Property, Plant and Equipment

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2022

Property, Plant and Equipment [Abstract]

Property, plant and equipment consist of the following:


($ in thousands)	Estimated Useful Lives	June 30, 2022		December 31, 2021
Land		$	3,771	$	3,771
Land improvements	10 years	3,483		3,478
Buildings and structures	10 - 45 years	96,287		96,323
Cable and fiber	15 - 30 years	528,352		453,405
Equipment and software	4 - 8 years	361,290		391,293
Plant in service		993,183		948,270
Plant under construction		116,225		79,963
Total property, plant and equipment		1,109,408		1,028,233
Less: accumulated depreciation and amortization		499,623		474,071
Property, plant and equipment, net		$	609,785	$	554,162

Property, plant and equipment net, increases were primarily attributable to capital expenditures in the Broadband segment due to expansion of Glo Fiber assets and market expansion. Depreciation expense was $14.6 million and $13.1 million during the

three months ended June 30, 2022 and 2021, respectively, and $28.7 million and $26.1 million for the six months ended June 30, 2022 and 2021, respectively.

In the fourth quarter of 2021, due to the availability of grants awarded under various governmental initiatives, and in support of rural fiber to the home ("FTTH") broadband network expansion projects, we decided to cease further expansion of our “Beam” branded fixed wireless edge-out strategy. During the second quarter of 2022, the Company permanently ceased operating 20 of our 55 Beam fixed wireless sites and expects these sites to be completely decommissioned by December 31, 2022. Consequently, Shentel recorded an impairment charge of $4.1 million. The Company also began, during the second quarter of 2022, exploration of strategic alternatives concerning the remaining Beam branded fixed wireless assets and operations.