2008—current

Minnesota

  1996—1999 and 2002—current

New York

  2001—2006 and 2008—current

North Carolina

  2006—current

Oregon

  2002—current

Texas

  2008—current

Other states

  2005—current
Segment Information (Tables)

 

 
  Years Ended December 31,  
 
  2011   2010  
 
  (Dollars in millions)
 

Strategic services

  $ 6,254     2,049  

Legacy services

    7,680     4,288  

Data integration

    537     158  

Other

    880     547  
           

Total operating revenues

  $ 15,351     7,042  
           

 

 
  Years Ended December 31,  
 
  2010   2009  
 
  (Dollars in millions)
 

Voice

  $ 3,138     2,168  

Data

    1,909     1,202  

Network access

    1,080     928  

Other

    915     676  
           

Total operating revenues

  $ 7,042     4,974  
           

 

 

 
  Years Ended December 31,  
 
  2011   2010  
 
  (Dollars in millions)
 

Total segment revenues

  $ 14,471     6,495  

Total segment expenses

    6,535     2,403  
           

Total segment income

  $ 7,936     4,092  
           

Total margin percentage

    55%     63%  

Regional markets:

             

Revenues

  $ 7,832     4,640  

Expenses

    3,398     1,783  
           

Income

  $ 4,434     2,857  
           

Margin percentage

    57%     62%  

Business markets:

             

Revenues

  $ 2,861     266  

Expenses

    1,736     120  
           

Income

  $ 1,125     146  
           

Margin percentage

    39%     55%  

Wholesale markets:

             

Revenues

  $ 3,295     1,589  

Expenses

    1,021     500  
           

Income

  $ 2,274     1,089  
           

Margin percentage

    69%     69%  

Savvis operations:

             

Revenues

  $ 483      

Expenses

    380      
           

Income

  $ 103      
           

Margin percentage

    21%      

        The following table reconciles segment income to net income for the years ended December 31, 2011 and 2010:

 
  Years Ended December 31,  
 
  2011   2010  
 
  (Dollars in millions)
 

Total segment income

  $ 7,936     4,092  

Other operating revenues

    880     547  

Depreciation and amortization

    (4,026 )   (1,434 )

Other unassigned operating expenses

    (2,765 )   (1,145 )

Other income (expense), net

    (1,077 )   (529 )

Income tax expense

    (375 )   (583 )
           

Net income

  $ 573     948  
           
Discontinuance of Regulatory Accounting (Tables)
Components of non-cash extraordinary gain

 

 

 
  Gain (loss)  
 
  (Dollars in millions)
 

Elimination of removal costs embedded in accumulated depreciation

  $ 221  

Establishment of asset retirement obligation

    (2 )

Elimination of other regulatory assets and liabilities

    (2 )
       

Net extraordinary gain before income tax expense

    217  

Income tax expense associated with extraordinary gain

    (81 )
       

Extraordinary gain attributable to CenturyLink, Inc. 

  $ 136  
       

Basic earnings per common share of extraordinary gain

    .68  

Diluted earnings per common share of extraordinary gain

    .68  
Quarterly Financial Data (Unaudited) (Tables)
Schedule of quarterly financial information

 

 
  First
Quarter
  Second
Quarter
  Third
Quarter
  Fourth
Quarter
  Total  
 
  (Dollars in millions, except per share amounts)
 

2011

                               

Operating revenues

  $ 1,696     4,406     4,596     4,653     15,351  

Operating income

    464     480     548     533     2,025  

Net income

    211     115     138     109     573  

Basic earnings per common share

    .69     .19     .23     .18     1.07  

Diluted earnings per common share

    .69     .19     .23     .18     1.07  

2010

                               

Operating revenues

  $ 1,800     1,772     1,748     1,722     7,042  

Operating income

    545     523     506     486     2,060  

Net income

    253     238     232     225     948  

Basic earnings per common share

    .84     .79     .76     .74     3.13  

Diluted earnings per common share

    .84     .79     .76     .74     3.13  
Commitments and Contingencies (Tables)

 

 

 
  Years Ended December 31,  
 
  2011   2010   2009  
 
  (Dollars in millions)
 

Assets acquired through capital leases

  $ 696          

Depreciation expense

    89          

Cash payments towards capital leases

    76          

 

 
  December 31, 2011   December 31, 2010  
 
  (Dollars in millions)
 

Assets included in property, plant and equipment

  $ 698      

Accumulated depreciation

    91      

 

 

 
  Future
Minimum
Payments
 
 
  (Dollars in
millions)

 

Capital lease obligations:

       

2012

  $ 147  

2013

    140  

2014

    121  

2015

    89  

2016

    53  

2017 and thereafter

    231  
       

Total minimum payments

    781  

Less: amount representing interest and executory costs

    (165 )
       

Present value of minimum payments

    616  

Less: current portion

    (112 )
       

Long-term portion

  $ 504  
       

 

 

 
  Future
Minimum
Payments
 
 
  (Dollars in
millions)

 

2012

  $ 280  

2013

    244  

2014

    208  

2015

    178  

2016

    147  

2017 and thereafter

    928  
       

Total future minimum payments(1)

  $ 1,985  
       

(1)
Minimum payments have not been reduced by minimum sublease rentals of $119 million due in the future under non-cancelable subleases.
Other Financial Information (Tables)
Schedule of components of other current assets

 

 
  December 31,  
 
  2011   2010  
 
  (Dollars in millions)
 

Prepaid expenses

  $ 240     41  

Other

    150     33  
           

Total other current assets

  $ 390     74  
           
Dividends (Tables)
Schedule of cash and non-cash dividends declared

 

 

Date Declared
  Record Date   Dividend
Per Share
  Total Amount   Payment Date  
 
   
   
  (in millions)
   
 

November 15, 2011

    December 6, 2011     .725   $ 449     December 16, 2011  

August 23, 2011

    September 6, 2011     .725   $ 449     September 16, 2011  

May 18, 2011

    June 6, 2011     .725   $ 436     June 16, 2011  

January 24, 2011

    February 18, 2011     .725   $ 222     February 25, 2011  

November 9, 2010

    December 7, 2010     .725   $ 220     December 20, 2010  

August 24, 2010

    September 7, 2010     .725   $ 220     September 20, 2010  

May 21, 2010

    June 8, 2010     .725   $ 220     June 21, 2010  

February 25, 2010

    March 9, 2010     .725   $ 219     March 22, 2010  
Basis of Presentation and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies (Details) (USD $)
In Millions, unless otherwise specified
6 Months Ended 12 Months Ended
Jun. 30, 2009
Dec. 31, 2011
D
Y
M
Dec. 31, 2010
M
Dec. 31, 2009
Components of non-cash extraordinary gain
 
 
 
 
Non-cash extraordinary gain recorded upon discontinuance of regulatory accounting
 
 
 
$ 136 
Amount of intercompany revenues and costs that were not eliminated, as allowed by the provisions of regulatory accounting
114 
 
 
 
Reclassifications
 
 
 
 
Reclassification of selling, general and administrative expenses to cost of services and products
 
 
134 
49 
Reclassification from other assets to other intangible assets, net
 
 
312 
 
Use of Estimates
 
 
 
 
Percentage of likelihood of realization that the tax position must exceed in order for the amount to be recognized
 
50.00% 
 
 
Revenue Recognition
 
 
 
 
Customer relationship period over which revenue is recognized, low end of range (in months)
 
18 
 
 
Customer relationship period over which revenue is recognized, high end of range (in years)
 
10 
 
 
Term of IRUs, which are the exclusive right to use a specified amount of capacity or fiber (in months/ years)
 
20 
 
 
Advertising Costs
 
 
 
 
Advertising expense
 
$ 275 
$ 49 
$ 25 
Cash and Cash Equivalents
 
 
 
 
Maximum maturity at date of purchase of short term investments to be considered as cash equivalents (in months)
 
 
 
Maximum weighted average maturity of investment funds to be considered as cash equivalents (in months)
 
90 
 
Accounts Receivable and Allowance for Doubtful Accounts
 
 
 
 
Period of accounts past due (in days)
 
30 
 
 
Basis of Presentation and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies (Details 2)
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2011
segment
region
Goodwill, Customer Relationships and Other Intangible Assets
 
Number of operating segments
Number of geographic operating regions prior to Qwest acquisition
Customer relationship
 
Goodwill, Customer Relationships and Other Intangible Assets
 
Estimated useful life (in years)
10 
Capitalized software
 
Goodwill, Customer Relationships and Other Intangible Assets
 
Maximum estimated life (in years)
Other Intangible assets
 
Goodwill, Customer Relationships and Other Intangible Assets
 
Estimated useful life (in years)
Basis of Presentation and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies (Details 3) (USD $)
Dec. 31, 2011
Preferred stock
 
Preferential preferred stock distribution
$ 25 
Acquisition
 
Common stock
 
Unissued shares of CenturyLink common stock
4,100,000 
Incentive compensation programs
 
Common stock
 
Unissued shares of CenturyLink common stock
43,600,000 
Employee stock purchase plan
 
Common stock
 
Unissued shares of CenturyLink common stock
3,400,000 
Dividend reinvestment plan
 
Common stock
 
Unissued shares of CenturyLink common stock
400,000 
Acquisitions (Details) (USD $)
12 Months Ended 1 Months Ended 12 Months Ended 1 Months Ended 12 Months Ended 1 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2011
Dec. 31, 2010
Dec. 31, 2009
Apr. 30, 2011
Qwest
Dec. 31, 2011
Qwest
Apr. 2, 2011
Qwest
accessline
subscriber
state
Mar. 31, 2011
Qwest
Jul. 31, 2011
Savvis
Dec. 31, 2011
Savvis
Jul. 15, 2011
Savvis
Jul. 14, 2011
Savvis
Jul. 31, 2009
Embarq Corporation
votingright
Dec. 31, 2011
Embarq Corporation
vote
Jul. 2, 2009
Embarq Corporation
subscriber
accessline
state
Jun. 30, 2009
Embarq Corporation
Dec. 31, 2011
Qwest and Savvis acquisitions
Acquisitions
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Share price of CenturyLink shares that Savvis shareholders received for each share of common stock owned at closing (in dollars per share)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
$ 30 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Number of CenturyLink shares that shareholders received for each share of common stock owned at closing
 
 
 
 
 
0.1664 
 
 
 
0.2479 
 
 
 
1.37 
 
 
Cash payments to Savvis shareholders
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
$ 1,732,000,000 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Common shares issued to consummate the merger
 
 
 
294,000,000 
 
 
 
14,313,000 
 
 
 
196,000,000 
 
 
 
 
Value of common shares issued (in dollars per share)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
$ 38.54 
 
 
 
 
 
Closing stock price used to value shares issued for acquisition (in dollars per share)
 
 
 
 
 
 
$ 41.55 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
$ 30.70 
 
Estimated net value of pre-combination portion of share-based compensation awards assumed by CenturyLink
 
 
 
 
 
52,000,000 
 
 
 
98,000,000 
 
 
 
50,000,000 
 
 
Pre-combination portion of share-based compensation paid in cash
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
33,000,000 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Number of access lines served by acquiree entity
 
 
 
 
 
9,000,000 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
5,400,000 
 
 
Number of broadband subscribers served by acquiree entity
 
 
 
 
 
3,000,000 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
1,500,000 
 
 
Number of states served by acquiree entity
 
 
 
 
 
14 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
18 
 
 
Cash paid in lieu of fractional shares
 
 
 
 
 
5,000,000 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Long-term debt assumed in connection with acquisition
 
 
 
 
12,700,000,000 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
4,900,000,000 
 
 
 
Votes per share under time-phase voting structure eliminated in connection with the acquisition
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
10 
 
 
 
Payments made towards retirement of existing Savvis debt and accrued interest
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
547,000,000 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Principal amount of senior notes issued to fund a portion of the acquisition and refinance Savvis' existing debt
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2,000,000,000 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Assignment of the aggregate consideration
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Cash, accounts receivable and other current assets
 
 
 
 
 
2,128,000,000 
 
 
 
213,000,000 
 
 
 
676,000,000 
 
 
Property, plant and equipment
 
 
 
 
 
9,554,000,000 
 
 
 
