(6) Goodwill and Other Intangibles:
The components of goodwill by the reporting units in effect as of December 31, 2013 are as follows:
|
($ in thousands) |
|||
|
Central |
$ |
1,815,498 | |
|
East |
2,003,574 | ||
|
National |
1,218,113 | ||
|
West |
1,300,534 | ||
|
Total Goodwill |
$ |
6,337,719 | |
The components of other intangibles at December 31, 2013 and 2012 are as follows:
|
($ in thousands) |
2013 |
2012 |
||||||||||||||||
|
Gross Carrying Amount |
Accumulated Amortization |
Net Carrying Amount |
Gross Carrying Amount |
Accumulated Amortization |
Net Carrying Amount |
|||||||||||||
|
Other Intangibles: |
||||||||||||||||||
|
Customer base |
$ |
2,427,648 |
$ |
(1,336,852) |
$ |
1,090,796 |
$ |
2,427,648 |
$ |
(1,009,045) |
$ |
1,418,603 | ||||||
|
Software licenses |
- |
- |
- |
105,019 | (105,019) |
- |
||||||||||||
|
Trade name and license |
124,136 |
- |
124,136 | 124,419 | (283) | 124,136 | ||||||||||||
|
Total other intangibles |
$ |
2,551,784 |
$ |
(1,336,852) |
$ |
1,214,932 |
$ |
2,657,086 |
$ |
(1,114,347) |
$ |
1,542,739 | ||||||
Amortization expense was $328.0 million, $422.2 million and $521.7 million for the years ended December 31, 2013, 2012 and 2011, respectively. Amortization expense for 2013, 2012 and 2011 of $328.0 million, $410.8 million and $465.4 million, respectively, mainly represents the amortization of intangible assets (primarily customer base) that were acquired in the 2010 Transaction based on a useful life of nine years for the residential customer base and 12 years for the business customer base, amortized on an accelerated method. Amortization expense for 2012 and 2011 included $38.3 million and $49.1 million, respectively, for amortization associated with certain software licenses that were acquired in the 2010 Transaction and are no longer required for operations as a result of the completed systems conversions and $11.4 million and $56.3 million, respectively, for amortization associated with certain properties, each of which were fully amortized in 2012. Amortization expense, based on our current estimate of useful lives, is estimated to be approximately $285 million in 2014, $240 million in 2015, $195 million in 2016, $150 million in 2017 and $105 million in 2018.