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Equipment Installment Plans (Table) | 12 Months Ended
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Dec. 31, 2016
Receivables [Abstract] |
Equipment installment plan receivables | The following table summarizes equipment installment plan receivables as of December 31, 2016 and 2015.
December 31, |  | 2016 |  | 2015
(Dollars in millions) |  |  |  |  |  |
Equipment installment plan receivables, gross |  | $ | 628 |  | $ | 381
Deferred interest |  |  | (53) |  |  | (23)
Equipment installment plan receivables, net of deferred interest |  |  | 575 |  |  | 358
Allowance for credit losses |  |  | (50) |  |  | (26)
Equipment installment plan receivables, net |  | $ | 525 |  | $ | 332
Net balance presented in the Consolidated Balance Sheet as: |  |  |  |  |  |
Accounts receivable — Due from customers and agents (Current portion) |  | $ | 345 |  | $ | 264
Other assets and deferred charges (Non-current portion) |  |  | 180 |  |  | 68
Equipment installment plan receivables, net |  | $ | 525 |  | $ | 332
Equipment installment plan receivables credit categories | TDS uses various inputs, including internal data, information from the credit bureaus and other sources, to evaluate the credit profiles of its customers. From this evaluation, a credit class is assigned to the customer that determines the number of eligible lines, the amount of credit available, and the down payment requirement, if any. Customers assigned to credit classes requiring no down payment represent a lower risk category, whereas those assigned to credit classes requiring a down payment represent a higher risk category. The balance and aging of the equipment installment plan receivables on a gross basis by credit category were as follows:
|  | December 31, 2016 |  | December 31, 2015
|  | Lower Risk |  | Higher Risk |  | Total |  | Lower Risk |  | Higher Risk |  | Total
(Dollars in millions) |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Unbilled |  | $ | 553 |  | $ | 38 |  | $ | 591 |  | $ | 343 |  | $ | 11 |  | $ | 354
Billed — current |  |  | 23 |  |  | 2 |  |  | 25 |  |  | 17 |  |  | 1 |  |  | 18
Billed — past due |  |  | 10 |  |  | 2 |  |  | 12 |  |  | 8 |  |  | 1 |  |  | 9
Equipment installment plan receivables, gross |  | $ | 586 |  | $ | 42 |  | $ | 628 |  | $ | 368 |  | $ | 13 |  | $ | 381
Equipment installment plans allowance for credit losses | The activity in the allowance for credit losses balance for the equipment installment plan receivables was as follows:
|  | 2016 |  | 2015
(Dollars in millions) |  |  |  |  |  |
Allowance for credit losses, beginning of year |  | $ | 26 |  | $ | 10
Bad debts expense |  |  | 63 |  |  | 49
Write-offs, net of recoveries |  |  | (39) |  |  | (33)
Allowance for credit losses, end of year |  | $ | 50 |  | $ | 26

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- Definition Tabular disclosure of financing receivables (examples of financing receivables include loans, trade accounts receivable and notes receivable) and activity in the allowance for credit losses account. + References Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 310 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 11B -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=66008989&loc=SL6953423-111524 + Details
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- Definition Tabular disclosure of financing receivables by credit quality indicator. The credit quality indicator is a statistic about the credit quality of financing receivables. Examples include, but not limited to, consumer credit risk scores, credit-rating-agency ratings, an entity's internal credit risk grades, loan-to-value ratios, collateral, collection experience and other internal metrics. + References Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 310 -SubTopic 10 -Section 55 -Paragraph 19 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=32702940&loc=SL6953803-111525 Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 310 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 29 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=66008989&loc=SL6953659-111524 + Details
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- Definition Tabular disclosure of the various types of trade accounts and notes receivable and for each the gross carrying value, allowance, and net carrying value as of the balance sheet date. Presentation is categorized by current, noncurrent and unclassified receivables. + References Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 210 -SubTopic 10 -Section S99 -Paragraph 1 -Subparagraph (SX 210.5-02.3,4) -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6877327&loc=d3e13212-122682 + Details
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