1,335,000,000 
 
 
 
6,078,000,000 
 
 
Identifiable intangible assets
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Customer relationships
 
 
 
 
 
7,625,000,000 
 
 
 
794,000,000 
 
 
 
1,098,000,000 
 
 
Right of Way
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
268,000,000 
 
 
Capitalized software
 
 
 
 
 
1,702,000,000 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Other
 
 
 
 
 
189,000,000 
 
 
 
51,000,000 
 
 
 
27,000,000 
 
 
Other noncurrent assets
 
 
 
 
 
373,000,000 
 
 
 
27,000,000 
 
 
 
24,000,000 
 
 
Current liabilities, excluding current maturities of long-term debt
 
 
 
 
 
(2,428,000,000)
 
 
 
(129,000,000)
 
 
 
(837,000,000)
 
 
Current maturities of long-term debt
 
 
 
 
 
(2,422,000,000)
 
 
 
(38,000,000)
 
 
 
(2,000,000)
 
 
Long-term debt
 
 
 
 
 
(10,253,000,000)
 
 
 
(840,000,000)
 
 
 
(4,885,000,000)
 
 
Deferred credits and other liabilities
 
 
 
 
 
(4,301,000,000)
 
 
 
(388,000,000)
 
 
 
(2,622,000,000)
 
 
Goodwill
 
 
 
 
 
10,106,000,000 
 
 
 
1,357,000,000 
 
 
 
6,245,000,000 
 
20,710,000,000 
Aggregate consideration
 
 
 
 
 
12,273,000,000 
 
 
 
2,382,000,000 
 
 
 
6,070,000,000 
 
 
Number of voting rights per common stock before amendments to the charter
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
10 
 
 
 
 
Common stock, authorized shares before amendment
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
350,000,000 
 
 
Common stock, authorized shares
800,000,000 
800,000,000 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
800,000,000 
 
 
Number of voting rights per common stock after amendments to the charter
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Pro forma financial information
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Operating revenues
 
 
 
 
8,200,000,000 
 
 
 
483,000,000 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Operating revenues
18,692,000,000 
19,431,000,000 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Net income
601,000,000 
293,000,000 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Basic earnings per common share (in dollars per share)
$ 0.97 
$ 0.48 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Diluted earnings per common share (in dollars per share)
$ 0.97 
$ 0.48 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Merger-related transaction costs, cumulative amount
 
 
 
 
393,000,000 
 
 
 
41,000,000 
15,000,000 
 
 
459,000,000 
 
 
 
Acquisition related expenses recognized
467,000,000 
145,000,000 
271,000,000 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Transaction expenses incurred in connection with terminating an unused loan financing commitment related to acquisition
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
16,000,000 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Merger-related pre-acquisition costs
 
 
 
 
71,000,000 
 
 
 
22,000,000 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Merger-related pre-acquisition costs, prior to acquisition
 
 
 
 
36,000,000 
 
 
 
3,000,000 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Merger-related pre-acquisition costs, on the date of acquisition
 
 
 
 
$ 35,000,000 
 
 
 
$ 19,000,000 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Goodwill, Customer Relationships and Other Intangible Assets (Details) (USD $)
In Millions, unless otherwise specified
12 Months Ended 12 Months Ended 12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2011
Dec. 31, 2010
Dec. 31, 2009
Sep. 30, 2011
Dec. 31, 2011
Regional markets
Dec. 31, 2011
Business markets
Dec. 31, 2011
Wholesale markets
Dec. 31, 2011
Savvis operations
Dec. 31, 2011
Qwest
Apr. 2, 2011
Qwest
Dec. 31, 2011
Savvis
Jul. 15, 2011
Savvis
Dec. 31, 2011
Qwest and Savvis acquisitions
Dec. 31, 2011
Customer relationships
Dec. 31, 2010
Customer relationships
Dec. 31, 2011
Capitalized software
Dec. 31, 2010
Capitalized software
Dec. 31, 2011
Tradenames and patents
Dec. 31, 2010
Tradenames and patents
Intangible assets
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Goodwill
$ 21,724 
$ 10,261 
 
 
$ 11,813 
$ 5,021 
$ 3,533 
$ 1,357 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Customer relationships, net
8,361 
930 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Accumulated amortization
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
1,337 
349 
441 
79 
73 
Indefinite-life intangible assets
418 
418 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Other intangible assets subject to amortization
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Other intangible assets, net
2,239 
622 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
1,622 
164 
199 
40 
Net carrying amounts of goodwill
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
10,106 
 
1,357 
20,710 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Weighted average cost of capital to calculate discount rate as of the measurement date (as a percent)
 
 
 
6.50% 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Cost of debt component of weighted average cost of capital (as a percent)
 
 
 
7.00% 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Pre-tax cost component of weighted average cost of capital (as a percent)
 
 
 
8.70% 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Percentage of reasonable implied control premium
 
 
 
16.00% 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Amortization expense related to intangible assets
1,425 
206 
136 
 
 
 
 
 
1,185 
 
42 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Expected amortization expense
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2012
1,656 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2013
1,524 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2014
1,389 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2015
1,234 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2016
$ 1,090 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Long-term Debt and Credit Facilities (Details) (USD $)
In Millions, unless otherwise specified
12 Months Ended 1 Months Ended 1 Months Ended 1 Months Ended 1 Months Ended 1 Months Ended 12 Months Ended 12 Months Ended 1 Months Ended 12 Months Ended 1 Months Ended 1 Months Ended 1 Months Ended 1 Months Ended 12 Months Ended 1 Months Ended 12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2011
Dec. 31, 2010
Dec. 31, 2009
Dec. 31, 2011
First mortgage notes
Dec. 31, 2010
First mortgage notes
Dec. 31, 2011
First mortgage notes
Minimum
Dec. 31, 2011
First mortgage notes
Maximum
Dec. 31, 2011
Credit facility
Jun. 30, 2011
CenturyLink, Inc.
Senior notes
Dec. 31, 2011
CenturyLink, Inc.
Senior notes
Dec. 31, 2010
CenturyLink, Inc.
Senior notes
Dec. 31, 2011
CenturyLink, Inc.
Senior notes
Minimum
Dec. 31, 2011
CenturyLink, Inc.
Senior notes
Maximum
Jun. 30, 2011
CenturyLink, Inc.
7.60% Senior Notes, Series P, due 2039
Jun. 16, 2011
CenturyLink, Inc.
7.60% Senior Notes, Series P, due 2039
Jun. 30, 2011
CenturyLink, Inc.
5.15% Senior Notes, Series R, due 2017
Jun. 16, 2011
CenturyLink, Inc.
5.15% Senior Notes, Series R, due 2017
Jun. 30, 2011
CenturyLink, Inc.
6.45% Senior Notes, Series S, due 2021
Jun. 16, 2011
CenturyLink, Inc.
6.45% Senior Notes, Series S, due 2021
Jan. 31, 2011
CenturyLink, Inc.
Credit facility
Y
Dec. 31, 2011
CenturyLink, Inc.
Credit facility
Y
Dec. 31, 2010
CenturyLink, Inc.
Credit facility
Dec. 31, 2011
CenturyLink, Inc.
Credit facility
Minimum
Jan. 31, 2011
CenturyLink, Inc.
Credit facility
Minimum
Dec. 31, 2011
CenturyLink, Inc.
Credit facility
Maximum
Jan. 31, 2011
CenturyLink, Inc.
Credit facility
Maximum
Dec. 31, 2011
CenturyLink, Inc.
Uncommitted revolving letter of credit facility
Apr. 30, 2011
CenturyLink, Inc.
Uncommitted revolving letter of credit facility
Apr. 30, 2011
CenturyLink, Inc.
Bridge financing
bank
Apr. 30, 2011
Qwest
Dec. 31, 2011
Qwest
entity
Apr. 2, 2011
Qwest
Apr. 2, 2011
Qwest
Minimum
Apr. 2, 2011
Qwest
Maximum
Oct. 31, 2011
Qwest
6.75% Notes due December 1, 2021
Oct. 4, 2011
Qwest
6.75% Notes due December 1, 2021
Jun. 30, 2011
Qwest Corporation
7.375% Notes due June 1, 2051
Jun. 8, 2011
Qwest Corporation
7.375% Notes due June 1, 2051
Oct. 31, 2011
Qwest Corporation
6.75% Notes due December 1, 2021
Sep. 30, 2011
Qwest Corporation
7.5% Notes due September 15, 2051
Sep. 21, 2011
Qwest Corporation
7.5% Notes due September 15, 2051
Oct. 31, 2011
Qwest Corporation
8.875% Notes due March 15, 2012
Dec. 31, 2011
Qwest Corporation
Senior notes
Dec. 31, 2011
Qwest Corporation
Senior notes
Minimum
Dec. 31, 2011
Qwest Corporation
Senior notes
Maximum
Dec. 31, 2011
Qwest Corporation
Debentures
Dec. 31, 2011
Qwest Corporation
Debentures
Minimum
Dec. 31, 2011
Qwest Corporation
Debentures
Maximum
Dec. 31, 2011
Qwest Corporation
Other.
Dec. 31, 2011
Qwest Corporation
Other.
Minimum
Dec. 31, 2011
Qwest Corporation
Other.
Maximum
Dec. 31, 2011
Qwest Corporation
Credit facility
Maximum
Jun. 30, 2011
Qwest Corporation
7.875% Notes due 2011
Jun. 8, 2011
Qwest Corporation
7.875% Notes due 2011
Dec. 31, 2011
Embarq Corporation
Senior notes
Dec. 31, 2010
Embarq Corporation
Senior notes
Dec. 31, 2011
Embarq Corporation
Senior notes
Minimum
Dec. 31, 2011
Embarq Corporation
Senior notes
Maximum
Dec. 31, 2011
Embarq Corporation
First mortgage bonds
Dec. 31, 2010
Embarq Corporation
First mortgage bonds
Dec. 31, 2011
Embarq Corporation
First mortgage bonds
Minimum
Dec. 31, 2011
Embarq Corporation
First mortgage bonds
Maximum
Dec. 31, 2011
Embarq Corporation
Other.
Dec. 31, 2010
Embarq Corporation
Other.
Dec. 31, 2011
Embarq Corporation
Other.
Minimum
Dec. 31, 2011
Embarq Corporation
Other.
Maximum
Long-term Debt and Credit Facilities
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Capital lease and other obligations
$ 7,121 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Unamortized premiums, discounts and other, net
269 
(173)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Total long-term debt
21,836 
7,328 
 
65 
83 
 
 
 
 
4,518 
2,518 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
277 
365 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2,650 
 
 
3,182 
 
 
5,628 
 
 
 
 
 
4,013 
4,013 
 
 
322 
322 
 
 
200 
200 
 
 
Less current maturities
480 
12 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Long-term debt, excluding current maturities
21,356 
7,316 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Interest rate, stated percentage
 
 
 
 
 
2.00% 
10.00% 
 
 
 
 
5.00% 
7.875% 
 
7.60% 
 
5.15% 
 
6.45% 
 
 
 
2.55% 
 
4.50% 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
6.50% 
8.875% 
 
6.75% 
 
7.375% 
 
 
7.50% 
8.875% 
 
7.125% 
8.00% 
 
6.875% 
7.75% 
 
6.50% 
8.375% 
 
 
7.875% 
 
 
6.738% 
7.995% 
 
 
6.875% 
8.77% 
 
 
6.75% 
9.00% 
Principal amount of notes and debentures at time of acquisition
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
11,598 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Estimated fair value of notes and debentures
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
12,675 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Estimated fair value of capital lease and other obligations
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
383 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Amount by which the fair value of debt exceeds the principal amount on the date of acquisition
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
693 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Principal amount of notes issued
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2,000 
 
 
 
 
400 
 
350 
 
1,250 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
661 
 
950 
575 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Net proceeds from issuance of debt
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
1,959 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
642 
 
927 
557 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Variable rate basis in which principal and interest payments are discounted in determining redemption price
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
U.S. Treasury security rate 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
LIBOR 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
U.S. Treasury security rate 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Interest rate margin (as a percent)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
0.50% 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
0.50% 
 
