LUMEN TECHNOLOGIES, INC., 10-Q filed on 11/3/2021
Quarterly Report
v3.21.2
Cover Page - shares
 9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2021
Oct. 29, 2021
Document Information [Line Items]    
Document Type 10-Q  
Document Quarterly Report true  
Document Period End Date Sep. 30, 2021  
Document Transition Report false  
Entity File Number 001-7784  
Entity Registrant Name LUMEN TECHNOLOGIES, INC.  
Entity Incorporation, State or Country Code LA  
Entity Tax Identification Number 72-0651161  
Entity Address, Address Line One 100 CenturyLink Drive,  
Entity Address, City or Town Monroe,  
Entity Address, State or Province LA  
Entity Address, Postal Zip Code 71203  
City Area Code 318  
Local Phone Number 388-9000  
Entity Current Reporting Status Yes  
Entity Interactive Data Current Yes  
Entity Filer Category Large Accelerated Filer  
Entity Small Business false  
Entity Emerging Growth Company false  
Entity Shell Company false  
Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding   1,023,894,166
Entity Central Index Key 0000018926  
Amendment Flag false  
Current Fiscal Year End Date --12-31  
Document Fiscal Year Focus 2021  
Document Fiscal Period Focus Q3  
Common Stock    
Document Information [Line Items]    
Title of 12(b) Security Common Stock, par value $1.00 per share  
Trading Symbol LUMN  
Security Exchange Name NYSE  
Preferred Stock    
Document Information [Line Items]    
Title of 12(b) Security Preferred Stock Purchase Rights  
No Trading Symbol Flag true  
Security Exchange Name NYSE  
v3.21.2
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS (UNAUDITED) - USD ($)
shares in Thousands, $ in Millions
 3 Months Ended 9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2021
Sep. 30, 2020
Sep. 30, 2021
Sep. 30, 2020
Income Statement [Abstract]        
OPERATING REVENUE $ 4,887 $ 5,167 $ 14,840 $ 15,587
OPERATING EXPENSES        
Cost of services and products (exclusive of depreciation and amortization) 2,151 2,236 6,402 6,703
Selling, general and administrative 654 850 2,172 2,598
Depreciation and amortization 951 1,193 3,142 3,515
Total operating expenses 3,756 4,279 11,716 12,816
OPERATING INCOME 1,131 888 3,124 2,771
OTHER (EXPENSE) INCOME        
Interest expense (377) (409) (1,150) (1,272)
Other (expense) income, net (38) 1 48 (73)
Total other expense, net (415) (408) (1,102) (1,345)
INCOME BEFORE INCOME TAXES 716 480 2,022 1,426
Income tax expense 172 114 497 369
NET INCOME $ 544 $ 366 $ 1,525 $ 1,057
BASIC AND DILUTED EARNINGS PER COMMON SHARE        
BASIC (in dollars per share) $ 0.51 $ 0.34 $ 1.42 $ 0.98
DILUTED (in dollars per share) $ 0.51 $ 0.34 $ 1.41 $ 0.98
WEIGHTED-AVERAGE COMMON SHARES OUTSTANDING        
BASIC (in shares) 1,062,084 1,080,505 1,077,106 1,078,672
DILUTED (in shares) 1,069,157 1,085,666 1,083,879 1,083,368
v3.21.2
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME (UNAUDITED) - USD ($)
$ in Millions
 3 Months Ended 9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2021
Sep. 30, 2020
Sep. 30, 2021
Sep. 30, 2020
Statement of Comprehensive Income [Abstract]        
NET INCOME $ 544 $ 366 $ 1,525 $ 1,057
Items related to employee benefit plans:        
Change in net actuarial loss, net of $(69), $(12), $(93) and $(37) tax 214 38 290 115
Change in net prior service cost, net of $—, $—, $(1) and $(1) tax 1 1 3 4
Curtailment loss, net of $—, $(1), $— and $(1) tax 0 3 0 3
Reclassification of realized loss on interest rate swaps to net income, net of $(5), $(5), $(15) and $(10) tax 16 15 47 31
Unrealized holding (loss) gain on interest rate swaps, net of $—, $—, $— and $28 tax (1) 1 (1) (87)
Foreign currency translation adjustment, net of $13, $(21), $16 and $(2) tax (97) 49 (103) (181)
Other comprehensive income (loss) 133 107 236 (115)
COMPREHENSIVE INCOME $ 677 $ 473 $ 1,761 $ 942
v3.21.2
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME (UNAUDITED) (Parenthetical) - USD ($)
$ in Millions
 3 Months Ended 9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2021
Sep. 30, 2020
Sep. 30, 2021
Sep. 30, 2020
Statement of Comprehensive Income [Abstract]        
Change in net actuarial loss, tax $ (69) $ (12) $ (93) $ (37)
Change in net prior service cost, tax 0 0 (1) (1)
Curtailment loss, tax 0 (1) 0 (1)
Reclassification of realized loss on interest rate swaps to net income, tax (5) (5) (15) (10)
Unrealized holding gain (loss) on interest rate swaps, tax 0 0 0 28
Foreign currency translation adjustment and other, tax $ 13 $ (21) $ 16 $ (2)
v3.21.2
CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS - USD ($)
$ in Millions
Sep. 30, 2021
Dec. 31, 2020
CURRENT ASSETS    
Cash and cash equivalents $ 635 $ 406
Accounts receivable, less allowance of $117 and $191 1,541 1,962
Assets held for sale 8,682 0
Other 843 808
Total current assets 11,701 3,176
Property, plant and equipment, net of accumulated depreciation of $22,027 and $31,596 20,926 26,338
GOODWILL AND OTHER ASSETS    
Goodwill 15,987 18,870
Other intangible assets, net 7,160 8,219
Other, net 2,534 2,791
Total goodwill and other assets 25,681 29,880
TOTAL ASSETS 58,308 59,394
CURRENT LIABILITIES    
Current maturities of long-term debt 2,501 2,427
Accounts payable 829 1,134
Accrued expenses and other liabilities    
Salaries and benefits 873 1,008
Income and other taxes 280 314
Current operating lease liabilities 389 379
Interest 229 291
Other 284 328
Liabilities held for sale 2,291 0
Current portion of deferred revenue 624 753
Total current liabilities 8,300 6,634
LONG-TERM DEBT 27,260 29,410
DEFERRED CREDITS AND OTHER LIABILITIES    
Deferred income taxes, net 3,732 3,342
Benefit plan obligations, net 3,980 4,556
Other 3,853 4,290
Total deferred credits and other liabilities 11,565 12,188
COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES (Note 15)
STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY    
Preferred stock—non-redeemable, $25.00 par value, authorized 2,000 and 2,000 shares, issued and outstanding 7 and 7 shares 0 0
Common stock, $1.00 par value, authorized 2,200,000 and 2,200,000 shares, issued and outstanding 1,031,060 and 1,096,921 shares 1,031 1,097
Additional paid-in capital 19,235 20,909
Accumulated other comprehensive loss (2,577) (2,813)
Accumulated deficit (6,506) (8,031)
Total stockholders' equity 11,183 11,162
TOTAL LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY $ 58,308 $ 59,394
v3.21.2
CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS (Parenthetical) - USD ($)
$ in Millions
Sep. 30, 2021
Dec. 31, 2020
Statement of Financial Position [Abstract]    
Accounts receivable, allowance $ 117 $ 191
PP&E, accumulated depreciation $ 22,027 $ 31,596
Preferred stock-non-redeemable, par value (in dollars per share) $ 25.00 $ 25.00
Preferred stock-non-redeemable, shares authorized (in shares) 2,000,000 2,000,000
Preferred stock-non-redeemable, shares issued (in shares) 7,000 7,000
Preferred stock-non-redeemable, shares outstanding (in shares) 7,000 7,000
Common stock, par value (in dollars per share) $ 1.00 $ 1.00
Common stock, shares authorized (in shares) 2,200,000,000 2,200,000,000
Common stock, shares issued (in shares) 1,031,060,000 1,096,921,000
Common stock, shares outstanding (in shares) 1,031,060,000 1,096,921,000
v3.21.2
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS (UNAUDITED) - USD ($)
$ in Millions
 9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2021
Sep. 30, 2020
OPERATING ACTIVITIES    
Net income $ 1,525 $ 1,057
Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash provided by operating activities:    
Depreciation and amortization 3,142 3,515
Deferred income taxes 431 315
Provision for uncollectible accounts 80 137
Net (gain) loss on early retirement of debt (8) 78
Share-based compensation 89 120
Changes in current assets and liabilities:    
Accounts receivable 20 (34)
Accounts payable (240) (325)
Accrued income and other taxes 7 90
Other current assets and liabilities, net (263) (408)
Retirement benefits (126) (96)
Changes in other noncurrent assets and liabilities, net 207 287
Other, net 30 106
Net cash provided by operating activities 4,894 4,842
INVESTING ACTIVITIES    
Capital expenditures (2,052) (2,971)
Proceeds from sale of property, plant and equipment and other assets 90 119
Other, net 13 12
Net cash used in investing activities (1,949) (2,840)
FINANCING ACTIVITIES    
Net proceeds from issuance of long-term debt 1,881 3,257
Payments of long-term debt (2,604) (6,334)
Net (payments of) proceeds from revolving line of credit (150) 825
Dividends paid (834) (837)
Repurchases of common stock (909) 0
Other, net (52) (83)
Net cash used in financing activities (2,668) (3,172)
Net increase (decrease) in cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash 277 (1,170)
Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash at beginning of period 427 1,717
Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash at end of period 704 547
Supplemental cash flow information:    
Income taxes (paid) refunded, net (102) 51
Interest paid (net of capitalized interest of $39 and $60) (1,144) (1,254)
Supplemental noncash information regarding investing activities:    
Sale of property, plant and equipment in exchange for note receivable 56 0
Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash:    
Cash and cash equivalents 635 526
Cash and cash equivalents included in Assets held for sale 39 0
Restricted cash included in Other current assets 2 3
Restricted cash included in Other, net noncurrent assets 28 18
Total $ 704 $ 547
v3.21.2
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS (UNAUDITED) (Parenthetical) - USD ($)
$ in Millions
 9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2021
Sep. 30, 2020
Statement of Cash Flows [Abstract]    
Capitalized interest $ 39 $ 60
v3.21.2
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY (UNAUDITED) - USD ($)
$ in Millions
Total
COMMON STOCK
ADDITIONAL PAID-IN CAPITAL
ACCUMULATED OTHER COMPREHENSIVE LOSS
ACCUMULATED DEFICIT
ACCUMULATED DEFICIT
Cumulative Effect, Period of Adoption, Adjustment
Balance at beginning of period at Dec. 31, 2019   $ 1,090 $ 21,874 $ (2,680) $ (6,814) $ 9
Increase (Decrease) in Stockholders' Equity            
Issuance of common stock through incentive and benefit plans   7        
Repurchases of common stock   0 0      
Shares withheld to satisfy tax withholdings     (39)      
Share-based compensation and other, net     132      
Dividends declared     (837)      
Other comprehensive income (loss) $ (115)     (115)    
Net income 1,057       1,057  
Other         5  
Balance at end of period at Sep. 30, 2020 $ 13,689 1,097 21,130 (2,795) (5,743)  
Increase (Decrease) in Stockholders' Equity            
DIVIDENDS DECLARED PER COMMON SHARE (in dollars per share) $ 0.75          
Balance at beginning of period at Jun. 30, 2020   1,097 21,376 (2,902) (6,109)  
Increase (Decrease) in Stockholders' Equity            
Issuance of common stock through incentive and benefit plans   0        
Repurchases of common stock   0 0      
Shares withheld to satisfy tax withholdings     (4)      
Share-based compensation and other, net     33      
Dividends declared     (275)      
Other comprehensive income (loss) $ 107     107    
Net income 366       366  
Other         0  
Balance at end of period at Sep. 30, 2020 $ 13,689 1,097 21,130 (2,795) (5,743)  
Increase (Decrease) in Stockholders' Equity            
DIVIDENDS DECLARED PER COMMON SHARE (in dollars per share) $ 0.25          
Balance at beginning of period at Dec. 31, 2020 $ 11,162 1,097 20,909 (2,813) (8,031)  
Increase (Decrease) in Stockholders' Equity            
Issuance of common stock through incentive and benefit plans   8        
Repurchases of common stock (909) (74) (880)      
Shares withheld to satisfy tax withholdings     (44)      
Share-based compensation and other, net     89      
Dividends declared     (839)      
Other comprehensive income (loss) 236     236    
Net income 1,525       1,525  
Other         0  
Balance at end of period at Sep. 30, 2021 $ 11,183 1,031 19,235 (2,577) (6,506)  
Increase (Decrease) in Stockholders' Equity            
DIVIDENDS DECLARED PER COMMON SHARE (in dollars per share) $ 0.75          
Balance at beginning of period at Jun. 30, 2021   1,105 20,361 (2,710) (7,050)  
Increase (Decrease) in Stockholders' Equity            
Issuance of common stock through incentive and benefit plans   0        
Repurchases of common stock $ (909) (74) (880)      
Shares withheld to satisfy tax withholdings     (2)      
Share-based compensation and other, net     25      
Dividends declared     (269)      
Other comprehensive income (loss) 133     133    
Net income 544       544  
Other         0  
Balance at end of period at Sep. 30, 2021 $ 11,183 $ 1,031 $ 19,235 $ (2,577) $ (6,506)  
Increase (Decrease) in Stockholders' Equity            
DIVIDENDS DECLARED PER COMMON SHARE (in dollars per share) $ 0.25          
v3.21.2
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY (UNAUDITED) (Parenthetical) - USD ($)
$ in Millions
 3 Months Ended 9 Months Ended 12 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2021
Sep. 30, 2020
Mar. 31, 2020
Sep. 30, 2021
Sep. 30, 2020
Dec. 31, 2019
Income tax expense $ 172 $ 114   $ 497 $ 369  
ACCUMULATED DEFICIT | Cumulative Effect, Period of Adoption, Adjustment            
Income tax expense     $ 2     $ 2
v3.21.2
Background
 9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2021
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]  
Background Background
General

We are an international facilities-based technology and communications company engaged primarily in providing a broad array of integrated services to our business and mass markets customers. Our specific products and services are detailed in Note 4—Revenue Recognition.

Basis of Presentation

Our consolidated balance sheet as of December 31, 2020, which was derived from our audited consolidated financial statements, and our unaudited interim consolidated financial statements provided herein have been prepared in accordance with the instructions for Form 10-Q. Certain information and footnote disclosures normally included in financial statements prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America ("GAAP") have been condensed or omitted pursuant to rules and regulations of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"). However, in our opinion, the disclosures made therein are adequate to make the information presented not misleading. We believe these consolidated financial statements include all normal recurring adjustments necessary to fairly present the results for the interim periods. The consolidated results of operations and cash flows for the first nine months of the year are not necessarily indicative of the consolidated results of operations and cash flows that might be expected for the entire year. These consolidated financial statements and the accompanying notes should be read in conjunction with the audited consolidated financial statements and the notes thereto included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020.

The accompanying consolidated financial statements include our accounts and the accounts of our subsidiaries in which we have a controlling interest. Intercompany amounts and transactions with our consolidated subsidiaries have been eliminated.

To simplify the overall presentation of our consolidated financial statements, we report immaterial amounts attributable to noncontrolling interests in certain of our subsidiaries as follows: (i) income attributable to noncontrolling interests in other income (expense), net, (ii) equity attributable to noncontrolling interests in additional paid-in capital and (iii) cash flows attributable to noncontrolling interests in other, net, financing activities.

We reclassified certain prior period amounts to conform to the current period presentation, including the categorization of our revenue and expenses in our segment reporting. See Note 14—Segment Information for additional information. These changes had no impact on total operating revenue, total operating expenses or net income for any period.

Operating lease assets are included in other, net under goodwill and other assets on our consolidated balance sheets. Noncurrent operating lease liabilities are included in other under deferred credits and other liabilities on our consolidated balance sheets.

There were no book overdrafts included in accounts payable at September 30, 2021 or December 31, 2020.
Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

Refer to the significant accounting policies described in Note 1— Background and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies to the consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes in Part II, Item 8 of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020.

Assets Held for Sale

We classify assets and related liabilities as held for sale when: (i) management has committed to a plan to sell the assets, (ii) the net assets are available for immediate sale, (iii) there is an active program to locate a buyer and (iv) the sale and transfer of the net assets is probable within one year. Assets and liabilities held for sale are presented separately on our consolidated balance sheets with a valuation allowance, if necessary, to recognize the net carrying amount at the lower of cost or fair value, less costs to sell. Depreciation of property, plant and equipment and amortization of finite-lived intangible assets and right-of-use assets are not recorded while these assets are classified as held for sale. For each period that assets are classified as being held for sale, they are tested for recoverability. Unless otherwise specified, the amounts and information presented in the notes do not include assets and liabilities that have been reclassified as held for sale as of September 30, 2021. See Note 2—Planned Divestiture of the Latin American and ILEC Businesses for additional information.

Recently Adopted Accounting Pronouncements

Debt

On January 1, 2021, we adopted ASU 2020-09, "Debt (Topic 470) Amendments to SEC Paragraphs Pursuant to SEC Release No. 33-10762" ("ASU 2020-09"). This ASU amends and supersedes various SEC paragraphs to reflect SEC Release No. 33-10762, which includes amendments to the financial disclosure requirements applicable to registered debt offerings that include credit enhancements, such as subsidiary guarantees. The adoption of ASU 2020-09 did not have a material impact to our consolidated financial statements.

Investments

On January 1, 2021, we adopted ASU 2020-01, "Investments - Equity Securities (Topic 321), Investments - Equity Method and Joint Ventures (Topic 323), and Derivatives and Hedging (Topic 815) - Clarifying the Interactions between Topic 321, Topic 323, and Topic 815)" ("ASU 2020-01"). This ASU, among other things, clarifies that a company should consider observable transactions that require a company to either apply or discontinue the equity method of accounting under Topic 323, Investments - Equity Method and Joint Ventures, for the purposes of applying the measurement alternative in accordance with Topic 321 immediately before applying or upon discontinuing the equity method. As of September 30, 2021, we determined there was no application or discontinuation of the equity method during the reporting periods. The adoption of ASU 2020-01 did not have a material impact to our consolidated financial statements.

Income Taxes

On January 1, 2021, we adopted ASU 2019-12, "Simplifying the Accounting for Income Taxes (Topic 740)" ("ASU 2019-12"). This ASU removes certain exceptions for investments, intra-period allocations and interim calculations, and adds guidance to reduce complexity in accounting for income taxes. The adoption of ASU 2019-12 did not have a material impact to our consolidated financial statements.

Measurement of Credit Losses on Financial Instruments

We adopted ASU 2016-13, "Measurement of Credit Losses on Financial Instruments" ("ASU 2016-13") on January 1, 2020 and recognized a cumulative adjustment to our accumulated deficit as of the date of adoption of $9 million, net of tax effect of $2 million. Please refer to Note 6—Credit Losses on Financial Instruments for more information.
Recently Issued Accounting Pronouncements

In January 2021, the FASB issued ASU 2021-01, "Reference Rate Reform (Topic 848): Scope" ("ASU 2021-01"), which clarifies that certain optional expedients and exceptions in Topic 848 for contract modifications and hedge accounting apply to derivatives that are affected by the discounting transition. ASU 2021-01 also amends the expedients and exceptions in Topic 848 to capture the incremental consequences of the scope clarification and to tailor the existing guidance to derivative instruments affected by the discounting transition. These amendments are effective immediately and may be applied prospectively to contract modifications made and hedging relationships entered into or evaluated on or before December 31, 2022. ASU 2021-01 provides option guidance for a limited time to ease the potential burden in accounting for reference rate reform. Based on our review of our key material contracts through September 30, 2021, we do not expect ASU 2021-01 to have a material impact on the consolidated financial statements.

In March 2020, the FASB issued ASU 2020-04, "Reference Rate Reform (Topic 848): Facilitation of the Effects of Reference Rate Reform on Financial Reporting" ("ASU 2020-04" or "Reference Rate Reform"), designed to ease the burden of accounting for contract modifications related to the global market-wide reference rate transition period. Subject to certain criteria, ASU 2020-04 provides qualifying entities the option to apply expedients and exceptions to contract modifications and hedging accounting relationships made until December 31, 2022. These amendments are effective immediately and may be applied prospectively to contract modifications made and hedging relationships entered into or evaluated on or before December 31, 2022. ASU 2020-04 provides optional guidance for a limited time to ease the potential burden in accounting for reference rate reform. Based on our review of our key material contracts through September 30, 2021, we do not expect ASU 2020-04 to have a material impact on the consolidated financial statements.
v3.21.2
Planned Divestiture of the Latin American and ILEC Businesses
 9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2021
Discontinued Operations and Disposal Groups [Abstract]  
Planned Divestiture of the Latin American and ILEC Businesses Planned Divestiture of the Latin American and ILEC Businesses
On July 25, 2021, affiliates of Level 3 Parent, LLC, an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of Lumen Technologies, Inc., entered into a definitive agreement to divest Lumen’s Latin American business to an affiliate of a fund advised by Stonepeak Partners LP in exchange for $2.7 billion cash, subject to certain working capital, other purchase price adjustments and related transaction expenses (estimated to be approximately $50 million). Level 3 Parent, LLC expects to close the transaction in the first half of 2022, upon receipt of all requisite regulatory approvals in the U.S. and certain countries where the Latin American business operates, as well as the satisfaction of other customary conditions.

On August 3, 2021, Lumen Technologies, Inc. and certain of its wholly-owned subsidiaries entered into a definitive agreement to divest their incumbent local exchange ("ILEC") business conducted within 20 Midwestern and Southern states to an affiliate of funds advised by Apollo Global Management, Inc. In exchange, Lumen and its subsidiaries would receive $7.5 billion, subject to (i) offsets for assumed indebtedness (expected to be approximately $1.4 billion) and (ii) certain purchaser’s transaction expenses along with working capital, tax, other customary purchase price adjustments and related transaction expenses (estimated to be approximately $1.7 billion). Lumen expects to close the transaction in the second half of 2022 upon receipt of all regulatory approvals and the satisfaction of other customary closing conditions.

The actual amount of our net after-tax proceeds from these divestitures could vary substantially from the amounts we currently estimate, particularly if we experience delays in completing the transactions or if there are changes in other assumptions that impact our estimates.
We do not believe these divestiture transactions represent a strategic shift for Lumen. Therefore, neither divested business meets the criteria to be classified as a discontinued operation. As a result, we will continue to report our operating results for the Latin American and ILEC businesses (the "disposal groups") in our consolidated operating results until the transactions are closed. The pre-tax net income of the disposal groups is estimated to be as follows in the tables below:

 Three Months Ended September 30,
 20212020
LowHighLowHigh
(Dollars in millions)
Latin American business pre-tax net income$59 72 36 45 
ILEC business pre-tax net income221 271 139 169 
Total disposal groups pre-tax net income$280 343 175 214 

 Nine Months Ended September 30,
 20212020
LowHighLowHigh
(Dollars in millions)
Latin American business pre-tax net income$131 160 108 131 
ILEC business pre-tax net income518 633 455 556 
Total disposal groups pre-tax net income$649 793 563 687 

As of September 30, 2021 in the accompanying consolidated balance sheets, the assets and liabilities of our Latin American and ILEC businesses are classified as held for sale and are measured at the lower of (i) the carrying value when we classified the disposal groups as held for sale and (ii) the fair value of the disposal groups, less costs to sell. Effective with the designation of both disposal groups as held for sale on July 25, 2021 and August 3, 2021, respectively, depreciation of property, plant and equipment and amortization of finite-lived intangible assets and right-of-use assets are not recorded while these assets are classified as held for sale. We estimate that we would have recorded an additional $107 million of depreciation, intangible amortization, and amortization of right-of-use assets for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2021 if the Latin American and ILEC businesses did not meet the held for sale criteria.

