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Basis of Presentation | 12 Months Ended
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Dec. 31, 2018
Basis of Presentation [Abstract] |
Basis of Presentation | Basis of Presentation Liberty Global plc (Liberty Global) is a public limited company organized under the laws of England and Wales. In these notes, the terms “we,” “our,” “our company” and “us” may refer, as the context requires, to Liberty Global or collectively to Liberty Global and its subsidiaries. We are an international provider of video, broadband internet, fixed-line telephony and mobile communications services to residential customers and businesses in Europe. Our continuing operations comprise businesses that provide residential and business-to-business (B2B) communications services in (i) the United Kingdom (U.K.) and Ireland through Virgin Media Inc. (Virgin Media), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Liberty Global, (ii) Belgium through Telenet Group Holding N.V. (Telenet), a 59.7%-owned subsidiary of Liberty Global, (iii) Switzerland and Poland through UPC Holding B.V. and (iv) Slovakia through UPC Broadband Slovakia s.r.o. UPC Holding B.V. and UPC Broadband Slovakia s.r.o., which are each wholly-owned subsidiaries of Liberty Global, are collectively referred to herein as “UPC Holding.” In addition, following the December 31, 2016 completion of the VodafoneZiggo JV Transaction (as defined in note 6), we own a 50% noncontrolling interest in the VodafoneZiggo JV, which provides residential and B2B communication services in the Netherlands. During 2016, we provided residential and B2B communications services in the Netherlands through our wholly-owned subsidiary, VodafoneZiggo Holding B.V. (VodafoneZiggo Holding). In addition, we currently provide (i) residential and B2B communication services in (a) Germany through Unitymedia GmbH (Unitymedia) and (b) Hungary, the Czech Republic and Romania through UPC Holding B.V. and (ii) direct-to-home satellite (DTH) services to residential customers in Hungary, the Czech Republic, Romania and Slovakia through a Luxembourg-based subsidiary of UPC Holding B.V. that we refer to as “UPC DTH.” We also provided residential and B2B communication services in Austria through July 31, 2018, the date we completed the sale of such operations. On May 9, 2018, we reached an agreement to sell our operations in Germany, Romania, Hungary and the Czech Republic (exclusive of our DTH operations) and on December 21, 2018, we reached an agreement to sell the operations of UPC DTH. In these consolidated financial statements, our operations in Austria, Germany, Romania, Hungary and the Czech Republic and the operations of UPC DTH are presented as discontinued operations for all periods. For additional information regarding these pending and completed dispositions, see note 6. Subsequent to December 31, 2018, we entered into an agreement to sell our operations in Switzerland. For additional information, see note 21. Prior to the December 29, 2017 completion of the Split-off Transaction (as defined and described in note 6), we also provided residential and B2B communication services in (i) various countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, through Cable & Wireless Communications Limited (C&W), (ii) Chile through VTR.com SpA (VTR) and (iii) Puerto Rico through Liberty Cablevision of Puerto Rico LLC (Liberty Puerto Rico). C&W and VTR were each wholly-owned subsidiaries of Liberty Global, and Liberty Puerto Rico was an entity in which we held a 60.0% ownership interest. C&W also provided (a) B2B services in certain other countries in Latin America and the Caribbean and (b) wholesale services over its sub-sea and terrestrial networks. The operations of C&W, VTR, Liberty Puerto Rico and certain other entities that were associated with our businesses in Latin America and the Caribbean are collectively referred to herein as the “LiLAC Group.” As a result of the Split-off Transaction, the entities attributed to the LiLAC Group are presented as discontinued operations in our consolidated statements of operations and cash flows for 2017 and 2016. Unless otherwise indicated, the amounts presented in these notes relate only to our continuing operations, and ownership percentages and convenience translations into United States (U.S.) dollars are calculated as of December 31, 2018.

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