2.50% 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
0.50% 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Repayments of notes
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
1,500 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
825 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Redemption price of debt instrument that may be redeemed (as a percent)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
100.00% 
 
 
100.00% 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Number of banks from which commitment letters received
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Maximum borrowing capacity
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
1,000 
1,700 
 
 
 
 
 
 
160 
2,000 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Termination fees
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
16 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Number of subsidiaries (in entities)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Weighted average interest rate (as a percent)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2.74% 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
7.63% 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Aggregate maturities of our long-term debt (excluding unamortized premiums, discounts, and other)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2012
480 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2013
1,717 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2014
2,057 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2015
1,659 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2016
2,856 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2017 and Thereafter
12,798 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Total notes and debentures
21,567 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Amount of gross interest expense, net of capitalized interest:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Gross interest expense
1,097 
557 
370 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Capitalized interest
(25)
(13)
(3)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Total interest expense on long-term debt
1,072 
544 
367 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Term of credit facility (in years)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Maximum available for the issuance of letters of credit
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
400 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Letters of credit outstanding
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
277 
 
 
 
 
 
129 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Aggregate amount of debt instrument over which provisions of cross acceleration relating to other debt obligations are applicable
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
$ 100 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Percentage of net tangible assets allowed to secure senior notes
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
15.00% 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Percentage of property, plant and equipment of parent company that is pledged to secure long-term debt of subsidiaries
23.00% 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Debt to EBITDA ratio to be maintained under the Credit Facility
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2.85 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Long-term Debt and Credit Facilities (Details 2) (Repayment of Debt [Member], 7.500% notes due February 15, 2014, Qwest, USD $)
In Millions, unless otherwise specified
1 Months Ended
Jan. 31, 2012
Jan. 27, 2012
Repayment of Debt [Member] |
7.500% notes due February 15, 2014 |
Qwest
 
 
Subsequent Event
 
 
Notes called, committing to retire them in March 2012
$ 800 
 
Interest rate, stated percentage
 
7.50% 
Redemption price as percentage of principal amount of notes plus accrued and unpaid interest
100.00% 
 
Accounts Receivable (Details) (USD $)
In Millions, unless otherwise specified
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2011
Dec. 31, 2010
Dec. 31, 2009
Accounts receivable
 
 
 
Trade receivables
$ 1,609 
$ 718 
 
Earned and unbilled receivables
349 
51 
 
Purchased and other receivables
139 
 
Total accounts receivable
2,097 
773 
 
Less allowance for doubtful accounts
(145)
(60)
 
Accounts receivable, less allowance
1,952 
713 
 
Allowance for doubtful accounts
 
 
 
Accounts receivable
 
 
 
Balance at the beginning of the period
60 
48 
16 
Additions
153 
91 
57 
Deductions
(63)
(79)
(25)
Balance at the end of the period
$ 145 
$ 60 
$ 48 
Property, Plant and Equipment (Details) (USD $)
In Millions, unless otherwise specified
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2011
Dec. 31, 2010
Dec. 31, 2009
Property, plant and equipment
 
 
 
Gross property, plant and equipment
$ 29,577 
$ 16,329 
 
Accumulated depreciation
(10,141)
(7,575)
 
Net property, plant and equipment
19,436 
8,754 
 
Depreciation expense
2,601 
1,228 
839 
Asset retirement obligation activity
 
 
 
Balance at beginning of year
41 
39 
 
Accretion expense
Liabilities incurred
 
 
38 
Liabilities assumed in Qwest and Savvis acquisitions
124 
 
 
Liabilities settled and other
(3)
 
 
Change in estimate
(62)
 
 
Balance at end of year
109 
41 
39 
Land
 
 
 
Property, plant and equipment
 
 
 
Gross property, plant and equipment
590 
206 
 
Fiber, conduit and other outside plant
 
 
 
Property, plant and equipment
 
 
 
Gross property, plant and equipment
12,423 
8,382 
 
Depreciable life, low end of range (in years)
 
 
Depreciable life, high end of range (in years)
45 
 
 
Central office and other network electronics
 
 
 
Property, plant and equipment
 
 
 
Gross property, plant and equipment
9,730 
5,412 
 
Depreciable life, low end of range (in years)
 
 
Depreciable life, high end of range (in years)
10 
 
 
Support assets
 
 
 
Property, plant and equipment
 
 
 
Gross property, plant and equipment
6,090 
2,057 
 
Depreciable life, low end of range (in years)
 
 
Depreciable life, high end of range (in years)
35 
 
 
Construction in progress
 
 
 
Property, plant and equipment
 
 
 
Gross property, plant and equipment
$ 744 
$ 272 
 
Severance and Leased Real Estate (Details) (USD $)
In Millions, unless otherwise specified
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2011
Dec. 31, 2010
Severance
 
 
Restructuring reserve
 
 
Balance at the beginning of the period
$ 18 
$ 69 
Accrued to expense
132 
27 
Payments, net
(133)
(78)
Balance at the end of the period
37 
18 
Severance |
Qwest
 
 
Restructuring reserve
 
 
Liabilities assumed in acquisition
20 
 
Share-based compensation associated with accelerated vesting of stock awards
12 
 
Real estate
 
 
Restructuring reserve
 
 
Accrued to expense
 
Payments, net
(21)
 
Balance at the end of the period
153 
 
Current portion of leased real estate accrual
27 
 
Noncurrent portions of leased real estate accrual
126 
 
Weighted average lease terms (in years)
9.1 
 
Real estate |
Qwest
 
 
Restructuring reserve
 
 
Liabilities assumed in acquisition
$ 168 
 
Real estate |
Minimum
 
 
Restructuring reserve
 
 
Remaining lease terms (in years)
0.1 
 
Real estate |
Maximum
 
 
Restructuring reserve
 
 
Remaining lease terms (in years)
14.0 
 
Employee Benefits (Details) (USD $)
In Millions, unless otherwise specified
12 Months Ended 12 Months Ended 1 Months Ended 12 Months Ended 12 Months Ended 1 Months Ended 12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2011
Dec. 31, 2010
Dec. 31, 2009
Dec. 31, 2011
Pension
Y
Dec. 31, 2010
Pension
Dec. 31, 2009
Pension
Dec. 31, 2011
Pension
Interest rate sensitive investments
Dec. 31, 2011
Pension
Investment grade bonds
Dec. 31, 2011
Pension
High yield and emerging market bonds
Dec. 31, 2011
Pension
Convertible bonds
Dec. 31, 2011
Pension
Diversified strategies
Dec. 31, 2011
Pension
Interest rate investments with higher returns
Dec. 31, 2011
Pension
U.S. stocks
Dec. 31, 2011
Pension
Developed market Non-U.S. stocks
Dec. 31, 2011
Pension
Emerging market stocks
Dec. 31, 2011
Pension
Other
Dec. 31, 2011
Pension
Real estate
Dec. 31, 2011
Pension
Minimum
Dec. 31, 2010
Pension
Minimum
Dec. 31, 2009
Pension
Minimum
Dec. 31, 2011
Pension
Maximum
Dec. 31, 2010
Pension
Maximum
Dec. 31, 2009
Pension
Maximum
Apr. 30, 2011
Pension
Qwest sponsored defined benefit plans
Dec. 31, 2011
Pension
Qwest sponsored defined benefit plans
Apr. 2, 2011
Pension
Qwest sponsored defined benefit plans
Dec. 31, 2009
Legacy Embarq Pension plan
Dec. 31, 2011
Other Post-Retirement Benefits
Dec. 31, 2010
Other Post-Retirement Benefits
Dec. 31, 2009
Other Post-Retirement Benefits
Dec. 31, 2011
Other Post-Retirement Benefits
Minimum
Dec. 31, 2010
Other Post-Retirement Benefits
Minimum
Dec. 31, 2009
Other Post-Retirement Benefits
Minimum
Dec. 31, 2011
Other Post-Retirement Benefits
Maximum
Dec. 31, 2010
Other Post-Retirement Benefits
Maximum
Dec. 31, 2009
Other Post-Retirement Benefits
Maximum
Apr. 30, 2011
Other Post-Retirement Benefits
Qwest sponsored defined benefit plans
Dec. 31, 2011
Other Post-Retirement Benefits
Qwest sponsored defined benefit plans
Apr. 2, 2011
Other Post-Retirement Benefits
Qwest sponsored defined benefit plans
Employee Benefits
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Amortization period of the plan shortfall (in years)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Unfunded status
 
 
 
$ (1,782)
$ (802)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
$ (3,237)
$ (504)
$ (525)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Liability for the unfunded status of the defined benefit plans
 
 
 
1,782 
802 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
490 
 
3,073 
504 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2,500 
Estimated projected benefit obligations
 
 
 
13,596 
4,534 
4,182 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
8,300 
 
3,930 
558 
582 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
3,300 
Future contribution
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
50 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Estimated fair value of plan assets
 
 
 
11,814 
3,732 
3,220 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
7,800 
 
693 
54 
57 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
768 
Reduction of benefit obligation
 
 
 
 
(110.0)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Curtailment gain
 
 
 
 
(21.0)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Effect of change of 100 basis points in the assumed initial health care cost trend rate
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Effect on the aggregate of the service and interest cost components of net periodic post-retirement benefit expense (statements of operations) - Increase
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Effect on the aggregate of the service and interest cost components of net periodic post-retirement benefit expense (statements of operations) - Decrease
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
(2)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Effect of one-percentage point increase on postretirement benefit obligation
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
70 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Effect on benefit obligation (balance sheets) - Decrease
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
(65)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Healthcare cost increase trend rates (as a percent)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Annual decrease in health care cost trend rate (as a percent)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
(0.50%)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Health care cost trend rate (as a percent)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
7.50% 
8.50% 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Ultimate health care cost trend rate (as a percent)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
5.00% 
5.00% 
5.00% 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Estimated future projected benefit payments
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2012
 
 
 
1,029 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
391 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2013
 
 
 
996 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
386 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2014
 
 
 
985 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
378 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2015
 
 
 
974 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
369 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2016
 
 
 
966 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
359 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2017-2021
 
 
 
4,623 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
1,604 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Medicare Part D Subsidy Receipts
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2012
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
(24)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2013
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
(26)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2014
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
(28)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2015
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
(30)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2016
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
(32)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2017-2020
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
(183)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Actuarial assumptions at beginning of year:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Discount rate (as a percent)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
5.00% 
5.50% 
6.60% 
5.50% 
6.00% 
6.90% 
5.40% 
 
 
 
5.30% 
 
 
 
5.70% 
6.40% 
 
5.80% 
6.90% 
5.30% 
 
 
Rate of compensation increase (as a percent)
 
 
 
3.25% 
 
4.00% 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
3.50% 
 
 
4.00% 
 
3.50% 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Expected long-term rate of return on plan assets (as a percent)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
7.50% 
8.25% 
8.25% 
8.00% 
8.50% 
8.50% 
7.50% 
 
 
 
7.25% 
7.25% 
 
 
 
8.25% 
 
 
8.50% 
7.50% 
 
 
Initial health care cost trend rate (as a percent)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
8.50% 
8.00% 
7.00% 
7.25% 
 
 
8.00% 
 
 
 
 
 
Ultimate health care cost trend rate (as a percent)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
5.00% 
5.00% 
5.00% 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Components of net periodic benefit cost
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Service cost
 
 
 
70 
61 
36 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
18 
15 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Interest cost
 
 
 
560 
246 
135 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
152 
32 
27 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Expected return on plan assets
(750)
(287)
 
(709)
(283)
(128)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
(41)
(4)
(2)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Curtailment gain
 
 
 
 
(21.0)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Settlements
 
 
 
1.0 
 
18.0 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Contractual retirement benefits
 
 
 
 
 
15 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
15 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Amortization of unrecognized prior service cost
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
(2)
(3)
(4)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Amortization of unrecognized acturial loss
 
 
 
13 
17 
16 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Net periodic pension (income) expense
 
 
 
(63)
22 
92 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
(58)
 
 
127 
41 
30 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
92 
 
Actuarial assumptions at end of year:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Discount rate (as a percent)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
4.25% 
5.00% 
 
5.10% 
5.50% 
 
 
 
 
 
 
5.30% 
 
4.60% 
 
 
4.80% 
 
 
 