As a result of our evaluation of the recoverability of the carrying value of the assets and liabilities held for sale relative to the agreed upon sales price, adjusted for costs to sell, we did not record any estimated loss on disposal during the nine months ended September 30, 2021. The recoverability of each disposal group will be re-evaluated each reporting period until the closing of each transaction.
The principal components of the held for sale assets and liabilities as of September 30, 2021 are as follows:

September 30, 2021
Latin American BusinessILEC Business
Total (4)
(Dollars in millions)
Assets held for sale
Cash and cash equivalents$37 2 39 
Accounts receivable, less allowance of $3, $21 and $24
83 230 313 
Other current assets75 46 121 
Property, plant and equipment, net accumulated depreciation of $445, $10,976 and $11,421
1,545 3,386 4,931 
Goodwill (1)
244 2,615 2,859 
Other intangible assets, net129 158 287 
Other non-current assets71 41 112 
Total assets held for sale$2,184 6,478 8,662 
Liabilities held for sale
Accounts payable$76 79 155 
Salaries and benefits22 28 50 
Income and other taxes32 31 63 
Interest— 38 38 
Current portion of deferred revenue28 90 118 
Other current liabilities10 43 53 
Long-term debt, net of discounts (2)
— 1,367 1,367 
Deferred income taxes, net116 — 116 
Pension and other post-retirement benefits (3)
2 56 58 
Other non-current liabilities126 147 273 
Total liabilities held for sale$412 1,879 2,291 
______________________________________________________________________ 
(1)The assignment of goodwill was based on the relative fair values of the applicable reporting units prior to being reclassified as held for sale.
(2)Long-term debt, net of discounts includes $1.4 billion of Embarq Senior notes, $118 million of related unamortized discounts and $48 million of long-term finance lease obligations.
(3)Excludes pension obligation of approximately $2.5 billion for the ILEC business as of September 30, 2021, which will be transferred to the purchaser of the ILEC business upon closing. As of September 30, 2021, approximately $2.2 billion, or 89%, of this pension obligation is expected to be funded through the transfer of Lumen pension plan assets to the purchaser. The remaining portion of the obligation is expected to be separately funded with cash paid by Lumen at the time of closing.
(4)The totals shown here exclude $20 million of assets held for sale unrelated to these divestitures.
v3.21.2
Goodwill, Customer Relationships and Other Intangible Assets
 9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2021
Goodwill and Intangible Assets Disclosure [Abstract]  
Goodwill, Customer Relationships and Other Intangible Assets Goodwill, Customer Relationships and Other Intangible Assets
Goodwill, customer relationships and other intangible assets consisted of the following:

September 30, 2021December 31, 2020
(Dollars in millions)
Goodwill$15,987 18,870 
Indefinite-life intangible assets$9 278 
Other intangible assets subject to amortization: 
Customer relationships, less accumulated amortization of $11,571 and $11,060
5,535 6,344 
Capitalized software, less accumulated amortization of $3,537 and $3,279
1,464 1,520 
Trade names, patents and other, less accumulated amortization of $156 and $120
152 77 
Total other intangible assets, net$7,160 8,219 

When we acquired Embarq Corporation ("Embarq") in 2009, we acquired certain right-of-way assets and, because there were no legal, regulatory, contractual or other factors that would reasonably limit the useful life of these assets, we classified them as indefinite-lived and, as such, these assets were not amortized. However, as we leverage our fiber infrastructure assets, our reliance on the legacy infrastructure (largely copper-based) acquired from Embarq is diminishing. Our recent digital transformation efforts have prompted management to reassess and ultimately change the accounting treatment of these indefinite-lived assets to align with our focus on growth products versus our declining products. As a result, during the first quarter of 2021, we reclassified an indefinite-lived intangible asset to finite-lived intangible asset. As of January 1, 2021 we began amortizing the $268 million asset over its estimated nine-year remaining life. On August 3, 2021, upon entering into a definitive agreement to divest our ILEC business, we reclassified $158 million of the $268 million asset as held for sale. At this time, we discontinued recording amortization on the portion of the finite-lived intangible assets that had been reclassified as held for sale (see Note 2—Planned Divestiture of the Latin American and ILEC Businesses for more information). The above-described change in the estimated remaining economic life of these assets, as modified by the subsequent reclassification of a portion thereof, resulted in an increase in amortization expense of approximately $5 million and $20 million, respectively, for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2021, and is expected to increase amortization expense by approximately $23 million for the year ending December 31, 2021. The increase in amortization expense, net of tax, (i) reduced consolidated net income by approximately $4 million and $15 million, respectively, for the three and nine month periods ending September 30, 2021, with no impact per basic and diluted common share for the three months ended September 30, 2021 and a $0.01 reduction per basic and diluted common share for the nine months ended September 30, 2021 and (ii) is expected to reduce consolidated net income by approximately $17 million, or $0.02 per basic and diluted common share, for the year ending December 31, 2021.

Our goodwill was derived from numerous acquisitions where the purchase price exceeded the fair value of the net assets acquired.

We assess our goodwill and other indefinite-lived intangible assets for impairment annually, or, under certain circumstances, more frequently, such as when events or changes in circumstances indicate there may be impairment. We are required to write down the value of goodwill only when our assessment determines the carrying value of equity of any of our reporting units exceeds its fair value. Our annual impairment assessment date for goodwill is October 31, at which date we assess our reporting units. Our annual impairment assessment date for indefinite-lived intangible assets other than goodwill is December 31.
Our reporting units are not discrete legal entities with discrete full financial statements. Our assets and liabilities are employed in and relate to the operations of multiple reporting units. For each reporting unit, we compare its estimated fair value of equity to its carrying value of equity that we assign to the reporting unit. If the estimated fair value of the reporting unit is greater than the carrying value, we conclude that no impairment exists. If the estimated fair value of the reporting unit is less than the carrying value, we record an impairment equal to the excess amount. Depending on the facts and circumstances, we typically estimate the fair value of our reporting units by considering either or both of (i) a discounted cash flow method, which is based on the present value of projected cash flows over a discrete projection period and a terminal value, which represents the value of expected normalized cash flows of the reporting units following the discrete projection period, and (ii) a market approach, which includes the use of market multiples of publicly-traded companies whose services are comparable to ours.

We completed an internal reorganization in January 2021. We now, as a result, report two segments: Business and Mass Markets. The following table shows the rollforward of goodwill assigned to our reportable segments, including the reorganization, from December 31, 2020 through September 30, 2021:

 International and Global AccountsEnterpriseSmall and Medium BusinessWholesaleConsumerBusinessMass MarketsTotal
 (Dollars in millions)
As of December 31, 2020(1)
$2,555 4,738 2,808 3,114 5,655 — — 18,870 
January 2021 reorganization(2,555)(4,738)(2,808)(3,114)(5,655)12,173 6,697 — 
Reclassified as held for sale(2)
— — — — — (918)(1,946)(2,864)
Effect of foreign currency exchange rate change and other— — — — — (19)— (19)
As of September 30, 2021(1)
$— — — — — 11,236 4,751 15,987 
______________________________________________________________________
(1)Goodwill at September 30, 2021 and December 31, 2020 is net of accumulated impairment losses of $7.7 billion and $12.9 billion, respectively. The change in accumulated impairment losses at September 30, 2021 is a result of amounts reclassified as held for sale related to our planned divestitures.
(2)Includes $2.9 billion of goodwill, net of accumulated impairment loss reclassified as held for sale related to our pending divestitures. See Note 2—Planned Divestiture of the Latin American and ILEC Businesses.

In January 2021, we began reporting under two segments: Business and Mass Markets. See Note 14—Segment Information for more information on these segments and the underlying sales channels. Since effecting this reorganization, we have used five reporting units for goodwill impairment testing, which are (i) Mass Markets, (ii) North America ("NA") Business (iii) Europe, Middle East and Africa region ("EMEA"), (iv) Asia Pacific region ("APAC") and (v) Latin America region ("LATAM"). Our January 2021 reorganization was considered an event or change in circumstance which required an assessment of our goodwill for impairment. We performed a qualitative impairment assessment in the first quarter of 2021 and concluded it is more likely than not that the fair value of each of our reporting units exceeded the carrying value of equity of our reporting units at January 31, 2021. Therefore, we concluded no impairment existed as of our assessment date.

The reclassification of held for sale assets, as described in Note 2—Planned Divestiture of the Latin American and ILEC Businesses, was considered an event or change in circumstance which required an assessment of our goodwill for impairment as of July 31, 2021. We performed a pre-reclassification goodwill impairment test to determine whether there was an impairment prior to the reclassification of these assets and to determine the July 31, 2021 fair values to be utilized for goodwill allocation regarding the disposal groups to be reclassified as assets held for sale. We concluded it was more likely than not that the fair value of each of our reporting units exceeded the carrying value of equity of our reporting units at July 31, 2021. We also performed a post-reclassification goodwill impairment test using our estimated post-divestiture cash flows and carrying value of equity to evaluate whether the fair value of our reporting units that will remain following the divestitures exceeds the carrying value of the equity of such reporting units after reclassification of assets held for sale.
At July 31, 2021, we estimated the fair value of our five above-mentioned reporting units by considering both a market approach and a discounted cash flow method. We discounted the projected cash flows of our Mass Markets and Business segments using a rate that represents our weighted average cost of capital, which we determined to be approximately 6.8% as of the assessment date (which comprised an after-tax cost of debt of 2.3% and a cost of equity of 9.7%). We discounted the projected cash flows of our EMEA, LATAM and APAC reporting units using a rate that represents their estimated weighted average cost of capital, which we determined to be approximately 7.2%, 11.2% and 8.6%, respectively, as of the measurement date (which was comprised of an after-tax cost of debt of 2.6%, 5.3% and 3.6% and a cost of equity of 10.1%, 15.0% and 11.9%, respectively). We utilized company comparisons and analyst reports within the telecommunications industry which have historically supported a range of fair values derived from annualized revenue and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization ("EBITDA") multiples between 2.1x and 5.8x and 4.8x and 14.8x, respectively. We selected a revenue and EBITDA multiple for each of our reporting units resulting in an overall company revenue and EBITDA multiple of 2.8x and 6.3x, respectively. We also reconciled the estimated fair values of the reporting units to our market capitalization as of July 31, 2021 and concluded that the indicated implied control premium of approximately 32% was reasonable based on recent market transactions. As of July 31, 2021, we determined that the estimated fair value of equity exceeded the carrying value of equity for our Mass Markets, NA Business, EMEA, LATAM and APAC reporting units by 150%, 24%, 58%, 100% and 134%, respectively. Based on our assessments performed, we concluded it was more likely than not that the fair value of each of our reporting units exceeded the carrying value of equity of our reporting units at July 31, 2021. Therefore, we concluded no impairment existed as of our assessment date.

Total amortization expense for intangible assets for the three months ended September 30, 2021 and 2020 totaled $306 million and $443 million, respectively, and for the nine months ended September 30, 2021 and 2020 totaled $1.0 billion and $1.3 billion, respectively. As of September 30, 2021, the gross carrying amount of goodwill, customer relationships, capitalized software, indefinite-life and other intangible assets was $38.4 billion.

We estimate that total amortization expense for intangible assets for the years ending December 31, 2021 through 2025 will be as provided in the table below. As a result of reclassifying our disposal groups as being held for sale on our September 30, 2021 consolidated balance sheet, the amounts presented below do not include future amortization expense for intangible assets of those disposal groups. See Note 2—Planned Divestiture of the Latin American and ILEC Businesses for more information.

 (Dollars in millions)
2021 (remaining three months)$286 
20221,027 
2023932 
2024842 
2025801 
v3.21.2
Revenue Recognition
 9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2021
Revenue from Contract with Customer [Abstract]  
Revenue Recognition Revenue Recognition
Product and Service Categories

Since the first quarter of 2021, we have categorized our products and services revenue among the following categories for the Business segment:

•Compute and Application Services, which include our Edge Cloud services, IT solutions, Unified Communications and Collaboration ("UC&C"), data center, content delivery network ("CDN") and Managed Security services;

•IP and Data Services, which include Ethernet, IP, and VPN data networks, including software-defined wide area networks ("SD WAN") based services, Dynamic Connections and Hyper WAN;

•Fiber Infrastructure Services, which include dark fiber, optical services and equipment; and
•Voice and Other, which include Time Division Multiplexing ("TDM") voice, private line and other legacy services.

Since the first quarter of 2021, we have categorized our products and services revenue among the following categories for the Mass Markets segment:

•Consumer Broadband, which includes high speed fiber-based and lower speed DSL-based broadband services to residential customers;

•Small Business Group ("SBG") Broadband, which includes high speed fiber-based and lower speed DSL-based broadband services to small businesses;

•Voice and Other, which include primarily local and long-distance services, retail video services (including our linear and TV services), professional services and other ancillary services; and

•Connect America Fund ("CAF") II, which consists of Connect America Fund Phase II payments through the end of 2021 to support voice and broadband in FCC-designated high-cost areas.

Reconciliation of Total Revenue to Revenue from Contracts with Customers

The following tables provide total revenue by segment, sales channel and product category. They also provide the amount of revenue that is not subject to ASC 606, "Revenue from Contracts with Customers" ("ASC 606"), but is instead governed by other accounting standards:

Three Months Ended September 30, 2021Three Months Ended September 30, 2020
Total revenue
Adjustments for non-ASC 606 revenue (1)
Total revenue from contracts with customersTotal revenue
Adjustments for non-ASC 606 revenue (1)
Total revenue from contracts with customers
(Dollars in millions)
Business Segment by Sales Channel and Product Category
International and Global Accounts ("IGAM")
Compute and Application Services$178 (71)107 188 (66)122 
IP and Data Services429 — 429 431 — 431 
Fiber Infrastructure Services230 (33)197 206 (28)178 
Voice and Other182 — 182 188 — 188 
Total IGAM Revenue1,019 (104)915 1,013 (94)919 
Large Enterprise
Compute and Application Services176 (16)160 167 (22)145 
IP and Data Services387 — 387 393 (1)392 
Fiber Infrastructure Services137 (11)126 162 (12)150 
Voice and Other232 — 232 268 — 268 
Total Large Enterprise Revenue932 (27)905 990 (35)955 
Mid-Market Enterprise
Compute and Application Services31 (7)24 32 (3)29 
IP and Data Services432 (1)431 460 (1)459 
Fiber Infrastructure Services53 (2)51 54 (1)53 
Voice and Other150 — 150 191 — 191 
Three Months Ended September 30, 2021Three Months Ended September 30, 2020
Total revenue
Adjustments for non-ASC 606 revenue (1)
Total revenue from contracts with customersTotal revenue
Adjustments for non-ASC 606 revenue (1)
Total revenue from contracts with customers
(Dollars in millions)
Total Mid-Market Enterprise Revenue666 (10)656 737 (5)732 
Wholesale
Compute and Application Services46 (39)7 47 (41)6 
IP and Data Services297 — 297 311 — 311 
Fiber Infrastructure Services155 (30)125 157 (33)124 
Voice and Other393 (63)330 443 (64)379 
Total Wholesale Revenue891 (132)759 958 (138)820 
Business Segment by Product Category
Compute and Application Services431 (133)298 434 (132)302 
IP and Data Services1,545 (1)1,544 1,595 (2)1,593 
Fiber Infrastructure Services575 (76)499 579 (74)505 
Voice and Other957 (63)894 1,090 (64)1,026 
Total Business Segment Revenue$3,508 (273)3,235 3,698 (272)3,426 
Mass Markets Segment by Product Category
Consumer Broadband$715 (52)663 730 (56)674 
SBG Broadband39 (4)35 38 (3)35 
Voice and Other502 (20)482 578 (27)551 
CAF II123 (123)— 123 (123)— 
Total Mass Markets Segment$1,379 (199)1,180 1,469 (209)1,260 
Total Revenue$4,887 (472)4,415 5,167 (481)4,686 
Nine Months Ended September 30, 2021Nine Months Ended September 30, 2020
Total revenue
Adjustments for non-ASC 606 revenue (1)
Total revenue from contracts with customersTotal revenue
Adjustments for non-ASC 606 revenue (1)
Total revenue from contracts with customers
(Dollars in millions)
Business Segment by Sales Channel and Product Category
International and Global Accounts ("IGAM")
Compute and Application Services$536 (210)326 581 (199)382 
IP and Data Services1,283 — 1,283 1,300 — 1,300 
Fiber Infrastructure Services662 (95)567 610 (82)528 
Voice and Other555 — 555 594 — 594 
Total IGAM Revenue3,036 (305)2,731 3,085 (281)2,804 
Large Enterprise
Compute and Application Services513 (47)466 481 (61)420 
IP and Data Services1,170 — 1,170 1,194 (2)1,192 
Fiber Infrastructure Services388 (38)350 436 (35)401 
Voice and Other729 — 729 818 — 818 
Total Large Enterprise Revenue2,800 (85)2,715 2,929 (98)2,831 
Mid-Market Enterprise
Compute and Application Services103 (23)80 101 (14)87 
IP and Data Services1,323 (4)1,319 1,389 (3)1,386 
Fiber Infrastructure Services166 (6)160 165 (8)157 
Voice and Other472 — 472 598 — 598 
Total Mid-Market Enterprise Revenue2,064 (33)2,031 2,253 (25)2,228 
Wholesale
Compute and Application Services143 (120)23 138 (120)18 
IP and Data Services899 — 899 942 — 942 
Fiber Infrastructure Services464 (89)375 462 (93)369 
Voice and Other1,219 (188)1,031 1,343 (197)1,146 
Total Wholesale Revenue2,725 (397)2,328 2,885 (410)2,475 
Business Segment by Product Category
Compute and Application Services1,295 (400)895 1,301 (394)907 
IP and Data Services4,675 (4)4,671 4,825 (5)4,820 
Fiber Infrastructure Services1,680 (228)1,452 1,673 (218)1,455 
Voice and Other2,975 (188)2,787 3,353 (197)3,156 
Total Business Segment Revenue$10,625 (820)9,805 11,152 (814)10,338 
Mass Markets Segment by Product Category
Nine Months Ended September 30, 2021Nine Months Ended September 30, 2020
Total revenue
Adjustments for non-ASC 606 revenue (1)
Total revenue from contracts with customersTotal revenue
Adjustments for non-ASC 606 revenue (1)
Total revenue from contracts with customers
(Dollars in millions)
Consumer Broadband$2,169 (157)2,012 2,178 (164)2,014 
SBG Broadband117 (12)105 116 (11)105 
Voice and Other1,561 (60)1,501 1,772 (85)1,687 
CAF II368 (368)— 369 (369)— 
Total Mass Markets Segment$4,215 (597)3,618 4,435 (629)3,806 
Total Revenue$14,840 (1,417)13,423 15,587 (1,443)14,144 
_____________________________________________________________________
(1)Includes regulatory revenue and lease revenue not within the scope of ASC 606.

Operating Lease Revenue

Lumen Technologies leases various dark fiber, office facilities, colocation facilities, switching facilities, other network sites and service equipment to third parties under operating leases. Lease and sublease income are included in operating revenue in our consolidated statements of operations.

For the three months ended September 30, 2021 and 2020, our gross rental income was $329 million and $332 million, respectively, which represents approximately 7% and 6%, respectively, of our operating revenue for the three months ended September 30, 2021 and 2020. For the nine months ended September 30, 2021 and 2020, our gross rental income was $988 million and $998 million, respectively, which represents 7% and 6%, respectively, of our operating revenue for the nine months ended September 30, 2021 and 2020.

Customer Receivables and Contract Balances

The following table provides balances of customer receivables, contract assets and contract liabilities, net of amounts reclassified as held for sale, as of September 30, 2021 and December 31, 2020:

September 30, 2021December 31, 2020
 (Dollars in millions)
Customer receivables(1)(2)
$1,491 1,889 
Contract assets(3)
71 108 
Contract liabilities(4)
703 950 
______________________________________________________________________
(1)Reflects gross customer receivables of $1.6 billion and $2.1 billion, net of allowance for credit losses of $107 million and $174 million, at September 30, 2021 and December 31, 2020, respectively.
(2)As of September 30, 2021, amount excludes customer receivables, net reclassified as held for sale of $293 million.
(3)As of September 30, 2021, amount excludes contract assets reclassified as held for sale of $10 million.
(4)As of September 30, 2021, amount excludes contract liabilities reclassified as held for sale of $165 million.
Contract liabilities are consideration we have received from our customers or billed in advance of providing goods or services promised in the future. We defer recognizing this consideration as revenue until we have satisfied the related performance obligation to the customer. Contract liabilities include recurring services billed one month in advance and installation and maintenance charges that are deferred and recognized over the actual or expected contract term, which typically ranges from one to five years depending on the service. Contract liabilities are included within deferred revenue and liabilities held for sale in our consolidated balance sheets. During the three and nine months ended September 30, 2021, we recognized $61 million and $544 million, respectively, of revenue that was included in contract liabilities as of January 1, 2021. During the three and nine months ended September 30, 2020, we recognized $58 million and $612 million, respectively, of revenue that was included in contract liabilities as of January 1, 2020.

Performance Obligations

As of September 30, 2021, our estimated revenue expected to be recognized in the future related to performance obligations associated with existing customer contracts that are partially or wholly unsatisfied is approximately $6.4 billion. We expect to recognize approximately 70% of this revenue through 2023, with the balance recognized thereafter.

These amounts exclude (i) the value of unsatisfied performance obligations for contracts for which we recognize revenue at the amount to which we have the right to invoice for services performed (for example, uncommitted usage or non-recurring charges associated with professional or technical services to be completed), (ii) contracts that are classified as leasing arrangements that are not subject to ASC 606 and (iii) the value of unsatisfied performance obligations for contracts which relate to our planned divestitures.

Contract Costs

The following tables provide changes in our contract acquisition costs and fulfillment costs:

Three Months Ended September 30, 2021Three Months Ended September 30, 2020
Acquisition CostsFulfillment CostsAcquisition CostsFulfillment Costs
(Dollars in millions)(Dollars in millions)
Beginning of period balance$271 217 300 219 
Costs incurred43 37 45 35 
Amortization(51)(37)(53)(37)
Reclassified as held for sale(1)
(35)(31)— — 
End of period balance$228 186 292 217 

Nine Months Ended September 30, 2021Nine Months Ended September 30, 2020
Acquisition CostsFulfillment CostsAcquisition CostsFulfillment Costs
(Dollars in millions)(Dollars in millions)
Beginning of period balance$289 216 326 221 
Costs incurred132 112 130 105 
Amortization(158)(111)(164)(109)
Reclassified as held for sale(1)
(35)(31)— — 
End of period balance$228 186 292 217 
______________________________________________________________________
(1)Represents the amounts reclassified as held for sale related to our planned divestitures. See Note 2—Planned Divestiture of the Latin American and ILEC Businesses.
Acquisition costs include commission fees paid to employees as a result of obtaining contracts. Fulfillment costs include third party and internal costs associated with the provision, installation and activation of services to customers, including labor and materials consumed for these activities.

