UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D. C. 20549
FORM 10-Q

(Mark One)
QUARTERLY REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
For the quarterly period ended June 30, 2016March 31, 2017
 
TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIESEXCHANGESECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
For the transition period from__________ to __________

Commission File No.: 000-09881


shenimagea01.jpg
SHENANDOAH TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMPANY
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

VIRGINIA 54-1162807
(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization) (I.R.S. Employer Identification No.)

500 Shentel Way, Edinburg, Virginia    22824
(Address of principal executive offices)  (Zip Code)

(540) 984-4141
(Registrant's telephone number, including area code)



Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.  Yes ☑   No ☐
 
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically and posted on its corporate Web site, if any, every Interactive Data File required to be submitted and posted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit and post such files)files).   Yes  ☑   No ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, or a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” and “smaller reporting company”company,” and "emerging growth company" in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.Act.

Large accelerated filer ☑
Accelerated filer ☐
Non-accelerated filer ☐
Smaller reporting company ☐
company☐
Emerging growth company☐

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act).
Yes ☐    No  ☑

 
The number of shares of the registrant’s common stock outstanding on July 28, 2016April 26, 2017 was 48,913,327.


49,109,626. 


SHENANDOAH TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMPANY
INDEX

Page
Numbers
PART I.FINANCIAL INFORMATION
Item 1.Financial Statements
3-4
5
6
7-8
9-24
Item 2.25-43
Item 3.44
Item 4.45
PART II.OTHER INFORMATION
Item 1A.46
Item 2.46
Item 6.47
48
49
2
  
Page
Numbers
PART I.FINANCIAL INFORMATION   
     
Item 1.Financial Statements   
     
 -
     
 
     
 
     
 -
     
 -
     
Item 2.-
     
Item 3.
     
Item 4.
     
PART II.OTHER INFORMATION   
     
Item 1A.
     
Item 2.
     
Item 6.
     
 
     
 




SHENANDOAH TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMPANY AND SUBSIDIARIES
UNAUDITED CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS
(in thousands)

ASSETS 
June 30,
2016
  
December 31,
2015
 
       
Current Assets      
Cash and cash equivalents $40,571  $76,812 
Restricted cash  2,167   - 
Accounts receivable, net  77,392   29,778 
Income taxes receivable  -   7,694 
Inventory, net  19,419   4,183 
Prepaid expenses and other  18,562   8,573 
Deferred income taxes  -   907 
Total current assets  158,111   127,947 
         
Investments, including $2,784 and $2,654 carried at fair value
  12,526   10,679 
         
Building held for sale  4,950   - 
Property, plant and equipment, net  653,523   410,018 
         
Other Assets        
Intangible assets, net  464,146   66,993 
Goodwill  151,730   10 
Deferred charges and other assets, net  10,855   11,504 
Other assets, net  626,731   78,507 
Total assets $1,455,841  $627,151 

(Continued)
3

SHENANDOAH TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMPANY AND SUBSIDIARIES
UNAUDITED CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS
(in thousands)

LIABILITIES AND SHAREHOLDERS’ EQUITY 
June 30,
2016
  
December 31,
2015
 
       
Current Liabilities      
Current maturities of long-term debt, net of unamortized loan fees $20,147  
$
22,492 
Accounts payable  27,951   13,009 
Advanced billings and customer deposits  23,024   11,674 
Accrued compensation  6,020   5,915 
Income taxes payable  29,717   - 
Accrued liabilities and other  31,615   7,639 
Total current liabilities  138,474   60,729 
         
Long-term debt, less current maturities, net of unamortized loan fees  795,426   177,169 
         
Other Long-Term Liabilities        
Deferred income taxes  142,181   74,868 
Deferred lease payable  9,370   8,142 
Asset retirement obligations  15,769   7,266 
Other liabilities  50,514   9,039 
Total other long-term liabilities  217,834   99,315 
         
Commitments and Contingencies        
         
Shareholders’ Equity        
Common stock  44,344   32,776 
Retained earnings  263,633   256,747 
Accumulated other comprehensive income (loss), net of taxes  (3,870)  415 
Total shareholders’ equity  304,107   289,938 
         
Total liabilities and shareholders’ equity $1,455,841  $627,151 
ASSETS March 31,
2017
 December 31,
2016
     
Current Assets    
Cash and cash equivalents $39,927
 $36,193
Accounts receivable, net 68,709
 69,789
Inventory, net 24,855
 39,043
Prepaid expenses and other 16,989
 16,440
Total current assets 150,480
 161,465
     
Investments, including $3,058 and $2,907 carried at fair value 10,607
 10,276
     
Property, plant and equipment, net 689,948
 698,122
     
Other Assets  
  
Intangible assets, net 443,308
 454,532
Goodwill 144,001
 145,256
Deferred charges and other assets, net 14,645
 14,756
Total assets $1,452,989
 $1,484,407



(Continued)



SHENANDOAH TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMPANY AND SUBSIDIARIES
UNAUDITED CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS
(in thousands)

LIABILITIES AND SHAREHOLDERS’ EQUITY March 31,
2017
 December 31,
2016
     
Current Liabilities    
Current maturities of long-term debt, net of unamortized loan fees $38,124
 $32,041
Accounts payable 25,390
 72,810
Advanced billings and customer deposits 21,029
 20,427
Accrued compensation 3,678
 9,465
Income taxes payable 3,958
 435
Accrued liabilities and other 18,174
 29,085
Total current liabilities 110,353
 164,263
     
Long-term debt, less current maturities, net of unamortized loan fees 810,873
 797,224
     
Other Long-Term Liabilities  
  
Deferred income taxes 149,763
 151,837
Deferred lease payable 19,230
 18,042
Asset retirement obligations 19,386
 15,666
Retirement plan obligations 17,892
 17,738
Other liabilities 26,057
 23,743
Total other long-term liabilities 232,328
 227,026
     
Commitments and Contingencies 

 

     
Shareholders’ Equity  
  
Common stock 46,083
 45,482
Retained earnings 245,965
 243,624
Accumulated other comprehensive income, net of taxes 7,387
 6,788
Total shareholders’ equity 299,435
 295,894
     
Total liabilities and shareholders’ equity $1,452,989
 $1,484,407

See accompanying notes to unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements.

4


SHENANDOAH TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMPANY AND SUBSIDIARIES
UNAUDITED CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONSINCOME AND
COMPREHENSIVE INCOME(LOSS)INCOME
(in thousands, except per share amounts)
 
  
Three Months Ended
June 30,
  
Six Months Ended
June 30,
 
  2016  2015  2016  2015 
             
Operating revenues $130,309  $85,701  $222,880  $169,989 
                 
Operating expenses:                
Cost of goods and services, exclusive of depreciation and  amortization shown separately below  50,296   30,280   82,057   60,970 
Selling, general and administrative, exclusive of depreciation and amortization shown separately below  33,694   18,606   55,120   36,718 
Integration and acquisition expenses  20,054   402   20,386   1,024 
Depreciation and amortization  32,415   17,663   50,154   34,001 
Total operating expenses  136,459   66,951   207,717   132,713 
Operating income (loss)  (6,150)  18,750   15,163   37,276 
                 
Other income (expense):                
Interest expense  (5,904)  (1,940)  (7,524)  (3,855)
Gain on investments, net  21   98   109   200 
Non-operating income, net  146   442   614   874 
Income (loss) before income taxes  (11,887)  17,350   8,362   34,495 
                 
Income tax expense (benefit)  (4,892)  6,876   1,477   13,735 
Net income (loss)  (6,995)  10,474   6,885   20,760 
                 
Other comprehensive income (loss):                
Unrealized gain (loss) on interest rate hedge, net of tax  (3,238)  326   (4,285)  (581)
Comprehensive income (loss) $(10,233) $10,800  $2,600  $20,179 
                 
Earnings (loss) per share:                
Basic $(0.14) $0.22  $0.14  $0.43 
Diluted $(0.14) $0.21  $0.14  $0.42 
                 
Weighted average shares outstanding, basic  48,830   48,380   48,696   48,343 
                 
Weighted average shares outstanding, diluted  48,830   49,004   49,415   48,927 
  Three Months Ended
March 31,
  2017 2016
     
Operating revenues $153,880
 $92,571
     
Operating expenses:  
  
Cost of goods and services, exclusive of depreciation and amortization shown separately below 53,761
 31,762
Selling, general and administrative, exclusive of depreciation and amortization shown separately below 40,153
 21,426
Integration and acquisition expenses 4,489
 332
Depreciation and amortization 44,804
 17,739
Total operating expenses 143,207
 71,259
Operating income 10,673
 21,312
     
Other income (expense):  
  
Interest expense (9,100) (1,619)
Gain on investments, net 120
 88
Non-operating income, net 1,255
 468
Income before income taxes 2,948
 20,249
     
Income tax expense 607
 6,368
Net income 2,341
 13,881
     
Other comprehensive income (loss):  
  
Unrealized gain (loss) on interest rate hedge, net of tax 599
 (1,048)
Comprehensive income $2,940
 $12,833
     
Earnings per share:  
  
Basic $0.05
 $0.29
Diluted $0.05
 $0.28
Weighted average shares outstanding, basic 49,050
 48,563
Weighted average shares outstanding, diluted 49,834
 49,249
 
See accompanying notes to unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements.