 
 
Rate of compensation increase (as a percent)
 
 
 
3.25% 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
3.25% 
 
 
4.00% 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Initial health care cost trend rate (as a percent)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
8.50% 
8.00% 
7.00% 
7.25% 
 
 
8.00% 
 
 
 
 
 
Ultimate health care cost trend rate (as a percent)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
5.00% 
5.00% 
5.00% 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Change in benefit obligation
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Benefit obligation at beginning of year
 
 
 
4,534 
4,182 
463 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
8,300 
 
558 
582 
293 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
3,300 
Service cost
 
 
 
70 
61 
36 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
18 
15 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Interest cost
 
 
 
560 
246 
135 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
152 
32 
27 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Participant contributions
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
64 
14 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Plan amendments
 
 
 
12 
16 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
31 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Acquisitions
 
 
 
8,300 
 
3,467 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
3,284 
 
228 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Direct subsidy receipts
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
22 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Actuarial (gain) loss
 
 
 
930 
427 
232 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
153 
(32)
58 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Contractual retirement benefits
 
 
 
 
 
15 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Curtailment gain
 
 
 
 
(110.0)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Settlements
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Benefits paid by the company
 
 
 
(16)
(5)
(57)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Benefits paid from plan assets
 
 
 
(761)
(271)
(133)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Benefits paid
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
(352)
(54)
(36)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Benefit obligation at end of year
 
 
 
13,596 
4,534 
4,182 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
8,300 
 
3,930 
558 
582 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
3,300 
Aggregate accumulated benefit obligation
17,499 
4,509 
4,042 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Change in plan assets
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Fair value of plan assets at the beginning of the period
 
 
 
3,732 
3,220 
353 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
7,800 
 
54 
57 
17 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
768 
Return (loss) on plan assets
483 
489 
 
479 
483 
474 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Acquisitions
 
 
 
7,800 
 
2,407 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
768 
 
33 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Employer contributions
 
 
 
587 
300 
119 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
155 
31 
34 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Participant contributions
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
64 
14 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Benefits paid from plan assets
 
 
 
(761)
(271)
(133)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
(352)
(54)
(36)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Fair value of plan assets at the end of the period
 
 
 
$ 11,814 
$ 3,732 
$ 3,220 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
$ 7,800 
 
$ 693 
$ 54 
$ 57 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
$ 768 
Target allocation of plan assets
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Target asset allocation percentage
 
 
 
 
 
 
53.00% 
32.00% 
10.00% 
5.00% 
6.00% 
47.00% 
15.00% 
12.00% 
3.00% 
12.00% 
5.00% 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Expected long-term rate of return on plan assets (as a percent)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
7.50% 
8.25% 
8.25% 
8.00% 
8.50% 
8.50% 
7.50% 
 
 
 
7.25% 
7.25% 
 
 
 
8.25% 
 
 
8.50% 
7.50% 
 
 
Percentage of plan assets allocated to equity investments
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
35.00% 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Percentage of plan assets allocated to non-equity investments
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
65.00% 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Permitted investment in securities issued by the sponsor company (as a percent)
10.00% 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Employee Benefits (Details 2) (USD $)
In Millions, unless otherwise specified
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2011
Dec. 31, 2010
Dec. 31, 2009
Dec. 31, 2008
Employee Benefits
 
 
 
 
Maximum general term for securities lending transactions (in months)
 
 
 
Actual return on plan assets:
 
 
 
 
Actual gains on pension and post retirement plan assets
$ 483 
$ 489 
 
 
Expected return
750 
287 
 
 
Difference between the actual and expected returns on pension and post-retirement plan assets
267 
202 
 
 
Accumulated other comprehensive (loss) income at the beginning of the period
 
 
 
 
Total
(988)
(139)
 
 
Recognition of Net Periodic Benefits Expense
 
 
 
 
Net periodic (income) expense
 
 
 
Deferrals
 
 
 
 
Total
(857)
 
 
 
Net change in AOCI
 
 
 
 
Total
(849)
 
 
 
Accumulated other comprehensive (loss) income at the end of the period
 
 
 
 
Total
(988)
(139)
 
 
Health Care and Life Insurance
 
 
 
 
Active health care benefit expenses
377 
190 
67 
 
Participating management employees' contribution to health care plan
62 
30 
 
Participating occupational employees' contribution to health care plan
28 
17 
 
Pension Plan
 
 
 
 
Employee Benefits
 
 
 
 
Total investments
11,974 
3,732 
 
 
Dividends and interest receivable
32 
 
 
 
Pending trades receivable
436 
 
 
 
Accrued expenses
(8)
 
 
 
Pending trades payable
(620)
 
 
 
Total plan assets
11,814 
3,732 
3,220 
 
Change in plan assets
 
 
 
 
Fair value of plan assets at the beginning of the period
3,732 
3,220 
353 
 
Net acquisitions (dispositions)
7,800 
 
2,407 
 
Actual return on plan assets:
 
 
 
 
Fair value of plan assets at the end of the period
11,814 
3,732 
3,220 
 
Actual gains on pension and post retirement plan assets
479 
483 
474 
 
Expected return
709 
283 
128 
 
Unfunded Status
 
 
 
 
Benefit obligation
(13,596)
(4,534)
(4,182)
(463)
Fair value of plan assets
11,814 
3,732 
3,220 
 
Unfunded status
(1,782)
(802)
 
 
Non-current portion of unfunded status
(1,782)
(802)
 
 
Accumulated other comprehensive (loss) income at the beginning of the period
 
 
 
 
Net actuarial (loss) gain
(1,335)
(188)
 
 
Prior service (cost) benefit
(29)
(19)
 
 
Deferred income tax benefit (expense)
526 
80 
 
 
Total
(838)
(127)
 
 
Recognition of Net Periodic Benefits Expense
 
 
 
 
Net actuarial (loss) gain
(13)
(17)
(16)
 
Prior service benefit (cost)
 
 
Deferred income tax benefit (expense)
(5)
 
 
 
Net periodic (income) expense
10 
 
 
 
Deferrals
 
 
 
 
Net actuarial (loss) gain
(1,160)
 
 
 
Prior service (cost) benefit
(12)
 
 
 
Deferred income tax benefit (expense)
451 
 
 
 
Total
(721)
 
 
 
Net change in AOCI
 
 
 
 
Net actuarial (loss) gain
(1,147)
 
 
 
Prior service (cost) benefit
(10)
 
 
 
Deferred income tax benefit (expense)
446 
 
 
 
Total
(711)
 
 
 
Accumulated other comprehensive (loss) income at the end of the period
 
 
 
 
Net actuarial (loss) gain
(1,335)
(188)
 
 
Prior service (cost) benefit
(29)
(19)
 
 
Deferred income tax benefit (expense)
526 
80 
 
 
Total
(838)
(127)
 
 
Estimated recognition of net periodic benefit expense in 2012:
 
 
 
 
Net actuarial (loss)
(30)
 
 
 
Prior service(cost)
(3)
 
 
 
Deferred income tax benefit
12 
 
 
 
Total
(21)
 
 
 
Pension Plan |
Level 1
 
 
 
 
Employee Benefits
 
 
 
 
Total investments
2,216 
1,715 
 
 
Pension Plan |
Level 2
 
 
 
 
Employee Benefits
 
 
 
 
Total investments
7,521 
1,667 
 
 
Pension Plan |
Level 3
 
 
 
 
Employee Benefits
 
 
 
 
Total investments
2,237 
350 
 
 
Total plan assets
2,237 
350 
 
 
Change in plan assets
 
 
 
 
Fair value of plan assets at the beginning of the period
350 
322 
 
 
Net acquisitions (dispositions)
1,874 
 
 
 
Actual return on plan assets:
 
 
 
 
(Losses) gains relating to assets sold during the year
209 
 
 
 
Gains (losses) relating to assets still held at year-end
(196)
28 
 
 
Fair value of plan assets at the end of the period
2,237 
350 
 
 
Unfunded Status
 
 
 
 
Fair value of plan assets
2,237 
350 
 
 
Pension Plan |
Exchange-traded U.S. equity futures
 
 
 
 
Employee Benefits
 
 
 
 
Gross notional exposure
535 
 
 
 
Pension Plan |
Exchange-traded non-U.S. equity futures
 
 
 
 
Employee Benefits
 
 
 
 
Gross notional exposure
 
 
 
Pension Plan |
Exchange-traded Treasury futures
 
 
 
 
Employee Benefits
 
 
 
 
Gross notional exposure
1,512 
 
 
 
Pension Plan |
Interest rate swaps
 
 
 
 
Employee Benefits
 
 
 
 
Gross notional exposure
635 
 
 
 
Pension Plan |
Total return swaps
 
 
 
 
Employee Benefits
 
 
 
 
Gross notional exposure
110 
 
 
 
Pension Plan |
Credit default swaps
 
 
 
 
Employee Benefits
 
 
 
 
Gross notional exposure
201 
 
 
 
Pension Plan |
Foreign exchange forwards
 
 
 
 
Employee Benefits
 
 
 
 
Gross notional exposure
635 
 
 
 
Pension Plan |
Options
 
 
 
 
Employee Benefits
 
 
 
 
Gross notional exposure
917 
 
 
 
Pension Plan |
Investment grade bonds
 
 
 
 
Employee Benefits
 
 
 
 
Total investments
2,900 
331 
 
 
Pension Plan |
Investment grade bonds |
Level 1
 
 
 
 
Employee Benefits
 
 
 
 
Total investments
694 
 
 
 
Pension Plan |
Investment grade bonds |
Level 2
 
 
 
 
Employee Benefits
 
 
 
 
Total investments
2,206 
331 
 
 
Pension Plan |
High Yield Bonds
 
 
 
 
Employee Benefits
 
 
 
 
Total investments
620 
913 
 
 
Pension Plan |
High Yield Bonds |
Level 2
 
 
 
 
Employee Benefits
 
 
 
 
Total investments
541 
913 
 
 
Pension Plan |
High Yield Bonds |
Level 3
 
 
 
 
Employee Benefits
 
 
 
 
Total investments
79 
 
 
 
Total plan assets
79 
 
 
 
Change in plan assets
 
 
 
 
Net acquisitions (dispositions)
96 
 
 
 
Actual return on plan assets:
 
 
 
 
(Losses) gains relating to assets sold during the year
(12)
 
 
 
Gains (losses) relating to assets still held at year-end
(5)
 
 
 
Fair value of plan assets at the end of the period
79 
 
 
 
Unfunded Status
 
 
 
 
Fair value of plan assets
79 
 
 
 
Pension Plan |
Emerging market bonds
 
 
 
 
Employee Benefits
 
 
 
 
Total investments
295 
 
 
 
Pension Plan |
Emerging market bonds |
Level 2
 
 
 
 
Employee Benefits
 
 
 
 
Total investments
295 
 
 
 
Pension Plan |
Diversified strategies
 
 
 
 
Employee Benefits
 
 
 
 
Total investments
489 
 
 
 
Pension Plan |
Diversified strategies |
Level 2
 
 
 
 
Employee Benefits
 
 
 
 
Total investments
489 
 
 
 
Pension Plan |
U.S. stocks
 
 
 
 
Employee Benefits
 
 
 
 
Total investments
1,345 
1,445 
 
 
Pension Plan |
U.S. stocks |
Level 1
 
 
 
 
Employee Benefits
 
 
 
 
Total investments
401 
1,168 
 
 
Pension Plan |
U.S. stocks |
Level 2
 
 
 
 
Employee Benefits
 
 
 
 
Total investments
944 
277 
 
 
Pension Plan |
Non-U.S. stocks
 
 
 
 
Employee Benefits
 
 
 
 
Total investments
1,453 
508 
 
 
Pension Plan |
Non-U.S. stocks |
Level 1
 
 
 
 
Employee Benefits
 
 
 
 
Total investments
994 
508 
 
 
Pension Plan |
Non-U.S. stocks |
Level 2
 
 
 
 
Employee Benefits
 
 
 
 
Total investments
459 
 
 
 
Pension Plan |
Emerging market stocks
 
 
 
 
Employee Benefits
 
 
 
 
Total investments
238 
 
 
 