Deferred acquisition and fulfillment costs are amortized based on the transfer of services on a straight-line basis over the average customer life of approximately 30 months for mass markets and business customers. Amortized fulfillment costs are included in cost of services and products and amortized acquisition costs are included in selling, general and administrative expenses in our consolidated statements of operations. The amount of these deferred costs that are anticipated to be amortized in the next 12 months are included in other current assets on our consolidated balance sheets. The amount of deferred costs expected to be amortized beyond the next 12 months is included in other non-current assets on our consolidated balance sheets. Deferred acquisition and fulfillment costs are assessed for impairment on an annual basis.
v3.21.2
Leases
 9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2021
Leases [Abstract]  
Leases Leases
We primarily lease to or from third parties various office facilities and colocation facilities, equipment and dark fiber. Leases with an initial term of 12 months or less are not recorded on the balance sheet; we recognize lease expense for these leases on a straight-line basis over the lease term.

During the third quarter of 2021, we rationalized our lease footprint and ceased using 23 leased property locations that were underutilized. We determined that we no longer needed the leased space and, due to the limited remaining term on the contracts, concluded that we had neither the intent nor ability to sublease the properties. For the three and nine month periods ending September 30, 2021, we incurred accelerated lease costs of approximately $35 million. In conjunction with our plans to continue to reduce costs, we expect to continue our real estate rationalization efforts and may incur additional costs in future periods.
Leases Leases
We primarily lease to or from third parties various office facilities and colocation facilities, equipment and dark fiber. Leases with an initial term of 12 months or less are not recorded on the balance sheet; we recognize lease expense for these leases on a straight-line basis over the lease term.

During the third quarter of 2021, we rationalized our lease footprint and ceased using 23 leased property locations that were underutilized. We determined that we no longer needed the leased space and, due to the limited remaining term on the contracts, concluded that we had neither the intent nor ability to sublease the properties. For the three and nine month periods ending September 30, 2021, we incurred accelerated lease costs of approximately $35 million. In conjunction with our plans to continue to reduce costs, we expect to continue our real estate rationalization efforts and may incur additional costs in future periods.
v3.21.2
Credit Losses on Financial Instruments
 9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2021
Credit Loss [Abstract]  
Credit Losses on Financial Instruments Credit Losses on Financial Instruments
In accordance with ASC 326, "Financial Instruments - Credit Losses," we aggregate financial assets with similar risk characteristics to align our expected credit losses with the credit quality or deterioration over the life of such assets. We monitor certain risk characteristics within our aggregated financial assets and revise their composition accordingly, to the extent internal and external risk factors change each reporting period. Financial assets that do not share risk characteristics with other financial assets are evaluated separately. Our financial assets measured at amortized cost primarily consist of accounts receivable.

We use a loss rate method to estimate our allowance for credit losses. Our determination of the current expected credit loss rate begins with our use of historical loss experience as a percentage of accounts receivable. We measure our historical loss period based on the average days to recognize accounts receivable as credit losses. When asset specific characteristics and current conditions change from those in the historical period, due to changes in our credit and collections strategy, certain classes of aged balances, or credit loss and recovery policies, we perform a qualitative and quantitative assessment to adjust our historical loss rate. We use regression analysis to develop an expected loss rate using historical experience and economic data over a forecast period. We measure our forecast period based on the average days to collect payment on billed accounts receivable. To determine our current allowance for credit losses, we combine the historical and expected credit loss rates and apply them to our period end accounts receivable.

In conjunction with our January 2021 internal reorganization, as referenced in Note 14—Segment Information, we pooled certain assets with similar credit risk characteristics based on the nature of our customers, their industry, policies used to grant credit terms and their historical and expected credit loss patterns. Additionally, we reassessed our historical loss period for the segment portfolio reorganization.

If there is a deterioration of a customer's financial condition or if future default rates in general differ from currently anticipated default rates (including changes caused by COVID-19), we may need to adjust the allowance for credit losses, which would affect earnings in the period that adjustments are made.
The assessment of the correlation between historical observed default rates, current conditions and forecasted economic conditions requires judgment. Alternative interpretations of these factors could have resulted in different conclusions regarding the allowance for credit losses. The amount of credit loss is sensitive to changes in circumstances and forecasted economic conditions. Our historical credit loss experience, current conditions and forecast of economic conditions may also not be representative of the customers' actual default experience in the future.

The following table presents the activity of our allowance for credit losses by accounts receivable portfolio for the nine months ended September 30, 2021:

BusinessMass MarketsTotal
(Dollars in millions)
Beginning balance at January 1, 2021(1)
$109 82 191 
Provision for expected losses36 44 80 
Write-offs charged against the allowance(58)(94)(152)
Recoveries collected11 11 22 
Reclassified as held for sale(2)
(8)(16)(24)
Ending balance at September 30, 2021
$90 27 117 
______________________________________________________________________ 
(1)As described in Note 14—Segment Information, we completed an internal reorganization in January 2021. As a result of this change, allowance for credit losses previously included in the Consumer and Business portfolio of $70 million related to consumer and $12 million related to our small business group, respectively, were reclassified to the Mass Markets allowance for credit losses on January 1, 2021.
(2)Represents the amounts reclassified as held for sale related to our pending divestitures. See Note 2—Planned Divestiture of the Latin American and ILEC Businesses.

For the nine months ended September 30, 2021, we decreased our allowance for credit losses for our business and mass markets accounts receivable portfolios primarily due to higher write-off activity year to date 2021 with the easing of prior delays due to COVID-19 related restrictions in 2020 and lower receivable balances.
v3.21.2
Long-Term Debt and Credit Facilities
 9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2021
Debt Disclosure [Abstract]  
Long-Term Debt and Credit Facilities Long-Term Debt and Credit Facilities
The following chart reflects the consolidated long-term debt of Lumen Technologies, Inc. and its subsidiaries, including unamortized discounts and premiums, net and unamortized debt issuance costs, but excluding intercompany debt:

Interest Rates(1)
Maturities(1)
September 30, 2021December 31, 2020
   (Dollars in millions)
Senior Secured Debt: (2)
Lumen Technologies, Inc.
Revolving Credit Facility(7)
LIBOR + 2.00%
2025$— 150 
Term Loan A(3) (7)
LIBOR + 2.00%
20251,064 1,108 
Term Loan A-1(3) (7)
LIBOR + 2.00%
2025304 316 
Term Loan B(4) (7)
LIBOR + 2.25%
20274,913 4,950 
Senior notes4.000%20271,250 1,250 
Subsidiaries:
Level 3 Financing, Inc.
Tranche B 2027 Term Loan(5) (7)
LIBOR + 1.75%
20273,111 3,111 
Senior notes
3.400% - 3.875%
2027 - 2029
1,500 1,500 
Embarq Corporation subsidiaries
First mortgage bonds
7.125% - 8.375%
2023 - 2025
138 138 
Senior Notes and Other Debt:    
Lumen Technologies, Inc.
Senior notes
4.500% - 7.650%
2022 - 2042
8,414 8,645 
Subsidiaries:
Level 3 Financing, Inc.
Senior notes
3.625% - 5.375%
2025 - 2029
5,515 5,515 
Qwest Corporation
Senior notes
6.500% - 7.750%
2021 - 2057
2,935 3,170 
Term Loan(6) (7)
LIBOR + 2.00%
2027215 215 
Qwest Capital Funding, Inc.
Senior notes
6.875% - 7.750%
2028 - 2031
255 352 
Embarq Corporation and subsidiary
Senior note(8)
7.995%2036— 1,437 
Finance lease and other obligationsVariousVarious352 295 
Unamortized premiums (discounts), net  23 (78)
Unamortized debt issuance costs(228)(237)
Total long-term debt  29,761 31,837 
Less current maturities   (2,501)(2,427)
Long-term debt, excluding current maturities  $27,260 29,410 
______________________________________________________________________ 
(1)As of September 30, 2021.
(2)See Note 6—Long-Term Debt and Credit Facilities in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020 for a description of certain parent or subsidiary guarantees and liens securing this debt.
(3)Term Loans A and A-1 had interest rates of 2.085% and 2.147% as of September 30, 2021 and December 31, 2020, respectively.
(4)Term Loan B had interest rates of 2.335% and 2.397% as of September 30, 2021 and December 31, 2020, respectively.
(5)The Tranche B 2027 Term Loan had interest rates of 1.835% and 1.897% as of September 30, 2021 and December 31, 2020, respectively.
(6)Qwest Corporation Term Loan had interest rates of 2.090% and 2.150% as of September 30, 2021 and December 31, 2020, respectively.
(7)See Note 1— Background for our considerations of the impact of Reference Rate Reform on our debt subject to rate reference changes from LIBOR.
(8)As of September 30, 2021, the Embarq Senior notes have been reclassified as held for sale. See Note 2—Planned Divestiture of the Latin American and ILEC Businesses for more information.

Long-Term Debt Maturities

Set forth below is the aggregate principal amount of our long-term debt as of September 30, 2021 (excluding unamortized premiums (discounts), net, and unamortized debt issuance costs), maturing during the following years. As a result of reclassifying our disposal groups as being held for sale on our September 30, 2021 consolidated balance sheet, the amounts presented below do not include maturities of the debt obligations of those disposal groups. See Note 2—Planned Divestiture of the Latin American and ILEC Businesses for more information.

 
(Dollars in millions) (1)
2021 (remaining three months)$989 
20221,551 
2023977 
20241,158 
20252,927 
2026 and thereafter22,364 
Total long-term debt$29,966 
______________________________________________________________________ 
(1)As of September 30, 2021, these amounts exclude $1.5 billion of debt and finance lease obligations that have been reclassified as held for sale. See Note 2—Planned Divestiture of the Latin American and ILEC Businesses for more information.

Repayments

During the nine months ended September 30, 2021, Lumen Technologies, Inc. and its affiliates repaid or redeemed approximately $2.7 billion of their respective debt obligations, which primarily included a $97 million repayment at maturity of Qwest Capital Funding, Inc. senior notes, $150 million of payments on our revolving credit facility, a $1.2 billion repayment at maturity of Lumen senior unsecured notes, a $900 million redemption of Level 3 Financing, Inc. senior notes, a $235 million redemption of Qwest Corporation senior notes, and $94 million of year to date payments on our term loans. These transactions resulted in a net gain of $8 million.

New Issuances

On June 15, 2021, Lumen Technologies, Inc. issued $1.0 billion aggregate principal amount of 5.375% Senior Notes due 2029 (the "2029 Notes"). The net proceeds were used, together with cash on hand, to repay at maturity our outstanding $1.2 billion 6.450% Senior Notes, Series S, due 2021.

On January 13, 2021, Level 3 Financing, Inc. issued $900 million aggregate principal amount of 3.750% Sustainability-Linked Senior Notes due 2029 (the "Sustainability-Linked Notes"). The net proceeds were used, together with cash on hand, to redeem $900 million of its outstanding senior note indebtedness. The Sustainability-Linked Notes are guaranteed by Level 3 Parent, LLC and Level 3 Communications, LLC.
Covenants

Certain of our debt instruments contain affirmative and negative covenants. Debt at Lumen Technologies, Inc. and Level 3 Financing, Inc. contains more extensive covenants including, among other things and subject to certain exceptions, restrictions on the ability to declare or pay dividends, repay certain other indebtedness, create liens, incur additional indebtedness, make investments, engage in transactions with affiliates, dispose of assets and merge or consolidate with any other person. Also, Lumen Technologies, Inc. and certain of its affiliates will be required to offer to purchase certain of their respective outstanding debt under defined circumstances in connection with specified "change of control" transactions.

Certain of our debt instruments contain cross-payment default or cross-acceleration provisions.

Compliance

As of September 30, 2021, Lumen Technologies, Inc. believes it and its subsidiaries were in compliance with the provisions and financial covenants in their respective material debt agreements in all material respects.
v3.21.2
Property, Plant, and Equipment
 9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2021
Property, Plant and Equipment [Abstract]  
Property, Plant and Equipment Property, Plant and Equipment
Net property, plant and equipment is composed of the following:

 September 30, 2021December 31, 2020
 (Dollars in millions)
Land$751 848 
Fiber, conduit and other outside plant(1)
18,500 26,522 
Central office and other network electronics(2)
15,265 20,692 
Support assets(3)
7,147 8,261 
Construction in progress(4)
1,290 1,611 
Gross property, plant and equipment42,953 57,934 
Accumulated depreciation(22,027)(31,596)
Net property, plant and equipment$20,926 26,338 
_______________________________________________________________________________
(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, cable landing stations, data centers, computers and other administrative and support equipment.
(4)Construction in progress includes inventory held for construction and property of the aforementioned categories that has not been placed in service as it is still under construction.

As of September 30, 2021, we classified certain property, plant and equipment, net as held for sale and discontinued recording depreciation on these disposal groups. See Note 2—Planned Divestiture of the Latin American and ILEC Businesses for more information.

We recorded depreciation expense of $645 million and $2.1 billion for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2021 and $750 million and $2.2 billion for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2020.
v3.21.2
Severance
 9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2021
Restructuring and Related Activities [Abstract]  
Severance Severance
Periodically, we reduce our workforce and accrue liabilities for the related severance costs. These workforce reductions result primarily from the progression or completion of our post-acquisition integration plans, increased competitive pressures, cost reduction initiatives, process improvements through automation and reduced workload demands due to the loss of customers purchasing certain services.

Changes in our accrued liabilities for severance expenses were as follows:

Severance
 (Dollars in millions)
Balance at December 31, 2020$103 
Accrued to expense— 
Payments, net(64)
Balance at September 30, 2021$39 
v3.21.2
Employee Benefits
 9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2021
Retirement Benefits [Abstract]  
Employee Benefits Employee Benefits
For detailed description of the various defined benefit pension plans (qualified and non-qualified), post-retirement benefits plans and defined contribution plan we sponsor, see Note 10—Employee Benefits to the consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes in Part II, Item 8 of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020.

Net periodic pension benefit expense (income) for the Lumen Combined Pension Plan ("Combined Pension Plan" or the "Plan") includes the following components:

 Combined Pension Plan
 Three Months Ended September 30,Nine Months Ended September 30,
 2021202020212020
 (Dollars in millions)
Service cost$14 15 42 44 
Interest cost49 81 148 243 
Expected return on plan assets(138)(147)(414)(445)
Settlements57 — 57 — 
Recognition of prior service credit(2)(3)(7)(7)
Recognition of actuarial loss49 50 147 152 
Net periodic pension benefit expense (income)$29 (4)(27)(13)
Net periodic benefit expense for our post-retirement benefit plans includes the following components:

 Post-Retirement Benefit Plans
 Three Months Ended September 30,Nine Months Ended September 30,
 2021202020212020
 (Dollars in millions)
Service cost$4 4 11 11 
Interest cost12 17 35 57 
Recognition of prior service cost3 4 11 12 
Recognition of actuarial loss2 — 4 — 
Curtailment loss— 7 — 7 
Net periodic post-retirement benefit expense$21 32 61 87 

Service costs are included in the cost of services and products and selling, general and administrative line items on our consolidated statements of operations and all other costs listed above are included in other (expense) income, net on our consolidated statements of operations.

Our pension plan contains provisions that allow us, from time to time, to offer lump sum payment options to certain former employees in settlement of their future retirement benefits. We record an accounting settlement charge, consisting of the recognition of certain deferred costs of the pension plan associated with these lump sum payments only if, in the aggregate, they exceed or are probable to exceed the sum of the annual service and interest costs for the plan’s net periodic pension benefit cost, which represents the settlement accounting threshold. During the third quarter, we determined lump sum pension settlement payments for 2021 are expected to exceed the settlement threshold. As a result, in the third quarter of 2021 we recognized a non-cash settlement charge of $57 million to accelerate the recognition of a portion of the previously unrecognized actuarial losses in the qualified pension plan, which is reflected in other (expense) income, net in our consolidated statement of operations for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2021. This non-cash charge reduced our recorded net income and increased our recorded accumulated deficit, with an offset to accumulated other comprehensive loss in shareholders' equity. We expect to recognize an additional non-cash settlement charge in the fourth quarter of 2021, as further described in Note 20—Subsequent Events. The amount of any future non-cash settlement charges after 2021 will be dependent on several factors, including the total amount of our future lump sum benefit payments.

As a result of our lump sum payments exceeding the settlement threshold, we also remeasured the Combined Pension Plan on September 30, 2021 using the same assumptions as of December 31, 2020, with the exception of increasing the discount rate to 2.79% from 2.43%. The remeasurement resulted in a decrease in the Plan's unfunded status, which we recognized with a corresponding decrease in our net actuarial loss recognized in accumulated other comprehensive loss of $133 million, net of tax effect of $43 million.

In 2020, we recognized a one-time curtailment accounting charge of $7 million upon remeasurement of our medical obligations under our post-retirement benefit plans for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2020.

Benefits paid by the Combined Pension Plan are paid through a trust that holds all of the Plan's assets. The amount of required contributions to the Combined Pension Plan in 2022 and beyond will depend on a variety of factors, most of which are beyond our control, including earnings on plan investments, prevailing interest rates, demographic experience, changes in plan benefits and changes in funding laws and regulations. We occasionally make voluntary contributions in addition to required contributions. Based on current laws and circumstances, we do not believe we are required to make any contributions to the Combined Pension Plan in 2021, but we could make voluntary contributions to the trust for the Combined Pension Plan in the upcoming years.
v3.21.2
Earnings Per Common Share
 9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2021
Earnings Per Share [Abstract]  
Earnings Per Common Share Earnings Per Common Share
Basic and diluted earnings per common share were calculated as follows:

 Three Months Ended September 30,Nine Months Ended September 30,
 2021202020212020
 (Dollars in millions, except per share amounts, shares in thousands)
Income (Numerator):
Net income$544 366 1,525 1,057 
Net income applicable to common stock for computing basic earnings per common share544 366 1,525 1,057 
Net income as adjusted for purposes of computing diluted earnings per common share$544 366 1,525 1,057 
Shares (Denominator):
Weighted-average number of shares:
Outstanding during period1,079,917 1,097,496 1,095,223 1,096,017 
Non-vested restricted stock(17,833)(16,991)(18,117)(17,345)
Weighted-average shares outstanding for computing basic earnings per common share1,062,084 1,080,505 1,077,106 1,078,672 
Incremental common shares attributable to dilutive securities:
Shares issuable under convertible securities10 10 10 10 
Shares issuable under incentive compensation plans7,063 5,151 6,763 4,686 
Number of shares as adjusted for purposes of computing diluted earnings per common share1,069,157 1,085,666 1,083,879 1,083,368 
Basic earnings per common share$0.51 0.34 1.42 0.98 
Diluted earnings per common share$0.51 0.34 1.41 0.98 

Our calculation of diluted earnings per common share excludes unvested restricted stock awards that are antidilutive as a result of unrecognized compensation cost. Such shares were 3.9 million and 0.4 million for the three months ended September 30, 2021 and 2020, respectively, and 3.0 million and 4.0 million for nine months ended September 30, 2021 and 2020, respectively.
v3.21.2
Fair Value of Financial Instruments
 9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2021
Fair Value Disclosures [Abstract]  
Fair Value of Financial Instruments Fair Value of Financial Instruments
Our financial instruments consist of cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash, accounts receivable, accounts payable, long-term debt, excluding finance lease and other obligations, and interest rate swap contracts. Due to their short-term nature, the carrying amounts of our cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash, accounts receivable and accounts payable approximate their fair values.

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

Input LevelDescription of Input
Level 1Observable inputs such as quoted market prices in active markets.
Level 2Inputs other than quoted prices in active markets that are either directly or indirectly observable.
Level 3Unobservable inputs in which little or no market data exists.
The following table presents the carrying amounts and estimated fair values of our financial liabilities as of September 30, 2021 and December 31, 2020:

  September 30, 2021December 31, 2020
 Input
Level		Carrying
Amount		Fair
Value		Carrying
Amount		Fair
Value
 (Dollars in millions)
Long-term debt, excluding finance lease and other obligations(1)
2$29,409 30,309 31,542 33,217 
Interest rate swap contracts (see Note 13)
2$47 47 107 107 
______________________________________________________________________ 
(1)As of September 30, 2021, these amounts exclude $1.4 billion of carrying amount and $1.5 billion of fair value of debt that has been reclassified as held for sale. See Note 2—Planned Divestiture of the Latin American and ILEC Businesses for more information.
v3.21.2
Derivative Financial Instruments
 9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2021
Derivative Instruments and Hedging Activities Disclosure [Abstract]  
Derivative Financial Instruments Derivative Financial Instruments
 
From time to time, we use derivative financial instruments, primarily interest rate swaps, to manage our exposure to fluctuations in interest rates. Our primary objective in managing interest rate risk is to decrease the volatility of our earnings and cash flows affected by changes in the underlying rates. We have floating rate long-term debt (see Note 7—Long-Term Debt and Credit Facilities). These obligations expose us to variability in interest payments due to changes in interest rates. If interest rates increase, interest expense increases. Conversely, if interest rates decrease, interest expense also decreases. We have designated our currently outstanding interest rate swap agreements as cash flow hedges. As described further below, under these hedges, we receive variable-rate amounts from a counterparty in exchange for us making fixed-rate payments over the lives of the agreements without exchange of the underlying notional amount. The change in the fair value of the interest rate swap agreements is reflected in accumulated other comprehensive income ("AOCI") and, as described below, is subsequently reclassified into earnings in the period that the hedged transaction affects earnings by virtue of qualifying as effective cash flow hedges. We do not use derivative financial instruments for speculative purposes.

As of September 30, 2021 and December 31, 2020, we evaluated the effectiveness of our hedges quantitatively and any hedges we had entered into at the time qualified as effective hedge relationships.

We may be exposed to credit-related losses in the event of non-performance by counterparties. The counterparties to any of the financial derivatives we enter into are major institutions with investment grade credit ratings. We evaluate counterparty credit risk before entering into any hedge transaction and continue to closely monitor the financial market and the risk that our counterparties will default on their obligations as part of our quarterly qualitative effectiveness evaluation.
 
Amounts accumulated in AOCI related to derivatives are indirectly recognized in earnings as periodic settlement payments are made throughout the term of the swaps.
The table below presents the fair value of our derivative financial instruments as well as their classification on the consolidated balance sheets at September 30, 2021 and December 31, 2020, as follows (in millions):

September 30, 2021December 31, 2020
Derivatives designated asBalance Sheet LocationFair Value
Cash flow hedging contractsOther current and noncurrent liabilities$47 107 

The amount of unrealized losses recognized in AOCI consists of the following (in millions):

Derivatives designated as hedging instruments20212020
Cash flow hedging contracts
Three Months Ended September 30,$1 (1)
Nine Months Ended September 30,$1 115 

The amount of realized losses reclassified from AOCI to the statement of operations consists of the following
(in millions):

Derivatives designated as hedging instruments20212020
Cash flow hedging contracts
Three Months Ended September 30,$21 20 
Nine Months Ended September 30,$62 41 
Amounts currently included in AOCI will be reclassified into earnings prior to the ongoing settlements of these cash flow hedging contracts until 2022. We estimate that $47 million of net losses on the interest rate swaps (based on the estimated LIBOR curve as of September 30, 2021) will be reflected in our consolidated statements of operations within the next 12 months.
v3.21.2
Segment Information
 9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2021
Segment Reporting [Abstract]  
Segment Information Segment Information
Jeff Storey, our chief operating decision maker ("CODM"), made changes to our segment and customer-facing sales channel reporting categories beginning in 2021 to align with operational changes designed to better support our customers. Following these changes, we now report two segments: Business and Mass Markets. The Business segment includes four sales channels: International and Global Accounts, Large Enterprise, Mid-Market Enterprise and Wholesale. These changes also include both the creation of new product categories and the realignment of products and services within previously reported product categories to better reflect product life cycles and our go-to-market approach. For Business segment revenue, we report the following product categories: Compute and Application Services, IP and Data Services, Fiber Infrastructure Services and Voice and Other, in each case through the sales channels outlined above. For Mass Markets segment revenue, we report the following product categories: Consumer Broadband, SBG Broadband, Voice and Other and CAF II. See detailed descriptions of these product and service categories in Note 4—Revenue Recognition.