5


SHENANDOAH TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMPANY AND SUBSIDIARIES
UNAUDITED CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY
(in thousands, except per share amounts)

   Shares  
Common
Stock
  
Retained
Earnings
  
Accumulated
Other
Comprehensive
Income (Loss),
net of tax
  Total 
Balance, December 31, 2014  48,265  $29,712  $227,512  $1,122  $258,346 
                     
Net income  -   -   40,864   -   40,864 
Other comprehensive loss, net of tax  -   -   -   (707)  (707)
Dividends declared ($0.24 per share)  -   -   (11,629)  -   (11,629)
Dividends reinvested in common stock  22   544   -   -   544 
Stock based compensation  -   2,719   -   -   2,719 
Common stock issued through exercise of incentive stock  options  
87
   
996
   
-
   
-
   
996
 
Common stock issued for share awards  212   -   -   -   - 
Common stock issued  1   11   -   -   11 
Common stock repurchased  (111)  (1,885)  -   -   (1,885)
Net excess tax benefit from stock options exercised  
-
   
679
   
-
   
-
   
679
 
                     
Balance, December 31, 2015  48,475  $32,776  $256,747  $415  $289,938 
                     
Net income  -   -   6,885   -   6,885 
Other comprehensive loss, net of tax  -   -   -   (4,285)  (4,285)
Stock based compensation  -   2,404   -   -   2,404 
Stock options exercised  319   2,942   -   -   2,942 
Common stock issued for share awards  188   -   -   -   - 
Common stock issued  1   5   -   -   5 
Common stock issued to acquire non-controlling interests of nTelos  76   10,400   -   -   10,400 
Common stock repurchased  (177)  (4,183)  -   -   (4,183)
Balance, June 30, 2016  48,883  $44,344  $263,633  $(3,870) $304,107 
   
 
Shares
 
Common
Stock
 
Retained
Earnings
 
Accumulated
Other
Comprehensive
Income,
net of tax
 Total
Balance, December 31, 2015 48,475
 $32,776
 $256,747
 $415
 $289,938
           
Net loss 
 
 (895) 
 (895)
Other comprehensive gain, net of tax 
 
 
 6,373
 6,373
Dividends declared ($0.25 per share) 
 
 (12,228) 
 (12,228)
Dividends reinvested in common stock 19
 524
 
 
 524
Stock based compensation 
 3,506
 
 
 3,506
Stock options exercised 371
 3,359
 
 
 3,359
Common stock issued for share awards 190
 
 
 
 
Common stock issued 2
 14
 
 
 14
Common stock issued to acquire non-controlling interests of nTelos 76
 10,400
 
 
 10,400
Common stock repurchased (198) (5,097) 
 
 (5,097)
           
Balance, December 31, 2016 48,935
 $45,482
 $243,624
 $6,788
 $295,894
Net income 
 
 2,341
 
 2,341
Other comprehensive gain, net of tax 
 
 
 599
 599
Stock based compensation 
 1,822
 
 
 1,822
Common stock issued for share awards 129
 
 
 
 
Common stock issued 1
 5
 
 
 5
Common stock issued to acquire non-controlling interests of nTelos 76
 
 
 
 
Common stock repurchased (43) (1,226) 
 
 (1,226)
Balance, March 31, 2017 49,098
 $46,083
 $245,965
 $7,387
 $299,435

See accompanying notes to unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements.

6


SHENANDOAH TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMPANY AND SUBSIDIARIES
UNAUDITED CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS
(in thousands)
 
  
Six Months Ended
June 30,
 
  2016  2015 
       
Cash Flows From Operating Activities      
Net income $6,885  $20,760 
Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash provided by operating activities:        
Depreciation  42,753   33,189 
Amortization reflected as operating expense  7,401   812 
Amortization reflected as contra revenue  3,290   - 
Provision for bad debt  752   905 
Straight line adjustment to reduce management fee revenue  3,406   - 
Stock based compensation expense  1,957   1,430 
Excess tax benefits on stock awards  -   (450)
Deferred income taxes  (53,238)  (3,656)
Net loss on disposal of equipment  12   227 
Unrealized (gain) on investments  (83)  (54)
Net gains from patronage and equity investments  (315)  (385)
Amortization of long term debt issuance costs  1,205   289 
Other  2,120   647 
Changes in assets and liabilities:        
(Increase) decrease in:        
Accounts receivable  (4,332  (339)
Inventory, net  (11,424)  (414)
Income taxes receivable  7,694   14,752 
Other assets  2,066   (3,421)
Increase (decrease) in:        
Accounts payable  5,529   (2,911)
Income taxes payable  34,195   499 
Deferred lease payable  1,228   506 
Other deferrals and accruals  9,692   (2,116)
Net cash provided by operating activities 
$
60,793  
$
60,270 
         
Cash Flows From Investing Activities        
Acquisition of property, plant and equipment $(60,123) $(25,135)
Proceeds from sale of equipment  185   52 
Cash distributions from investments  53   3 
Cash disbursed for acquisition, net of cash acquired  (654,832)  - 
Net cash used in investing activities 
$
(714,717) 
$
(25,080)
  Three Months Ended
March 31,
  2017 2016
Cash Flows From Operating Activities    
Net income $2,341
 $13,881
Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash provided by operating activities:  
  
Depreciation 37,878
 17,454
Amortization reflected as operating expense 6,926
 285
Amortization reflected as contra revenue 4,978
 
Amortization reflected as rent expense 258
 
Provision for bad debt 420
 345
Straight line adjustment to management fee revenue 4,206
 
Stock based compensation expense 1,566
 1,048
Deferred income taxes (2,910) (1,489)
Net gain on disposal of equipment (28) (15)
Unrealized gain on investments (120) (16)
Net gains from patronage and equity investments (200) (210)
Amortization of long term debt issuance costs 1,202
 132
Other 
 3,039
Changes in assets and liabilities:  
  
(Increase) decrease in:  
  
Accounts receivable 1,629
 2,470
Inventory, net 14,188
 (267)
Other assets (190) 988
Increase (decrease) in:  
  
Accounts payable (39,399) 1,895
Income taxes payable 3,523
 6,981
Deferred lease payable 1,331
 208
Other deferrals and accruals (13,101) (3,559)
Net cash provided by operating activities 24,498
 43,170
     
Cash Flows From Investing Activities  
  
Acquisition of property, plant and equipment (38,587) (20,537)
Proceeds from sale of equipment 117
 145
Cash distributions from investments 3
 45
Additional contributions to investments (14) 
Cash disbursed for acquisition 
 (2,480)
Net cash used in investing activities (38,481) (22,827)

(Continued)

7


SHENANDOAH TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMPANY AND SUBSIDIARIES
UNAUDITED CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS
(in thousands)

  
Six Months Ended
June 30,
 
  2016  2015 
       
Cash Flows From Financing Activities      
Principal payments on long-term debt $(201,257) $(11,500)
Amounts borrowed under debt agreements  835,000   - 
Cash paid for debt issuance costs  (14,825)  - 
Excess tax benefits on stock awards  -   450 
Repurchases of common stock  (4,183)  (1,450)
Proceeds from issuances of common stock  2,948   530 
Net cash provided by/(used in) financing activities $617,683  
$
(11,970)
         
Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents $(36,241) $23,220 
         
Cash and cash equivalents:        
Beginning  76,812   68,917 
Ending $40,571  $92,137 
         
Supplemental Disclosures of Cash Flow Information        
Cash payments for:        
Interest $6,659  $3,782 
         
Income taxes paid, net of refunds received $12,796  $2,139 
  Three Months Ended
March 31,
  2017 2016
Cash Flows From Financing Activities    
Principal payments on long-term debt $(6,062) $(5,750)
Amounts borrowed under debt agreements 25,000
 
Cash paid for debt issuance costs 
 (1,528)
Repurchases of common stock (1,226) (3,526)
Proceeds from issuances of common stock 5
 2,809
Net cash provided by/(used in) financing activities 17,717
 (7,995)
     
Net increase in cash and cash equivalents 3,734
 12,348
     
Cash and cash equivalents:  
  
Beginning 36,193
 76,812
Ending $39,927
 $89,160
     
Supplemental Disclosures of Cash Flow Information  
  
Cash payments for:  
  
Interest, net of capitalized interest of $577 and $146, respectively $8,380
 $1,632
     
Income taxes paid, net of refunds received $
 $876

Non-cash investing and financing activities:
 
At June 30,March 31, 2017 and 2016, and 2015, accounts payable included approximately $5.2$6.4 million and $1.2 million, respectively, associated with capital expenditures. Cash flows for accounts payable and acquisition of property, plant and equipment exclude this activity.

In conjunction withDuring the acquisition of nTelos,quarter ended March 31, 2017, the Company issued common stock to acquire non-controlling interests held by third partiesrecorded an increase in a subsidiarythe fair value of nTelos. The transaction was valued at $10.4 million.

The Company reclassified $4.3 millioninterest rate swaps of unamortized loan fees and costs included$972 thousand, an increase in deferred chargestax liabilities of $373 thousand, and an increase to accumulated other assets to long term debt in connection with the new Term loan A-1 and A-2 borrowing related to the acquisitioncomprehensive income of nTelos.$599 thousand.