Pension Plan |
Emerging market stocks |
Level 1
 
 
 
 
Employee Benefits
 
 
 
 
Total investments
102 
 
 
 
Pension Plan |
Emerging market stocks |
Level 2
 
 
 
 
Employee Benefits
 
 
 
 
Total investments
136 
 
 
 
Pension Plan |
Private Equity
 
 
 
 
Employee Benefits
 
 
 
 
Total investments
791 
 
 
Pension Plan |
Private Equity |
Level 3
 
 
 
 
Employee Benefits
 
 
 
 
Total investments
791 
 
 
Total plan assets
791 
 
 
Change in plan assets
 
 
 
 
Fair value of plan assets at the beginning of the period
 
 
 
Net acquisitions (dispositions)
795 
 
 
Actual return on plan assets:
 
 
 
 
(Losses) gains relating to assets sold during the year
197 
 
 
 
Gains (losses) relating to assets still held at year-end
(202)
 
 
 
Fair value of plan assets at the end of the period
791 
 
 
Unfunded Status
 
 
 
 
Fair value of plan assets
791 
 
 
Pension Plan |
Private Debt
 
 
 
 
Employee Benefits
 
 
 
 
Total investments
461 
 
 
Pension Plan |
Private Debt |
Level 3
 
 
 
 
Employee Benefits
 
 
 
 
Total investments
461 
 
 
Total plan assets
461 
 
 
Change in plan assets
 
 
 
 
Fair value of plan assets at the beginning of the period
 
 
 
Net acquisitions (dispositions)
453 
 
 
Actual return on plan assets:
 
 
 
 
(Losses) gains relating to assets sold during the year
13 
 
 
 
Gains (losses) relating to assets still held at year-end
(8)
 
 
 
Fair value of plan assets at the end of the period
461 
 
 
Unfunded Status
 
 
 
 
Fair value of plan assets
461 
 
 
Pension Plan |
Market Neutral Hedge Funds
 
 
 
 
Employee Benefits
 
 
 
 
Total investments
808 
 
 
 
Pension Plan |
Market Neutral Hedge Funds |
Level 2
 
 
 
 
Employee Benefits
 
 
 
 
Total investments
620 
 
 
 
Pension Plan |
Market Neutral Hedge Funds |
Level 3
 
 
 
 
Employee Benefits
 
 
 
 
Total investments
188 
 
 
 
Total plan assets
188 
 
 
 
Change in plan assets
 
 
 
 
Net acquisitions (dispositions)
185 
 
 
 
Actual return on plan assets:
 
 
 
 
(Losses) gains relating to assets sold during the year
 
 
 
Fair value of plan assets at the end of the period
188 
 
 
 
Unfunded Status
 
 
 
 
Fair value of plan assets
188 
 
 
 
Pension Plan |
Directional Hedge Funds
 
 
 
 
Employee Benefits
 
 
 
 
Total investments
451 
161 
 
 
Pension Plan |
Directional Hedge Funds |
Level 2
 
 
 
 
Employee Benefits
 
 
 
 
Total investments
268 
 
 
 
Pension Plan |
Directional Hedge Funds |
Level 3
 
 
 
 
Employee Benefits
 
 
 
 
Total investments
183 
161 
 
 
Total plan assets
183 
161 
 
 
Change in plan assets
 
 
 
 
Fair value of plan assets at the beginning of the period
161 
160 
 
 
Net acquisitions (dispositions)
30 
(9)
 
 
Actual return on plan assets:
 
 
 
 
(Losses) gains relating to assets sold during the year
(1)
 
 
Gains (losses) relating to assets still held at year-end
(7)
 
 
Fair value of plan assets at the end of the period
183 
161 
 
 
Unfunded Status
 
 
 
 
Fair value of plan assets
183 
161 
 
 
Pension Plan |
Real Estate
 
 
 
 
Employee Benefits
 
 
 
 
Total investments
583 
182 
 
 
Pension Plan |
Real Estate |
Level 2
 
 
 
 
Employee Benefits
 
 
 
 
Total investments
48 
 
 
 
Pension Plan |
Real Estate |
Level 3
 
 
 
 
Employee Benefits
 
 
 
 
Total investments
535 
182 
 
 
Total plan assets
535 
182 
 
 
Change in plan assets
 
 
 
 
Fair value of plan assets at the beginning of the period
182 
162 
 
 
Net acquisitions (dispositions)
318 
 
 
Actual return on plan assets:
 
 
 
 
(Losses) gains relating to assets sold during the year
(2)
 
 
Gains (losses) relating to assets still held at year-end
26 
20 
 
 
Fair value of plan assets at the end of the period
535 
182 
 
 
Unfunded Status
 
 
 
 
Fair value of plan assets
535 
182 
 
 
Pension Plan |
Derivatives
 
 
 
 
Employee Benefits
 
 
 
 
Total investments
 
 
 
Pension Plan |
Derivatives |
Level 1
 
 
 
 
Employee Benefits
 
 
 
 
Total investments
12 
 
 
 
Pension Plan |
Derivatives |
Level 2
 
 
 
 
Employee Benefits
 
 
 
 
Total investments
(5)
 
 
 
Pension Plan |
Cash equivalents and short-term investment funds
 
 
 
 
Employee Benefits
 
 
 
 
Total investments
1,196 
26 
 
 
Pension Plan |
Cash equivalents and short-term investment funds |
Level 1
 
 
 
 
Employee Benefits
 
 
 
 
Total investments
13 
26 
 
 
Pension Plan |
Cash equivalents and short-term investment funds |
Level 2
 
 
 
 
Employee Benefits
 
 
 
 
Total investments
1,183 
 
 
 
Pension Plan |
Other
 
 
 
 
Employee Benefits
 
 
 
 
Total investments
 
162 
 
 
Pension Plan |
Other |
Level 1
 
 
 
 
Employee Benefits
 
 
 
 
Total investments
 
13 
 
 
Pension Plan |
Other |
Level 2
 
 
 
 
Employee Benefits
 
 
 
 
Total investments
 
146 
 
 
Pension Plan |
Other |
Level 3
 
 
 
 
Employee Benefits
 
 
 
 
Total investments
 
 
 
Total plan assets
 
 
 
Change in plan assets
 
 
 
 
Fair value of plan assets at the beginning of the period
 
 
 
Net acquisitions (dispositions)
(3)
 
 
Actual return on plan assets:
 
 
 
 
Fair value of plan assets at the end of the period
 
 
 
Unfunded Status
 
 
 
 
Fair value of plan assets
 
 
 
Pension Plan |
Convertible bonds
 
 
 
 
Employee Benefits
 
 
 
 
Total investments
337 
 
 
 
Pension Plan |
Convertible bonds |
Level 2
 
 
 
 
Employee Benefits
 
 
 
 
Total investments
337 
 
 
 
Post-Retirement Benefit Plans
 
 
 
 
Employee Benefits
 
 
 
 
Total investments
705 
54 
 
 
Dividends and interest receivable
 
 
 
Pending trades receivable
23 
 
 
 
Accrued expenses
(15)
 
 
 
Pending trades payable
(23)
 
 
 
Total plan assets
693 
54 
57 
 
Change in plan assets
 
 
 
 
Fair value of plan assets at the beginning of the period
54 
57 
17 
 
Net acquisitions (dispositions)
768 
 
33 
 
Actual return on plan assets:
 
 
 
 
Fair value of plan assets at the end of the period
693 
54 
57 
 
Actual gains on pension and post retirement plan assets
 
Expected return
41 
 
Unfunded Status
 
 
 
 
Benefit obligation
(3,930)
(558)
(582)
(293)
Fair value of plan assets
693 
54 
57 
 
Unfunded status
(3,237)
(504)
(525)
 
Current portion of unfunded status
(164)
 
 
 
Non-current portion of unfunded status
(3,073)
(504)
 
 
Accumulated other comprehensive (loss) income at the beginning of the period
 
 
 
 
Net actuarial (loss) gain
(221)
(31)
 
 
Prior service (cost) benefit
(21)
12 
 
 
Deferred income tax benefit (expense)
92 
 
 
Total
(150)
(12)
 
 
Recognition of Net Periodic Benefits Expense
 
 
 
 
Net actuarial (loss) gain
 
(1)
 
 
Prior service benefit (cost)
(2)
(3)
(4)
 
Net periodic (income) expense
(2)
 
 
 
Deferrals
 
 
 
 
Net actuarial (loss) gain
(190)
 
 
 
Prior service (cost) benefit
(31)
 
 
 
Deferred income tax benefit (expense)
85 
 
 
 
Total
(136)
 
 
 
Net change in AOCI
 
 
 
 
Net actuarial (loss) gain
(190)
 
 
 
Prior service (cost) benefit
(33)
 
 
 
Deferred income tax benefit (expense)
85 
 
 
 
Total
(138)
 
 
 
Accumulated other comprehensive (loss) income at the end of the period
 
 
 
 
Net actuarial (loss) gain
(221)
(31)
 
 
Prior service (cost) benefit
(21)
12 
 
 
Deferred income tax benefit (expense)
92 
 
 
Total
(150)
(12)
 
 
Post-Retirement Benefit Plans |
Level 1
 
 
 
 
Employee Benefits
 
 
 
 
Total investments
176 
44 
 
 
Post-Retirement Benefit Plans |
Level 2
 
 
 
 
Employee Benefits
 
 
 
 
Total investments
435 
10 
 
 
Post-Retirement Benefit Plans |
Level 3
 
 
 
 
Employee Benefits
 
 
 
 
Total investments
94 
 
 
 
Total plan assets
94 
 
 
 
Change in plan assets
 
 
 
 
Net acquisitions (dispositions)
87 
 
 
 
Actual return on plan assets:
 
 
 
 
(Losses) gains relating to assets sold during the year
34 
 
 
 
Gains (losses) relating to assets still held at year-end
(27)
 
 
 
Fair value of plan assets at the end of the period
94 
 
 
 
Unfunded Status
 
 
 
 
Fair value of plan assets
94 
 
 
 
Post-Retirement Benefit Plans |
Exchange-traded U.S. equity futures
 
 
 
 
Employee Benefits
 
 
 
 
Gross notional exposure
12 
 
 
 
Post-Retirement Benefit Plans |
Exchange-traded Treasury futures
 
 
 
 
Employee Benefits
 
 
 
 
Gross notional exposure
19 
 
 
 
Post-Retirement Benefit Plans |
Total return swaps
 
 
 
 
Employee Benefits
 
 
 
 
Gross notional exposure
51 
 
 
 
Post-Retirement Benefit Plans |
Foreign exchange forwards
 
 
 
 
Employee Benefits
 
 
 
 
Gross notional exposure
23 
 
 
 
Post-Retirement Benefit Plans |
Investment grade bonds
 
 
 
 
Employee Benefits
 
 
 
 
Total investments
145 
 
 
 
Post-Retirement Benefit Plans |
Investment grade bonds |
Level 1
 
 
 
 
Employee Benefits
 
 
 
 
Total investments
45 
 
 
 
Post-Retirement Benefit Plans |
Investment grade bonds |
Level 2
 
 
 
 
Employee Benefits
 
 
 
 
Total investments
100 
 
 
 
Post-Retirement Benefit Plans |
High Yield Bonds
 
 
 
 
Employee Benefits
 
 
 
 
Total investments
61 
 
 
 
Post-Retirement Benefit Plans |
High Yield Bonds |
Level 2
 
 
 
 
Employee Benefits
 
 
 
 
Total investments
61 
 
 
 
Post-Retirement Benefit Plans |
Emerging market bonds
 
 
 
 
Employee Benefits
 
 
 
 
Total investments
33 
 
 
 
Post-Retirement Benefit Plans |
Emerging market bonds |
Level 2
 
 
 
 
Employee Benefits
 
 
 
 
Total investments
33 
 
 
 
Post-Retirement Benefit Plans |
Fixed income
 
 
 
 
Employee Benefits
 
 
 
 
Total investments
 
40 
 
 
Post-Retirement Benefit Plans |
Fixed income |
Level 1
 
 
 
 
Employee Benefits
 
 
 
 
Total investments
 
35 
 
 
Post-Retirement Benefit Plans |
Fixed income |
Level 2
 
 
 
