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Operating Segments and Concentrations of Credit Risk
 12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2021
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]  
Operating Segments and Concentrations of Credit Risks Operating Segments and Concentrations of Credit Risk
Operating Segments
The Company's operating segments consist of (1) Towers and (2) Fiber. The Towers segment provides access, including space or capacity, to the Company's more than 40,000 towers geographically dispersed throughout the U.S. The Towers segment also reflects certain ancillary services relating to the Company's towers, predominately consisting of site development services and installation services. The Fiber segment provides access, including space or capacity, to the Company's more than 80,000 route miles of fiber primarily supporting small cell networks and fiber solutions geographically dispersed throughout the U.S.
The measurements of profit or loss used by the Company's chief operating decision maker ("CODM") to evaluate the performance of its operating segments are (1) segment site rental gross margin, (2) segment services and other gross margin and (3) segment operating profit. The Company defines segment site rental gross margin as segment site rental revenues less segment site rental costs of operations, excluding stock-based compensation expense and prepaid lease purchase price adjustments recorded in consolidated site rental costs of operations. The Company defines segment services and other gross margin as segment services and other revenues less segment services and other costs of operations, excluding stock-based compensation expense recorded in consolidated services and other costs of operations. The Company defines segment operating profit as segment site rental gross margin plus segment services and other gross margin, and segment other operating (income) expense, less selling, general and administrative expenses attributable to the respective segment. All of these measurements of profit or loss are exclusive of depreciation, amortization and accretion, which are shown separately.
Costs that are directly attributable to Towers and Fiber are assigned to those respective segments. Additionally, certain costs are shared across segments and are reflected in the Company's segment measures through allocations that management believes to be reasonable. The "Other" column (1) represents amounts excluded from specific segments, such as asset write-down charges, acquisition and integration costs, depreciation, amortization and accretion, amortization of prepaid lease purchase price adjustments, interest expense and amortization of deferred financing costs, gains (losses) on retirement of long-term obligations, interest income, other income (expense), income (loss) from discontinued operations, and stock-based compensation expense, and (2) reconciles segment operating profit to income (loss) before income taxes, as the amounts are not utilized in assessing each segment’s performance. The "Other" total assets balance includes corporate assets such as cash and cash equivalents which have not been allocated to specific segments. There are no significant revenues resulting from transactions between the Company's operating segments.
Year Ended December 31, 2021
TowersFiberOtherConsolidated
Total
Segment site rental revenues$3,804 $1,915 $5,719 
Segment services and other revenues601 20 621 
Segment revenues4,405 1,935 6,340 
Segment site rental costs of operations889 633 1,522 
Segment services and other costs of operations414 17 431 
Segment costs of operations(a)(b)
1,303 650 1,953 
Segment site rental gross margin2,915 1,282 4,197 
Segment services and other gross margin187 3 190 
Segment selling, general and administrative expenses(b)
107 174 281 
Segment operating profit (loss)
2,995 1,111 4,106 
Other selling, general and administrative expenses(b)
$290 290 
Stock-based compensation expense131 131 
Depreciation, amortization and accretion
1,644 1,644 
Interest expense and amortization of deferred financing costs
657 657 
Other (income) expenses to reconcile to income (loss) before income taxes(c)
205 205 
Income (loss) before income taxes
$1,179 
Capital expenditures$221 $956 $52 $1,229 
Total assets (at year end)$22,318 $15,876 $846 $39,040 
Total goodwill (at year end)$5,127 $4,951 $— $10,078 
(a)Exclusive of depreciation, amortization and accretion shown separately.
(b)Segment costs of operations for the year ended December 31, 2021 excludes (1) stock-based compensation expense of $22 million and (2) prepaid lease purchase price adjustments of $18 million. For the year ended December 31, 2021, segment selling, general and administrative expenses exclude stock-based compensation expense of $109 million.
(c)See consolidated statement of operations for further information.