See accompanying notes to unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements.

8


SHENANDOAH TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMPANY AND SUBSIDIARIES
NOTES TO UNAUDITED CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

1.Basis of Presentation

The interim condensed consolidated financial statements of Shenandoah Telecommunications Company and Subsidiaries (collectively, the “Company”) are unaudited.  In the opinion of management, all adjustments necessary for a fair presentation of the interim results have been reflected therein.  All such adjustments were of a normal and recurring nature.  Prior year amounts have been reclassified in some cases to conform to the current year presentation. These financial statements should be read in conjunction with the audited consolidated financial statements and related notes in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2015.2016.  The accompanying balance sheet information at December 31, 20152016 was derived from the audited December 31, 20152016 consolidated balance sheet. Operating revenues and income (loss) from operations for any interim period are not necessarily indicative of results that may be expected for the entire year.

In connection with the nTelos acquisition and exchange transaction with Sprint (see Note 2), the Company has added the following significant accounting policies:

Revenue Recognition

Under the Company’s amended affiliate agreement, Sprint agreed to waive the management fee, which is historically presented as a contra-revenue by the Company, for a period of approximately six years.  The impact of Sprint’s waiver of the management fee over the approximate six-year period is reflected as an increase in revenue, offset by the non-cash adjustment to recognize this impact on a straight-line basis over the contract term of approximately 14 years.

Goodwill

Goodwill is not amortized but is tested for impairment on at least an annual basis. Impairment testing is required more often than annually if an event or circumstance indicates that impairment is more likely than not to have occurred. In conducting its annual impairment testing, the Company may first perform a qualitative assessment of whether it is more likely than not that a reporting unit’s fair value is less than its carrying amount. If not, no further goodwill impairment testing is required. If it is more likely than not that a reporting unit’s fair value is less than its carrying amount, or if the Company elects not to perform a qualitative assessment of a reporting unit, the Company then compares the fair value of the reporting unit to the related net book value. If the net book value of a reporting unit exceeds its fair value, an impairment loss is measured and recognized. The Company conducts its annual impairment testing of goodwill as of October 1.

Pension Benefits and Retirement Benefits Other Than Pensions
Through the Company’s acquisition of nTelos, the Company assumed nTelos’ non-contributory defined benefit pension plan (“Pension Plan”) covering all employees who met eligibility requirements and were employed by nTelos prior to October 1, 2003. The Pension Plan was closed to nTelos employees hired on or after October 1, 2003. Pension benefits vest after five years of plan service and are based on years of service and an average of the five highest consecutive years of compensation subject to certain reductions if the employee retires before reaching age 65 and elects to receive the benefit prior to age 65. Effective December 31, 2012, nTelos froze future benefit accruals.  The Company uses updated mortality tables published by the Society of Actuaries that predict increasing life expectancies in the United States.

IRC Sections 412 and 430 and Sections 302 and 303 of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended establish minimum funding requirements for defined benefit pension plans. The minimum required contribution is generally equal to the target normal cost plus the shortfall amortization installments for the current plan year and each of the six preceding plan years less any calculated credit balance. If plan assets (less calculated credits) are equal to or exceed the funding target, the minimum required contribution is the target normal cost reduced by the excess funding, but not below zero. The Company’s policy is to make contributions to stay at or above the threshold required in order to prevent benefit restrictions and related additional notice requirements and is intended to provide not only for benefits based on service to date, but also for those expected to be earned in the future. The Company also assumed two qualified nonpension postretirement benefit plans that provide certain health care and life benefits for nTelos retired employees that meet eligibility requirements. The health care plan is contributory, with participants’ contributions adjusted annually. The life insurance plan also is contributory. These obligations, along with all of the pension plans and other postretirement benefit plans, are obligations assumed by the Company. Eligibility for the life insurance plan is restricted to active pension participants age 50-64 as of January 5, 1994. Neither plan is eligible to employees hired after April 1993. The accounting for the plans anticipates that the Company will maintain a consistent level of cost sharing for the benefits with the retirees. The Company’s share of the projected costs of benefits that will be paid after retirement is generally being accrued by charges to expense over the eligible employees’ service periods to the dates they are fully eligible for benefits.
The Company records annual amounts relating to the Pension Plan and postretirement benefit plans based on calculations that incorporate various actuarial and other assumptions, including discount rates, mortality, assumed rates of return, turnover rates and healthcare cost trend rates. The Company reviews its assumptions on an annual basis and makes modifications to the assumptions based on current rates and trends when it is appropriate to do so. The effect of modifications to those assumptions is recorded in accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) and amortized to net periodic cost over future periods using the corridor method.
2.Acquisition of NTELOS Holdings Corp. and Exchange with Sprint

On May 6, 2016, the Company completed its previously announced acquisition of NTELOS Holdings Corp. (“nTelos”) for $663.7$667.8 million, in cash, net of cash acquired.  The acquisition was entered into to improve shareholder value through the expansion of the Company's Wireless service area and customer base while strengthening our relationship with Sprint Corporation ("Sprint"). The purchase price was financed by a credit facility arranged by CoBank, ACB, (see Note 14).  The Company has included the operationsRoyal Bank of nTelos for financial reporting purposes for the period subsequent to the acquisition.Canada, Fifth Third Bank, Bank of America, N.A., Capital One, National Association, Citizens Bank N.A., and Toronto Dominion (Texas) LLC.  The Company has accounted for the acquisition of nTelos under the acquisition method of accounting, in accordance with Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) 805, “Business Combinations”, and will accounthas accounted for any measurement period adjustments under Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) 2015-16, “Simplifying the Accounting for Measurement Period Adjustments”.  Under the acquisition method of accounting, the total purchase price is allocated to the tangible and intangible assets acquired and liabilities assumed in connection with the acquisition based on their estimated fair values.

The preliminary allocation of the purchase price was based upon management’s preliminary valuation of the fair value of tangible and intangible assets acquired and liabilities assumed of nTelos, with the excess recorded as goodwill. During the first quarter of 2017, the Company made adjustments to the preliminary estimates of fair value resulting in immaterial changes to previously estimated fair values of fixed assets, asset retirement obligation liabilities, accounts receivable and deferred taxes. These adjustments resulted in a $1.3 million reduction to goodwill as shown in the table below. The Company continues to review certain tax positions acquired in the nTelos acquisition.

Changes in the carrying amount of goodwill during the three months ended March 31, 2017 are shown below (in thousands):

Accounts receivable $48,476 
Inventory  3,810 
Restricted cash  2,167 
Investments  1,501 
Prepaids expenses and other assets  14,835 
Building held for sale  4,950 
Property, plant and equipment  223,900 
Spectrum licenses  198,200 
Customer based contract rights  198,200 
Contract based intangible assets  11,000 
Goodwill  151,627 
Other long term assets  10,288 
Total assets acquired $868,954 
     
Accounts payable $8,648 
Advanced billings and customer deposits  12,477 
Accrued expenses  25,230 
Capital lease liability  418 
Deferred tax liabilities  124,964 
Retirement benefits  19,461 
Other long-term liabilities  14,056 
Total liabilities assumed  205,254 
     
Net assets acquired $663,700 

Finalization of the purchase price allocations is dependent on final review and acceptance of the independent appraiser’s valuation report.

Immediately after acquiring nTelos, Shenandoah Personal Communications, LLC, (“PCS”) a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company, completed its previously announced transaction with SprintCom, Inc., an affiliate of Sprint Corporation (“Sprint”).  Pursuant to this transaction, among other things,  the Company exchanged spectrum licenses valued at $198.2 million and customer based contract rights, valued at $198.2 million, acquired from nTelos with Sprint, and received an expansion of its affiliate service territory to include most of the service area served by nTelos, valued at $258.1 million, as well as additional customer based contract rights, valued at $138.3 million, relating to nTelos’ and Sprint’s legacy customers in the Company’s affiliate service territory. These exchanges were accounted for in accordance with ASC 845, “Nonmonetary Transactions”.
The value of the affiliate agreement expansion is based on changes to the amended affiliate agreement that include:

an increase in the price to be paid by Sprint from 80% to 90% of the entire business value of PCS if the affiliate agreement is not renewed;
extension of the affiliate agreement with Sprint by five years to 2029;
expanded territory in the nTelos service area;
rights to serve all future Sprint customers in the affiliate service territory;
the Company’s commitment to upgrade certain coverage and capacity in its newly acquired service area; and
a reduction of the management fee charged by Sprint under the amended affiliate agreement; not to exceed $4.2 million in an individual month until the total waived fee equals $251.8 million, as well as an additional waiver of the management fee charged with respect to the former nTelos customers until the earlier of migration to the Sprint back-office billing and related systems or six months following the acquisition; not to exceed $5.0 million.

Intangible assets resulting from the acquisition of nTelos and the Sprint exchange, both described above, are noted below (dollars in thousands):

Useful Life  Basis 
Affiliate contract agreement14 years $258,100 
Customer based contract rights4-10 years  138,300 
Contract based intangible assets3-19 years  11,000 

The affiliate contract agreement intangible asset will be amortized on a straight-line basis and recorded as a contra-revenue over the 14 year contract term.  The other contract based intangible assets will be amortized on a straight-line basis and recorded through amortization expense.  The customer based contract rights will be amortized over the life of the customers, gradually decreasing over the expected life of this asset, and recorded through amortization expense.