 
Employee Benefits
 
 
 
 
Total investments
 
 
 
Post-Retirement Benefit Plans |
Diversified strategies
 
 
 
 
Employee Benefits
 
 
 
 
Total investments
62 
 
 
 
Post-Retirement Benefit Plans |
Diversified strategies |
Level 2
 
 
 
 
Employee Benefits
 
 
 
 
Total investments
62 
 
 
 
Post-Retirement Benefit Plans |
U.S. stocks
 
 
 
 
Employee Benefits
 
 
 
 
Total investments
68 
10 
 
 
Post-Retirement Benefit Plans |
U.S. stocks |
Level 1
 
 
 
 
Employee Benefits
 
 
 
 
Total investments
64 
 
 
Post-Retirement Benefit Plans |
U.S. stocks |
Level 2
 
 
 
 
Employee Benefits
 
 
 
 
Total investments
 
 
Post-Retirement Benefit Plans |
Non-U.S. stocks
 
 
 
 
Employee Benefits
 
 
 
 
Total investments
64 
 
 
 
Post-Retirement Benefit Plans |
Non-U.S. stocks |
Level 1
 
 
 
 
Employee Benefits
 
 
 
 
Total investments
62 
 
 
 
Post-Retirement Benefit Plans |
Non-U.S. stocks |
Level 2
 
 
 
 
Employee Benefits
 
 
 
 
Total investments
 
 
 
Post-Retirement Benefit Plans |
Emerging market stocks
 
 
 
 
Employee Benefits
 
 
 
 
Total investments
17 
 
 
 
Post-Retirement Benefit Plans |
Emerging market stocks |
Level 2
 
 
 
 
Employee Benefits
 
 
 
 
Total investments
17 
 
 
 
Post-Retirement Benefit Plans |
Private Equity
 
 
 
 
Employee Benefits
 
 
 
 
Total investments
60 
 
 
 
Post-Retirement Benefit Plans |
Private Equity |
Level 3
 
 
 
 
Employee Benefits
 
 
 
 
Total investments
60 
 
 
 
Total plan assets
60 
 
 
 
Change in plan assets
 
 
 
 
Net acquisitions (dispositions)
55 
 
 
 
Actual return on plan assets:
 
 
 
 
(Losses) gains relating to assets sold during the year
33 
 
 
 
Gains (losses) relating to assets still held at year-end
(28)
 
 
 
Fair value of plan assets at the end of the period
60 
 
 
 
Unfunded Status
 
 
 
 
Fair value of plan assets
60 
 
 
 
Post-Retirement Benefit Plans |
Private Debt
 
 
 
 
Employee Benefits
 
 
 
 
Total investments
 
 
 
Post-Retirement Benefit Plans |
Private Debt |
Level 3
 
 
 
 
Employee Benefits
 
 
 
 
Total investments
 
 
 
Total plan assets
 
 
 
Change in plan assets
 
 
 
 
Net acquisitions (dispositions)
 
 
 
Actual return on plan assets:
 
 
 
 
(Losses) gains relating to assets sold during the year
 
 
 
Gains (losses) relating to assets still held at year-end
(1)
 
 
 
Fair value of plan assets at the end of the period
 
 
 
Unfunded Status
 
 
 
 
Fair value of plan assets
 
 
 
Post-Retirement Benefit Plans |
Market Neutral Hedge Funds
 
 
 
 
Employee Benefits
 
 
 
 
Total investments
67 
 
 
 
Post-Retirement Benefit Plans |
Market Neutral Hedge Funds |
Level 2
 
 
 
 
Employee Benefits
 
 
 
 
Total investments
67 
 
 
 
Post-Retirement Benefit Plans |
Directional Hedge Funds
 
 
 
 
Employee Benefits
 
 
 
 
Total investments
20 
 
 
 
Post-Retirement Benefit Plans |
Directional Hedge Funds |
Level 2
 
 
 
 
Employee Benefits
 
 
 
 
Total investments
20 
 
 
 
Post-Retirement Benefit Plans |
Real Estate
 
 
 
 
Employee Benefits
 
 
 
 
Total investments
45 
 
 
 
Post-Retirement Benefit Plans |
Real Estate |
Level 2
 
 
 
 
Employee Benefits
 
 
 
 
Total investments
19 
 
 
 
Post-Retirement Benefit Plans |
Real Estate |
Level 3
 
 
 
 
Employee Benefits
 
 
 
 
Total investments
26 
 
 
 
Total plan assets
26 
 
 
 
Change in plan assets
 
 
 
 
Net acquisitions (dispositions)
24 
 
 
 
Actual return on plan assets:
 
 
 
 
Gains (losses) relating to assets still held at year-end
 
 
 
Fair value of plan assets at the end of the period
26 
 
 
 
Unfunded Status
 
 
 
 
Fair value of plan assets
26 
 
 
 
Post-Retirement Benefit Plans |
Cash equivalents and short-term investment funds
 
 
 
 
Employee Benefits
 
 
 
 
Total investments
25 
 
 
Post-Retirement Benefit Plans |
Cash equivalents and short-term investment funds |
Level 1
 
 
 
 
Employee Benefits
 
 
 
 
Total investments
 
 
Post-Retirement Benefit Plans |
Cash equivalents and short-term investment funds |
Level 2
 
 
 
 
Employee Benefits
 
 
 
 
Total investments
20 
 
 
 
Post-Retirement Benefit Plans |
Convertible bonds
 
 
 
 
Employee Benefits
 
 
 
 
Total investments
30 
 
 
 
Post-Retirement Benefit Plans |
Convertible bonds |
Level 2
 
 
 
 
Employee Benefits
 
 
 
 
Total investments
$ 30 
 
 
 
Employee Benefits (Details 3) (401(k) Plan, USD $)
In Millions, unless otherwise specified
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2011
Dec. 31, 2010
Dec. 31, 2009
401(k) Plan
 
 
 
401(k) Plan
 
 
 
Expenses related to the 401(k) Plan
$ 70 
$ 17 
$ 14 
Company common stock included in the assets of the 401(k) Plan (in shares)
 
Share-based Compensation (Details) (USD $)
In Millions, except Share data, unless otherwise specified
12 Months Ended 1 Months Ended 1 Months Ended 12 Months Ended 12 Months Ended 1 Months Ended 12 Months Ended 3 Months Ended 12 Months Ended 3 Months Ended 12 Months Ended 3 Months Ended 12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2011
Y
Dec. 31, 2010
Dec. 31, 2009
Apr. 30, 2011
Qwest
Y
Apr. 2, 2011
Qwest
Jul. 15, 2011
Savvis
Y
Jun. 30, 2009
Embarq Corporation
Y
Jul. 2, 2009
Embarq Corporation
Dec. 31, 2011
Stock option awards
Y
Dec. 31, 2011
Stock option awards
Qwest
Dec. 31, 2011
Stock option awards
Savvis
Jul. 15, 2011
Stock option awards
Savvis
Dec. 31, 2011
Restricted stock and restricted stock unit awards
Dec. 31, 2011
Restricted stock and restricted stock unit awards
Qwest
Dec. 31, 2011
Restricted stock and restricted stock unit awards
Savvis
Jun. 30, 2009
Restricted stock and restricted stock unit awards
Embarq Corporation
Dec. 31, 2011
Restricted Stock
Dec. 31, 2010
Restricted Stock
Dec. 31, 2009
Restricted Stock
Sep. 30, 2011
Restricted Stock
Executive Officers And Other Key Employees
Y
Jun. 30, 2011
Restricted Stock
Executive Officers And Other Key Employees
Mar. 31, 2010
Restricted Stock
Executive Officers And Other Key Employees
Dec. 31, 2011
Restricted Stock
Key Employees And Outside Directors
Dec. 31, 2010
Restricted Stock
Key Employees And Outside Directors
Sep. 30, 2010
Restricted Stock
Qwest
Executive Officers And Other Key Employees
Dec. 31, 2011
Restricted Stock
Qwest
Executive Officers And Other Key Employees
Y
Dec. 31, 2011
Employee Stock Purchase Plan
M
Dec. 31, 2011
Service based restricted stock
Y
Sep. 30, 2011
Service based restricted stock
Executive Officers And Other Key Employees
Jun. 30, 2011
Service based restricted stock
Executive Officers And Other Key Employees
Mar. 31, 2010
Service based restricted stock
Executive Officers And Other Key Employees
Mar. 31, 2010
Time-vested restricted stock
Executive Officers And Other Key Employees
Mar. 31, 2010
Performance Based Restricted Stock
Executive Officers And Other Key Employees
Y
Portion
Sep. 30, 2010
Performance Based Restricted Stock
Executive Officers And Other Key Employees
Minimum
Jun. 30, 2010
Performance Based Restricted Stock
Executive Officers And Other Key Employees
Minimum
Mar. 31, 2010
Performance Based Restricted Stock
Executive Officers And Other Key Employees
Minimum
Sep. 30, 2010
Performance Based Restricted Stock
Executive Officers And Other Key Employees
Maximum
Jun. 30, 2010
Performance Based Restricted Stock
Executive Officers And Other Key Employees
Maximum
Mar. 31, 2010
Performance Based Restricted Stock
Executive Officers And Other Key Employees
Maximum
Dec. 31, 2010
Performance Based Restricted Stock
Key Employees And Outside Directors
Share-based compensation
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Discount given to employees on common stock (as a percent)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
15.00% 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Period during which lower of beginning and ending stock price is considered for purchase of common stock at discount (in months)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Number of fully vested CenturyLink stock options issued upon conversion of stock options (in shares)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
7,200,000 
 
 
 
2,420,532 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Common stock issued to settle market-based award outstanding immediately prior to acquisition (in shares)
 
 
 
563,269 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Fair value of awards assumed
 
 
 
 
$ 114 
$ 123 
 
$ 99 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Fair value of assumed awards attributable to services performed prior to acquisition
 
 
 
 
85 
98 
 
50 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Remaining aggregate fair value of the assumed awards attributable to post-acquisition services
 
 
 
 
29 
25 
 
49 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Period of recognition over remaining vesting period of aggregate fair value of the assumed awards attributable to post-acquisition services (in years)
 
 
 
 
 
1.5 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Number of non-qualified CenturyLink stock options outstanding upon conversion of stock options (in shares)
 
 
 
 
7,198,331 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Number of shares of nonvested CenturyLink restricted stock issued upon conversion of restricted stock
 
 
 
 
780,455 
 
 
2,400,000 
 
 
 
1,080,070 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Net cash proceeds received in connection with option exercises
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
72 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Tax benefit realized from option exercises
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
19 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Total intrinsic value of options exercised
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
47 
28 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Valuation assumptions for awards assumed
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Risk free interest rate, low end of range (as a percent)
 
 
 
0.00% 
 
 
0.50% 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Risk free interest rate, high end of range (as a percent)
 
 
 
2.13% 
 
 
2.60% 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Expected dividend yield (as a percent)
 
 
 
6.98% 
 
 
9.12% 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Expected term, low end of range (in years)
 
 
 
0.1 
 
 
0.3 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Expected term, high end of range (in years)
 
 
 
4.8 
 
 
6.0 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Expected volatility rate, low end of range (as a percent)
 
 
 
11.10% 
 
 
27.00% 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Expected volatility rate, high end of range (as a percent)
 
 
 
35.30% 
 
 
50.00% 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Remaining vesting period, low end of range (in years)
 
 
 
P0.1Y 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Remaining vesting period, high end of range (in years)
 
 
 
P3.0Y 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Summary of stock option awards activity
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Outstanding at the beginning of the period (in shares)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
5,040,000 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Assumed in acquisition (in shares)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
7,198,000 
2,421,000 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Exercised (in shares)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
(3,072,000)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Forfeited/Expired (in shares)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
(1,198,000)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Outstanding at the end of the period (in shares)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
10,389,000 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Exercisable at the end of the period (in shares)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
9,321,000 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Weighted-Average Exercise Price
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Outstanding at the beginning of the period (in dollars per share)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
$ 39.06 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Assumed in acquisition (in dollars per share)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
$ 34.50 
$ 14.29 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Exercised (in dollars per share)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
$ 23.59 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Forfeited/Expired (in dollars per share)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
$ 68.43 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Outstanding at the end of the period (in dollars per share)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
$ 31.05 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Exercisable at the end of the period (in dollars per share)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
$ 29.56 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Granted (in dollars per share)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
$ 36.56 
$ 27.34 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Aggregate Intrinsic value
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Outstanding at the end of the period
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
87 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Exercisable at the end of the period
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
77 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Weighted-average remaining contractual term
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Outstanding at the end of the period (in years)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
4.9 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Stock option awards exercisable at the end of the period (in years)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
4.5 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Restricted stock awards
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Granted (in shares)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
1,313,000 
 