As described in more detail below, our segments are managed based on the direct costs of providing services to their customers and the associated selling, general and administrative costs (primarily salaries and commissions). Shared costs are managed separately and included in "Operations and Other" in the tables below. As referenced above, we reclassified certain prior period amounts to conform to the current period presentation. See Note 1— Background for additional detail on these changes.

At September 30, 2021, we had the following two reportable segments:
•Business Segment: Under our Business segment, we provide our products and services under four distinct sales channels to meet the needs of our enterprise and commercial customers; and
•Mass Markets Segment: Under our Mass Markets segment, we provide products and services to consumer and small business customers.
The following tables summarize our segment results for the three months ended September 30, 2021 and 2020, based on the segment categorization we were operating under at September 30, 2021.

Three Months Ended September 30, 2021
BusinessMass MarketsTotal SegmentsOperations and OtherTotal
(Dollars in millions)
Revenue$3,508 1,379 4,887 — 4,887 
Expenses:
Cost of services and products868 36 904 1,247 2,151 
Selling, general and administrative296 125 421 233 654 
Less: share-based compensation— — — (27)(27)
Total expense1,164 161 1,325 1,453 2,778 
Total adjusted EBITDA$2,344 1,218 3,562 (1,453)2,109 

Three Months Ended September 30, 2020
BusinessMass MarketsTotal SegmentsOperations and OtherTotal
(Dollars in millions)
Revenue$3,698 1,469 5,167 — 5,167 
Expenses:
Cost of services and products912 55 967 1,269 2,236 
Selling, general and administrative299 148 447 403 850 
Less: share-based compensation— — — (31)(31)
Total expense1,211 203 1,414 1,641 3,055 
Total adjusted EBITDA$2,487 1,266 3,753 (1,641)2,112 

The following tables summarize our segment results for the nine months ended September 30, 2021 and 2020, based on the segment categorization we were operating under at September 30, 2021.

Nine Months Ended September 30, 2021
BusinessMass MarketsTotal SegmentsOperations and OtherTotal
(Dollars in millions)
Revenue$10,625 4,215 14,840 — 14,840 
Expenses:
Cost of services and products2,611 118 2,729 3,673 6,402 
Selling, general and administrative900 408 1,308 864 2,172 
Less: share-based compensation— — — (89)(89)
Total expense3,511 526 4,037 4,448 8,485 
Total adjusted EBITDA$7,114 3,689 10,803 (4,448)6,355 
Nine Months Ended September 30, 2020
BusinessMass MarketsTotal SegmentsOperations and OtherTotal
(Dollars in millions)
Revenue$11,152 4,435 15,587 — 15,587 
Expenses:
Cost of services and products2,738 152 2,890 3,813 6,703 
Selling, general and administrative975 432 1,407 1,191 2,598 
Less: share-based compensation— — — (120)(120)
Total expense3,713 584 4,297 4,884 9,181 
Total adjusted EBITDA$7,439 3,851 11,290 (4,884)6,406 

Revenue and Expenses

Our segment revenue includes all revenue from our two segments as described in more detail above. Our segment revenue is based upon each customer's classification. We report our segment revenue based upon all services provided to that segment's customers. Our segment expenses include specific cost of service 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.

The following items are excluded from our segment results, because they are centrally managed and not monitored by or reported to our CODM by segment:

•network expenses not incurred as a direct result of providing services and products to segment customers;

•centrally managed expenses such as Operations, Finance, Human Resources, Legal, Marketing, Product Management and IT, which are reported as "Operations and Other";

•depreciation and amortization expense or impairments;

•interest expense, because we manage our financing on a consolidated basis and have not allocated assets or debt to specific segments;

•stock-based compensation; and

•other income and expense items are not monitored as a part of our segment operations.
The following table reconciles total segment adjusted EBITDA to net income:

 Three Months Ended September 30,Nine Months Ended September 30,
 2021202020212020
 (Dollars in millions)(Dollars in millions)
Total segment adjusted EBITDA$3,562 3,753 10,803 11,290 
Depreciation and amortization(951)(1,193)(3,142)(3,515)
Other operating expenses(1,453)(1,641)(4,448)(4,884)
Stock-based compensation(27)(31)(89)(120)
Operating income1,131 888 3,124 2,771 
Total other expense, net(415)(408)(1,102)(1,345)
Income before income taxes716 480 2,022 1,426 
Income tax expense172 114 497 369 
Net income$544 366 1,525 1,057 
v3.21.2
Commitments and Contingencies and Other Items
 9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2021
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]  
Commitments and Contingencies and Other Items Commitments, Contingencies and Other Items
We are subject to various claims, legal proceedings and other contingent liabilities, including the matters described below, which individually or in the aggregate could materially affect our financial condition, future results of operations or cash flows. As a matter of course, we are prepared to both litigate these matters to judgment as needed, as well as to evaluate and consider reasonable settlement opportunities.

Irrespective of its merits, litigation may be both lengthy and disruptive to our operations and could cause significant expenditure and diversion of management attention. We review our litigation accrual liabilities on a quarterly basis, but in accordance with applicable accounting guidelines only establish accrual liabilities when losses are deemed probable and reasonably estimable and only revise previously established accrual liabilities when warranted by changes in circumstances, in each case based on then-available information. As such, as of any given date we could have exposure to losses under proceedings as to which no liability has been accrued or as to which the accrued liability is inadequate. Amounts accrued for our litigation and non-income tax contingencies at September 30, 2021 aggregated to approximately $104 million and are included in other current liabilities, other liabilities and liabilities held for sale in our consolidated balance sheet as of such date. The establishment of an accrual does not mean that actual funds have been set aside to satisfy a given contingency. Thus, the resolution of a particular contingency for the amount accrued could have no effect on our results of operations but nonetheless could have an adverse effect on our cash flows.

In this Note, when we refer to a class action as "putative" it is because a class has been alleged, but not certified, in that matter.

Principal Proceedings

Shareholder Class Action Suit

Lumen and certain Lumen Board of Directors members and officers were named as defendants in a putative shareholder class action lawsuit filed on June 12, 2018 in the Boulder County District Court of the state of Colorado, captioned Houser et al. v. CenturyLink, et al. The complaint asserts claims on behalf of a putative class of former Level 3 shareholders who became CenturyLink, Inc. shareholders as a result of our acquisition of Level 3. It alleges that the proxy statement provided to the Level 3 shareholders failed to disclose various material information of several kinds, including information about strategic revenue, customer loss rates, and customer account issues, among other items. The complaint seeks damages, costs and fees, rescission, rescissory damages, and other equitable relief. In May 2020, the court dismissed the complaint. Plaintiffs appealed that decision, and the appeal is pending.
State Tax Suits

Since 2012, a number of Missouri municipalities have asserted claims in the Circuit Court of St. Louis County, Missouri, alleging that we and several of our subsidiaries have underpaid taxes. These municipalities are seeking, among other things, declaratory relief regarding the application of business license and gross receipts taxes and back taxes from 2007 to the present, plus penalties and interest. In a February 2017 ruling in connection with one of these pending cases, the court entered an order awarding plaintiffs $4 million and broadening the tax base on a going-forward basis. We appealed that decision to the Missouri Supreme Court. In December 2019, it affirmed the circuit court's order in some respects and reversed it in others, remanding the case to the circuit court for further proceedings. The Missouri Supreme Court's decision reduced our exposure in the case. In a June 2021 ruling in one of the pending cases, another trial court awarded the cities of Columbia and Joplin approximately $55 million, plus statutory interest. We have appealed that decision to the Missouri Court of Appeals. That appeal is pending. If the trial court’s decision is not overturned or modified in light of the Missouri Supreme Court’s decision, it will result in a tax liability to us in excess of the reserved accruals established for these matters. We continue to vigorously defend against these claims.

Billing Practices Suits

In June 2017, a former employee filed an employment lawsuit against us claiming that she was wrongfully terminated for alleging that we charged some of our retail customers for products and services they did not authorize. Thereafter, based in part on the allegations made by the former employee, several legal proceedings were filed, including consumer class actions in federal and state courts, a series of securities investor class actions in federal courts and several shareholder derivative actions in federal and Louisiana state courts. The derivative cases were brought on behalf of CenturyLink, Inc. against certain current and former officers and directors of the Company and seek damages for alleged breaches of fiduciary duties.

The consumer class actions, the securities investor class actions, and the federal derivative actions were transferred to the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota for coordinated and consolidated pretrial proceedings as In Re: CenturyLink Sales Practices and Securities Litigation. We have settled the consumer and securities investor class actions. Those settlements are final. The derivative actions remain pending.

We have engaged in discussions regarding related claims with a number of state attorneys general, and have entered into agreements settling certain of the consumer practices claims asserted by state attorneys general. While we do not agree with allegations raised in these matters, we have been willing to consider reasonable settlements where appropriate.

Peruvian Tax Litigation

In 2005, the Peruvian tax authorities ("SUNAT") issued tax assessments against one of our Peruvian subsidiaries asserting $26 million of additional income tax withholding and value-added taxes ("VAT"), penalties and interest for calendar years 2001 and 2002 on the basis that the Peruvian subsidiary incorrectly documented its importations. In May 2021, the Company paid the remaining amount on the fractioning regimes entered into by the Company to pay the amount assessed while it was appealed.

We challenged the assessments via administrative and then judicial review processes. In October 2011, the highest administrative review tribunal (the Tribunal) decided the central issue underlying the 2002 assessments in SUNAT's favor. We appealed the Tribunal's decision to the first judicial level, which decided the central issue in favor of Level 3. SUNAT and we filed cross-appeals with the court of appeal. In May 2017, the court of appeal issued a decision reversing the first judicial level. In June 2017, we filed an appeal of the decision to the Supreme Court of Justice, the final judicial level. Oral argument was held before the Supreme Court of Justice in October 2018. A decision on this case is pending.
In October 2013, the Tribunal decided the central issue underlying the 2001 assessments in SUNAT’s favor. We appealed that decision to the first judicial level in Peru, which decided the central issue in favor of SUNAT. In June 2017, we filed an appeal with the court of appeal. In November 2017, the court of appeals issued a decision affirming the first judicial level and we filed an appeal of the decision to the Supreme Court of Justice. Oral argument was held before the Supreme Court of Justice in June 2019. In May 2021, the Company was served with a favorable and final decision from the Supreme Court of Justice. The Company expects an order for SUNAT to comply with the Supreme Court of Justice's decision.

Brazilian Tax Claims

The São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro state tax authorities have issued tax assessments against our Brazilian subsidiaries for the Tax on Distribution of Goods and Services (“ICMS”), mainly with respect to revenue from leasing certain assets and revenue from the provision of Internet access services by treating such activities as the provision of communications services, to which the ICMS tax applies. We filed objections to these assessments in both states, arguing, among other things that neither the lease of assets nor the provision of Internet access qualifies as “communication services” subject to ICMS.

We have appealed to the respective state judicial courts the decisions by the respective state administrative courts that rejected our objections to these assessments. In cases in which state lower courts ruled partially in our favor finding that the lease assets are not subject to ICMS in connection, the State appealed those rulings. In other cases, the assessment was affirmed at the first administrative level and our appeal to the second administrative level is pending. Other assessments are still pending state judicial decisions.

We are vigorously contesting all such assessments in both states and view the assessment of ICMS on revenue from equipment leasing and Internet access to be without merit. These assessments, if upheld, could result in a loss of up to $47 million as of September 30, 2021, in excess of the reserved accruals established for these matters.

Other Proceedings, Disputes and Contingencies

From time to time, we are involved in other proceedings incidental to our business, including patent infringement allegations, regulatory hearings relating primarily to our rates or services, actions relating to employee claims, various tax issues, environmental law issues, grievance hearings before labor regulatory agencies and miscellaneous third-party tort actions.

We are currently defending several patent infringement lawsuits asserted against us by non-practicing entities, many of which are seeking substantial recoveries. These cases have progressed to various stages and one or more may go to trial during the fourth quarter of 2021 or during 2022 if they are not otherwise resolved. Where applicable, we are seeking full or partial indemnification from our vendors and suppliers. As with all litigation, we are vigorously defending these actions and, as a matter of course, are prepared to litigate these matters to judgment, as well as to evaluate and consider all reasonable settlement opportunities.

We are subject to various foreign, federal, state and local environmental protection and health and safety laws. From time to time, we are subject to judicial and administrative proceedings brought by various governmental authorities under these laws. Several such proceedings are currently pending, but none is reasonably expected to exceed $300,000 in fines and penalties.

The outcome of these other proceedings described under this heading is not predictable. However, based on current circumstances, we do not believe that the ultimate resolution of these other proceedings, after considering available defenses and any insurance coverage or indemnification rights, will have a material adverse effect on us.

The matters listed above in this Note do not reflect all of our contingencies. For additional information on our contingencies, see Note 17—Commitments, Contingencies and Other Items to the consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes in Part II, Item 8 of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020. The ultimate outcome of the above-described matters may differ materially from the outcomes anticipated, estimated, projected or implied by us in certain of our statements appearing above in this Note, and proceedings currently viewed as immaterial by us may ultimately materially impact us.
v3.21.2
Other Financial Information
 9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2021
Deferred Costs, Capitalized, Prepaid, and Other Assets Disclosure [Abstract]  
Other Financial Information Other Financial Information
Other Current Assets

The following table presents details of other current assets reflected in our consolidated balance sheets:

September 30, 2021December 31, 2020
 (Dollars in millions)
Prepaid expenses$294 290 
Income tax receivable15 7 
Materials, supplies and inventory103 105 
Contract assets49 66 
Contract acquisition costs144 173 
Contract fulfillment costs104 114 
Note receivable56 — 
Receivable for sale of land56 — 
Other22 53 
Total other current assets$843 808 
v3.21.2
Repurchases of Lumen Common Stock
 9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2021
Equity [Abstract]  
Repurchases of Lumen Common Stock Repurchases of Lumen Common StockEffective August 3, 2021, our Board of Directors authorized a 24-month program to repurchase up to an aggregate of $1.0 billion of our outstanding common stock (the "August 2021 stock repurchase program"). During the three and nine months ended September 30, 2021, we repurchased 73.8 million shares of our outstanding common stock in the open market. These shares were repurchased for an aggregate market price of $909 million. The figures set forth above exclude 3.5 million shares that, as of September 30, 2021, we had agreed to purchase under the program for an additional $45 million in transactions that settled in October of 2021. All repurchased common stock has been retired.
v3.21.2
Accumulated Other Comprehensive Loss
 9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2021
Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income (Loss), Net of Tax [Abstract]  
Accumulated Other Comprehensive Loss Accumulated Other Comprehensive Loss
Information Relating to 2021

The table below summarizes changes in accumulated other comprehensive loss recorded on our consolidated balance sheet by component for the nine months ended September 30, 2021:

Pension PlansPost-Retirement
Benefit Plans		Foreign Currency
Translation
Adjustment
and Other		Interest Rate SwapTotal
 (Dollars in millions)
Balance at December 31, 2020$(2,197)(272)(265)(79)(2,813)
Other comprehensive loss before reclassifications133 — (103)(1)29 
Amounts reclassified from accumulated other comprehensive loss149 11 — 47 207 
Net current-period other comprehensive income (loss)282 11 (103)46 236 
Balance at September 30, 2021$(1,915)(261)(368)(33)(2,577)
The tables below present further information about our reclassifications out of accumulated other comprehensive loss by component for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2021:

Three Months Ended September 30, 2021Decrease (Increase)
in Net Income		Affected Line Item in Consolidated Statement of Operations
 (Dollars in millions) 
Interest rate swaps$21 Interest expense
Income tax benefit(5)Income tax expense
Net of tax$16 
Amortization of pension & post-retirement plans(1)
  
Net actuarial loss$108 Other (expense) income, net
Prior service cost1 Other (expense) income, net
Total before tax109  
Income tax benefit(27)Income tax expense
Net of tax$82  

Nine Months Ended September 30, 2021Decrease (Increase)
in Net Income		Affected Line Item in Consolidated Statement of Operations
 (Dollars in millions) 
Interest rate swaps$62 Interest expense
Income tax benefit(15)Income tax expense
Net of tax$47 
Amortization of pension & post-retirement plans(1)
  
Net actuarial loss$208 Other (expense) income, net
Prior service cost4 Other (expense) income, net
Total before tax212  
Income tax benefit(52)Income tax expense
Net of tax$160  
(1)See Note 10—Employee Benefits for additional information on our net periodic benefit (income) expense related to our pension and post-retirement plans.

Information Relating to 2020

    The table below summarizes changes in accumulated other comprehensive loss recorded on our consolidated balance sheets by component for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2020:

Pension PlansPost-Retirement
Benefit Plans		Foreign Currency
Translation
Adjustment
and Other		Interest Rate SwapTotal
 (Dollars in millions)
Balance at December 31, 2019$(2,229)(184)(228)(39)(2,680)
Other comprehensive loss before reclassifications— — (181)(87)(268)
Amounts reclassified from accumulated other comprehensive loss110 12 — 31 153 
Net current-period other comprehensive income (loss)110 12 (181)(56)(115)
Balance at September 30, 2020$(2,119)(172)(409)(95)(2,795)
The tables below present further information about our reclassifications out of accumulated other comprehensive loss by component for the nine months ended September 30, 2020:

Three Months Ended September 30, 2020Decrease (Increase)
in Net Income		Affected Line Item in Consolidated Statement of Operations
 (Dollars in millions) 
Interest rate swaps$20 Interest expense
Income tax expense(5)Income tax expense
Net of tax$15 
Amortization of pension & post-retirement plans(1)
  
Net actuarial loss$50 Other (expense) income, net
Prior service cost1 Other (expense) income, net
Curtailment loss4 Other (expense) income, net
Total before tax55  
Income tax benefit(13)Income tax expense
Net of tax$42  

Nine Months Ended September 30, 2020Decrease (Increase)
in Net Income		Affected Line Item in Consolidated Statement of Operations
 (Dollars in millions) 
Interest rate swaps$41 Interest expense
Income tax expense(10)Income tax expense
Net of tax$31 
Amortization of pension & post-retirement plans(1)
  
Net actuarial loss$152 Other (expense) income, net
Prior service cost5 Other (expense) income, net
Curtailment loss4 Other (expense) income, net
Total before tax161  
Income tax benefit(39)Income tax expense
Net of tax$122  
(1)See Note 10—Employee Benefits for additional information on our net periodic benefit (expense) income related to our pension and post-retirement plans.
v3.21.2
Labor Union Contracts
 9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2021
Risks and Uncertainties [Abstract]  
Labor Union Contracts Labor Union ContractsAs of September 30, 2021, approximately 22% of our employees were represented by the Communication Workers of America ("CWA") or the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers ("IBEW"). Approximately 9% of our represented employees are subject to collective bargaining agreements that are scheduled to expire over the 12 month period ending September 30, 2022.
v3.21.2
Subsequent Events
 9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2021
Subsequent Events [Abstract]  
Subsequent Events Subsequent Events
Pension Annuitization

On October 19, 2021, we, as sponsor of the Combined Pension Plan, along with the Plan’s independent fiduciary, entered into an agreement committing the Plan to use a portion of its plan assets to purchase an annuity from an insurance company (the "Insurer") to transfer approximately $1.4 billion of the Plan’s pension liabilities. This agreement will irrevocably transfer to the Insurer future Plan benefit obligations for approximately 22,600 U.S. Lumen participants (“Transferred Participants”) effective on December 31, 2021. This annuity transaction will be funded entirely by existing Plan assets.

The Insurer is committed to assume responsibility for administrative and customer service support, including distribution of payments to the Transferred Participants. Transferred Participants’ benefits are not being reduced as a result of this transaction.

The transaction will result in Lumen recognizing a noncash settlement charge in the fourth quarter of 2021 to accelerate recognition of a portion of the actuarial loss included in accumulated other comprehensive loss. We currently estimate that the pension settlement charges recognized in the fourth quarter will be approximately $350 million, dependent upon the completion of the annuity transaction discussed above and the amount of our lump sum pension payments as discussed in Note 10—Employee Benefits. The settlement charge will be recognized in other (expense) income, net in our consolidated statements of operations. The Plan will be remeasured for the annuity and lump sum payments in the fourth quarter of 2021.

For more information on our Combined Pension Plan, see Note 10—Employee Benefits.

Repurchases of Lumen Common Stock

As of October 5, 2021, we completed the August 2021 stock repurchase program, settling 3.5 million shares for $45 million that were previously executed and accrued as of September 30, 2021 and repurchasing an additional 3.6 million shares for $46 million subsequent to the end of the third quarter. Upon completion of the program, we repurchased a total of 80.9 million shares for an average purchase price of $12.36 per share.

For more information, see Note 17—Repurchases of Lumen Common Stock.
v3.21.2
Background (Policies)
 9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2021
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]  
Basis of Presentation
Basis of Presentation

Our consolidated balance sheet as of December 31, 2020, which was derived from our audited consolidated financial statements, and our unaudited interim consolidated financial statements provided herein have been prepared in accordance with the instructions for Form 10-Q. Certain information and footnote disclosures normally included in financial statements prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America ("GAAP") have been condensed or omitted pursuant to rules and regulations of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"). However, in our opinion, the disclosures made therein are adequate to make the information presented not misleading. We believe these consolidated financial statements include all normal recurring adjustments necessary to fairly present the results for the interim periods. The consolidated results of operations and cash flows for the first nine months of the year are not necessarily indicative of the consolidated results of operations and cash flows that might be expected for the entire year. These consolidated financial statements and the accompanying notes should be read in conjunction with the audited consolidated financial statements and the notes thereto included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020.

The accompanying consolidated financial statements include our accounts and the accounts of our subsidiaries in which we have a controlling interest. Intercompany amounts and transactions with our consolidated subsidiaries have been eliminated.

To simplify the overall presentation of our consolidated financial statements, we report immaterial amounts attributable to noncontrolling interests in certain of our subsidiaries as follows: (i) income attributable to noncontrolling interests in other income (expense), net, (ii) equity attributable to noncontrolling interests in additional paid-in capital and (iii) cash flows attributable to noncontrolling interests in other, net, financing activities.
Reclassification We reclassified certain prior period amounts to conform to the current period presentation, including the categorization of our revenue and expenses in our segment reporting. See Note 14—Segment Information for additional information. These changes had no impact on total operating revenue, total operating expenses or net income for any period.
Operating Leases Operating lease assets are included in other, net under goodwill and other assets on our consolidated balance sheets. Noncurrent operating lease liabilities are included in other under deferred credits and other liabilities on our consolidated balance sheets.
Assets Held for Sale
Assets Held for Sale

We classify assets and related liabilities as held for sale when: (i) management has committed to a plan to sell the assets, (ii) the net assets are available for immediate sale, (iii) there is an active program to locate a buyer and (iv) the sale and transfer of the net assets is probable within one year. Assets and liabilities held for sale are presented separately on our consolidated balance sheets with a valuation allowance, if necessary, to recognize the net carrying amount at the lower of cost or fair value, less costs to sell. Depreciation of property, plant and equipment and amortization of finite-lived intangible assets and right-of-use assets are not recorded while these assets are classified as held for sale. For each period that assets are classified as being held for sale, they are tested for recoverability. Unless otherwise specified, the amounts and information presented in the notes do not include assets and liabilities that have been reclassified as held for sale as of September 30, 2021. See Note 2—Planned Divestiture of the Latin American and ILEC Businesses for additional information.
Recently Adopted and Issued Accounting Pronouncements
Recently Adopted Accounting Pronouncements

Debt

On January 1, 2021, we adopted ASU 2020-09, "Debt (Topic 470) Amendments to SEC Paragraphs Pursuant to SEC Release No. 33-10762" ("ASU 2020-09"). This ASU amends and supersedes various SEC paragraphs to reflect SEC Release No. 33-10762, which includes amendments to the financial disclosure requirements applicable to registered debt offerings that include credit enhancements, such as subsidiary guarantees. The adoption of ASU 2020-09 did not have a material impact to our consolidated financial statements.