The Company has recorded goodwill in its Wireless segment as a result of the nTelos acquisition.  This goodwill is not amortizable for tax purposes, as the Company acquired the common stock of nTelos.

Prior to the acquisition, nTelos was eligible to receive up to $5.0 million in connection with its winning bid in the Connect America Fund's Mobility Fund Phase I Auction ("Auction 901").  Pursuant to the terms of Auction 901, nTelos obtained a Letter of Credit (“LOC”) in the amount of $2.2 million for the benefit of the Universal Service Administrative Company (“USAC”) to cover each disbursement plus the amount of the performance default penalty (10% of the total eligible award).  In accordance with the terms of the LOC, nTelos deposited $2.2 million into a separate account at the issuing bank to serve as cash collateral and is presented as restricted cash.  Such funds will be released to the Company when the LOC is terminated without being drawn upon by USAC.

At the time of the acquisition, certain third party investors held a non-controlling interest in one of nTelos’ subsidiaries.  Immediately after the acquisition of nTelos, the Company acquired these interests in exchange for 380,000 shares of Company common stock, to be paid in five equal installments, with the first installment paid immediately and the remaining four to be paid over the next four years.  This transaction was valued at $10.4 million.

In connection with the acquisition, at closing, the Company borrowed $810.0 million in term loans with a weighted average effective interest rate of approximately 3.84%.  The proceeds were used to finance in part the acquisition, including the repayment of the Company’s term loan of $195.5 million, and the repayment of nTelos’ term loans at the outstanding principal amount of $519.7 million, without penalty.
 December 31,
2016
Purchase Accounting AdjustmentsMarch 31,
2017
Goodwill - Wireline segment$10
$
$10
Goodwill - Cable segment104

104
Goodwill - Wireless segment145,142
(1,255)143,887
Goodwill as of March 31, 2017$145,256
$(1,255)$144,001

Following are the unaudited pro forma results of the Company for the three and six monthsperiod ended June 30,March 31, 2016, and 2015 as if the acquisition of nTelos had occurred at the beginning of each of the periods presentedperiod. (in millions):
  
Three Months Ended
June 30,
 
  2016  2015 
Operating revenues $161.1  $170.1 
Income (loss) before income taxes $(7.5) $13.6 
  
Six Months Ended
June 30,
 
  2016  2015 
Operating revenues $334.4  $342.8 
Income before income taxes $9.4  $37.1 

The pro forma disclosures shown above are based upon estimated preliminary valuations of the assets acquired and liabilities assumed as well as preliminary estimates of depreciation and amortization charges thereon, that may differ from the final fair values of the acquired assets and assumed liabilities and the resulting depreciation and amortization charges thereon.   Other pro forma adjustments include the following:thousands)

changes in nTelos’ reported revenues from cancelling nTelos’ wholesale contract with Sprint;
the incorporation of the Sprint-homed customers formerly serviced under the wholesale agreement into the Company’s affiliate service territory under the Company’s affiliate agreement with Sprint;
  March 31,
2016
Operating revenues $173,248
Income before income taxes $16,905
the effect of other changes to revenues and expenses due to various provisions of the affiliate agreement, including fees charged under the affiliate agreement on revenues from former nTelos customers, a reduction of the net service fee charged by Sprint, the straight-line impact of the waived management fee, and the amortization of the affiliate agreement expansion intangible asset; and the elimination of non-recurring transaction related expenses incurred by the Company and nTelos;
the elimination of certain nTelos operating costs associated with billing and care that are covered under the fees charged by Sprint under the affiliate agreement;
historical depreciation expense was reduced for the fair value adjustment decreasing the basis of property, plant and equipment; this decrease was offset by a shorter estimated useful life to conform to the Company’s standard policy and the acceleration of depreciation on certain equipment; and
incremental amortization due to the customer-based contract rights associated with acquired customers.


In connection with these transactions, the Company committed to Sprint to migrate the former nTelos customers to devicesincurs costs which can interact with the Sprint billing and network systems and to maintain the nTelos billing, customer care and switching systems until the migration is complete, and expects to incur a total of between $106 million and $126 million of integration and acquisition expenses associated with this transaction, excluding approximately $24 million of debt issuance costs.  These costs include the nTelos back office staff and support functions until the nTelos legacy customers are migrated to the Sprint billing platform; costcosts of the handsets to be provided to

nTelos legacy customers as they migrate to the Sprint billing platform; severance costs for back office and other former nTelos employees who will not be retained permanently; and transactioncosts to shut down certain cell sites and related fees.  The Company hasbackhaul contracts. We have incurred $22.4 million and $22.7$7.1 million of these costs in the three months and six months ended June 30, 2016, respectively,March 31, 2017, including $0.3$0.1 million reflected in cost of goods and services and $2.0$2.5 million reflected in selling, general and administrative costs in both the three and six month periodsmonths ended June 30, 2016.
March 31, 2017.
The amounts of operating revenue and income or loss before income taxes related to the former nTelos entity are not readily determinable due to intercompany transactions, allocations and integration activities that have occurred in connection with the operations of the combined company.

Former nTelos stockholders who held approximately one million shares of nTelos’ common stock have exercised their appraisal rights under Delaware law with respect to the merger consideration of $9.25 per share paid pursuant to the nTelos acquisition.  The Company has recorded a payable for the $9.3 million aggregate remaining purchase price due based upon the terms of the merger agreement with nTelos.  At this time, the Company is unable to determine an estimate of any final outcome of the appraisal action or the expected timing of resolving the appraisal action.  Under Delaware law, the former nTelos stockholders will be entitled to interest at the rate of 6.1% per annum on the unpaid amount when the appraisal action is resolved.
3.Intangible assets

Intangible assets consisted of the following (in thousands):

     
June 30,
2016
     
December 31,
2015
 
  
Gross
Carrying
Amount
  
Accumulated
Amortization
  
Net
  
Gross
Carrying
Amount
  
Accumulated
Amortization
  
Net
 
Non-amortizing intangibles:          
Cable franchise rights $64,374  $-  $64,374  $64,098  $-  $64,098 
                         
Finite-lived intangibles: 
Affiliate contract expansion rights $258,100  $(3,290) $254,810  $-  $-  $- 
Acquired subscribers – wireless  138,300   (6,647)  131,653   -   -   - 
Favorable leases – wireless  11,000   (183)  10,817   -   -   - 
Acquired subscribers – cable  25,265   (24,246)  1,019   25,326   (23,805)  1,521 
Other intangibles  2,168   (695)  1,473   1,938   (564)  1,374 
Total finite-lived intangibles $434,833  $(35,061) $399,772  $27,264  $(24,369)  2,895 
Total intangible assets $499,207  $(35,061) $464,146  $91,362  $(24,369) $66,993 

Aggregate amortization expense for intangible assets for the periods shown is expected to be as follows:

Year Ending
December 31,
 
Amount
 
  (in thousands) 
2016 Remaining $26,061 
2017  48,574 
2018  41,377 
2019  36,619 
2020  33,363 
2021  30,116 
thereafter183,662
Total $399,772 
Changes in the carrying amount of goodwill during the six months ended June 30, 2016 are shown below (in thousands):
Goodwill as of December 31, 2015, Wireline segment $10 
Goodwill recorded January 2016, Cable segment, Colane acquisition  93 
Goodwill recorded May 2016, Wireless segment, nTelos acquisition  151,627 
Goodwill as of June 30, 2016 $151,730 
4.3.Property, Plant and Equipment

Property, plant and equipment consisted of the following (in thousands):

  
June 30,
2016
  
December 31,
 2015
 
Plant in service $964,601  $718,503 
Plant under construction  75,949   36,600 
   1,040,550   755,103 
Less accumulated amortization and depreciation  387,027   345,085 
Net property, plant and equipment $653,523  $410,018 
  March 31,
2017
 December 31,
2016
Plant in service $1,124,446
 $1,085,318
Plant under construction 61,980
 73,759
  1,186,426
 1,159,077
Less accumulated amortization and depreciation 496,478
 460,955
Net property, plant and equipment $689,948
 $698,122

5.
4.Earnings (loss) per share

Basic net income (loss) per share was computed on the weighted average number of shares outstanding.  Diluted net income per share was computed under the treasury stock method, assuming the conversion as of the beginning of the period, for all dilutive stock options.  Of 964 913 thousand and 696991 thousand shares and options outstanding at June 30,March 31, 2017 and 2016, and 2015, respectively, 22125 thousand and 79136 thousand were anti-dilutive, respectively.  These shares and options have been excluded from the computations of diluted earnings per share for the six months ended June 30, 2016, and the three and six month periods ended June 30, 2015.  Due to the net loss for the three months ended June 30, 2016, no adjustment was made to basic shares, as such adjustment would have been anti-dilutive.their respective period. There were no adjustments to net income for either period.

