v3.26.3
Wireless Licenses, Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets
 9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2026
Intangible Asset, Goodwill and Other [Abstract]  
Wireless Licenses, Goodwill, and Other Intangible Assets
Note 4. Wireless Licenses, Goodwill, and Other Intangible Assets
Wireless Licenses
The carrying amounts of Wireless licenses are as follows:
At September 30,At December 31,
(dollars in millions)20262025
Wireless licenses$161,417 $157,039 

During the nine months ended September 30, 2026, we acquired spectrum wireless licenses for total cash consideration of $4.2 billion. See Note 3 for additional information.

At September 30, 2026 and 2025, approximately $5.0 billion and $7.9 billion, respectively, of wireless licenses were under development for commercial service for which we were capitalizing interest costs. We recorded $220 million and $338 million of capitalized interest on wireless licenses for the nine months ended September 30, 2026 and 2025, respectively.

During the nine months ended September 30, 2026, we renewed various wireless licenses in accordance with FCC regulations. The average renewal period for these licenses was 10 years.

Goodwill
Changes in the carrying amount of Goodwill are as follows:
(dollars in millions)ConsumerBusinessTotal
Balance at January 1, 2026(1)
$21,177 $1,664 $22,841 
Acquisitions(2)
6,080 1,808 7,888 
Balance at September 30, 2026(1)
$27,257 $3,472 $30,729 
(1) Goodwill is net of accumulated impairment charges of $5.8 billion related to our Business reporting unit.
(2) Changes in goodwill due to acquisitions are related to Frontier and another immaterial transaction. See Note 3 for additional information.

Other Intangible Assets
The following table displays the composition of Other intangible assets, net as well as the respective amortization periods:
At September 30, 2026At December 31, 2025
(dollars in millions)
Gross
Amount(1)
Accumulated
Amortization		Net
Amount		Gross
Amount		Accumulated
Amortization		Net
Amount
Customer lists (2 to 13 years)
$7,034 $(3,651)$3,383 $4,243 $(3,116)$1,127 
Non-network internal-use software (3 to 7 years)
28,886 (21,040)7,846 28,749 (20,301)8,448 
Other (3 to 25 years)
2,732 (1,959)773 2,676 (1,793)883 
Total$38,652 $(26,650)$12,002 $35,668 $(25,210)$10,458 
(1) Other intangible assets include assets acquired as a result of the Frontier acquisition. See Note 3 for additional information.

The amortization expense for Other intangible assets was as follows: 
Three Months EndedNine Months Ended
(dollars in millions)September 30,September 30,
2026$902 $2,615 
2025749 2,237 

The estimated future amortization expense for Other intangible assets for the remainder of the current year and next 5 years is as follows:

Years(dollars in millions)
Remainder of 2026$844 
20273,013 
20282,442 
20291,599 
20301,335 
2031975