Investments

On January 1, 2021, we adopted ASU 2020-01, "Investments - Equity Securities (Topic 321), Investments - Equity Method and Joint Ventures (Topic 323), and Derivatives and Hedging (Topic 815) - Clarifying the Interactions between Topic 321, Topic 323, and Topic 815)" ("ASU 2020-01"). This ASU, among other things, clarifies that a company should consider observable transactions that require a company to either apply or discontinue the equity method of accounting under Topic 323, Investments - Equity Method and Joint Ventures, for the purposes of applying the measurement alternative in accordance with Topic 321 immediately before applying or upon discontinuing the equity method. As of September 30, 2021, we determined there was no application or discontinuation of the equity method during the reporting periods. The adoption of ASU 2020-01 did not have a material impact to our consolidated financial statements.

Income Taxes

On January 1, 2021, we adopted ASU 2019-12, "Simplifying the Accounting for Income Taxes (Topic 740)" ("ASU 2019-12"). This ASU removes certain exceptions for investments, intra-period allocations and interim calculations, and adds guidance to reduce complexity in accounting for income taxes. The adoption of ASU 2019-12 did not have a material impact to our consolidated financial statements.

Measurement of Credit Losses on Financial Instruments

We adopted ASU 2016-13, "Measurement of Credit Losses on Financial Instruments" ("ASU 2016-13") on January 1, 2020 and recognized a cumulative adjustment to our accumulated deficit as of the date of adoption of $9 million, net of tax effect of $2 million. Please refer to Note 6—Credit Losses on Financial Instruments for more information.
Recently Issued Accounting Pronouncements

In January 2021, the FASB issued ASU 2021-01, "Reference Rate Reform (Topic 848): Scope" ("ASU 2021-01"), which clarifies that certain optional expedients and exceptions in Topic 848 for contract modifications and hedge accounting apply to derivatives that are affected by the discounting transition. ASU 2021-01 also amends the expedients and exceptions in Topic 848 to capture the incremental consequences of the scope clarification and to tailor the existing guidance to derivative instruments affected by the discounting transition. These amendments are effective immediately and may be applied prospectively to contract modifications made and hedging relationships entered into or evaluated on or before December 31, 2022. ASU 2021-01 provides option guidance for a limited time to ease the potential burden in accounting for reference rate reform. Based on our review of our key material contracts through September 30, 2021, we do not expect ASU 2021-01 to have a material impact on the consolidated financial statements.

In March 2020, the FASB issued ASU 2020-04, "Reference Rate Reform (Topic 848): Facilitation of the Effects of Reference Rate Reform on Financial Reporting" ("ASU 2020-04" or "Reference Rate Reform"), designed to ease the burden of accounting for contract modifications related to the global market-wide reference rate transition period. Subject to certain criteria, ASU 2020-04 provides qualifying entities the option to apply expedients and exceptions to contract modifications and hedging accounting relationships made until December 31, 2022. These amendments are effective immediately and may be applied prospectively to contract modifications made and hedging relationships entered into or evaluated on or before December 31, 2022. ASU 2020-04 provides optional guidance for a limited time to ease the potential burden in accounting for reference rate reform. Based on our review of our key material contracts through September 30, 2021, we do not expect ASU 2020-04 to have a material impact on the consolidated financial statements.
Operating Lease Revenue
Operating Lease Revenue

Lumen Technologies leases various dark fiber, office facilities, colocation facilities, switching facilities, other network sites and service equipment to third parties under operating leases. Lease and sublease income are included in operating revenue in our consolidated statements of operations.
v3.21.2
Planned Divestiture of the Latin American and ILEC Businesses (Tables)
 9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2021
Discontinued Operations and Disposal Groups [Abstract]  
Components of Pre-Tax Income and Held for Sale Assets and Liabilities The pre-tax net income of the disposal groups is estimated to be as follows in the tables below:
 Three Months Ended September 30,
 20212020
LowHighLowHigh
(Dollars in millions)
Latin American business pre-tax net income$59 72 36 45 
ILEC business pre-tax net income221 271 139 169 
Total disposal groups pre-tax net income$280 343 175 214 

 Nine Months Ended September 30,
 20212020
LowHighLowHigh
(Dollars in millions)
Latin American business pre-tax net income$131 160 108 131 
ILEC business pre-tax net income518 633 455 556 
Total disposal groups pre-tax net income$649 793 563 687 
The principal components of the held for sale assets and liabilities as of September 30, 2021 are as follows:

September 30, 2021
Latin American BusinessILEC Business
Total (4)
(Dollars in millions)
Assets held for sale
Cash and cash equivalents$37 2 39 
Accounts receivable, less allowance of $3, $21 and $24
83 230 313 
Other current assets75 46 121 
Property, plant and equipment, net accumulated depreciation of $445, $10,976 and $11,421
1,545 3,386 4,931 
Goodwill (1)
244 2,615 2,859 
Other intangible assets, net129 158 287 
Other non-current assets71 41 112 
Total assets held for sale$2,184 6,478 8,662 
Liabilities held for sale
Accounts payable$76 79 155 
Salaries and benefits22 28 50 
Income and other taxes32 31 63 
Interest— 38 38 
Current portion of deferred revenue28 90 118 
Other current liabilities10 43 53 
Long-term debt, net of discounts (2)
— 1,367 1,367 
Deferred income taxes, net116 — 116 
Pension and other post-retirement benefits (3)
2 56 58 
Other non-current liabilities126 147 273 
Total liabilities held for sale$412 1,879 2,291 
______________________________________________________________________ 
(1)The assignment of goodwill was based on the relative fair values of the applicable reporting units prior to being reclassified as held for sale.
(2)Long-term debt, net of discounts includes $1.4 billion of Embarq Senior notes, $118 million of related unamortized discounts and $48 million of long-term finance lease obligations.
(3)Excludes pension obligation of approximately $2.5 billion for the ILEC business as of September 30, 2021, which will be transferred to the purchaser of the ILEC business upon closing. As of September 30, 2021, approximately $2.2 billion, or 89%, of this pension obligation is expected to be funded through the transfer of Lumen pension plan assets to the purchaser. The remaining portion of the obligation is expected to be separately funded with cash paid by Lumen at the time of closing.
(4)The totals shown here exclude $20 million of assets held for sale unrelated to these divestitures.
v3.21.2
Goodwill, Customer Relationships and Other Intangible Assets (Tables)
 9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2021
Goodwill and Intangible Assets Disclosure [Abstract]  
Schedule of Intangible Assets and Goodwill
Goodwill, customer relationships and other intangible assets consisted of the following:

September 30, 2021December 31, 2020
(Dollars in millions)
Goodwill$15,987 18,870 
Indefinite-life intangible assets$9 278 
Other intangible assets subject to amortization: 
Customer relationships, less accumulated amortization of $11,571 and $11,060
5,535 6,344 
Capitalized software, less accumulated amortization of $3,537 and $3,279
1,464 1,520 
Trade names, patents and other, less accumulated amortization of $156 and $120
152 77 
Total other intangible assets, net$7,160 8,219 
Schedule of Goodwill The following table shows the rollforward of goodwill assigned to our reportable segments, including the reorganization, from December 31, 2020 through September 30, 2021:
 International and Global AccountsEnterpriseSmall and Medium BusinessWholesaleConsumerBusinessMass MarketsTotal
 (Dollars in millions)
As of December 31, 2020(1)
$2,555 4,738 2,808 3,114 5,655 — — 18,870 
January 2021 reorganization(2,555)(4,738)(2,808)(3,114)(5,655)12,173 6,697 — 
Reclassified as held for sale(2)
— — — — — (918)(1,946)(2,864)
Effect of foreign currency exchange rate change and other— — — — — (19)— (19)
As of September 30, 2021(1)
$— — — — — 11,236 4,751 15,987 
______________________________________________________________________
(1)Goodwill at September 30, 2021 and December 31, 2020 is net of accumulated impairment losses of $7.7 billion and $12.9 billion, respectively. The change in accumulated impairment losses at September 30, 2021 is a result of amounts reclassified as held for sale related to our planned divestitures.
(2)Includes $2.9 billion of goodwill, net of accumulated impairment loss reclassified as held for sale related to our pending divestitures. See Note 2—Planned Divestiture of the Latin American and ILEC Businesses.
Schedule of Finite-Lived Intangible Assets, Future Amortization Expense
We estimate that total amortization expense for intangible assets for the years ending December 31, 2021 through 2025 will be as provided in the table below. As a result of reclassifying our disposal groups as being held for sale on our September 30, 2021 consolidated balance sheet, the amounts presented below do not include future amortization expense for intangible assets of those disposal groups. See Note 2—Planned Divestiture of the Latin American and ILEC Businesses for more information.

 (Dollars in millions)
2021 (remaining three months)$286 
20221,027 
2023932 
2024842 
2025801 
v3.21.2
Revenue Recognition (Tables)
 9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2021
Revenue from Contract with Customer [Abstract]  
Schedule of Revenue
The following tables provide total revenue by segment, sales channel and product category. They also provide the amount of revenue that is not subject to ASC 606, "Revenue from Contracts with Customers" ("ASC 606"), but is instead governed by other accounting standards:

Three Months Ended September 30, 2021Three Months Ended September 30, 2020
Total revenue
Adjustments for non-ASC 606 revenue (1)
Total revenue from contracts with customersTotal revenue
Adjustments for non-ASC 606 revenue (1)
Total revenue from contracts with customers
(Dollars in millions)
Business Segment by Sales Channel and Product Category
International and Global Accounts ("IGAM")
Compute and Application Services$178 (71)107 188 (66)122 
IP and Data Services429 — 429 431 — 431 
Fiber Infrastructure Services230 (33)197 206 (28)178 
Voice and Other182 — 182 188 — 188 
Total IGAM Revenue1,019 (104)915 1,013 (94)919 
Large Enterprise
Compute and Application Services176 (16)160 167 (22)145 
IP and Data Services387 — 387 393 (1)392 
Fiber Infrastructure Services137 (11)126 162 (12)150 
Voice and Other232 — 232 268 — 268 
Total Large Enterprise Revenue932 (27)905 990 (35)955 
Mid-Market Enterprise
Compute and Application Services31 (7)24 32 (3)29 
IP and Data Services432 (1)431 460 (1)459 
Fiber Infrastructure Services53 (2)51 54 (1)53 
Voice and Other150 — 150 191 — 191 
Three Months Ended September 30, 2021Three Months Ended September 30, 2020
Total revenue
Adjustments for non-ASC 606 revenue (1)
Total revenue from contracts with customersTotal revenue
Adjustments for non-ASC 606 revenue (1)
Total revenue from contracts with customers
(Dollars in millions)
Total Mid-Market Enterprise Revenue666 (10)656 737 (5)732 
Wholesale
Compute and Application Services46 (39)7 47 (41)6 
IP and Data Services297 — 297 311 — 311 
Fiber Infrastructure Services155 (30)125 157 (33)124 
Voice and Other393 (63)330 443 (64)379 
Total Wholesale Revenue891 (132)759 958 (138)820 
Business Segment by Product Category
Compute and Application Services431 (133)298 434 (132)302 
IP and Data Services1,545 (1)1,544 1,595 (2)1,593 
Fiber Infrastructure Services575 (76)499 579 (74)505 
Voice and Other957 (63)894 1,090 (64)1,026 
Total Business Segment Revenue$3,508 (273)3,235 3,698 (272)3,426 
Mass Markets Segment by Product Category
Consumer Broadband$715 (52)663 730 (56)674 
SBG Broadband39 (4)35 38 (3)35 
Voice and Other502 (20)482 578 (27)551 
CAF II123 (123)— 123 (123)— 
Total Mass Markets Segment$1,379 (199)1,180 1,469 (209)1,260 
Total Revenue$4,887 (472)4,415 5,167 (481)4,686 
Nine Months Ended September 30, 2021Nine Months Ended September 30, 2020
Total revenue
Adjustments for non-ASC 606 revenue (1)
Total revenue from contracts with customersTotal revenue
Adjustments for non-ASC 606 revenue (1)
Total revenue from contracts with customers
(Dollars in millions)
Business Segment by Sales Channel and Product Category
International and Global Accounts ("IGAM")
Compute and Application Services$536 (210)326 581 (199)382 
IP and Data Services1,283 — 1,283 1,300 — 1,300 
Fiber Infrastructure Services662 (95)567 610 (82)528 
Voice and Other555 — 555 594 — 594 
Total IGAM Revenue3,036 (305)2,731 3,085 (281)2,804 
Large Enterprise
Compute and Application Services513 (47)466 481 (61)420 
IP and Data Services1,170 — 1,170 1,194 (2)1,192 
Fiber Infrastructure Services388 (38)350 436 (35)401 
Voice and Other729 — 729 818 — 818 
Total Large Enterprise Revenue2,800 (85)2,715 2,929 (98)2,831 
Mid-Market Enterprise
Compute and Application Services103 (23)80 101 (14)87 
IP and Data Services1,323 (4)1,319 1,389 (3)1,386 
Fiber Infrastructure Services166 (6)160 165 (8)157 
Voice and Other472 — 472 598 — 598 
Total Mid-Market Enterprise Revenue2,064 (33)2,031 2,253 (25)2,228 
Wholesale
Compute and Application Services143 (120)23 138 (120)18 
IP and Data Services899 — 899 942 — 942 
Fiber Infrastructure Services464 (89)375 462 (93)369 
Voice and Other1,219 (188)1,031 1,343 (197)1,146 
Total Wholesale Revenue2,725 (397)2,328 2,885 (410)2,475 
Business Segment by Product Category
Compute and Application Services1,295 (400)895 1,301 (394)907 
IP and Data Services4,675 (4)4,671 4,825 (5)4,820 
Fiber Infrastructure Services1,680 (228)1,452 1,673 (218)1,455 
Voice and Other2,975 (188)2,787 3,353 (197)3,156 
Total Business Segment Revenue$10,625 (820)9,805 11,152 (814)10,338 
Mass Markets Segment by Product Category
Nine Months Ended September 30, 2021Nine Months Ended September 30, 2020
Total revenue
Adjustments for non-ASC 606 revenue (1)
Total revenue from contracts with customersTotal revenue
Adjustments for non-ASC 606 revenue (1)
Total revenue from contracts with customers
(Dollars in millions)
Consumer Broadband$2,169 (157)2,012 2,178 (164)2,014 
SBG Broadband117 (12)105 116 (11)105 
Voice and Other1,561 (60)1,501 1,772 (85)1,687 
CAF II368 (368)— 369 (369)— 
Total Mass Markets Segment$4,215 (597)3,618 4,435 (629)3,806 
Total Revenue$14,840 (1,417)13,423 15,587 (1,443)14,144 
_____________________________________________________________________
(1)Includes regulatory revenue and lease revenue not within the scope of ASC 606.
Contract with Customer, Asset and Liability
The following table provides balances of customer receivables, contract assets and contract liabilities, net of amounts reclassified as held for sale, as of September 30, 2021 and December 31, 2020:

September 30, 2021December 31, 2020
 (Dollars in millions)
Customer receivables(1)(2)
$1,491 1,889 
Contract assets(3)
71 108 
Contract liabilities(4)
703 950 
______________________________________________________________________
(1)Reflects gross customer receivables of $1.6 billion and $2.1 billion, net of allowance for credit losses of $107 million and $174 million, at September 30, 2021 and December 31, 2020, respectively.
(2)As of September 30, 2021, amount excludes customer receivables, net reclassified as held for sale of $293 million.
(3)As of September 30, 2021, amount excludes contract assets reclassified as held for sale of $10 million.
(4)As of September 30, 2021, amount excludes contract liabilities reclassified as held for sale of $165 million.
Capitalized Contract Cost
The following tables provide changes in our contract acquisition costs and fulfillment costs:

Three Months Ended September 30, 2021Three Months Ended September 30, 2020
Acquisition CostsFulfillment CostsAcquisition CostsFulfillment Costs
(Dollars in millions)(Dollars in millions)
Beginning of period balance$271 217 300 219 
Costs incurred43 37 45 35 
Amortization(51)(37)(53)(37)
Reclassified as held for sale(1)
(35)(31)— — 
End of period balance$228 186 292 217 

Nine Months Ended September 30, 2021Nine Months Ended September 30, 2020
Acquisition CostsFulfillment CostsAcquisition CostsFulfillment Costs
(Dollars in millions)(Dollars in millions)
Beginning of period balance$289 216 326 221 
Costs incurred132 112 130 105 
Amortization(158)(111)(164)(109)
Reclassified as held for sale(1)
(35)(31)— — 
End of period balance$228 186 292 217 
______________________________________________________________________
(1)Represents the amounts reclassified as held for sale related to our planned divestitures. See Note 2—Planned Divestiture of the Latin American and ILEC Businesses.
v3.21.2
Credit Losses on Financial Instruments (Tables)
 9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2021
Credit Loss [Abstract]  
Financing Receivable, Allowance for Credit Loss
The following table presents the activity of our allowance for credit losses by accounts receivable portfolio for the nine months ended September 30, 2021:

BusinessMass MarketsTotal
(Dollars in millions)
Beginning balance at January 1, 2021(1)
$109 82 191 
Provision for expected losses36 44 80 
Write-offs charged against the allowance(58)(94)(152)
Recoveries collected11 11 22 
Reclassified as held for sale(2)
(8)(16)(24)
Ending balance at September 30, 2021
$90 27 117 
______________________________________________________________________ 
(1)As described in Note 14—Segment Information, we completed an internal reorganization in January 2021. As a result of this change, allowance for credit losses previously included in the Consumer and Business portfolio of $70 million related to consumer and $12 million related to our small business group, respectively, were reclassified to the Mass Markets allowance for credit losses on January 1, 2021.
(2)Represents the amounts reclassified as held for sale related to our pending divestitures. See Note 2—Planned Divestiture of the Latin American and ILEC Businesses.
v3.21.2
Long-Term Debt and Credit Facilities (Tables)
 9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2021
Debt Disclosure [Abstract]  
Schedule of Long-term Debt Including Unamortized Discounts and Premiums
The following chart reflects the consolidated long-term debt of Lumen Technologies, Inc. and its subsidiaries, including unamortized discounts and premiums, net and unamortized debt issuance costs, but excluding intercompany debt:

Interest Rates(1)
Maturities(1)
September 30, 2021December 31, 2020
   (Dollars in millions)
Senior Secured Debt: (2)
Lumen Technologies, Inc.
Revolving Credit Facility(7)
LIBOR + 2.00%
2025$— 150 
Term Loan A(3) (7)
LIBOR + 2.00%
20251,064 1,108 
Term Loan A-1(3) (7)
LIBOR + 2.00%
2025304 316 
Term Loan B(4) (7)
LIBOR + 2.25%
20274,913 4,950 
Senior notes4.000%20271,250 1,250 
Subsidiaries:
Level 3 Financing, Inc.
Tranche B 2027 Term Loan(5) (7)
LIBOR + 1.75%
20273,111 3,111 
Senior notes
3.400% - 3.875%
2027 - 2029
1,500 1,500 
Embarq Corporation subsidiaries
First mortgage bonds
7.125% - 8.375%
2023 - 2025
138 138 
Senior Notes and Other Debt:    
Lumen Technologies, Inc.
Senior notes
4.500% - 7.650%
2022 - 2042
8,414 8,645 
Subsidiaries:
Level 3 Financing, Inc.
Senior notes
3.625% - 5.375%
2025 - 2029
5,515 5,515 
Qwest Corporation
Senior notes
6.500% - 7.750%
2021 - 2057
2,935 3,170 
Term Loan(6) (7)
LIBOR + 2.00%
2027215 215 
Qwest Capital Funding, Inc.
Senior notes
6.875% - 7.750%
2028 - 2031
255 352 
Embarq Corporation and subsidiary
Senior note(8)
7.995%2036— 1,437 
Finance lease and other obligationsVariousVarious352 295 
Unamortized premiums (discounts), net  23 (78)
Unamortized debt issuance costs(228)(237)
Total long-term debt  29,761 31,837 
Less current maturities   (2,501)(2,427)
Long-term debt, excluding current maturities  $27,260 29,410 
______________________________________________________________________ 
(1)As of September 30, 2021.
(2)See Note 6—Long-Term Debt and Credit Facilities in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020 for a description of certain parent or subsidiary guarantees and liens securing this debt.
(3)Term Loans A and A-1 had interest rates of 2.085% and 2.147% as of September 30, 2021 and December 31, 2020, respectively.
(4)Term Loan B had interest rates of 2.335% and 2.397% as of September 30, 2021 and December 31, 2020, respectively.
(5)The Tranche B 2027 Term Loan had interest rates of 1.835% and 1.897% as of September 30, 2021 and December 31, 2020, respectively.
(6)Qwest Corporation Term Loan had interest rates of 2.090% and 2.150% as of September 30, 2021 and December 31, 2020, respectively.
(7)See Note 1— Background for our considerations of the impact of Reference Rate Reform on our debt subject to rate reference changes from LIBOR.
(8)As of September 30, 2021, the Embarq Senior notes have been reclassified as held for sale. See Note 2—Planned Divestiture of the Latin American and ILEC Businesses for more information.
Schedule of Maturities of Long-term Debt
Set forth below is the aggregate principal amount of our long-term debt as of September 30, 2021 (excluding unamortized premiums (discounts), net, and unamortized debt issuance costs), maturing during the following years. As a result of reclassifying our disposal groups as being held for sale on our September 30, 2021 consolidated balance sheet, the amounts presented below do not include maturities of the debt obligations of those disposal groups. See Note 2—Planned Divestiture of the Latin American and ILEC Businesses for more information.