6.
5.Investments Carried at Fair Value

Investments include $2.8$3.1 million and $2.7$2.9 million of investments carried at fair value as of June 30, 2016March 31, 2017 and December 31, 2015,2016, respectively, consisting of equity, bond and money market mutual funds.  Investments carried at fair value were acquired under a rabbi trust arrangement related to the Company’s nonqualified Supplemental Executive Retirement Plan (the “SERP”). The Company purchases investments in the trust to mirror the investment elections of participants in the SERP; gains and losses on the investments in the trust are reflected as increases or decreases in the liability owed to the participants. During the sixthree months ended June 30, 2016,March 31, 2017, the Company recognized $153$32 thousand in dividend and interest income from investments, and recorded net unrealized gains of $83$120 thousand on these investments. Fair values for these investments held under the rabbi trust were determined by Level 1 quoted market prices for the underlying mutual funds.

7.Equipment Installment Plan Receivables
At March 31, 2017 and December 31, 2016, other investments, comprised of equity securities which do not have readily determinable fair values, consist of the following:

As part of the acquisition of nTelos, the Company assumed the accounts receivable associated with nTelos’ Equipment Installment Plan, (“EIP”).  This plan allowed EIP subscribers to pay for their devices in installments over a 24-month period. At the time of an installment sale, nTelos imputed interest on the installment receivable using current market interest rate estimates ranging from approximately 5% to 10%.  Additionally, the customer had the right to trade in their original device after a specified period of time for a new device and have the remaining unpaid balance satisfied. This trade-in right was measured at the estimated fair value of the device being traded in based on current trade-in values and the timing of the trade-in.
 3/31/2017 12/31/2016
Cost method:(in thousands)
CoBank$6,296
 $6,177
Other – Equity in other telecommunications partners740
 742
 7,036
 6,919
Equity method:   
Other513
 450
Total other investments$7,549
 $7,369

Immediately following the acquisition, the Company terminated the EIP offering but has continued to service the installment receivable and trade in obligation until such time that the customer migrates to Sprint.  The accounts receivable associated with EIP and the trade-in liability were estimated at its fair value at acquisition date in accordance with ASC 805, “Business Combinations”.

There was $26.0 million of EIP receivables as of June 30, 2016.  The short term portion of $19.5 million is included in accounts receivable, net.  The long term portion of $6.5 million is included in deferred charges and other assets, net.

As of June 30, 2016, the liability associated with the trade-in right was $5.3 million, and is reflected in accrued liabilities and other and other long term liabilities.
14


8.
6.Financial Instruments

Financial instruments on the condensed consolidated balance sheets that approximate fair value include:  cash and cash equivalents, receivables, investments carried at fair value, payables, accrued liabilities, interest rate swaps and variable rate long-term debt.

9.
7.
Derivative Instruments, Hedging Activities and Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income (Loss)

The Company’s objectives in using interest rate derivatives are to add stability to cash flows and to manage its exposure to interest rate movements. To accomplish this objective,these objectives, the Company primarily uses interest rate swaps as part of its interest rate risk management strategy. Interest rate swaps (both those designated as cash flow hedges as well as those not designated as cash flow hedges) involve the receipt of variable-rate amounts from a counterparty in exchange for the Company making fixed-rate payments over the life of the agreements without exchange of the underlying notional amount.

The Company entered into a pay-fixed, receive-variable interest rate swap of $174.6 million of notional principal in September 2012.  This interest rate swap was designated as a cash flow hedge.  The total outstanding notional amount of thethis cash flow hedge was $144.1 $131.0 million as of June 30, 2016.March 31, 2017.  The outstanding notional amount decreases as the Company makesbased upon scheduled principal payments on the 2012 debt.

In May 2016, the Company entered into a pay-fixed, receive-variable interest rate swap of $256.6 million of notional principal with three counterparties.   This interest rate swap was designated as a cash flow hedge.  The total outstanding notional amount of thethis cash flow hedge was $273.4 $302.4 million as of June 30, 2016.March 31, 2017.  The outstanding notional amount increases with eachbased upon draws expected draw onto be made under a portion of the termCompany's Term Loan A-2 debt and as the 2012 interest rate swap's notional principal decreases, and will decrease as the Company makes scheduled principal payments on the 2016 debt.  In combination with the swap entered into in 2012 described above, the Company is hedging approximately 50% of the expected outstanding debt (including expected draws under the delayed draw term loan) associated with the nTelos acquisition.debt.

The effective portion of changes in the fair value of interest rate swaps designated and that qualify as cash flow hedges is recorded in accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) and is subsequently reclassified into earnings in the period that the hedged forecasted transaction affects earnings. The Company uses its derivatives to hedge the variable cash flows associated with existing variable-rate debt. The ineffective portion of the change in fair value of the derivative is recognized directly in earnings through interest expense. No hedge ineffectiveness was recognized during any of the periods presented.

Amounts reported in accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) related to the interest rate swaps designated and qualified as a cash flow hedge, are reclassified to interest expense as interest payments are made on the Company’s variable-rate debt. As of June 30, 2016,March 31, 2017, the Company estimates that $3.0 million$237 thousand will be reclassified as an increase toa reduction of interest expense during the next twelve months due to the interest rate swaps since the hedge interest rate exceeds the variable interest rate on the debt.months.

The table below presents the fair value of the Company’s derivative financial instrument as well as its classification on the condensed consolidated balance sheet as of June 30, 2016March 31, 2017 and December 31, 20152016 (in thousands):
  Derivatives 
  Fair Value as of 
Balance Sheet
Location
  
June 30,
2016
    
December 31,
2015
  
       
Derivatives designated as hedging instruments:       
Interest rate swap         
 Accrued liabilities and other $(3,016) $(682)
 Other liabilities  (3,502)  - 
 Deferred charges and other assets, net  -   1,370 
Total derivatives designated as hedging instruments  $(6,518) $688 
 
15

   Derivatives
  Fair Value as of
  
Balance Sheet
Location
 March 31,
2017
 December 31,
2016
Derivatives designated as hedging instruments:      
Interest rate swap    
  
  Prepaid expenses and other $237
 $
  Deferred charges and other assets, net 11,958
 12,118
  Accrued liabilities and other 
 (895)
Total derivatives designated as hedging instruments   $12,195
 $11,223

The fair value of interest rate swaps is determined using a pricing model with inputs that are observable in the market (level 2 fair value inputs).


The table below presents change in accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) by component for the sixthree months ended June 30, 2016March 31, 2017 (in thousands):

  
Gains and
(Losses) on
Cash Flow
 Hedges
  
Income
Tax
 (Expense)
 Benefit
  
Accumulated
Other
Comprehensive
Income (Loss)
 
Balance as of December 31, 2015 $688  $(273) $415 
Other comprehensive loss before reclassifications  (7,997)  3,243   (4,754)
Amounts reclassified from accumulated other comprehensive income (to interest expense)  791   (322)  469 
Net current period other comprehensive loss  (7,206)  2,921   (4,285)
Balance as of June 30, 2016 $(6,518) $2,648  $(3,870)
  
Gains on
Cash Flow
 Hedges
 
Income
Tax
 Expense
 
Accumulated
Other
Comprehensive
Income
Balance as of December 31, 2016 $11,223
 $(4,435) $6,788
Other comprehensive income before reclassifications 541
 (208) 333
Amounts reclassified from accumulated other comprehensive income (to interest expense) 431
 (165) 266
Net current period other comprehensive income 972
 (373) 599
Balance as of March 31, 2017 $12,195
 $(4,808) $7,387


8. Intangible Assets, Net

Intangible assets consist of the following at March 31, 2017 and December 31, 2016:
 March 31, 2017 December 31, 2016
 
Gross
Carrying
Amount
 
Accumulated
Amortization
 Net 
Gross
Carrying
Amount
 
Accumulated
Amortization
 Net
Non-amortizing intangibles:      
Cable franchise rights$64,334
 $
 $64,334
 $64,334
 $
 $64,334
Railroad crossing rights97
 
 97
 97
 
 97
 64,431
 
 64,431
 64,431
 
 64,431
            
Finite-lived intangibles:
Affiliate contract expansion284,102
 (19,008) 265,094
 284,102
 (14,030) 270,072
Acquired subscribers – wireless120,855
 (25,387) 95,468
 120,855
 (18,738) 102,117
Favorable leases - wireless16,950
 (1,531) 15,419
 16,950
 (1,130) 15,820
Acquired subscribers – cable25,265
 (24,802) 463
 25,265
 (24,631) 634
Other intangibles3,230
 (797) 2,433
 2,212
 (754) 1,458
Total finite-lived intangibles450,402
 (71,525) 378,877
 449,384
 (59,283) 390,101
Total intangible assets$514,833
 $(71,525) $443,308
 $513,815
 $(59,283) $454,532


10.
9.Accrued and Other liabilities

Accrued liabilities and other includes the following (in thousands):

  
March 31,
2017
 
December 31,
2016
Sales and property taxes payable $4,742
 $6,628
Severance accrual, current portion 3,553
 4,267
Asset retirement obligations, current portion 884
 5,841
Other current liabilities 8,995
 12,349
Accrued liabilities and other $18,174
 $29,085


Other liabilities include the following (in thousands):

    
June 30,
2016
    
December 31,
2015
  
Retirement plan obligations $21,982  $2,654 
Due to dissenting shareholder  9,436   - 
Non-current portion of deferred revenues  8,968   4,156 
Other  10,128   2,229 
Other liabilities $50,514  $9,039 
   March 31,
2017
 December 31,
2016
Non-current portion of deferred revenues $7,735
 $8,933
Straight-line management fee waiver 16,180
 11,974
Other 2,142
 2,836
Other liabilities $26,057
 $23,743

