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Wireless Licenses, Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets | 12 Months Ended
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Dec. 31, 2024
Goodwill and Intangible Assets Disclosure [Abstract] |
Wireless Licenses, Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets |
Note 4. Wireless Licenses, Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets
Wireless Licenses The carrying amounts of Wireless licenses are as follows:
| (dollars in millions)
At December 31, | 2024 |  | 2023
Wireless licenses | $ | 156,613 |  |  | $ | 155,667 |
During 2024 and 2023, we made payments of $269 million and $4.3 billion, respectively, for obligations related to clearing costs and accelerated clearing incentives for wireless licenses in connection with Auction 107. See Note 3 for additional information. At December 31, 2024 and 2023, approximately $10.1 billion and $15.0 billion, respectively, of wireless licenses were under development for commercial service for which we were capitalizing interest costs. We recorded $616 million and $1.4 billion of capitalized interest on wireless licenses for the years ended December 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively. During 2024 and 2023, we renewed various wireless licenses in accordance with FCC regulations with an average renewal period of 10 years. See Note 1 for additional information. As discussed in Note 1, we test our wireless licenses for potential impairment annually or more frequently if impairment indicators are present. In 2023, we performed a qualitative impairment assessment, which indicated it was more likely than not that the fair value of our wireless licenses remained above their carrying amount and, therefore, did not result in an impairment. In 2024, we performed a quantitative impairment assessment, in accordance with our policy, which compared the estimated fair value of our aggregate wireless licenses, estimated using the Greenfield approach, to the aggregate carrying amount of the licenses as of the test date. Our annual assessment in 2024 indicated that the fair value of our wireless licenses exceeded the carrying value and, therefore, did not result in an impairment. Our strategy requires significant capital investments primarily to acquire wireless spectrum, put the spectrum into service, provide additional capacity for growth in our networks, invest in the fiber that supports our businesses, evolve and maintain our networks and develop and maintain significant advanced information technology systems and data system capabilities. Goodwill Changes in the carrying amount of Goodwill are as follows:
(dollars in millions) | Consumer |  | Business |  |  |  |  |  | Other |  | Total
Balance at January 1, 2023(1) | $ | 21,142 |  |  | $ | 7,502 |  |  |  |  |  |  | $ | 27 |  |  | $ | 28,671 |
Acquisitions | 35 |  |  | — |  |  |  |  |  |  | — |  |  | 35 |
Verizon Business Group goodwill impairment | — |  |  | (5,841) |  |  |  |  |  |  | — |  |  | (5,841) |
Reclassifications, adjustments and other(2) | — |  |  | 5 |  |  |  |  |  |  | (27) |  |  | (22) |
Balance at December 31, 2023(3) | 21,177 |  |  | 1,666 |  |  |  |  |  |  | — |  |  | 22,843 |
Reclassifications, adjustments and other | — |  |  | (2) |  |  |  |  |  |  | — |  |  | (2) |
Balance at December 31, 2024(3) | $ | 21,177 |  |  | $ | 1,664 |  |  |  |  |  |  | $ | — |  |  | $ | 22,841 |
(1) Goodwill balances are net of an accumulated impairment charge of $16 million presented within both Other and Total. (2) Includes a goodwill impairment charge of $27 million related to non-strategic businesses presented within Other, recorded in Selling, general and administrative expense in our consolidated statement of income for the year ended December 31, 2023. (3) Goodwill balances are net of accumulated impairment charges of $5.8 billion, $43 million and $5.9 billion presented within Business, Other and Total, respectively. During the fourth quarter of 2023, we performed a qualitative impairment assessment for our Consumer reporting unit. Our qualitative assessment indicated that it was more likely than not that the fair value of our Consumer reporting unit exceeded its carrying value and, therefore, did not result in an impairment. During the fourth quarter of 2024, we performed a quantitative impairment assessment for our Consumer reporting unit in accordance with our policy. We applied a combination of a market approach and a discounted cash flow method reflecting current assumptions and inputs, including our revised projections, discount rate and