Year Ended December 31, 2020
TowersFiberOtherConsolidated
Total
Segment site rental revenues$3,497 $1,823 $5,320 
Segment services and other revenues500 20 520 
Segment revenues3,997 1,843 5,840 
Segment site rental costs of operations866 620 1,486 
Segment services and other costs of operations429 12 441 
Segment costs of operations(a)(b)
1,295 632 1,927 
Segment site rental gross margin2,631 1,203 3,834 
Segment services and other gross margin71 8 79 
Segment selling, general and administrative expenses(b)
100 186 286 
Segment other operating (income) expense(c)
— (362)(362)
Segment operating profit (loss)
2,602 1,387 3,989 
Other selling, general and administrative expenses(b)
$283 283 
Stock-based compensation expense133 133 
Depreciation, amortization and accretion
1,608 1,608 
Interest expense and amortization of deferred financing costs
689 689 
Other (income) expenses to reconcile to income (loss) before income taxes(d)
200 200 
Income (loss) before income taxes
$1,076 
Capital expenditures$335 $1,232 $57 $1,624 
Total assets (at year end)$22,242 $15,746 $780 $38,768 
Total goodwill (at year end)$5,127 $4,951 $— $10,078 
(a)Exclusive of depreciation, amortization and accretion shown separately.
(b)Segment costs of operations for the year ended December 31, 2020 excludes (1) stock-based compensation expense of $24 million and (2) prepaid lease purchase price adjustments of $18 million. For the year ended December 31, 2020, segment selling, general and administrative expenses exclude stock-based compensation expense of $109 million.
(c)See note 15 for further information.
(d)See consolidated statement of operations for further information.
Year Ended December 31, 2019
TowersFiberOtherConsolidated
Total
Segment site rental revenues$3,389 $1,704 $5,093 
Segment services and other revenues653 17 670 
Segment revenues4,042 1,721 5,763 
Segment site rental costs of operations864 559 1,423 
Segment services and other costs of operations506 11 517 
Segment costs of operations(a)(b)
1,370 570 1,940 
Segment site rental gross margin2,525 1,145 3,670 
Segment services and other gross margin147 6 153 
Segment selling, general and administrative expenses(b)
96 195 291 
Segment operating profit (loss)
2,576 956 3,532 
Other selling, general and administrative expenses(b)
$233 233 
Stock-based compensation expense116 116 
Depreciation, amortization and accretion
1,572 1,572 
Interest expense and amortization of deferred financing costs
683 683 
Other (income) expenses to reconcile to income (loss) before income taxes(c)
47 47 
Income (loss) before income taxes
$881 
Capital expenditures$543 $1,473 $41 $2,057 
Total assets (at year end)$22,357 $15,389 $711 $38,457 
Total goodwill (at year end)$5,127 $4,951 $— $10,078 
(a)Exclusive of depreciation, amortization and accretion shown separately.
(b)Segment costs of operations for the year ended December 31, 2019 excludes (1) stock-based compensation expense of $26 million and (2) prepaid lease purchase price adjustments of $20 million. For the year ended December 31, 2019, segment selling, general and administrative expenses exclude stock-based compensation expense of $90 million.
(c)See consolidated statement of operations for further information.
Major Tenants
The following table summarizes the percentage of the consolidated revenues for those tenants accounting for more than 10% of the consolidated revenues.
 Years Ended December 31,
 2021
2020(a)
2019
T-Mobile 35 %36 %22 %
AT&T 20 %22 %21 %
Verizon Wireless20 %19 %19 %
Sprint — %— %14 %
Total75 %77 %76 %
(a)For the year ended December 31, 2020, revenues attributable to T-Mobile include revenues previously derived from Sprint. On April 1, 2020, T-Mobile and Sprint announced the completion of their previously disclosed merger.
Concentrations of Credit Risk
Financial instruments that potentially subject the Company to concentrations of credit risk are primarily cash and cash equivalents, restricted cash and trade receivables. The Company mitigates its risk with respect to cash and cash equivalents by maintaining such deposits at high credit quality financial institutions and monitoring the credit ratings of those institutions. The Company's restricted cash is predominately held and directed by a trustee (see note 2).
The Company derives the largest portion of its revenues from tenants in the wireless industry. The Company also has a concentration in its volume of business with T-Mobile, AT&T and Verizon Wireless or their agents that accounts for a significant portion of the Company's revenues, receivables and deferred site rental receivables. The Company mitigates its concentrations of credit risk with respect to trade receivables by actively monitoring the creditworthiness of its tenants, the use of tenant leases with contractually determinable payment terms or proactive management of past due balances.