 
 
1,400,000 
820,000 
2,400,000 
624,000 
624,000 
397,000 
689,000 
600,000 
407,000 
 
 
 
474,000 
474,000 
198,000 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Period over which total shareholder return will be considered for determining satisfaction of specific performance conditions (in years)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The anniversary, from closing date, upon which the first installment of the award vests (in years)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The anniversary, from closing date, upon which the second installment of the award vests (in years)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The anniversary, from closing date, upon which the third installment of the award vests (in years)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Award vesting period
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
3 years 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
3 years 
Fraction of awards scheduled to vest in March 2012, with the remainder to vest in March 2013
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
One half 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Portion of award scheduled to vest in March 2012 with the remainder to vest in March 2013
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
0.5 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Period over which total shareholder return will be assessed to determine vesting in March 2012 (in years)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Period over which total shareholder return will be assessed to determine vesting in March 2013 (in years)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Percentage of target award
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
0.00% 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
0.00% 
0.00% 
0.00% 
200.00% 
200.00% 
200.00% 
 
Total fair value of awards vested during the period
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
72 
48 
45 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Summary of restricted stock and restricted stock unit activity
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Nonvested at the beginning of the period (in shares)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2,892,000 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Granted (in shares)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
1,313,000 
 
 
 
1,400,000 
820,000 
2,400,000 
624,000 
624,000 
397,000 
689,000 
600,000 
407,000 
 
 
 
474,000 
474,000 
198,000 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Assumed in acquisition (in shares)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
780,000 
1,080,000 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Vested (in shares)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
(1,780,000)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Forfeited (in shares)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
(77,000)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Nonvested at the end of the period (in shares)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
4,208,000 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Weighted-Average Grant Date Fair Value
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Nonvested at the beginning of the period (in dollars per share)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
$ 33.69 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Granted (in dollars per share)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
$ 36.15 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Assumed in acquisition (in dollars per share)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
$ 41.55 
$ 38.54 
$ 30.70 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Vested (in dollars per share)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
$ 34.58 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Forfeited (in dollars per share)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
$ 33.99 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Nonvested at the end of the period (in dollars per share)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
$ 36.78 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Share-based compensation, aggregate disclosures
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Compensation cost
65 
38 
55 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Unrecognized compensation cost
96 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Weighted-average recognition period (in years)
1.79 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Tax benefit recognized in the income statement for share-based payment arrangements
$ 25 
$ 14 
$ 21 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Earnings Per Common Share (Details) (USD $)
In Millions, except Share data, unless otherwise specified
3 Months Ended 12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2011
Sep. 30, 2011
Jun. 30, 2011
Mar. 31, 2011
Dec. 31, 2010
Sep. 30, 2010
Jun. 30, 2010
Mar. 31, 2010
Sep. 30, 2009
Dec. 31, 2011
Dec. 31, 2010
Dec. 31, 2009
Income (Numerator):
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Net income before extraordinary item
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
$ 573 
$ 948 
$ 511 
Non-cash extraordinary gain recorded upon discontinuance of regulatory accounting
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
136 
Earnings applicable to nonvested restricted stock
109 
138 
115 
211 
225 
232 
238 
253 
 
573 
948 
647 
Earnings applicable to nonvested restricted stock:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Earnings applicable to non-vested restricted stock
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
(2)
(6)
(4)
Net income applicable to common stock for computing basic earnings per common share
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
571 
942 
643 
Net income as adjusted for purposes of computing diluted earnings per common share
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
$ 571 
$ 942 
$ 643 
Weighted average number of shares:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Outstanding during period (in shares)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
534,320,000 
301,428,000 
199,177,000 
Non-vested restricted stock (in shares)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
(22,090,000)
(1,756,000)
(1,387,000)
Non-vested restricted stock units (in shares)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
669,000 
947,000 
1,023,000 
Weighted average shares outstanding for computing basic earnings per common share
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
532,780,000 
300,619,000 
198,813,000 
Incremental common shares attributable to dilutive securities:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Shares issuable under convertible securities
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
13,000 
13,000 
13,000 
Shares issuable under incentive compensation plans
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
1,328,000 
665,000 
231,000 
Number of shares as adjusted for purposes of computing diluted earnings per common share
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
534,121,000 
301,297,000 
199,057,000 
BASIC EARNINGS PER COMMON SHARE
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Extraordinary item (in dollars per share)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
$ 0.68 
 
 
 
Basic earnings per common share (in dollars per share)
$ 0.18 
$ 0.23 
$ 0.19 
$ 0.69 
$ 0.74 
$ 0.76 
$ 0.79 
$ 0.84 
 
$ 1.07 
$ 3.13 
 
DILUTED EARNINGS PER COMMON SHARE
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Extraordinary item (in dollars per share)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
$ 0.68 
 
 
 
Basic earnings per common share (in dollars per share)
$ 0.18 
$ 0.23 
$ 0.19 
$ 0.69 
$ 0.74 
$ 0.76 
$ 0.79 
$ 0.84 
 
$ 1.07 
$ 3.13 
 
Stock option awards
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Antidilutive securities excluded from computation of earnings per share
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Number of shares of common stock excluded from the computation of diluted earnings per share
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2,400,000 
2,900,000 
4,100,000 
Fair Value Disclosure (Details) (Fair Value Measurements valued on recurring basis, USD $)
In Millions, unless otherwise specified
Dec. 31, 2011
Dec. 31, 2010
Level 2 Input |
Carrying Amount
 
 
Liabilities
 
 
Liabilities - Long-term debt, excluding capital lease obligations
$ 21,124 
$ 7,328 
Level 2 Input |
Fair Value
 
 
Liabilities
 
 
Liabilities - Long-term debt, excluding capital lease obligations
22,052 
8,007 
Level 3 Input |
Carrying Amount
 
 
Assets
 
 
Assets - Investments securities
73 
 
Level 3 Input |
Fair Value
 
 
Assets
 
 
Assets - Investments securities
$ 73 
 
Fair Value Disclosure (Details 2) (Auction rate securities, USD $)
In Millions, unless otherwise specified
Dec. 31, 2011
Auction rate securities
 
Available for sale securities
 
Cost basis of securities
$ 79 
Income Taxes (Details) (USD $)
1 Months Ended 12 Months Ended
Jul. 31, 2011
Apr. 30, 2011
Dec. 31, 2011
Dec. 31, 2010
Dec. 31, 2009
Jul. 15, 2011
Apr. 2, 2011
Federal
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Current
 
 
$ (49,000,000)
$ 384,000,000 
$ 158,000,000 
 
 
Deferred
 
 
401,000,000 
145,000,000 
210,000,000 
 
 
State
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Current
 
 
25,000,000 
67,000,000 
3,000,000 
 
 
Deferred
 
 
(6,000,000)
(13,000,000)
12,000,000 
 
 
Foreign
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Current
 
 
4,000,000 
 
 
 
 
Total income tax expense
 
 
375,000,000 
583,000,000 
383,000,000 
 
 
Income tax expense in the consolidated statements of income:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Attributable to income before extraordinary item
 
 
375,000,000 
583,000,000 
302,000,000 
 
 
Attributable to extraordinary item
 
 
 
 
81,000,000 
 
 
Stockholders' equity:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Compensation expense for tax purposes in excess of amounts recognized for financial reporting purposes
 
 
(13,000,000)
(12,000,000)
(4,000,000)
 
 
Tax effect of the change in accumulated other comprehensive loss
 
 
(535,000,000)
(34,000,000)
29,000,000 
 
 
Reconciliation of the statutory federal income tax rate to effective income tax rate
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Statutory federal income tax rate (as a percent)
 
 
35.00% 
35.00% 
35.00% 
 
 
State income taxes, net of federal income tax benefit (as a percent)
 
 
1.30% 
1.90% 
2.00% 
 
 
Change in tax treatment of Medicare subsidy (as a percent)
 
 
 
0.30% 
 
 
 
Nondeductible acquisition related costs (as a percent)
 
 
0.90% 
0.20% 
0.70% 
 
 
Nondeductible compensation pursuant to executive compensation limitations (as a percent)
 
 
0.40% 
0.20% 
0.90% 
 
 
Recognition of previously unrecognized tax benefits (as a percent)
 
 
 
 
(1.50%)
 
 
Foreign income taxes (as a percent)
 
 
0.40% 
 
 
 
 
Foreign valuation allowance (as a percent)
 
 
0.80% 
 
 
 
 
Other, net (as a percent)
 
 
0.80% 
0.50% 
0.10% 
 
 
Effective income tax rate (as a percent)
 
 
39.60% 
38.10% 
37.20% 
 
 
Recognition of additional income tax expense due to non-deductible transaction cost related to recent acquisitions
 
 
24,000,000 
4,000,000 
7,000,000 
 
 
Deferred tax assets
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Postretirement and pension benefit costs
 
 
2,052,000,000 
510,000,000 
 
 
 
Net operating loss carryforwards
 
 
2,492,000,000 
75,000,000 
 
 
 
Other employee benefits
 
 
118,000,000 
45,000,000 
 
 
 
Other
 
 
836,000,000 
116,000,000 
 
 
 
Gross deferred tax assets
 
 
5,498,000,000 
746,000,000 
 
 
 
Less valuation allowance
 
 
(276,000,000)
(43,000,000)
 
 
 
Net deferred tax assets
 
 
5,222,000,000 
703,000,000 
 
 
 
Deferred tax liabilities
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Property, plant and equipment, primarily due to depreciation differences
 
 
(3,641,000,000)
(1,762,000,000)
 
 
 
Goodwill and other intangible assets
 
 
(4,215,000,000)
(1,159,000,000)
 
 
 
Other
 
 
(163,000,000)
(70,000,000)
 
 
 
Gross deferred tax liabilities
 
 
(8,019,000,000)
(2,991,000,000)
 
 
 
Net deferred tax liability
 
 
(2,797,000,000)
(2,288,000,000)
 
 
 
Long-term deferred tax liability
 
 
3,823,000,000 
2,369,000,000 
 
 
 
Net current deferred tax asset
 
 
1,026,000,000 
81,000,000 
 
 
 
Net noncurrent deferred tax liabilities
 
 
 
 
 
320,000,000 
595,000,000 
Net current deferred tax asset recognized in connection with Qwest acquisition
 
 
 
 
 
 
271,000,000 
Deferred tax asset valuation allowance adjustment
10,000,000 
231,000,000 
16,000,000 
 
 
 
 
Deferred tax asset valuation allowance from future income of a special character
 
 
8,000,000 
 
 
 
 
Net operating losses
 
 
6,200,000,000 
 
 
 
 
Gross unrecognized tax benefit activity
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Unrecognized tax benefits, beginning of the period
 
 
311,000,000 
 
 
 
 
Assumed in Qwest and Savvis acquisitions
 
 
206,000,000 
 
 
 
 
Decrease due to the reversal of tax positions taken in a prior year
 
 
(13,000,000)
 
 
 
 
Decrease from the lapse of statute of limitations
 
 
(1,000,000)
 
 
 
 
Settlements
 
 
(392,000,000)
 
 
 
 
Unrecognized tax benefits, end of the period
 
 
111,000,000 
311,000,000 
 
 
 
Settlement recorded upon dismissal of refund appeal
 
 
242,000,000 
 
 
 
 
Settlement decrease in unrecognized tax benefits due to withdrawal of Qwest's claims associated with the treatment of universal services fund receipts
 
 
141,000,000 
 
 
 
 
Unrecognized tax benefits that would impact effective tax rate
 
 
118,000,000 
 
 
 