expected growth rates. Our assessment indicated that the fair value of our Consumer reporting unit exceeded its carrying value and, therefore, did not result in an impairment. During the fourth quarter of 2023, we performed a quantitative impairment assessment for our Business reporting unit given the low excess of fair value over carrying value identified in our 2022 annual impairment assessment and increased competitive and market pressures experienced throughout 2023. These pressures resulted in lower projected cash flows primarily driven by secular declines in wireline services and products across our Business customer groups. In connection with Verizon’s annual budget process in the fourth quarter of 2023, leadership completed a comprehensive five-year strategic planning review of our Business reporting unit resulting in declines in financial projections driven by market dynamics as compared to the prior year five-year strategic planning cycle. The revised projections were used as a key input into the Business reporting unit’s annual goodwill impairment test performed in the fourth quarter of 2023. In addition, changes in the macroeconomic environment, including interest rate and inflationary pressures also impacted the fair value of the reporting unit. We applied a combination of a market approach and a discounted cash flow method reflecting current assumptions and inputs, including our revised projections, discount rate and expected growth rates, which resulted in the determination that the fair value of our Business reporting unit was less than its carrying amount. As a result, in the fourth quarter of 2023, we recorded a noncash goodwill impairment charge of approximately $5.8 billion ($5.8 billion after-tax) in our consolidated statement of income. During the fourth quarter of 2024, we performed a quantitative impairment assessment for our Business reporting unit given the impairment of the Business reporting unit's goodwill in the prior year. In addition, the Business reporting unit has continued to experience competitive and market pressures throughout 2024, that may persist over the near term. We applied a combination of a market approach and a discounted cash flow method reflecting current assumptions and inputs, including our revised projections, discount rate and expected growth rates, which indicated that the fair value of our Business reporting unit exceeded its carrying value and, therefore, did not result in an impairment. We do not anticipate reasonable changes in significant assumptions to change the outcome of the quantitative impairment assessment. However, management believes there is a continued risk that our Business reporting unit may be required to recognize an impairment charge in the future. A projected sustained decline in the reporting unit's revenues and earnings could have a significant negative impact on its fair value and could result in impairment charges. Such a decline could be driven by, among other things: (1) decreases in sales volumes or long-term growth rate as a result of competitive pressures or other factors; or (2) the inability to achieve or delays in achieving the goals in strategic initiatives. Adverse changes to macroeconomic factors, such as increases in long-term interest rates, would also negatively impact the fair value of the reporting unit. Other Intangible Assets The following table displays the composition of Other intangible assets, net as well as the respective amortization period:
|  |  |  |  |  |  | (dollars in millions)
|  |  |  |  | 2024 |  |  |  |  |  | 2023
At December 31, | Gross Amount |  | Accumulated Amortization |  | Net Amount |  | Gross Amount |  | Accumulated Amortization |  | Net Amount
Customer lists (5 to 13 years) | $ | 4,242 |  |  | $ | (2,629) |  |  | $ | 1,613 |  |  | $ | 4,335 |  |  | $ | (2,193) |  |  | $ | 2,142 |
Non-network internal-use software (3 to 7 years) | 28,136 |  |  | (19,743) |  |  | 8,393 |  |  | 25,524 |  |  | (17,949) |  |  | 7,575 |
Other (4 to 25 years) | 2,664 |  |  | (1,541) |  |  | 1,123 |  |  | 2,656 |  |  | (1,316) |  |  | 1,340 |
Total | $ | 35,042 |  |  | $ | (23,913) |  |  | $ | 11,129 |  |  | $ | 32,515 |  |  | $ | (21,458) |  |  | $ | 11,057 |
The amortization expense for Other intangible assets was as follows:
Years | (dollars in millions)
2024 | $ | 2,781 |
2023 | 2,687 |
2022 | 2,507 |
Estimated annual amortization expense for Other intangible assets is as follows:
Years | (dollars in millions)
2025 | $ | 2,825 |
2026 | 2,571 |
2027 | 2,025 |
2028 | 1,549 |
2029 | 887 |

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