10. Long-Term Debt and Revolving Lines of Credit

Total debt at March 31, 2017 and December 31, 2016 consists of the following:
(In thousands) March 31, 2017 December 31, 2016
Term loan A-1 $466,813
 $472,875
Term loan A-2 400,000
 375,000
  866,813
 847,875
Less: unamortized loan fees 17,816
 18,610
Total debt, net of unamortized loan fees $848,997
 $829,265
     
Current maturities of long term debt, net of unamortized loan fees $38,124
 $32,041
Long-term debt, less current maturities, net of unamortized loan fees $810,873
 $797,224

As of March 31, 2017, our indebtedness totaled $866.8 million in term loans with an annualized effective interest rate of approximately 3.91% after considering the impact of the interest rate swap contract and unamortized loan costs.  The balance consists of the $466.8 million Term Loan A-1 at a variable rate (3.73% as of March 31, 2017) that resets monthly based on one month LIBOR plus a margin of 2.75%, and the $400 million Term Loan A-2 at a variable rate (3.98% as of March 31, 2017) that resets monthly based on one month LIBOR plus a margin of 3.00%.  The Term Loan A-1 requires quarterly principal repayments of $6.1 million through June 30, 2017, then increasing to $12.1 million quarterly through June 30, 2020, with further increases at that time through maturity in June 30, 2021.  The Term Loan A-2 requires quarterly principal repayments of $10.0 million beginning on September 30, 2018 through March 31, 2023, with the remaining balance due June 30, 2023.

The Company is subject to certain financial covenants to be measured on a trailing twelve month basis each calendar quarter unless otherwise specified.  These covenants include:

a limitation on the Company’s total leverage ratio, defined as indebtedness divided by earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, or EBITDA, of less than or equal to 3.75 to 1.00 from the closing date through December 30, 2018, then 3.25 to 1.00 through December 30, 2019, and 3.00 to 1.00 thereafter;

a minimum debt service coverage ratio, defined as EBITDA minus certain cash taxes divided by the sum of all scheduled principal payments on the Term Loans and scheduled principal payments on other indebtedness plus cash interest expense, greater than 2.00 to 1.00;
the Company must maintain a minimum liquidity balance, defined as availability under the revolver facility plus unrestricted cash and cash equivalents on deposit in a deposit account for which a control agreement has been delivered to the administrative agent under the 2016 credit agreement, of greater than $25 million at all times.

These ratios are generally less restrictive than the covenant ratios the Company had been required to comply with under its previously existing debt arrangements.  As shown below, as of March 31, 2017, the Company was in compliance with the financial covenants in its credit agreements.
ActualCovenant Requirement
Total Leverage Ratio2.883.75 or Lower
Debt Service Coverage Ratio4.562.00 or Higher
Minimum Liquidity Balance$113 million$25 million or Higher

11.Segment Information

Operating segments are defined as components of an enterprise about which separate financial information is available that is evaluated regularly by the chief operating decision maker.  The Company has three reportable segments, which the Company operates and manages as strategic business units organized by lines of business: (1) Wireless, (2) Cable, and (3) Wireline.   A fourth segment, Other, primarily includes Shenandoah Telecommunications Company, the parent holding company.

ThePrior to the recent acquisition of nTelos, the Wireless segment hashad provided digital wireless service to a portion of a four-state area covering the region from Harrisburg, York and Altoona, Pennsylvania, to Harrisonburg, Virginia, as a Sprint PCS Affiliate. With the recent acquisition, of nTelos (see Note 2), the Company’sCompany's wireless service area has expanded to include south-central and western Virginia, West Virginia, and small portions of Kentucky and Ohio. This segment also owns cell site towers built on leased land, and leases space on these towers to both affiliates and non-affiliated service providers.

The Cable segment provides video, internet and voice services in Virginia, West Virginia and Maryland, and leases fiber optic facilities throughout southern Virginia and West Virginia. It does not include video, internet and voice services provided to customers in Shenandoah County, Virginia.

The Wireline segment provides regulated and unregulated voice services, DSL internet access, and long distance access services throughout Shenandoah County and portions of Rockingham, Frederick, Warren and Augusta counties, Virginia. The segment also provides video and cable modem services in portions of Shenandoah County, and leases fiber optic facilities throughout the northern Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, northern Virginia and adjacent areas along the Interstate 81 corridor through West Virginia, Maryland and portions of central and southern Pennsylvania.
16


Three months ended June 30, 2016
 
(in thousands)
                  
  Wireless  Cable  Wireline  Other  Eliminations  
Consolidated
Totals
 
External revenues                  
Service revenues $86,873  $24,167  $4,820  $-  $-  $115,860 
Other  6,280   1,923   6,246   -   -   14,449 
Total external revenues  93,153   26,090   11,066   -   -   130,309 
Internal revenues  1,141   311   7,525   -   (8,977)  - 
Total operating revenues  94,294   26,401   18,591   -   (8,977)  130,309 
                         
Operating expenses                        
Costs of goods and services, exclusive of depreciation and amortization shown separately below  35,236   14,564   8,808   -   (8,312)  50,296 
Selling, general and administrative, exclusive of depreciation and amortization shown separately below  23,010   4,794   1,670   4,885   (665)  33,694 
Integration and acquisition expenses  5,276   -   -   14,778   -   20,054 
Depreciation and amortization  23,495   5,879   2,933   108   -   32,415 
Total operating expenses  87,017   25,237   13,411   19,771   (8,977)  136,459 
Operating income (loss) $7,277  $1,164  $5,180  $(19,771) $-  $(6,150)

Three months ended June 30, 2015
 
(in thousands)
                  
  Wireless  Cable  Wireline  Other  Eliminations  
Consolidated
Totals
 
External revenues                  
Service revenues $48,749  $22,117  $4,889  $-  $-  $75,755 
Other  2,848   1,850   5,248   -   -   9,946 
Total external revenues  51,597   23,967   10,137   -   -   85,701 
Internal revenues  1,105   186   6,326   -   (7,617)  - 
Total operating revenues  52,702   24,153   16,463   -   (7,617)  85,701 
                         
Operating expenses                        
Costs of goods and services, exclusive of depreciation and amortization shown separately below  15,903   13,635   7,677   (16)  (6,919)  30,280 
Selling, general and administrative, exclusive of depreciation and amortization shown separately below  8,917   5,084   1,736   3,567   (698)  18,606 
Integration and acquisition expenses  -   -   -   402   -   402 
Depreciation and amortization  8,612   5,859   3,083   109   -   17,663 
Total operating expenses  33,432   24,578   12,496   4,062   (7,617)  66,951 
Operating income (loss) $19,270  $(425) $3,967  $(4,062) $-  $18,750 
Three months ended March 31, 2017 
(in thousands)
  Wireless Cable Wireline Other Eliminations 
Consolidated
Totals
External revenues            
Service revenues $108,186
 $26,411
 $5,048
 $
 $
 $139,645
Other 6,042
 2,035
 6,158
 
 
 14,235
Total external revenues 114,228
 28,446
 11,206
 
 
 153,880
Internal revenues 1,235
 567
 7,948
 
 (9,750) 
Total operating revenues 115,463
 29,013
 19,154
 
 (9,750) 153,880
             
Operating expenses  
  
  
  
  
  
Costs of goods and services, exclusive of depreciation and amortization shown separately below 38,318
 15,228
 9,273
 
 (9,058) 53,761
Selling, general and administrative, exclusive of depreciation and amortization shown separately below 28,464
 4,858
 1,676
 5,847
 (692) 40,153
Integration and acquisition expenses 3,792
 
 
 697
 
 4,489
Depreciation and amortization 35,752
 5,788
 3,132
 132
 
 44,804
Total operating expenses 106,326
 25,874
 14,081
 6,676
 (9,750) 143,207
Operating income (loss) $9,137
 $3,139
 $5,073
 $(6,676) $
 $10,673

Six months ended June 30, 2016
 
(in thousands)
                  
 
Wireless
  Cable  Wireline  
Other
  
Eliminations
  
Consolidated
Totals
 
External revenues                  
Service revenues $139,052  $48,507  $9,779  $-  $-  $197,338 
Other  9,484   3,768   12,290   -   -   25,542 
Total external revenues  148,536   52,275   22,069   -   -   222,880 
Internal revenues  2,276   572   14,901   -   (17,749)  - 
Total operating revenues  150,812   52,847   36,970   -   (17,749)  222,880 
                         
Operating expenses                        
Costs of goods and services, exclusive of depreciation and amortization shown separately below  51,815   29,210   17,450   -   (16,418)  82,057 
Selling, general and administrative, exclusive of depreciation and amortization shown separately below  34,524   9,902   3,275   8,750   (1,331)  55,120 
Integration and acquisition expenses  5,276   -   -   15,110       20,386 
Depreciation and amortization  31,988   11,974   5,967   225   -   50,154 
Total operating expenses  123,603   51,086   26,692   24,085   (17,749)  207,717 
Operating income (loss) $27,209  $1,761  $10,278  $(24,085) $-  $15,163 
Three months ended March 31, 2016
 (in thousands)
17