 
Accrued interest associated with unrecognized tax benefits
 
 
33,000,000 
12,000,000 
 
 
 
Amount of unrecognized tax benefit that may decrease within the next twelve months
 
 
9,000,000 
 
 
 
 
Investment tax credits
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Income taxes
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Tax credit carryforwards, net of federal income tax
 
 
47,000,000 
 
 
 
 
Investment tax credits |
State and Local Jurisdiction [Member]
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Income taxes
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Tax credit carryforwards
 
 
72,000,000 
 
 
 
 
Alternative minimum tax credits
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Income taxes
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Tax credit carryforwards
 
 
$ 30,000,000 
 
 
 
 
Segment Information (Details) (USD $)
In Millions, unless otherwise specified
3 Months Ended 12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2011
Sep. 30, 2011
Jun. 30, 2011
Mar. 31, 2011
Dec. 31, 2010
Sep. 30, 2010
Jun. 30, 2010
Mar. 31, 2010
Dec. 31, 2011
Dec. 31, 2010
Dec. 31, 2009
Operating revenues by products and services
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Other operating revenue
$ 4,653 
$ 4,596 
$ 4,406 
$ 1,696 
$ 1,722 
$ 1,748 
$ 1,772 
$ 1,800 
$ 15,351 
$ 7,042 
$ 4,974 
Surcharge amount on customers' bills
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
392 
115 
84 
Strategic services
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Operating revenues by products and services
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Other operating revenue
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
6,254 
2,049 
 
Legacy services
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Operating revenues by products and services
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Other operating revenue
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
7,680 
4,288 
 
Data integration
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Operating revenues by products and services
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Other operating revenue
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
537 
158 
 
Other
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Operating revenues by products and services
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Other operating revenue
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
880 
547 
 
Voice
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Operating revenues by products and services
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Other operating revenue
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
3,138 
2,168 
Data
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Operating revenues by products and services
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Other operating revenue
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
1,909 
1,202 
Network access
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Operating revenues by products and services
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Other operating revenue
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
1,080 
928 
Other
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Operating revenues by products and services
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Other operating revenue
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
$ 915 
$ 676 
Segment Information (Details 2) (USD $)
In Millions, unless otherwise specified
3 Months Ended 12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2011
Sep. 30, 2011
Jun. 30, 2011
Mar. 31, 2011
Dec. 31, 2010
Sep. 30, 2010
Jun. 30, 2010
Mar. 31, 2010
Dec. 31, 2011
segment
Dec. 31, 2010
Dec. 31, 2009
Segment Information
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Number of operating segments
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Segment information
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Expenses
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
$ 13,326 
$ 4,982 
$ 3,741 
Net income
533 
548 
480 
464 
486 
506 
523 
545 
2,025 
2,060 
1,233 
Operating segments
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Segment information
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Revenues
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
14,471 
6,495 
 
Expenses
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
6,535 
2,403 
 
Net income
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
7,936 
4,092 
 
Margin percentage
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
55.00% 
63.00% 
 
Regional markets
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Segment information
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Revenues
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
7,832 
4,640 
 
Expenses
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
3,398 
1,783 
 
Net income
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
4,434 
2,857 
 
Margin percentage
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
57.00% 
62.00% 
 
Business markets
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Segment information
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Revenues
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2,861 
266 
 
Expenses
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
1,736 
12 
 
Net income
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
1,125 
146 
 
Margin percentage
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
39.00% 
55.00% 
 
Wholesale markets
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Segment information
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Revenues
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
3,295 
1,589 
 
Expenses
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
1,021 
500 
 
Net income
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2,274 
1,089 
 
Margin percentage
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
69.00% 
69.00% 
 
Savvis operations
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Segment information
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Revenues
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
483 
 
 
Expenses
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
380 
 
 
Net income
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
$ 103 
 
 
Margin percentage
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
21.00% 
 
 
Segment Information (Details 3) (USD $)
In Millions, unless otherwise specified
3 Months Ended 12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2011
Sep. 30, 2011
Jun. 30, 2011
Mar. 31, 2011
Dec. 31, 2010
Sep. 30, 2010
Jun. 30, 2010
Mar. 31, 2010
Dec. 31, 2011
Dec. 31, 2010
Dec. 31, 2009
Reconciliation from segment income to net income
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Total segment income
$ 533 
$ 548 
$ 480 
$ 464 
$ 486 
$ 506 
$ 523 
$ 545 
$ 2,025 
$ 2,060 
$ 1,233 
Other operating revenue
4,653 
4,596 
4,406 
1,696 
1,722 
1,748 
1,772 
1,800 
15,351 
7,042 
4,974 
Depreciation and amortization
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
(4,026)
(1,434)
(975)
Other unassigned operating expenses
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
(2,975)
(1,004)
(965)
Other income (expense), net
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
(1,077)
(529)
(420)
Income tax expense
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
(375)
(583)
(302)
NET INCOME
109 
138 
115 
211 
225 
232 
238 
253 
573 
948 
647 
Revenue by segment |
Single customer
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Reconciliation from segment income to net income
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Maximum percentage of total operating revenue from single customer
10.00% 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
10.00% 
 
 
Operating segments
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Reconciliation from segment income to net income
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Total segment income
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
7,936 
4,092 
 
Other operating revenue
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
880 
547 
 
Depreciation and amortization
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
(4,026)
(1,434)
 
Other unassigned operating expenses
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
(2,765)
(1,145)
 
Other income (expense), net
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
(1,077)
(529)
 
Income tax expense
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
(375)
(583)
 
NET INCOME
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
$ (573)
$ (948)
 
Discontinuance of Regulatory Accounting (Details) (USD $)
In Millions, except Per Share data, unless otherwise specified
3 Months Ended 12 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2009
Dec. 31, 2009
Components of non-cash extraordinary gain
 
 
Elimination of removal costs embedded in accumulated depreciation
$ 221 
 
Establishment of asset retirement obligation
(2)
 
Elimination of other regulatory assets and liabilities
(2)
 
Net extraordinary gain before income tax expense
217 
 
Income tax expense associated with extraordinary gain
(81)
(81)
Extraordinary gain attributable to CenturyLink, Inc.
 
$ 136 
Basic earnings per common share of extraordinary gain (in dollars per share)
$ 0.68 
 
Diluted earnings per common share of extraordinary gain (in dollars per share)
$ 0.68 
 
Quarterly Financial Data (Unaudited) (Details) (USD $)
In Millions, except Per Share data, unless otherwise specified
3 Months Ended 12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2011
Sep. 30, 2011
Jun. 30, 2011
Mar. 31, 2011
Dec. 31, 2010
Sep. 30, 2010
Jun. 30, 2010
Mar. 31, 2010
Dec. 31, 2011
Dec. 31, 2010
Dec. 31, 2009
Quarterly Financial Data (Unaudited)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Operating revenues
$ 4,653 
$ 4,596 
$ 4,406 
$ 1,696 
$ 1,722 
$ 1,748 
$ 1,772 
$ 1,800 
$ 15,351 
$ 7,042 
$ 4,974 
Operating income
533 
548 
480 
464 
486 
506 
523 
545 
2,025 
2,060 
1,233 
NET INCOME
$ 109 
$ 138 
$ 115 
$ 211 
$ 225 
$ 232 
$ 238 
$ 253 
$ 573 
$ 948 
$ 647 
Basic earnings per common share (in dollars per share)
$ 0.18 
$ 0.23 
$ 0.19 
$ 0.69 
$ 0.74 
$ 0.76 
$ 0.79 
$ 0.84 
$ 1.07 
$ 3.13 
 
Diluted earnings per common share (in dollars per share)
$ 0.18 
$ 0.23 
$ 0.19 
$ 0.69 
$ 0.74 
$ 0.76 
$ 0.79 
$ 0.84 
$ 1.07 
$ 3.13 
 
Commitments and Contingencies (Details)
In Millions, unless otherwise specified
12 Months Ended 1 Months Ended 12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2011
USD ($)
Dec. 31, 2010
USD ($)
Dec. 31, 2009
USD ($)
Dec. 31, 2011
Former Centel plant sites
site
entity
Dec. 31, 2009
Pending litigation related to Federal Communications Act
USD ($)
lawsuit
Dec. 31, 2011
KPNQwest
USD ($)
Dec. 31, 2011
KPNQwest
EUR (€)
Sep. 30, 2006
Cargill Financial Markets, Plc and Citibank, N.A.
USD ($)
Sep. 30, 2006
Cargill Financial Markets, Plc and Citibank, N.A.
EUR (€)
Dec. 31, 2011
Retirees Putative Class Action
plaintiff
Dec. 31, 2011
Fiber Optic Cable Installation
lawsuit
Commitments and Contingencies
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Number of lawsuits filed against subsidiaries of Sprint Nextel
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Charges claimed against Sprint Nextel
 
 
 
 
$ 34 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Number of indirect subsidiaries that acquired entities with plant sites
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Number of plaintiffs have alleged breach of fiduciary duty
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
1,800 
 
Number of former plant sites that produced manufactured gas
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Number of sites on which Embarq and current landowners are working with the EPA
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Number of sites where Centel has agreed to share remediation costs
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Litigation Matters Assumed in Qwest Acquisition
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Damages sought by plaintiff
 
 
 
 
 
5,400 
4,200 
284 
219 
 
 
Capital lease activity
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Assets acquired through capital leases
696 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Depreciation expense
89 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Cash payments towards capital leases
76 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Assets included in property, plant and equipment
698 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Accumulated depreciation
91 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Future minimum payments under capital leases
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2012
147 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2013
140 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2014
121 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2015
89 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2016
53 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2017 and thereafter
231 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Total minimum payments
781 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Less: amount representing interest and executory costs
(165)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Present value of minimum payments
616 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Less: current portion
(112)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Long-term portion
504 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Operating Leases
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Rent expense
401 
174 
107 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Sublease rental income
17 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Future rental commitments
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2012
280 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2013
244 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2014
208 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2015
178 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2016
147 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2017 and thereafter
928 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Total future minimum payments
1,985 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Minimum sublease rentals due in the future under non-cancelable subleases
119 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Purchase obligations
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Total purchase commitments
706 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2012
268 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2013
191 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2014
191 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2015
99 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2016
99 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2017 and thereafter
$ 148 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Other Financial Information (Details) (USD $)
In Millions, unless otherwise specified
Dec. 31, 2011
Dec. 31, 2010
Other Current Assets
 
 
Prepaid expenses
$ 240 
$ 41 
Other
150 
33 
Total other current assets
$ 390 
$ 74 
Labor Union Contracts (Details)
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2011
Minimum
 
Labor Union Contracts
 
Percentage of employees who are members of various bargaining units
40.00% 
Employees covered under collective bargaining agreements |
Work force concentration
 
Labor Union Contracts
 
Percentage of concentration risk
75.00% 
Number of employees covered under the agreement
15,000 
Dividends (Details) (USD $)
In Millions, except Per Share data, unless otherwise specified
1 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2011
Nov. 30, 2011
Sep. 30, 2011
Aug. 31, 2011
Jun. 30, 2011
May 31, 2011
Feb. 28, 2011
Jan. 31, 2011
Dec. 31, 2010
Nov. 30, 2010
Sep. 30, 2010
Aug. 30, 2010
Jun. 30, 2010
May 31, 2010
Mar. 31, 2010
Feb. 28, 2010
Dividends
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Dividend per share declared (in dollars per share)
 
$ 0.725 
 
$ 0.725 
 
$ 0.725 
 
$ 0.725 
 
$ 0.725 
 
$ 0.725 
 
$ 0.725 
 
$ 0.725 
Total amount declared
 
$ 449 
 
$ 449 
 
$ 436 
 
$ 222 
 
$ 220 
 
$ 220 
 
$ 220 
 
$ 219 
Dividend per share paid (in dollars per share)
$ 0.725 
 
$ 0.725 
 
$ 0.725 
 
$ 0.725 
 
$ 0.725 
 
$ 0.725 
 
$ 0.725 
 
$ 0.725 
 
Total Amount Paid
$ 449 
 
$ 449 
 
$ 436 
 
$ 222 
 
$ 220 
 
$ 220 
 
$ 220 
 
$ 219