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Property, Plant and Equipment | 12 Months Ended
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Dec. 31, 2012
Disclosure Text Block |
Property, Plant and Equipment | NOTE 10 PROPERTY, PLANT AND EQUIPMENT Property, plant and equipment in service and under construction, and related accumulated depr eciation and amortization, as of December 31, 2012 and 2011 were as follows:
December 31, | Useful Lives (Years) |  | 2012 |  | 2011
(Dollars in thousands) |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Land | N/A |  | $ | 33,947 |  | $ | 30,807
Buildings | 20 |  |  | 341,852 |  |  | 330,925
Leasehold and land improvements | 1-30 |  |  | 1,188,720 |  |  | 1,129,818
Cell site equipment | 6-25 |  |  | 3,100,916 |  |  | 2,874,397
Switching equipment | 1-8 |  |  | 1,155,114 |  |  | 1,113,780
Office furniture and equipment | 3-5 |  |  | 535,656 |  |  | 570,776
Other operating assets and equipment | 5-25 |  |  | 128,290 |  |  | 127,253
System development | 3-7 |  |  | 631,184 |  |  | 545,193
Work in process | N/A |  |  | 362,749 |  |  | 285,500
|  |  |  | 7,478,428 |  |  | 7,008,449
Accumulated depreciation and amortization |  |  |  | (4,455,840) |  |  | (4,218,147)
|  |  |  | $ | 3,022,588 |  | $ | 2,790,302
D epreciation and amortiz ation expense totaled $597.7 million, $565.1 million and $559.0 million in 2012, 2011 and 2010, respectively. As a result of the Divestiture Transaction, U.S. Cellular recog nized incremental depreciation and amortization in 2012. See Note 7 — Acquisitions, Divestitures and Exchanges for additional information. In 2012, 2011 and 2010, (G ain) l oss on asset disposals and exchanges, net included charges of $18.1 million, $9.9 million and $10.7 million, respectively, related to disposals of assets, trade-ins of older assets for replacement assets and other retirements of assets from service in the normal course of business. The 2011 (Gain) loss on asset disposal s and exchange s, net also included a gain on the exchange of licenses, as described in Note 7 — Acquisitions, Divestitures and Exchanges

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- Definition The entire disclosure for long-lived, physical assets that are used in the normal conduct of business to produce goods and services and not intended for resale. Examples include land, buildings, machinery and equipment, and other types of furniture and equipment including, but not limited to, office equipment, furniture and fixtures, and computer equipment and software. This disclosure may include property plant and equipment accounting policies and methodology, a schedule of property, plant and equipment gross, additions, deletions, transfers and other changes, depreciation, depletion and amortization expense, net, accumulated depreciation, depletion and amortization expense and useful lives, income statement disclosures, assets held for sale and public utility disclosures. + References Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 205 -SubTopic 20 -Section 50 -Paragraph 1 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6360339&loc=d3e1361-107760 Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 210 -SubTopic 10 -Section S99 -Paragraph 1 -Subparagraph (SX 210.5-02.13-14) -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6877327&loc=d3e13212-122682 Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher AICPA -Name Accounting Principles Board Opinion (APB) -Number 12 -Paragraph 5 -LegacyDoc This reference is SUPERSEDED by the Accounting Standards Codification effective for interim and annual periods ending after September 15, 2009. This reference is included to help users transition from the previous accounting hierarchy and will be removed from future versions of this taxonomy. Reference 4: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 360 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 1 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6391035&loc=d3e2868-110229 Reference 5: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 360 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 2 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6391110&loc=d3e2921-110230 + Details
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