  Wireless Cable Wireline Other Eliminations 
Consolidated
Totals
External revenues            
Service revenues $52,179
 $24,340
 $4,960
 $
 $
 $81,479
Other 3,203
 1,846
 6,043
 
 

 11,092
Total external revenues 55,382
 26,186
 11,003
 
 
 92,571
Internal revenues 1,136
 260
 7,376
 

 (8,772) 
Total operating revenues 56,518
 26,446
 18,379
 
 (8,772) 92,571
             
Operating expenses  
  
  
  
  
  
Costs of goods and services, exclusive of depreciation and amortization shown separately below 16,578
 14,647
 8,643
 
 (8,106) 31,762
Selling, general and administrative, exclusive of depreciation and amortization shown separately below 11,514
 5,108
 1,605
 3,865
 (666) 21,426
Integration and acquisition expenses 
 
 
 332
 
 332
Depreciation and amortization 8,494
 6,095
 3,033
 117
 
 17,739
Total operating expenses 36,586
 25,850
 13,281
 4,314
 (8,772) 71,259
Operating income (loss) $19,932
 $596
 $5,098
 $(4,314) $
 $21,312


Six months ended June 30, 2015
 
(in thousands)
                  
 
Wireless
  Cable  
Wireline
  
Other
  
Eliminations
  
Consolidated
Totals
 
External revenues                  
Service revenues $97,124  $43,518  $9,639  $-  $-  $150,281 
Other  5,878   3,613   10,217   -   -   19,708 
Total external revenues  103,002   47,131   19,856   -   -   169,989 
Internal revenues  2,209   334   12,192   -   (14,735)  - 
Total operating revenues  105,211   47,465   32,048   -   (14,735)  169,989 
                         
Operating expenses                        
Costs of goods and services, exclusive of depreciation and amortization shown separately below  32,090   27,253   15,011   -   (13,384)  60,970 
Selling, general and administrative, exclusive of depreciation and amortization shown separately below  17,969   9,976   3,234   6,890   (1,351)  36,718 
Integration and acquisition expenses  -   -   -   1,024       1,024 
Depreciation and amortization  16,444   11,338   6,007   212   -   34,001 
Total operating expenses  66,503   48,567   24,252   8,126   (14,735)  132,713 
Operating income (loss)  38,708   (1,102)  7,796   (8,126)  -   37,276 

A reconciliation of the total of the reportable segments’ operating income (loss) to consolidated income (loss) before taxes is as follows:

  
Three Months Ended
June 30,
 
(in thousands) 2016  2015 
Total consolidated operating income (loss) $(6,150) $18,750 
Interest expense  (5,904)  (1,940)
Non-operating income, net  167   540 
Income (loss) before income taxes $(11,887) $17,350 

  Three Months Ended
March 31,
(in thousands) 2017 2016
Total consolidated operating income $10,673
 $21,312
Interest expense (9,100) (1,619)
Non-operating income, net 1,375
 556
Income before income taxes $2,948
 $20,249
  
Six Months Ended
June 30,
 
  2016  2015 
Total consolidated operating income (loss) $15,163  $37,276 
Interest expense  (7,524)  (3,855)
Non-operating income, net  723   1,074 
Income before income taxes $8,362  $34,495 

The Company’s assets by segment are as follows:

 
(in thousands)
 
June 30,
2016
  
December 31,
2015
 
Wireless $1,142,459  $205,718 
Cable  210,542   209,132 
Wireline  111,728   105,369 
Other  1,083,152   463,390 
Combined totals  2,547,881   983,609 
Inter-segment eliminations  (1,092,040)  (356,458)
Consolidated totals $1,455,841  $627,151 
18

 
(in thousands)
 March 31,
2017
 December 31,
2016
Wireless $1,039,211
 $1,101,716
Cable 220,519
 218,471
Wireline 116,390
 115,282
Other 1,070,204
 1,059,898
Combined totals 2,446,324
 2,495,367
Inter-segment eliminations (993,335) (1,010,960)
Consolidated totals $1,452,989
 $1,484,407

12.Income Taxes

The Company files U.S. federal income tax returns and various state and local income tax returns.  With few exceptions, years prior to 20122013 are no longer subject to examination.examination; net operating losses acquired in the nTelos acquisition are open to examination from 2002 forward. The Company is not subject to any state or federal income tax audits as of June 30, 2016.March 31, 2017.

13.Adoption of New Accounting Principles

During 2016,the first quarter of 2017, the Company adopted four recentone new accounting principles:principle: Accounting Standards Update 2015-03, “Interest – Imputation("ASU") No. 2015-11, "Inventory: Simplifying the Measurement of Interest” (ASU 2015-03),Inventory". This ASU 2015-17, “Balance Sheet Classificationchanges the measurement principle for inventory from the lower of Deferred Taxes”,cost or market to lower of cost and net realizable value. The ASU 2016-09, “Improvements to Employee Share-based Payment Accounting,” and ASU 2015-16, “Simplifying the Accounting for Measurement-Period Adjustments.”

ASU 2015-03 requires that premiums, discounts, and loan fees and costs associated with long term debt be reflected as a reduction of the outstanding debt balance.  Previous guidance had treated such loan fees and costs as a deferred charge on the balance sheet.  As a result of implementing ASU 2015-03, the Company reclassified $1.6 million of unamortized loan fees and costs included in deferred charges and other assets as of December 31, 2015 to long-term debt.  Approximately $0.5 million was allocated to current maturities of long-term debt, and $1.1 million to long term debt.  Total assets, as well as total liabilities and shareholders’ equity, were also reduced by the same $1.6 million.  In addition, the Company reclassified $4.3 million of unamortized loan fees and costs included in deferred charges and other assets to long term debt in connection with the new Term loan A-1 and A-2 borrowing related to the acquisition of nTelos.  Total assets, as well as total liabilities and shareholders’ equity, were also reduced by the same $4.3 million.  There was no impact on the statements of income or cash flows.

ASU 2015-17 simplifies accounting for deferred taxes by eliminating the requirement to present deferred tax assets and liabilities as current and non-current in a classified balance sheet.  Due to the immaterial balance of current deferred tax assets ($0.9 million as of December 31, 2015), the Company has elected to apply this guidance prospectively, and thus prior periods have not been retrospectively adjusted.

ASU 2016-09 simplifies certain provisions related to the accounting for the tax effects of stock-based compensation transactions.  In particular for the Company, it eliminates the requirement for entities to determine for each award whether the difference between book compensation and tax compensation results inconsider replacement cost or net realizable value less an excess tax benefit orapproximately normal profit margin when measuring inventory. The adoption of this ASU did not have a tax deficiency, which generally speaking, result in an entry to additional paid-in-capital.  Under the new guidance, all tax effects for exercised or vested awards are recognized as discrete items in income tax expense.  The new guidance also allows an employer to withhold shares to cover more than the minimum statutory withholding taxes (but not more than the maximum statutory withholding requirements) without causing an equity-classified award to become a liability classified award.  The other provisions of the new guidance are either not applicable or have no significant impact on the Company’s accounting for stock-based compensation transactions.  The Company has elected to early adopt the new guidance and apply it prospectively to tax effects on share-based compensation transactions.our financial statements.

14. Subsequent Events

ASU 2015-16 requires thatOn March 9, 2017, the Company and Sprint entered into Addendum XX to the Sprint PCS Management Agreement. Addendum XX provides for (i) an acquirer recognize adjustments to provisional amounts that are identified duringexpansion of the measurement periodCompany’s “Service Area” (as defined in the reporting periodSprint PCS Management Agreement) to include certain areas in whichKentucky, Maryland, Ohio and West Virginia (the “Expansion Area”), (ii) certain network build out requirements in the adjustment amounts are determined.
19

14.Long-term Debt and Revolving Line of Credit

Total debt consistsExpansion Area over the next three years, (iii) the Company’s provision of prepaid field sales support to Sprint and its affiliates in the following:

(In thousands)
 
 
June 30,
2016
  
December 31,
2015
 
       
Term loan A $-  $201,250 
Term loan A-1  485,000   - 
Term loan A-2  350,000   - 
Capital lease outstanding  413   - 
   835,413   201,250 
Less: unamortized loan fees  19,840   1,589 
Total debt, net of unamortized loan fees $815,573  $199,661 
         
Current maturities, net of unamortized loan fees $20,147  $22,492 
Long-term debt, net of unamortized loan fees $795,426  $177,169 

As previously disclosed, on December 18, 2015,Service Area, (iv) Sprint’s provision of spectrum use to the Company entered intoin the Expansion Area, (v) the addition of Horizon Personal Communications, LLC, as a Creditparty to the Sprint PCS Management Agreement (as amended,and the “2016 credit agreement”Sprint PCS Services Agreement (collectively, the “Affiliate Agreements) with various banks and (vi) certain other financial institutions party thereto and CoBank, ACB, as administrative agent foramendments to the lenders, providing for three facilities: (i) a five year revolving credit facility of up to $75 million; (ii) a five-year term loan facility of up to $485 million (Term Loan A-1”); and (iii) a seven-year term loan facility of up to $400 million (“Term Loan A-2”).