 
(Dollars in millions) (1)
2021 (remaining three months)$989 
20221,551 
2023977 
20241,158 
20252,927 
2026 and thereafter22,364 
Total long-term debt$29,966 
______________________________________________________________________ 
(1)As of September 30, 2021, these amounts exclude $1.5 billion of debt and finance lease obligations that have been reclassified as held for sale. See Note 2—Planned Divestiture of the Latin American and ILEC Businesses for more information.
v3.21.2
Property, Plant, and Equipment (Tables)
 9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2021
Property, Plant and Equipment [Abstract]  
Schedule of Net Property, Plant and Equipment
Net property, plant and equipment is composed of the following:

 September 30, 2021December 31, 2020
 (Dollars in millions)
Land$751 848 
Fiber, conduit and other outside plant(1)
18,500 26,522 
Central office and other network electronics(2)
15,265 20,692 
Support assets(3)
7,147 8,261 
Construction in progress(4)
1,290 1,611 
Gross property, plant and equipment42,953 57,934 
Accumulated depreciation(22,027)(31,596)
Net property, plant and equipment$20,926 26,338 
_______________________________________________________________________________
(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, cable landing stations, data centers, computers and other administrative and support equipment.
(4)Construction in progress includes inventory held for construction and property of the aforementioned categories that has not been placed in service as it is still under construction.
v3.21.2
Severance (Tables)
 9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2021
Restructuring and Related Activities [Abstract]  
Schedule of Changes in Accrued Liabilities for Severance Expenses
Changes in our accrued liabilities for severance expenses were as follows:

Severance
 (Dollars in millions)
Balance at December 31, 2020$103 
Accrued to expense— 
Payments, net(64)
Balance at September 30, 2021$39 
v3.21.2
Employee Benefits (Tables)
 9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2021
Retirement Benefits [Abstract]  
Schedule of Components of Net Periodic Pension Benefit (Income) Expense and Post-retirement Benefit Expense
Net periodic pension benefit expense (income) for the Lumen Combined Pension Plan ("Combined Pension Plan" or the "Plan") includes the following components:

 Combined Pension Plan
 Three Months Ended September 30,Nine Months Ended September 30,
 2021202020212020
 (Dollars in millions)
Service cost$14 15 42 44 
Interest cost49 81 148 243 
Expected return on plan assets(138)(147)(414)(445)
Settlements57 — 57 — 
Recognition of prior service credit(2)(3)(7)(7)
Recognition of actuarial loss49 50 147 152 
Net periodic pension benefit expense (income)$29 (4)(27)(13)
Net periodic benefit expense for our post-retirement benefit plans includes the following components:

 Post-Retirement Benefit Plans
 Three Months Ended September 30,Nine Months Ended September 30,
 2021202020212020
 (Dollars in millions)
Service cost$4 4 11 11 
Interest cost12 17 35 57 
Recognition of prior service cost3 4 11 12 
Recognition of actuarial loss2 — 4 — 
Curtailment loss— 7 — 7 
Net periodic post-retirement benefit expense$21 32 61 87 
v3.21.2
Earnings Per Common Share (Tables)
 9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2021
Earnings Per Share [Abstract]  
Schedule of Basic and Diluted Earnings Per Common Share
Basic and diluted earnings per common share were calculated as follows:

 Three Months Ended September 30,Nine Months Ended September 30,
 2021202020212020
 (Dollars in millions, except per share amounts, shares in thousands)
Income (Numerator):
Net income$544 366 1,525 1,057 
Net income applicable to common stock for computing basic earnings per common share544 366 1,525 1,057 
Net income as adjusted for purposes of computing diluted earnings per common share$544 366 1,525 1,057 
Shares (Denominator):
Weighted-average number of shares:
Outstanding during period1,079,917 1,097,496 1,095,223 1,096,017 
Non-vested restricted stock(17,833)(16,991)(18,117)(17,345)
Weighted-average shares outstanding for computing basic earnings per common share1,062,084 1,080,505 1,077,106 1,078,672 
Incremental common shares attributable to dilutive securities:
Shares issuable under convertible securities10 10 10 10 
Shares issuable under incentive compensation plans7,063 5,151 6,763 4,686 
Number of shares as adjusted for purposes of computing diluted earnings per common share1,069,157 1,085,666 1,083,879 1,083,368 
Basic earnings per common share$0.51 0.34 1.42 0.98 
Diluted earnings per common share$0.51 0.34 1.41 0.98 
v3.21.2
Fair Value of Financial Instruments (Tables)
 9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2021
Fair Value Disclosures [Abstract]  
Schedule of Carrying Amounts and Estimated Fair Values of Long-term Debt, Excluding Capital Lease Obligations, and Input Level to Determine Fair Values
The following table presents the carrying amounts and estimated fair values of our financial liabilities as of September 30, 2021 and December 31, 2020:

  September 30, 2021December 31, 2020
 Input
Level		Carrying
Amount		Fair
Value		Carrying
Amount		Fair
Value
 (Dollars in millions)
Long-term debt, excluding finance lease and other obligations(1)
2$29,409 30,309 31,542 33,217 
Interest rate swap contracts (see Note 13)
2$47 47 107 107 
______________________________________________________________________ 
(1)As of September 30, 2021, these amounts exclude $1.4 billion of carrying amount and $1.5 billion of fair value of debt that has been reclassified as held for sale. See Note 2—Planned Divestiture of the Latin American and ILEC Businesses for more information.
v3.21.2
Derivative Financial Instruments (Tables)
 9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2021
Derivative Instruments and Hedging Activities Disclosure [Abstract]  
Schedule of Derivative Instruments in Statement of Financial Position, Fair Value
The table below presents the fair value of our derivative financial instruments as well as their classification on the consolidated balance sheets at September 30, 2021 and December 31, 2020, as follows (in millions):

September 30, 2021December 31, 2020
Derivatives designated asBalance Sheet LocationFair Value
Cash flow hedging contractsOther current and noncurrent liabilities$47 107 
Derivative Instruments, Gain (Loss)
The amount of unrealized losses recognized in AOCI consists of the following (in millions):

Derivatives designated as hedging instruments20212020
Cash flow hedging contracts
Three Months Ended September 30,$1 (1)
Nine Months Ended September 30,$1 115 
Schedule of Reclassifications Out of Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income (Loss) by Component
The amount of realized losses reclassified from AOCI to the statement of operations consists of the following
(in millions):

Derivatives designated as hedging instruments20212020
Cash flow hedging contracts
Three Months Ended September 30,$21 20 
Nine Months Ended September 30,$62 41 
The tables below present further information about our reclassifications out of accumulated other comprehensive loss by component for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2021:

Three Months Ended September 30, 2021Decrease (Increase)
in Net Income		Affected Line Item in Consolidated Statement of Operations
 (Dollars in millions) 
Interest rate swaps$21 Interest expense
Income tax benefit(5)Income tax expense
Net of tax$16 
Amortization of pension & post-retirement plans(1)
  
Net actuarial loss$108 Other (expense) income, net
Prior service cost1 Other (expense) income, net
Total before tax109  
Income tax benefit(27)Income tax expense
Net of tax$82  

Nine Months Ended September 30, 2021Decrease (Increase)
in Net Income		Affected Line Item in Consolidated Statement of Operations
 (Dollars in millions) 
Interest rate swaps$62 Interest expense
Income tax benefit(15)Income tax expense
Net of tax$47 
Amortization of pension & post-retirement plans(1)
  
Net actuarial loss$208 Other (expense) income, net
Prior service cost4 Other (expense) income, net
Total before tax212  
Income tax benefit(52)Income tax expense
Net of tax$160  
(1)See Note 10—Employee Benefits for additional information on our net periodic benefit (income) expense related to our pension and post-retirement plans.
The tables below present further information about our reclassifications out of accumulated other comprehensive loss by component for the nine months ended September 30, 2020:

Three Months Ended September 30, 2020Decrease (Increase)
in Net Income		Affected Line Item in Consolidated Statement of Operations
 (Dollars in millions) 
Interest rate swaps$20 Interest expense
Income tax expense(5)Income tax expense
Net of tax$15 
Amortization of pension & post-retirement plans(1)
  
Net actuarial loss$50 Other (expense) income, net
Prior service cost1 Other (expense) income, net
Curtailment loss4 Other (expense) income, net
Total before tax55  
Income tax benefit(13)Income tax expense
Net of tax$42  

Nine Months Ended September 30, 2020Decrease (Increase)
in Net Income		Affected Line Item in Consolidated Statement of Operations
 (Dollars in millions) 
Interest rate swaps$41 Interest expense
Income tax expense(10)Income tax expense
Net of tax$31 
Amortization of pension & post-retirement plans(1)
  
Net actuarial loss$152 Other (expense) income, net
Prior service cost5 Other (expense) income, net
Curtailment loss4 Other (expense) income, net
Total before tax161  
Income tax benefit(39)Income tax expense
Net of tax$122  
(1)See Note 10—Employee Benefits for additional information on our net periodic benefit (expense) income related to our pension and post-retirement plans.
v3.21.2
Segment Information (Tables)
 9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2021
Segment Reporting [Abstract]  
Schedule of Segment Results
The following tables summarize our segment results for the three months ended September 30, 2021 and 2020, based on the segment categorization we were operating under at September 30, 2021.

Three Months Ended September 30, 2021
BusinessMass MarketsTotal SegmentsOperations and OtherTotal
(Dollars in millions)
Revenue$3,508 1,379 4,887 — 4,887 
Expenses:
Cost of services and products868 36 904 1,247 2,151 
Selling, general and administrative296 125 421 233 654 
Less: share-based compensation— — — (27)(27)
Total expense1,164 161 1,325 1,453 2,778 
Total adjusted EBITDA$2,344 1,218 3,562 (1,453)2,109 

Three Months Ended September 30, 2020
BusinessMass MarketsTotal SegmentsOperations and OtherTotal
(Dollars in millions)
Revenue$3,698 1,469 5,167 — 5,167 
Expenses:
Cost of services and products912 55 967 1,269 2,236 
Selling, general and administrative299 148 447 403 850 
Less: share-based compensation— — — (31)(31)
Total expense1,211 203 1,414 1,641 3,055 
Total adjusted EBITDA$2,487 1,266 3,753 (1,641)2,112 

The following tables summarize our segment results for the nine months ended September 30, 2021 and 2020, based on the segment categorization we were operating under at September 30, 2021.

Nine Months Ended September 30, 2021
BusinessMass MarketsTotal SegmentsOperations and OtherTotal
(Dollars in millions)
Revenue$10,625 4,215 14,840 — 14,840 
Expenses:
Cost of services and products2,611 118 2,729 3,673 6,402 
Selling, general and administrative900 408 1,308 864 2,172 
Less: share-based compensation— — — (89)(89)
Total expense3,511 526 4,037 4,448 8,485 
Total adjusted EBITDA$7,114 3,689 10,803 (4,448)6,355 
Nine Months Ended September 30, 2020
BusinessMass MarketsTotal SegmentsOperations and OtherTotal
(Dollars in millions)
Revenue$11,152 4,435 15,587 — 15,587 
Expenses:
Cost of services and products2,738 152 2,890 3,813 6,703 
Selling, general and administrative975 432 1,407 1,191 2,598 
Less: share-based compensation— — — (120)(120)
Total expense3,713 584 4,297 4,884 9,181 
Total adjusted EBITDA$7,439 3,851 11,290 (4,884)6,406 
Reconciliation of Operating Profit (Loss) From Segments to Consolidated Net Income
The following table reconciles total segment adjusted EBITDA to net income:

 Three Months Ended September 30,Nine Months Ended September 30,
 2021202020212020
 (Dollars in millions)(Dollars in millions)
Total segment adjusted EBITDA$3,562 3,753 10,803 11,290 
Depreciation and amortization(951)(1,193)(3,142)(3,515)
Other operating expenses(1,453)(1,641)(4,448)(4,884)
Stock-based compensation(27)(31)(89)(120)
Operating income1,131 888 3,124 2,771 
Total other expense, net(415)(408)(1,102)(1,345)
Income before income taxes716 480 2,022 1,426 
Income tax expense172 114 497 369 
Net income$544 366 1,525 1,057 
v3.21.2
Other Financial Information (Tables)
 9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2021
Deferred Costs, Capitalized, Prepaid, and Other Assets Disclosure [Abstract]  
Schedule of Components of Other Current Assets
The following table presents details of other current assets reflected in our consolidated balance sheets:

September 30, 2021December 31, 2020
 (Dollars in millions)
Prepaid expenses$294 290 
Income tax receivable15 7 
Materials, supplies and inventory103 105 
Contract assets49 66 
Contract acquisition costs144 173 
Contract fulfillment costs104 114 
Note receivable56 — 
Receivable for sale of land56 — 
Other22 53 
Total other current assets$843 808 
v3.21.2
Accumulated Other Comprehensive Loss (Tables)
 9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2021
Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income (Loss), Net of Tax [Abstract]  
Summary of the Entity's Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income (Loss) by Component
The table below summarizes changes in accumulated other comprehensive loss recorded on our consolidated balance sheet by component for the nine months ended September 30, 2021:

Pension PlansPost-Retirement
Benefit Plans		Foreign Currency
Translation
Adjustment
and Other		Interest Rate SwapTotal
 (Dollars in millions)
Balance at December 31, 2020$(2,197)(272)(265)(79)(2,813)
Other comprehensive loss before reclassifications133 — (103)(1)29 
Amounts reclassified from accumulated other comprehensive loss149 11 — 47 207 
Net current-period other comprehensive income (loss)282 11 (103)46 236 
Balance at September 30, 2021$(1,915)(261)(368)(33)(2,577)
The table below summarizes changes in accumulated other comprehensive loss recorded on our consolidated balance sheets by component for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2020:
Pension PlansPost-Retirement
Benefit Plans		Foreign Currency
Translation
Adjustment
and Other		Interest Rate SwapTotal
 (Dollars in millions)
Balance at December 31, 2019$(2,229)(184)(228)(39)(2,680)
Other comprehensive loss before reclassifications— — (181)(87)(268)
Amounts reclassified from accumulated other comprehensive loss110 12 — 31 153 
Net current-period other comprehensive income (loss)110 12 (181)(56)(115)
Balance at September 30, 2020$(2,119)(172)(409)(95)(2,795)
Schedule of Reclassifications Out of Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income (Loss) by Component
The amount of realized losses reclassified from AOCI to the statement of operations consists of the following
(in millions):

Derivatives designated as hedging instruments20212020
Cash flow hedging contracts
Three Months Ended September 30,$21 20 
Nine Months Ended September 30,$62 41 
The tables below present further information about our reclassifications out of accumulated other comprehensive loss by component for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2021:

Three Months Ended September 30, 2021Decrease (Increase)
in Net Income		Affected Line Item in Consolidated Statement of Operations
 (Dollars in millions) 
Interest rate swaps$21 Interest expense
Income tax benefit(5)Income tax expense
Net of tax$16 
Amortization of pension & post-retirement plans(1)
  
Net actuarial loss$108 Other (expense) income, net
Prior service cost1 Other (expense) income, net
Total before tax109  
Income tax benefit(27)Income tax expense
Net of tax$82  

Nine Months Ended September 30, 2021Decrease (Increase)
in Net Income		Affected Line Item in Consolidated Statement of Operations
 (Dollars in millions) 
Interest rate swaps$62 Interest expense
Income tax benefit(15)Income tax expense
Net of tax$47 
Amortization of pension & post-retirement plans(1)
  
Net actuarial loss$208 Other (expense) income, net
Prior service cost4 Other (expense) income, net
Total before tax212  
Income tax benefit(52)Income tax expense
Net of tax$160  
(1)See Note 10—Employee Benefits for additional information on our net periodic benefit (income) expense related to our pension and post-retirement plans.
The tables below present further information about our reclassifications out of accumulated other comprehensive loss by component for the nine months ended September 30, 2020:

Three Months Ended September 30, 2020Decrease (Increase)
in Net Income		Affected Line Item in Consolidated Statement of Operations
 (Dollars in millions) 
Interest rate swaps$20 Interest expense
Income tax expense(5)Income tax expense
Net of tax$15 
Amortization of pension & post-retirement plans(1)
  
Net actuarial loss$50 Other (expense) income, net
Prior service cost1 Other (expense) income, net
Curtailment loss4 Other (expense) income, net
Total before tax55  
Income tax benefit(13)Income tax expense
Net of tax$42  

Nine Months Ended September 30, 2020Decrease (Increase)
in Net Income		Affected Line Item in Consolidated Statement of Operations
 (Dollars in millions) 
Interest rate swaps$41 Interest expense
Income tax expense(10)Income tax expense
Net of tax$31 
Amortization of pension & post-retirement plans(1)
  
Net actuarial loss$152 Other (expense) income, net
Prior service cost5 Other (expense) income, net
Curtailment loss4 Other (expense) income, net
Total before tax161  
Income tax benefit(39)Income tax expense
Net of tax$122  
(1)See Note 10—Employee Benefits for additional information on our net periodic benefit (expense) income related to our pension and post-retirement plans.
v3.21.2
Background - Basis of Presentation (Details) - USD ($)
Sep. 30, 2021
Dec. 31, 2020
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]    
Book overdraft balance $ 0 $ 0
v3.21.2
Background - Accounting Pronouncements (Details) - USD ($)
$ in Millions
 3 Months Ended 9 Months Ended 12 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2021
Sep. 30, 2020
Mar. 31, 2020
Sep. 30, 2021
Sep. 30, 2020
Dec. 31, 2019
Jun. 30, 2021
Dec. 31, 2020
Jun. 30, 2020
New Accounting Pronouncements or Change in Accounting Principle [Line Items]                  
Stockholders' equity $ 11,183 $ 13,689   $ 11,183 $ 13,689     $ 11,162  
Income tax expense 172 114   497 369        
Accumulated Deficit                  
New Accounting Pronouncements or Change in Accounting Principle [Line Items]                  
Stockholders' equity $ (6,506) $ (5,743)   $ (6,506) $ (5,743) $ (6,814) $ (7,050) $ (8,031) $ (6,109)
Accumulated Deficit | Cumulative Effect, Period of Adoption, Adjustment                  
New Accounting Pronouncements or Change in Accounting Principle [Line Items]                  
Stockholders' equity           9      
Income tax expense     $ 2     $ 2      
v3.21.2
Planned Divestiture of the Latin American and ILEC Businesses - Additional Information (Details) - USD ($)
$ in Millions
 3 Months Ended 9 Months Ended
Aug. 03, 2021
Jul. 25, 2021
Sep. 30, 2021
Sep. 30, 2020
Sep. 30, 2021
Sep. 30, 2020
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]            
Depreciation and amortization         $ 3,142 $ 3,515
Disposal Group, Held-for-sale, Not Discontinued Operations            
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]            
Assumed indebtedness from disposal of business     $ 2,291   2,291  
Depreciation and amortization     107   107  
Disposal Group, Held-for-sale, Not Discontinued Operations | Minimum            
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]            
Pretax net income (loss)     280 $ 175 649 563
Disposal Group, Held-for-sale, Not Discontinued Operations | Maximum            
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]            
Pretax net income (loss)     343 214 793 687
Disposal Group, Held-for-sale, Not Discontinued Operations | Latin American Business            
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]            
Assumed indebtedness from disposal of business     412   412  
Disposal Group, Held-for-sale, Not Discontinued Operations | Latin American Business | Minimum            
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]            
Pretax net income (loss)     59 36 131 108
Disposal Group, Held-for-sale, Not Discontinued Operations | Latin American Business | Maximum            
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]            
Pretax net income (loss)     72 45 160 131
Disposal Group, Held-for-sale, Not Discontinued Operations | Latin American Business | Level 3 Parent, LLC            
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]            
Cash consideration from disposal of business   $ 2,700        
Working capital, other purchase price adjustments and transaction expenses   $ 50        
Disposal Group, Held-for-sale, Not Discontinued Operations | ILEC Business            
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]            
Cash consideration from disposal of business $ 7,500          
Assumed indebtedness from disposal of business 1,400   1,879   1,879  
Purchaser's transaction expenses $ 1,700          
Disposal Group, Held-for-sale, Not Discontinued Operations | ILEC Business | Minimum            
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]            
Pretax net income (loss)     221 139 518 455
Disposal Group, Held-for-sale, Not Discontinued Operations | ILEC Business | Maximum            
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]            
Pretax net income (loss)     $ 271 $ 169 $ 633 $ 556
v3.21.2
Planned Divestiture of the Latin American and ILEC Businesses - Pre-tax Net Income (Details) - Disposal Group, Held-for-sale, Not Discontinued Operations - USD ($)
$ in Millions
 3 Months Ended 9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2021
Sep. 30, 2020
Sep. 30, 2021
Sep. 30, 2020
Low        
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]        
Pretax net income (loss) $ 280 $ 175 $ 649 $ 563
High        
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]        
Pretax net income (loss) 343 214 793 687
Latin American Business | Low        
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]        
Pretax net income (loss) 59 36 131 108
Latin American Business | High        
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]        
Pretax net income (loss) 72 45 160 131
ILEC Business | Low        
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]        
Pretax net income (loss) 221 139 518 455
ILEC Business | High        
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]        
Pretax net income (loss) $ 271 $ 169 $ 633 $ 556
v3.21.2
Planned Divestiture of the Latin American and ILEC Businesses - Components of Held for Sale Assets and Liabilities (Details) - USD ($)
$ in Millions
Sep. 30, 2021
Aug. 03, 2021
Sep. 30, 2020
Assets held for sale      
Cash and cash equivalents $ 39   $ 0
Defined Benefit Plan, Funded Plan      
Liabilities held for sale      
Pension liability 2,500    
Defined Benefit Plan, Funded through Transfer of Plan Assets      
Liabilities held for sale      
Pension liability $ 2,200    
Funded percentage 89.00%    
Disposal Group, Held-for-sale, Not Discontinued Operations      
Assets held for sale      
Cash and cash equivalents $ 39    
Accounts receivable, less allowance of $3, $21 and $24 313    
Other current assets 121    
Property, plant and equipment, net accumulated depreciation of $445, $10,976 and $11,421 4,931    
Goodwill 2,859    
Other intangible assets, net 287    
Other non-current assets 112    
Total assets held for sale 8,662    
Liabilities held for sale      
Accounts payable 155    
Salaries and benefits 50    
Income and other taxes 63    
Interest 38    
Current portion of deferred revenue 118    
Other current liabilities 53    
Long-term debt, net of discounts 1,367    
Deferred income taxes, net 116    
Pension and other post-retirement benefits 58    
Other non-current liabilities 273    
Total liabilities held for sale 2,291    
Allowance for doubtful accounts 24    
Accumulated depreciation 11,421    
Long-term finance lease obligations 48    
Disposal Group, Held-for-sale, Not Discontinued Operations | Senior notes | Embarq      
Liabilities held for sale      
Long-term debt, net of discounts 1,400    
Unamortized discount 118    
Disposal Group, Held-for-sale, Not Discontinued Operations | Latin American Business      
Assets held for sale      
Cash and cash equivalents 37    
Accounts receivable, less allowance of $3, $21 and $24 83    
Other current assets 75    
Property, plant and equipment, net accumulated depreciation of $445, $10,976 and $11,421 1,545    
Goodwill 244    
Other intangible assets, net 129    
Other non-current assets 71    
Total assets held for sale 2,184    
Liabilities held for sale      
Accounts payable 76    
Salaries and benefits 22    
Income and other taxes 32    
Interest 0    
Current portion of deferred revenue 28    
Other current liabilities 10    
Long-term debt, net of discounts 0    
Deferred income taxes, net 116    
Pension and other post-retirement benefits 2    
Other non-current liabilities 126    
Total liabilities held for sale 412    
Allowance for doubtful accounts 3    
Accumulated depreciation 445    
Disposal Group, Held-for-sale, Not Discontinued Operations | ILEC Business      
Assets held for sale      
Cash and cash equivalents 2    
Accounts receivable, less allowance of $3, $21 and $24 230    
Other current assets 46    
Property, plant and equipment, net accumulated depreciation of $445, $10,976 and $11,421 3,386    
Goodwill 2,615    
Other intangible assets, net 158    
Other non-current assets 41    
Total assets held for sale 6,478    
Liabilities held for sale      
Accounts payable 79    
Salaries and benefits 28    
Income and other taxes 31    
Interest 38    
Current portion of deferred revenue 90    
Other current liabilities 43    
Long-term debt, net of discounts 1,367    
Deferred income taxes, net 0    
Pension and other post-retirement benefits 56    
Other non-current liabilities 147    
Total liabilities held for sale 1,879 $ 1,400  
Allowance for doubtful accounts 21    
Accumulated depreciation 10,976    
Discontinued Operations, Held-for-sale      
Assets held for sale      
Total assets held for sale $ 20    
v3.21.2
Goodwill, Customer Relationships and Other Intangible Assets - Schedule of Goodwill, Customer Relationships, and Other Intangible Assets (Details) - USD ($)
$ in Millions
Sep. 30, 2021
Jan. 31, 2021
Dec. 31, 2020
Goodwill [Line Items]      
Goodwill $ 15,987 $ 0 $ 18,870
Indefinite-life intangible assets 9   278
Total other intangible assets, net 7,160   8,219
Customer relationships      
Goodwill [Line Items]      
Finite-lived intangible assets, net 5,535   6,344
Accumulated amortization 11,571   11,060
Capitalized software      
Goodwill [Line Items]      
Finite-lived intangible assets, net 1,464   1,520
Accumulated amortization 3,537   3,279
Trade names, patents and other      
Goodwill [Line Items]      
Finite-lived intangible assets, net 152   77
Accumulated amortization $ 156   $ 120
v3.21.2
Goodwill, Customer Relationships and Other Intangible Assets - Additional Information (Details)
 1 Months Ended 3 Months Ended 9 Months Ended 12 Months Ended
Jul. 31, 2021
USD ($)
reporting_unit
Jan. 01, 2021
USD ($)
Jan. 31, 2021
segement
reporting_unit
Sep. 30, 2021
USD ($)
$ / shares
Sep. 30, 2020
USD ($)
$ / shares
Sep. 30, 2021
USD ($)
segment
$ / shares
Sep. 30, 2020
USD ($)
$ / shares
Dec. 31, 2021
USD ($)
$ / shares
Aug. 03, 2021
USD ($)
Goodwill and Intangible Assets Disclosure [Abstract]                  
Impairment loss $ 0                
Number of reportable segments     2     2      
Number of operating segments | segment           2      
Intangible assets, gross (including goodwill)       $ 38,400,000,000   $ 38,400,000,000      
Change in Accounting Estimate [Line Items]                  
Amortization of intangible assets       306,000,000 $ 443,000,000 1,000,000,000 $ 1,300,000,000    
Net income       $ (544,000,000) $ (366,000,000) $ (1,525,000,000) $ (1,057,000,000)    
Basic earnings per common share (in dollars per share) | $ / shares       $ (0.51) $ (0.34) $ (1.42) $ (0.98)    
Diluted earnings per common share (in dollars per share) | $ / shares       $ (0.51) $ (0.34) $ (1.41) $ (0.98)    
Number of reportable segments     2     2      
Number of reporting units | reporting_unit 5   5            
Impairment loss $ 0                
Weighted average cost of capital, percentage 6.80%                
Cost of debt, after tax, percentage 2.30%                
Cost of equity, percentage 9.70%                
Control premium, percent 32.00%                
Revenue Multiple                  
Change in Accounting Estimate [Line Items]                  
Goodwill impairment, measurement input 2.8                
EBITDA Multiple                  
Change in Accounting Estimate [Line Items]                  
Goodwill impairment, measurement input 6.3                
Minimum | Revenue Multiple                  
Change in Accounting Estimate [Line Items]                  
Goodwill impairment, measurement input 2.1                
Minimum | EBITDA Multiple                  
Change in Accounting Estimate [Line Items]                  
Goodwill impairment, measurement input 4.8                
Maximum | Revenue Multiple                  
Change in Accounting Estimate [Line Items]                  
Goodwill impairment, measurement input 5.8                
Maximum | EBITDA Multiple                  
Change in Accounting Estimate [Line Items]                  
Goodwill impairment, measurement input 14.8                
EMEA                  
Change in Accounting Estimate [Line Items]                  
Weighted average cost of capital, percentage 7.20%                
Cost of debt, after tax, percentage 2.60%                
Cost of equity, percentage 10.10%                
Goodwill, impairment percent 58.00%                
LATAM                  
Change in Accounting Estimate [Line Items]                  
Weighted average cost of capital, percentage 11.20%                
Cost of debt, after tax, percentage 5.30%                
Cost of equity, percentage 15.00%                
Goodwill, impairment percent 100.00%                
APAC                  
Change in Accounting Estimate [Line Items]                  
Weighted average cost of capital, percentage 8.60%                
Cost of debt, after tax, percentage 3.60%                
Cost of equity, percentage 11.90%                
Goodwill, impairment percent 134.00%                
Mass Markets                  
Change in Accounting Estimate [Line Items]                  
Goodwill, impairment percent 150.00%                
NA Business                  
Change in Accounting Estimate [Line Items]                  
Goodwill, impairment percent 24.00%                
Reclassification of intangible assets                  
Change in Accounting Estimate [Line Items]                  
Amortization of intangible assets       $ 5,000,000   $ 20,000,000      
Net income       $ 4,000,000   $ 15,000,000      
Basic earnings per common share (in dollars per share) | $ / shares       $ 0   $ 0.01      
Diluted earnings per common share (in dollars per share) | $ / shares       $ 0   $ 0.01      
Reclassification of intangible assets | Forecast                  
Change in Accounting Estimate [Line Items]                  
Amortization of intangible assets               $ 23,000,000  
Net income               $ 17,000,000  
Basic earnings per common share (in dollars per share) | $ / shares               $ 0.02  
Diluted earnings per common share (in dollars per share) | $ / shares               $ 0.02  
Reclassification of intangible assets | Right-of-way                  
Change in Accounting Estimate [Line Items]                  
Finite-lived intangible assets   $ 268,000,000              
Remaining amortization period   9 years              
Reclassification of intangible assets | Right-of-way | Disposal Group, Held-for-sale, Not Discontinued Operations                  
Change in Accounting Estimate [Line Items]                  
Finite-lived intangible assets                 $ 158,000,000
v3.21.2
Goodwill, Customer Relationships and Other Intangible Assets - Rollforward of Goodwill (Details) - USD ($)
$ in Millions
 9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2021
Dec. 31, 2020
Goodwill [Roll Forward]    
As of beginning of period $ 18,870  
Reclassified as held for sale (2,864)  
Effect of foreign currency exchange rate change and other (19)  
As of end of period 15,987  
Accumulated impairment losses 7,700 $ 12,900
Disposal Group, Held-for-sale, Not Discontinued Operations    
Goodwill [Roll Forward]    
Reclassified as held for sale (2,900)  
International and Global Accounts    
Goodwill [Roll Forward]    
As of beginning of period 2,555  
Enterprise    
Goodwill [Roll Forward]    
As of beginning of period 4,738  
Small and Medium Business    
Goodwill [Roll Forward]    
As of beginning of period 2,808  
Wholesale    
Goodwill [Roll Forward]    
As of beginning of period 3,114  
Consumer    
Goodwill [Roll Forward]    
As of beginning of period 5,655  
Business    
Goodwill [Roll Forward]    
Reclassified as held for sale (918)  
Effect of foreign currency exchange rate change and other 0  
As of end of period 11,236  
Mass Markets    
Goodwill [Roll Forward]    
Reclassified as held for sale (1,946)  
Effect of foreign currency exchange rate change and other (19)  
As of end of period $ 4,751  
v3.21.2
Goodwill, Customer Relationships and Other Intangible Assets - Schedule of Amortization Expense (Details)
$ in Millions
Sep. 30, 2021
USD ($)
Goodwill and Intangible Assets Disclosure [Abstract]  
2021 (remaining three months) $ 286
2022 1,027
2023 932
2024 842
2025 $ 801
v3.21.2
Revenue Recognition - Revenue by Segment, Sales Channel and Product Category (Details) - USD ($)
$ in Millions
 3 Months Ended 9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2021
Sep. 30, 2020
Sep. 30, 2021
Sep. 30, 2020
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]        
Total revenue $ 4,887 $ 5,167 $ 14,840 $ 15,587
Adjustments for non-ASC 606 revenue (472) (481) (1,417) (1,443)
Total revenue from contracts with customers 4,415 4,686 13,423 14,144
Operating Segments        
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]        
Total revenue 4,887 5,167 14,840 15,587
Operating Segments | Business        
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]        
Total revenue 3,508 3,698 10,625 11,152
Adjustments for non-ASC 606 revenue (273) (272) (820) (814)
Total revenue from contracts with customers 3,235 3,426 9,805 10,338
Operating Segments | Business | Compute and Application Services        
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]        
Total revenue 431 434 1,295 1,301
Adjustments for non-ASC 606 revenue (133) (132) (400) (394)
Total revenue from contracts with customers 298 302 895 907
Operating Segments | Business | IP and Data Services        
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]        
Total revenue 1,545 1,595 4,675 4,825
Adjustments for non-ASC 606 revenue (1) (2) (4) (5)
Total revenue from contracts with customers 1,544 1,593 4,671 4,820
Operating Segments | Business | Fiber Infrastructure Services        
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]        
Total revenue 575 579 1,680 1,673
Adjustments for non-ASC 606 revenue (76) (74) (228) (218)
Total revenue from contracts with customers 499 505 1,452 1,455
Operating Segments | Business | Voice and Other        
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]        
Total revenue 957 1,090 2,975 3,353
Adjustments for non-ASC 606 revenue (63) (64) (188) (197)
Total revenue from contracts with customers 894 1,026 2,787 3,156
Operating Segments | Business | International and Global Accounts        
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]        
Total revenue 1,019 1,013 3,036 3,085
Adjustments for non-ASC 606 revenue (104) (94) (305) (281)
Total revenue from contracts with customers 915 919 2,731 2,804
Operating Segments | Business | International and Global Accounts | Compute and Application Services        
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]        
Total revenue 178 188 536 581
Adjustments for non-ASC 606 revenue (71) (66) (210) (199)
Total revenue from contracts with customers 107 122 326 382
Operating Segments | Business | International and Global Accounts | IP and Data Services        
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]        
Total revenue 429 431 1,283 1,300
Adjustments for non-ASC 606 revenue 0 0 0 0
Total revenue from contracts with customers 429 431 1,283 1,300
Operating Segments | Business | International and Global Accounts | Fiber Infrastructure Services        
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]        
Total revenue 230 206 662 610
Adjustments for non-ASC 606 revenue (33) (28) (95) (82)
Total revenue from contracts with customers 197 178 567 528
Operating Segments | Business | International and Global Accounts | Voice and Other        
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]        
Total revenue 182 188 555 594
Adjustments for non-ASC 606 revenue 0 0 0 0
Total revenue from contracts with customers 182 188 555 594
Operating Segments | Business | Large Enterprise        
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]        
Total revenue 932 990 2,800 2,929
Adjustments for non-ASC 606 revenue (27) (35) (85) (98)
Total revenue from contracts with customers 905 955 2,715 2,831
Operating Segments | Business | Large Enterprise | Compute and Application Services        
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]        
Total revenue 176 167 513 481
Adjustments for non-ASC 606 revenue (16) (22) (47) (61)
Total revenue from contracts with customers 160 145 466 420
Operating Segments | Business | Large Enterprise | IP and Data Services        
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]        
Total revenue 387 393 1,170 1,194
Adjustments for non-ASC 606 revenue 0 (1) 0 (2)
Total revenue from contracts with customers 387 392 1,170 1,192
Operating Segments | Business | Large Enterprise | Fiber Infrastructure Services        
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]        
Total revenue 137 162 388 436
Adjustments for non-ASC 606 revenue (11) (12) (38) (35)
Total revenue from contracts with customers 126 150 350 401
Operating Segments | Business | Large Enterprise | Voice and Other        
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]        
Total revenue 232 268 729 818
Adjustments for non-ASC 606 revenue 0 0 0 0
Total revenue from contracts with customers 232 268 729 818
Operating Segments | Business | Mid-Market Enterprise        
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]        
Total revenue 666 737 2,064 2,253
Adjustments for non-ASC 606 revenue (10) (5) (33) (25)
Total revenue from contracts with customers 656 732 2,031 2,228
Operating Segments | Business | Mid-Market Enterprise | Compute and Application Services        
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]        
Total revenue 31 32 103 101
Adjustments for non-ASC 606 revenue (7) (3) (23) (14)
Total revenue from contracts with customers 24 29 80 87
Operating Segments | Business | Mid-Market Enterprise | IP and Data Services        
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]        
Total revenue 432 460 1,323 1,389
Adjustments for non-ASC 606 revenue (1) (1) (4) (3)
Total revenue from contracts with customers 431 459 1,319 1,386
Operating Segments | Business | Mid-Market Enterprise | Fiber Infrastructure Services        
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]        
Total revenue 53 54 166 165
Adjustments for non-ASC 606 revenue (2) (1) (6) (8)
Total revenue from contracts with customers 51 53 160 157
Operating Segments | Business | Mid-Market Enterprise | Voice and Other        
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]        
Total revenue 150 191 472 598
Adjustments for non-ASC 606 revenue 0 0 0 0
Total revenue from contracts with customers 150 191 472 598
Operating Segments | Business | Wholesale        
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]        
Total revenue 891 958 2,725 2,885
Adjustments for non-ASC 606 revenue (132) (138) (397) (410)
Total revenue from contracts with customers 759 820 2,328 2,475
Operating Segments | Business | Wholesale | Compute and Application Services        
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]        
Total revenue 46 47 143 138
Adjustments for non-ASC 606 revenue (39) (41) (120) (120)
Total revenue from contracts with customers 7 6 23 18
Operating Segments | Business | Wholesale | IP and Data Services        
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]        
Total revenue 297 311 899 942
Adjustments for non-ASC 606 revenue 0 0 0 0
Total revenue from contracts with customers 297 311 899 942
Operating Segments | Business | Wholesale | Fiber Infrastructure Services        
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]        
Total revenue 155 157 464 462
Adjustments for non-ASC 606 revenue (30) (33) (89) (93)
Total revenue from contracts with customers 125 124 375 369
Operating Segments | Business | Wholesale | Voice and Other        
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]        
Total revenue 393 443 1,219 1,343
Adjustments for non-ASC 606 revenue (63) (64) (188) (197)
Total revenue from contracts with customers 330 379 1,031 1,146
Operating Segments | Mass Markets        
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]        
Total revenue 1,379 1,469 4,215 4,435
Adjustments for non-ASC 606 revenue (199) (209) (597) (629)
Total revenue from contracts with customers 1,180 1,260 3,618 3,806
Operating Segments | Mass Markets | Voice and Other        
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]        
Total revenue 502 578 1,561 1,772
Adjustments for non-ASC 606 revenue (20) (27) (60) (85)
Total revenue from contracts with customers 482 551 1,501 1,687
Operating Segments | Mass Markets | Consumer Broadband        
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]        
Total revenue 715 730 2,169 2,178
Adjustments for non-ASC 606 revenue (52) (56) (157) (164)
Total revenue from contracts with customers 663 674 2,012 2,014
Operating Segments | Mass Markets | SBG Broadband        
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]        
Total revenue 39 38 117 116
Adjustments for non-ASC 606 revenue (4) (3) (12) (11)
Total revenue from contracts with customers 35 35 105 105
Operating Segments | Mass Markets | CAF II        
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]        
Total revenue 123 123 368 369
Adjustments for non-ASC 606 revenue (123) (123) (368) (369)
Total revenue from contracts with customers $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0
v3.21.2
Revenue Recognition - Additional Information (Details) - USD ($)
$ in Millions
 3 Months Ended 9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2021
Sep. 30, 2020
Sep. 30, 2021
Sep. 30, 2020
Revenue from Contract with Customer [Abstract]        
Lease income $ 329 $ 332 $ 988 $ 998
Percent of operating revenue 7.00% 6.00% 7.00% 6.00%
Revenue, Initial Application Period Cumulative Effect Transition [Line Items]        
Revenue recognized $ 61 $ 58 $ 544 $ 612
Minimum        
Revenue, Initial Application Period Cumulative Effect Transition [Line Items]        
Contract term     1 year  
Maximum        
Revenue, Initial Application Period Cumulative Effect Transition [Line Items]        
Contract term     5 years  
Weighted Average | Consumer Customers        
Revenue, Initial Application Period Cumulative Effect Transition [Line Items]        
Length of customer life     30 months  
Weighted Average | Business Customers        
Revenue, Initial Application Period Cumulative Effect Transition [Line Items]        
Length of customer life     30 months  
v3.21.2
Revenue Recognition - Contract with Customer, Asset and Liability (Details) - USD ($)
$ in Millions
Sep. 30, 2021
Dec. 31, 2020
Capitalized Contract Cost [Line Items]    
Customer receivables $ 1,491 $ 1,889
Contract assets 71 108
Contract liabilities 703 950
Accounts receivable, gross 1,600 2,100
Allowance for doubtful accounts receivable 107 $ 174
Disposal Group, Held-for-sale, Not Discontinued Operations    
Capitalized Contract Cost [Line Items]    
Customer receivables 293  
Contract assets 10  
Contract liabilities $ 165  
v3.21.2
Revenue Recognition - Remaining Performance Obligation (Details)
$ in Billions
Sep. 30, 2021
USD ($)
Revenue from Contract with Customer [Abstract]  
Remaining performance obligation $ 6.4
Revenue, Remaining Performance Obligation, Expected Timing of Satisfaction, Start Date [Axis]: 2021-10-01  
Revenue, Remaining Performance Obligation, Expected Timing of Satisfaction [Line Items]  
Remaining performance obligation, percentage 70.00%
Remaining performance obligation, satisfaction period 2 years 3 months
v3.21.2
Revenue Recognition - Capitalized Contract Costs (Details) - USD ($)
$ in Millions
 3 Months Ended 9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2021
Sep. 30, 2020
Sep. 30, 2021
Sep. 30, 2020
Acquisition Costs        
Capitalized Contract Cost [Roll Forward]        
Beginning of period balance $ 271 $ 300 $ 289 $ 326
Costs incurred 43 45 132 130
Amortization (51) (53) (158) (164)
Reclassified as held for sale (35) 0 (35) 0
End of period balance 228 292 228 292
Fulfillment Costs        
Capitalized Contract Cost [Roll Forward]        
Beginning of period balance 217 219 216 221
Costs incurred 37 35 112 105
Amortization (37) (37) (111) (109)
Reclassified as held for sale (31) 0 (31) 0
End of period balance $ 186 $ 217 $ 186 $ 217
v3.21.2
Leases (Details)
$ in Millions
 3 Months Ended 9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2021
USD ($)
property
Sep. 30, 2021
USD ($)
Leases [Abstract]    
Number of ceased properties | property 23  
Accelerated lease costs | $ $ 35 $ 35
v3.21.2
Credit Losses on Financial Instruments (Details)
$ in Millions
 9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2021
USD ($)
Financing Receivable, Allowance for Credit Loss [Roll Forward]  
Beginning balance at January 1, 2020 $ 191
Provision for expected losses 80
Write-offs charged against the allowance (152)
Recoveries collected 22
Reclassified as held for sale (24)
Ending balance at September 30, 2021 117
Business  
Financing Receivable, Allowance for Credit Loss [Roll Forward]  
Beginning balance at January 1, 2020 109
Provision for expected losses 36
Write-offs charged against the allowance (58)
Recoveries collected 11
Reclassified as held for sale (8)
Ending balance at September 30, 2021 90
Mass Markets  
Financing Receivable, Allowance for Credit Loss [Roll Forward]  
Beginning balance at January 1, 2020 82
Provision for expected losses 44
Write-offs charged against the allowance (94)
Recoveries collected 11
Reclassified as held for sale (16)
Ending balance at September 30, 2021 27
Consumer Reclassed to Mass Markets  
Financing Receivable, Allowance for Credit Loss [Roll Forward]  
Beginning balance at January 1, 2020 70
Business Reclassed to Mass Markets  
Financing Receivable, Allowance for Credit Loss [Roll Forward]  
Beginning balance at January 1, 2020 $ 12
v3.21.2
Long-Term Debt and Credit Facilities - Schedule of Long Term Debt (Details) - USD ($)
$ in Millions
 9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2021
Dec. 31, 2020
Long-term Debt and Credit Facilities    
Finance lease and other obligations $ 352 $ 295
Unamortized premiums (discounts), net 23 (78)
Unamortized debt issuance costs (228) (237)
Total long-term debt 29,761 31,837
Less current maturities (2,501) (2,427)
Long-term debt, excluding current maturities 27,260 29,410
Lumen Technologies, Inc. | Credit facility | Revolving Credit Facility    
Long-term Debt and Credit Facilities    
Long-term debt, gross $ 0 150
Lumen Technologies, Inc. | Credit facility | Revolving Credit Facility | LIBOR    
Long-term Debt and Credit Facilities    
Basis spread (as a percent) 2.00%  
Lumen Technologies, Inc. | Term loan | Term Loan A    
Long-term Debt and Credit Facilities    
Long-term debt, gross $ 1,064 $ 1,108
Long-term debt, weighted average interest rate 2.085% 2.147%
Lumen Technologies, Inc. | Term loan | Term Loan A | LIBOR    
Long-term Debt and Credit Facilities    
Basis spread (as a percent) 2.00%  
Lumen Technologies, Inc. | Term loan | Term Loan A-1    
Long-term Debt and Credit Facilities    
Long-term debt, gross $ 304 $ 316
Long-term debt, weighted average interest rate 2.085% 2.147%
Lumen Technologies, Inc. | Term loan | Term Loan A-1 | LIBOR    
Long-term Debt and Credit Facilities    
Basis spread (as a percent) 2.00%  
Lumen Technologies, Inc. | Term loan | Term Loan B    
Long-term Debt and Credit Facilities    
Long-term debt, gross $ 4,913 $ 4,950
Long-term debt, weighted average interest rate 2.335% 2.397%
Lumen Technologies, Inc. | Term loan | Term Loan B | LIBOR    
Long-term Debt and Credit Facilities    
Basis spread (as a percent) 2.25%  
Lumen Technologies, Inc. | Senior notes | 4.000% Senior Secured Notes Due 2027    
Long-term Debt and Credit Facilities    
Stated interest rate 4.00%  
Long-term debt, gross $ 1,250 $ 1,250
Lumen Technologies, Inc. | Senior notes | Senior Notes Maturing 2022-2042    
Long-term Debt and Credit Facilities    
Long-term debt, gross $ 8,414 8,645
Lumen Technologies, Inc. | Senior notes | Senior Notes Maturing 2022-2042 | Minimum    
Long-term Debt and Credit Facilities    
Stated interest rate 4.50%  
Lumen Technologies, Inc. | Senior notes | Senior Notes Maturing 2022-2042 | Maximum    
Long-term Debt and Credit Facilities    
Stated interest rate 7.65%  
Level 3 Financing, Inc. | Term loan | Tranche B 2027 Term Loan    
Long-term Debt and Credit Facilities    
Long-term debt, gross $ 3,111 $ 3,111
Long-term debt, weighted average interest rate 1.835% 1.897%
Level 3 Financing, Inc. | Term loan | Tranche B 2027 Term Loan | LIBOR    
Long-term Debt and Credit Facilities    
Basis spread (as a percent) 1.75%  
Level 3 Financing, Inc. | Senior notes | Senior Notes, Maturing 2027-2029    
Long-term Debt and Credit Facilities    
Long-term debt, gross $ 1,500 $ 1,500
Level 3 Financing, Inc. | Senior notes | Senior Notes, Maturing 2027-2029 | Minimum    
Long-term Debt and Credit Facilities    
Stated interest rate 3.40%  
Level 3 Financing, Inc. | Senior notes | Senior Notes, Maturing 2027-2029 | Maximum    
Long-term Debt and Credit Facilities    
Stated interest rate 3.875%  
Level 3 Financing, Inc. | Senior notes | Senior Notes Maturing 2025-2029    
Long-term Debt and Credit Facilities    
Long-term debt, gross $ 5,515 5,515
Level 3 Financing, Inc. | Senior notes | Senior Notes Maturing 2025-2029 | Minimum    
Long-term Debt and Credit Facilities    
Stated interest rate 3.625%  
Level 3 Financing, Inc. | Senior notes | Senior Notes Maturing 2025-2029 | Maximum    
Long-term Debt and Credit Facilities    
Stated interest rate 5.375%  
Embarq Corporation and subsidiary | Senior notes    
Long-term Debt and Credit Facilities    
Stated interest rate 7.995%  
Long-term debt, gross $ 0 1,437
Embarq Corporation and subsidiary | First mortgage bonds    
Long-term Debt and Credit Facilities    
Long-term debt, gross $ 138 138
Embarq Corporation and subsidiary | First mortgage bonds | Minimum    
Long-term Debt and Credit Facilities    
Stated interest rate 7.125%  
Embarq Corporation and subsidiary | First mortgage bonds | Maximum    
Long-term Debt and Credit Facilities    
Stated interest rate 8.375%  
Qwest Corporation | Term loan    
Long-term Debt and Credit Facilities    
Long-term debt, gross $ 215 $ 215
Long-term debt, weighted average interest rate 2.09% 2.15%
Qwest Corporation | Term loan | LIBOR    
Long-term Debt and Credit Facilities    
Basis spread (as a percent) 2.00%  
Qwest Corporation | Senior notes    
Long-term Debt and Credit Facilities    
Long-term debt, gross $ 2,935 $ 3,170
Qwest Corporation | Senior notes | Minimum    
Long-term Debt and Credit Facilities    
Stated interest rate 6.50%  
Qwest Corporation | Senior notes | Maximum    
Long-term Debt and Credit Facilities    
Stated interest rate 7.75%  
Qwest Capital Funding, Inc. | Senior notes    
Long-term Debt and Credit Facilities    
Long-term debt, gross $ 255 $ 352
Qwest Capital Funding, Inc. | Senior notes | Minimum    
Long-term Debt and Credit Facilities    
Stated interest rate 6.875%  
Qwest Capital Funding, Inc. | Senior notes | Maximum    
Long-term Debt and Credit Facilities    
Stated interest rate 7.75%  
v3.21.2
Long-Term Debt and Credit Facilities - Schedule of Maturities of Long Term Debt (Details)
$ in Millions
Sep. 30, 2021
USD ($)
Long-term Debt, Fiscal Year Maturity  
2021 (remaining three months) $ 989
2022 1,551
2023 977
2024 1,158
2025 2,927
2026 and thereafter 22,364
Total long-term debt 29,966
Disposal Group, Held-for-sale, Not Discontinued Operations  
Long-term Debt, Fiscal Year Maturity  
Total long-term debt $ 1,500
v3.21.2
Long-Term Debt and Credit Facilities - Additional Information (Details) - USD ($)
$ in Millions
 9 Months Ended
Jun. 15, 2021
Jan. 13, 2021
Sep. 30, 2021
Long-term Debt and Credit Facilities      
Repayments of debt     $ 2,700
Gain on extinguishment of debt     8
Term loan      
Long-term Debt and Credit Facilities      
Repayments of debt     94
Qwest Capital Funding, Inc. | Senior notes      
Long-term Debt and Credit Facilities      
Repayments of debt     97
Lumen Technologies, Inc. | Senior notes | 5.375% Senior Notes Due 2029      
Long-term Debt and Credit Facilities      
Face amount $ 1,000    
Stated interest rate 5.375%    
Lumen Technologies, Inc. | Senior notes      
Long-term Debt and Credit Facilities      
Repayments of debt     1,200
Lumen Technologies, Inc. | Senior notes | 6.450% Senior Notes, Series S, Due 2021      
Long-term Debt and Credit Facilities      
Stated interest rate 6.45%    
Outstanding debt repaid $ 1,200    
Lumen Technologies, Inc. | Credit facility | Revolving Credit Facility      
Long-term Debt and Credit Facilities      
Repayments of debt     150
Level 3 Financing, Inc. | Senior notes      
Long-term Debt and Credit Facilities      
Outstanding debt repaid   $ 900  
Level 3 Financing, Inc. | Senior notes | 3.750% Sustainability-Linked Senior Notes 2029      
Long-term Debt and Credit Facilities      
Face amount   $ 900  
Stated interest rate   3.75%  
Level 3 Financing, Inc. | Senior notes      
Long-term Debt and Credit Facilities      
Repayments of debt     900
Qwest Corporation | Senior notes      
Long-term Debt and Credit Facilities      
Repayments of debt     $ 235
v3.21.2
Property, Plant, and Equipment - Schedule (Details) - USD ($)
$ in Millions
Sep. 30, 2021
Dec. 31, 2020
Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items]    
Gross property, plant and equipment $ 42,953 $ 57,934
Accumulated depreciation (22,027) (31,596)
Net property, plant and equipment 20,926 26,338
Land    
Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items]    
Gross property, plant and equipment 751 848
Fiber, conduit and other outside plant    
Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items]    
Gross property, plant and equipment 18,500 26,522
Central office and other network electronics    
Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items]    
Gross property, plant and equipment 15,265 20,692
Support assets    
Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items]    
Gross property, plant and equipment 7,147 8,261
Construction in progress    
Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items]    
Gross property, plant and equipment $ 1,290 $ 1,611
v3.21.2
Property, Plant, and Equipment - Additional Information (Details) - USD ($)
$ in Millions
 3 Months Ended 9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2021
Sep. 30, 2020
Sep. 30, 2021
Sep. 30, 2020
Property, Plant and Equipment [Abstract]        
Depreciation $ 645 $ 750 $ 2,100 $ 2,200
v3.21.2
Severance (Details) - Severance
$ in Millions
 9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2021
USD ($)
Restructuring reserve  
Balance at the beginning of the period $ 103
Accrued to expense 0
Payments, net (64)
Balance at the end of the period $ 39
v3.21.2
Employee Benefits (Details) - USD ($)
$ in Millions
 3 Months Ended 9 Months Ended 12 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2021
Sep. 30, 2020
Sep. 30, 2021
Sep. 30, 2020
Dec. 31, 2020
Components of net periodic (benefit) expense          
Net actuarial loss recognized in accumulated other comprehensive income $ (214) $ (38) $ (290) $ (115)  
Change in net actuarial loss, tax (69) (12) (93) (37)  
Combined Pension Plan          
Components of net periodic (benefit) expense          
Service cost 14 15 42 44  
Interest cost 49 81 148 243  
Expected return on plan assets (138) (147) (414) (445)  
Settlements 57 0 57 0  
Recognition of prior service credit (2) (3) (7) (7)  
Recognition of actuarial loss 49 50 147 152  
Net periodic benefit expense (income) 29 (4) $ (27) (13)  
Discount rate     2.79%   2.43%
Net actuarial loss recognized in accumulated other comprehensive income     $ (133)    
Change in net actuarial loss, tax     43    
Post-Retirement Benefit Plans          
Components of net periodic (benefit) expense          
Service cost 4 4 11 11  
Interest cost 12 17 35 57  
Recognition of prior service credit 3 4 11 12  
Recognition of actuarial loss 2 0 4 0  
Curtailment loss 0 7 0 7  
Net periodic benefit expense (income) $ 21 $ 32 $ 61 $ 87  
v3.21.2
Earnings Per Common Share (Details) - USD ($)
$ / shares in Units, shares in Thousands, $ in Millions
 3 Months Ended 9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2021
Sep. 30, 2020
Sep. 30, 2021
Sep. 30, 2020
(Loss) Income (Numerator):        
Net income $ 544 $ 366 $ 1,525 $ 1,057
Net income applicable to common stock for computing basic earnings per common share 544 366 1,525 1,057
Net income as adjusted for purposes of computing diluted earnings per common share $ 544 $ 366 $ 1,525 $ 1,057
Weighted-average number of shares:        
Outstanding during period (in shares) 1,079,917 1,097,496 1,095,223 1,096,017
Non-vested restricted stock (in shares) (17,833) (16,991) (18,117) (17,345)
Weighted average shares outstanding for computing basic earnings per common share (in shares) 1,062,084 1,080,505 1,077,106 1,078,672
Incremental common shares attributable to dilutive securities:        
Shares issuable under convertible securities (in shares) 10 10 10 10
Shares issuable under incentive compensation plans (in shares) 7,063 5,151 6,763 4,686
Number of shares as adjusted for purposes of computing diluted earnings (loss) per common share (in shares) 1,069,157 1,085,666 1,083,879 1,083,368
Basic earnings per common share (in dollars per share) $ 0.51 $ 0.34 $ 1.42 $ 0.98
Diluted earnings per common share (in dollars per share) $ 0.51 $ 0.34 $ 1.41 $ 0.98
Number of shares of common stock excluded from the computation of diluted earnings per share (less than) (in shares) 3,900 400 3,000 4,000
v3.21.2
Fair Value of Financial Instruments (Details) - Fair Value Measurements Determined on a Nonrecurring Basis - Fair Value Inputs, Level 2 - USD ($)
$ in Millions
Sep. 30, 2021
Dec. 31, 2020
Carrying Amount    
Fair value disclosure    
Long-term debt, excluding finance lease and other obligations $ 29,409 $ 31,542
Interest rate swap contracts (see Note 13) 47 107
Carrying Amount | Disposal Group, Held-for-sale, Not Discontinued Operations    
Fair value disclosure    
Long-term debt, excluding finance lease and other obligations 1,400  
Fair Value    
Fair value disclosure    
Long-term debt, excluding finance lease and other obligations 30,309 33,217
Interest rate swap contracts (see Note 13) 47 $ 107
Fair Value | Disposal Group, Held-for-sale, Not Discontinued Operations    
Fair value disclosure    
Long-term debt, excluding finance lease and other obligations $ 1,500  
v3.21.2
Derivative Financial Instruments - Fair Value of Derivatives (Details) - USD ($)
$ in Millions
Sep. 30, 2021
Dec. 31, 2020
Cash Flow Hedging | Interest Rate Swap | Designated as Hedging Instrument    
Derivatives, Fair Value [Line Items]    
Fair Value $ 47 $ 107
v3.21.2
Derivative Financial Instruments - Losses Recognized in OCI (Details) - USD ($)
$ in Millions
 3 Months Ended 9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2021
Sep. 30, 2020
Sep. 30, 2021
Sep. 30, 2020
Designated as Hedging Instrument | Interest Rate Swap        
Derivative Instruments, Gain (Loss) [Line Items]        
Loss recognized in other comprehensive income $ 1 $ (1) $ 1 $ 115
v3.21.2
Derivative Financial Instruments - Reclassification from AOCI (Details) - USD ($)
$ in Millions
 3 Months Ended 9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2021
Sep. 30, 2020
Sep. 30, 2021
Sep. 30, 2020
Reclassification Adjustment out of Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income on Derivatives [Line Items]        
Realized losses reclassified from AOCI $ 16 $ 15 $ 47 $ 31
Interest Rate Swap | Designated as Hedging Instrument        
Reclassification Adjustment out of Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income on Derivatives [Line Items]        
Realized losses reclassified from AOCI $ 21 $ 20 $ 62 $ 41
v3.21.2
Derivative Financial Instruments - Additional Information (Details)
$ in Millions
 9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2021
USD ($)
Interest Rate Swap  
Derivative [Line Items]  
Reclassification in next twelve months $ 47
v3.21.2
Segment Information - Additional Information (Details)
 1 Months Ended 9 Months Ended
Jan. 31, 2021
segement
Sep. 30, 2021
segment
sales_channel
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]    
Number of operating segments | segment   2
Number of reportable segments 2 2
Business    
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]    
Number of sales channels | sales_channel   4
v3.21.2
Segment Information - Segment Results and Operating Revenue (Details) - USD ($)
$ in Millions
 3 Months Ended 9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2021
Sep. 30, 2020
Sep. 30, 2021
Sep. 30, 2020
Operating revenues by products and services        
Revenues $ 4,887 $ 5,167 $ 14,840 $ 15,587
Cost of services and products 2,151 2,236 6,402 6,703
Selling, general and administrative 654 850 2,172 2,598
Less: share-based compensation (27) (31) (89) (120)
Total expense 2,778 3,055 8,485 9,181
Total adjusted EBITDA 2,109 2,112 6,355 6,406
Operating Segments        
Operating revenues by products and services        
Revenues 4,887 5,167 14,840 15,587
Cost of services and products 904 967 2,729 2,890
Selling, general and administrative 421 447 1,308 1,407
Less: share-based compensation 0 0 0 0
Total expense 1,325 1,414 4,037 4,297
Total adjusted EBITDA 3,562 3,753 10,803 11,290
Operating Segments | Business        
Operating revenues by products and services        
Revenues 3,508 3,698 10,625 11,152
Cost of services and products 868 912 2,611 2,738
Selling, general and administrative 296 299 900 975
Less: share-based compensation 0 0 0 0
Total expense 1,164 1,211 3,511 3,713
Total adjusted EBITDA 2,344 2,487 7,114 7,439
Operating Segments | Mass Markets        
Operating revenues by products and services        
Revenues 1,379 1,469 4,215 4,435
Cost of services and products 36 55 118 152
Selling, general and administrative 125 148 408 432
Less: share-based compensation 0 0 0 0
Total expense 161 203 526 584
Total adjusted EBITDA 1,218 1,266 3,689 3,851
Operations and Other        
Operating revenues by products and services        
Revenues 0 0 0 0
Cost of services and products 1,247 1,269 3,673 3,813
Selling, general and administrative 233 403 864 1,191
Less: share-based compensation (27) (31) (89) (120)
Total expense 1,453 1,641 4,448 4,884
Total adjusted EBITDA $ (1,453) $ (1,641) $ (4,448) $ (4,884)
v3.21.2
Segment Information - Reconciliation (Details) - USD ($)
$ in Millions
 3 Months Ended 9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2021
Sep. 30, 2020
Sep. 30, 2021
Sep. 30, 2020
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]        
Total adjusted EBITDA $ 2,109 $ 2,112 $ 6,355 $ 6,406
Depreciation and amortization (951) (1,193) (3,142) (3,515)
OPERATING INCOME 1,131 888 3,124 2,771
Total other expense, net (415) (408) (1,102) (1,345)
INCOME BEFORE INCOME TAXES 716 480 2,022 1,426
Income tax expense 172 114 497 369
NET INCOME 544 366 1,525 1,057
Operating Segments        
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]        
Total adjusted EBITDA 3,562 3,753 10,803 11,290
Operations and Other        
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]        
Total adjusted EBITDA (1,453) (1,641) (4,448) (4,884)
Depreciation and amortization (951) (1,193) (3,142) (3,515)
Other operating expenses (1,453) (1,641) (4,448) (4,884)
Stock-based compensation (27) (31) (89) (120)
OPERATING INCOME 1,131 888 3,124 2,771
Total other expense, net $ (415) $ (408) $ (1,102) $ (1,345)
v3.21.2
Commitments and Contingencies and Other Items (Details)
$ in Thousands
 1 Months Ended
Jun. 30, 2021
USD ($)
lawsuit
Feb. 28, 2017
USD ($)
lawsuit
Sep. 30, 2021
USD ($)
Dec. 31, 2005
USD ($)
subsidiary
Loss Contingencies        
Estimate of possible loss     $ 104,000  
Patents allegedly infringed | lawsuit   1    
Unfavorable Regulatory Action        
Loss Contingencies        
Estimate of possible loss     300  
Missouri Municipalities | Judicial ruling        
Loss Contingencies        
Patents allegedly infringed | lawsuit   1    
Litigation settlement amount   $ 4,000    
Columbia and Joplin Municipalities | Judicial ruling        
Loss Contingencies        
Patents allegedly infringed | lawsuit 1      
Litigation settlement amount $ 55,000      
Peruvian Tax Litigation | Pending litigation        
Loss Contingencies        
Number of subsidiaries issues with tax assessment | subsidiary       1
Loss contingency, asserted claim       $ 26,000
Brazilian Tax Claims | Pending litigation | Maximum        
Loss Contingencies        
Loss contingency, range of possible loss, portion not accrued     $ 47,000  
v3.21.2
Other Financial Information (Details) - USD ($)
$ in Millions
Sep. 30, 2021
Dec. 31, 2020
Prepaid Expenses and Other Current Assets [Abstract]    
Prepaid expenses $ 294 $ 290
Income tax receivable 15 7
Materials, supplies and inventory 103 105
Contract assets 49 66
Note receivable 56 0
Receivable for sale of land 56 0
Other 22 53
Total other current assets 843 808
Acquisition Costs    
Prepaid Expenses and Other Current Assets [Abstract]    
Contract costs 144 173
Fulfillment Costs    
Prepaid Expenses and Other Current Assets [Abstract]    
Contract costs $ 104 $ 114
v3.21.2
Repurchases of Lumen Common Stock (Details) - USD ($)
shares in Millions
 1 Months Ended 3 Months Ended 9 Months Ended
Aug. 03, 2021
Oct. 31, 2021
Sep. 30, 2021
Sep. 30, 2021
Equity [Abstract]        
Repurchase program, period 24 months      
Repurchase program, authorized amount $ 1,000,000,000      
Equity, Class of Treasury Stock [Line Items]        
Number of shares repurchased     73.8 73.8
Repurchases of common stock     $ 909,000,000 $ 909,000,000
Subsequent Event        
Equity, Class of Treasury Stock [Line Items]        
Number of shares repurchased   3.5    
Repurchases of common stock   $ 45,000,000    
v3.21.2
Accumulated Other Comprehensive Loss - AOCI Activity (Details) - USD ($)
$ in Millions
 3 Months Ended 9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2021
Sep. 30, 2020
Sep. 30, 2021
Sep. 30, 2020
AOCI Attributable to Parent, Net of Tax [Roll Forward]        
Balance at beginning of period     $ 11,162  
Other comprehensive loss before reclassifications     29 $ (268)
Amounts reclassified from accumulated other comprehensive loss     207 153
Other comprehensive income (loss) $ 133 $ 107 236 (115)
Balance at end of period 11,183 13,689 11,183 13,689
Defined Benefit Plan | Pension Plans        
AOCI Attributable to Parent, Net of Tax [Roll Forward]        
Balance at beginning of period     (2,197) (2,229)
Other comprehensive loss before reclassifications     133 0
Amounts reclassified from accumulated other comprehensive loss     149 110
Other comprehensive income (loss)     282 110
Balance at end of period (1,915) (2,119) (1,915) (2,119)
Defined Benefit Plan | Post-Retirement Benefit Plans        
AOCI Attributable to Parent, Net of Tax [Roll Forward]        
Balance at beginning of period     (272) (184)
Other comprehensive loss before reclassifications     0 0
Amounts reclassified from accumulated other comprehensive loss     11 12
Other comprehensive income (loss)     11 12
Balance at end of period (261) (172) (261) (172)
Foreign Currency Translation Adjustment and Other        
AOCI Attributable to Parent, Net of Tax [Roll Forward]        
Balance at beginning of period     (265) (228)
Other comprehensive loss before reclassifications     (103) (181)
Amounts reclassified from accumulated other comprehensive loss     0 0
Other comprehensive income (loss)     (103) (181)
Balance at end of period (368) (409) (368) (409)
Interest Rate Swap        
AOCI Attributable to Parent, Net of Tax [Roll Forward]        
Balance at beginning of period     (79) (39)
Other comprehensive loss before reclassifications     (1) (87)
Amounts reclassified from accumulated other comprehensive loss     47 31
Other comprehensive income (loss)     46 (56)
Balance at end of period (33) (95) (33) (95)
Accumulated Other Comprehensive Loss        
AOCI Attributable to Parent, Net of Tax [Roll Forward]        
Balance at beginning of period (2,710) (2,902) (2,813) (2,680)
Other comprehensive income (loss) 133 107 236 (115)
Balance at end of period $ (2,577) $ (2,795) $ (2,577) $ (2,795)
v3.21.2
Accumulated Other Comprehensive Loss - Reclassifications (Details) - USD ($)
$ in Millions
 3 Months Ended 9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2021
Sep. 30, 2020
Sep. 30, 2021
Sep. 30, 2020
Reclassifications out of accumulated other comprehensive income loss by component        
Interest expense $ 377 $ 409 $ 1,150 $ 1,272
Other (expense) income, net (38) 1 48 (73)
Total before tax 716 480 2,022 1,426
Income tax expense (172) (114) (497) (369)
Net of tax 544 366 1,525 1,057
Decrease (Increase) in Net Income | Interest rate swaps        
Reclassifications out of accumulated other comprehensive income loss by component        
Interest expense 21 20 62 41
Income tax expense (5) (5) (15) (10)
Net of tax 16 15 47 31
Decrease (Increase) in Net Income | Net actuarial loss        
Reclassifications out of accumulated other comprehensive income loss by component        
Other (expense) income, net 108 50 208 152
Decrease (Increase) in Net Income | Prior service cost        
Reclassifications out of accumulated other comprehensive income loss by component        
Other (expense) income, net 1 1 4 5
Decrease (Increase) in Net Income | Curtailment loss        
Reclassifications out of accumulated other comprehensive income loss by component        
Other (expense) income, net   4   4
Decrease (Increase) in Net Income | Defined benefit plan        
Reclassifications out of accumulated other comprehensive income loss by component        
Total before tax 109 55 212 161
Income tax expense (27) (13) (52) (39)
Net of tax $ 82 $ 42 $ 160 $ 122
v3.21.2
Labor Union Contracts (Details) - Unionized employees concentration risk
 9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2021
Total number of employees  
Concentration risk  
Concentration risk, percent 22.00%
Workforce subject to collective bargaining arrangements expiring within one year  
Concentration risk  
Concentration risk, percent 9.00%
v3.21.2
Subsequent Events (Details)
$ / shares in Units, shares in Millions, $ in Millions
 1 Months Ended 2 Months Ended 3 Months Ended 9 Months Ended
Oct. 05, 2021
USD ($)
shares
Oct. 31, 2021
USD ($)
shares
Oct. 05, 2021
$ / shares
shares
Dec. 31, 2021
USD ($)
retiree
Sep. 30, 2021
USD ($)
shares
Sep. 30, 2021
USD ($)
shares
Subsequent Event [Line Items]            
Number of shares repurchased | shares         73.8 73.8
Repurchases of common stock         $ 909 $ 909
August 2021 Stock Repurchase Program            
Subsequent Event [Line Items]            
Number of shares repurchased | shares           3.5
Repurchases of common stock           $ 45
Subsequent Event            
Subsequent Event [Line Items]            
Number of shares repurchased | shares   3.5        
Repurchases of common stock   $ 45        
Subsequent Event | August 2021 Stock Repurchase Program            
Subsequent Event [Line Items]            
Number of shares repurchased | shares 3.6   80.9      
Repurchases of common stock $ 46          
Average purchase price (in dollars per share) | $ / shares     $ 12.36      
US | Forecast            
Subsequent Event [Line Items]            
Pension liability       $ 1,400    
Combined Pension Plan | Forecast            
Subsequent Event [Line Items]            
Pension settlement charges       $ 350    
Combined Pension Plan | US | Forecast            
Subsequent Event [Line Items]            
Number of retirees | retiree       22,600    
v3.21.2
Label Element Value
Business Segment [Member]  
Goodwill us-gaap_Goodwill $ 6,697,000,000
Mass Market Segment [Member]  
Goodwill us-gaap_Goodwill 12,173,000,000
Wholesale [Member]  
Goodwill us-gaap_Goodwill (3,114,000,000)
Consumer [Member]  
Goodwill us-gaap_Goodwill (5,655,000,000)
International and Global Accounts [Member]  
Goodwill us-gaap_Goodwill (2,555,000,000)
Enterprise [Member]  
Goodwill us-gaap_Goodwill (4,738,000,000)
Small and Medium Business [Member]  
Goodwill us-gaap_Goodwill $ (2,808,000,000)
Cumulative Effect, Period of Adoption, Adjustment [Member] | Retained Earnings [Member]  
Accounting Standards Update [Extensible Enumeration] us-gaap_AccountingStandardsUpdateExtensibleList Accounting Standards Update 2016-13 [Member]