Affiliate Agreements.
In connection with the closingexecution of the nTelos acquisition,Addendum XX, on March 9, 2017, the Company borrowed (i) $485 million under Term Loan A-1 and (ii) $325 million under Term Loan A-2, which amounts were usedcertain affiliates of Sprint entered into an agreement to, among other things, fundtransfer to Sprint certain customers in the payment ofExpansion Area and the nTelos merger consideration, to refinance, in full, all indebtedness under the Company’s existing credit agreement, to repay existing long-term indebtedness of nTelosunderlying customer agreements, and to pay feestransition the provision of network coverage in the Expansion Area from Sprint to the Company. The expanded territory includes approximately 500 thousand market POPs and expenses in connection with the foregoing.  In connection with the consummation of the nTelos acquisition, nTelos and its subsidiaries became guarantors under the 2016 credit agreement and pledged their assets as security for the obligations under the 2016 credit agreement.  The 2016 credit agreement also includes $75 million available under the Term Loan A-2 as a “delayed draw term loan,” and in June 2016, the Company drew $25 million under this portion of the agreement.  Finally, the 2016 credit agreement also includes a $75 million revolver facility.

As of June 30, 2016, the Company’s indebtedness totaled $815.6 million, net of unamortized loan fees of $19.8 million, with an annualized overall weighted average interest rate of approximately 3.84%.  The Term Loan A-1 bears interest at one-month LIBOR plus a margin of 2.75%, while the Term Loan A-2 bears interest at one-month LIBOR plus a margin of 3.00%.  LIBOR resets monthly.  These loans are more fully described below.

21 thousand Sprint customers.
The Term Loan A-1 requires quarterly principal repayments of $6.1 million beginning on September 30, 2016 through June 30, 2017, increasing to $12.1 million quarterly thereafter through June 30, 2021, with the remaining expected balance of approximately $242.5 million due September 30, 2021.  The Term Loan A-2 requires quarterly principal repayments of $10.0 million beginning on September 30, 2018 through March 31, 2023, with the remaining expected balance of approximately $210 million due June 30, 2023.

The 2016 credit agreement also required the Company to enter into one or more hedge agreements to manage its exposure to interest rate movements.  The Company elected to hedge the minimum required under the 2016 credit agreement, and entered into a pay fixed, receive variable swap on 50% of the aggregate principal balance of the term loans outstanding for at least three years from the closing date.  The Company will receive one month LIBOR and pay a fixed rate of 1.16%, in addition to the 2.75% initial spread on Term Loan A-1 and the 3.00% initial spread on Term Loan A-2.

The 2016 credit agreement contains affirmative and negative covenants customary to secured credit facilities, including covenants restricting the ability of the Company and its subsidiaries, subject to negotiated exceptions, to incur additional indebtedness and additional liensSprint closed on their assets, engage in mergers or acquisitions or dispose of assets, pay dividends or make other distributions, voluntarily prepay other indebtedness, enter into transactions with affiliated persons, make investments, and change the nature of the Company’s and its subsidiaries’ businesses.this transaction on April 6, 2017.
20

Indebtedness outstanding under any of the facilities may be accelerated by an Event of Default, as defined in the 2016 credit agreement.

The Facilities are secured by a pledge by the Company of its stock in its subsidiaries, a guarantee by the Company’s subsidiaries other than Shenandoah Telephone Company, and a security interest in substantially all of the assets of the Company and the guarantors.

The Company is subject to certain financial covenants to be measured on a trailing twelve month basis each calendar quarter unless otherwise specified.  These covenants include:

a limitation on the Company’s total leverage ratio, defined as indebtedness divided by earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, or EBITDA, of less than or equal to 3.75 to 1.00 from the closing date through December 30, 2018, then 3.25 to 1.00 through December 30, 2019, and 3.00 to 1.00 thereafter;
a minimum debt service coverage ratio, defined as EBITDA minus certain cash taxes divided by the sum of all scheduled principal payments on the Term Loans and scheduled principal payments on other indebtedness plus cash interest expense, greater than 2.00 to 1.0;
the Company must maintain a minimum liquidity balance, defined as availability under the revolver facility plus unrestricted cash and cash equivalents on deposit in a deposit account for which a control agreement has been delivered to the administrative agent under the 2016 credit agreement, of greater than $25 million at all times.

These ratios are generally less restrictive than the covenant ratios the Company had been required to comply with under its previously existing debt arrangements.  As of June 30, 2016, the Company was in compliance with the covenants in the 2016 credit agreement.

Future maturities of long-term debt principal are as follows (in thousands):

2016 $12,238 
2017  36,714 
2018  68,593 
2019  88,593 
2020  100,625 
Thereafter  528,650 
Total $835,413 
21

15.Pension Plan and Other Postretirement Benefits

The Company assumed, through its acquisition of nTelos, a qualified pension plan and other postretirement benefit plans. The following tables provide the benefit obligations, fair value of assets and a statement of the funded status as of the acquisition date:

  Defined Benefit Pension Plan 
Other Postretirement
Benefit Plans
 
(In thousands)
  2016  2016 
     
Benefit obligations, at acquisition $37,443  $4,568 
Fair value of plan assets, at acquisition $22,813  $ 
Funded status:      
Total liability, at acquisition $(14,630) $(4,568)

The accumulated benefit obligation for the defined benefit pension plan at May 6, 2016 was $37.4 million. The accumulated benefit obligation represents the present value of pension benefits based on service and salary earned to date.  The defined benefit plan was frozen for future benefit accruals as of December 31, 2012. Accordingly, the accumulated benefit obligation is equal to the projected benefit obligation.

The following table provides the components of net periodic benefit cost for the plans for the period from acquisition date to December 31, 2016:

  
Defined Benefit
Pension Plan
  
Other Postretirement
Benefit Plans
 
(In thousands) 2016  2016 
Components of net periodic benefit cost:      
Service cost $-  $18 
Interest cost  956   108 
Recognized net actuarial loss  -   - 
Expected return on plan assets  (1,018)  - 
Net periodic benefit cost $(62) $126 

Prior service costs assumed by the Company are amortized on a straight-line basis over the average remaining service period of active participants. Gains and losses in excess of 10% of the greater of the benefit obligation and the market-related value of assets are amortized over the average remaining service period of active participants.  The net periodic benefit cost from the defined benefit plans was $0.0 million for the period from acquisition through June 30, 2016.

The total amount reclassified out of accumulated other comprehensive loss related to actuarial losses from the defined benefit plans was $0.0 million for the period from acquisition through June 30, 2016.

The assumptions used in the measurements of the Company’s benefit obligations at May 6, 2016 for the plans are shown in the following table:

  
Defined
Benefit
Pension Plan
  
Other
Postretirement
Benefit Plans
 
  2016  2016 
Discount rate  3.85%  3.85%
22

The assumptions used in the measurements of the Company’s net cost for the consolidated statement of operations for the period from acquisition date through December 31, 2016 are:

  
Defined Benefit
Pension Plan
  
Other
Postretirement
Benefit Plans
 
  2016  2016 
Discount rate  3.85%  3.85%
Expected return on plan assets  6.75%   
Rate of compensation increase      

The Company reviews the assumptions noted in the above table annually or more frequently to reflect anticipated future changes in the underlying economic factors used to determine these assumptions. The discount rates assumed reflect the rate at which the Company could invest in high quality corporate bonds in order to settle future obligations.
The Company uses updated mortality tables published by the Society of Actuaries that predict increasing life expectancies in the United States.

For measurement purposes, an 8.0% annual rate of increase in the per capita cost of covered health care benefits was assumed for 2016 for the obligation as of December 31, 2015. The rate was assumed to decrease one-half percent per year to a rate of 5.0% for 2022 and remain at that level thereafter.

Assumed health care cost trend rates may have a significant effect on the amounts reported for the health care plans. The effect of a 1% change on the medical trend rate per future year, while holding all other assumptions constant, to the service and interest cost components of net periodic postretirement health care benefit costs and accumulated postretirement benefit obligation would be a $0.1 million increase and a $0.6 million increase, respectively, for a 1% increase in medical trend rate and a $0.1 million decrease and a $0.5 million decrease, respectively, for a 1% decrease in medical trend rate.

In developing the expected long-term rate of return assumption for the assets of the Defined Benefit Pension Plan, the Company evaluated input from its third-party pension plan administrator, including its review of asset class return expectations and long-term inflation assumptions.

The average actual asset allocations by asset category and the fair value by asset category as of May 6, 2016 were as follows:

  Actual Allocation as of  
Fair Value as of
May 6,
Asset Category (dollars in thousands)
 May 6, 2016  2016
Large Cap Value  32% $7,244 
Mid Cap Blend  9%  2,026 
Small Cap Blend  5%  1,151 
Foreign Stock – Large Cap  30%  6,867 
Bond  20%  4,611 
Cash and cash equivalents  4%  914 
Total  100% $22,813 

The actual and target allocation for plan assets is broadly defined and measured as follows:

Asset Category
 
Actual
Allocation
  
Target
Allocation
 
Equity securities  76%  65-75%
Bond securities and cash equivalents  24%  25-35%
Total  100%  100%
23

It is the Company’s policy to invest pension plan assets in a diversified portfolio consisting of an array of asset classes. The investment risk of the assets is limited by appropriate diversification both within and between asset classes. The assets are primarily invested in investment funds that invest in a broad mix of publicly traded equities, bonds and cash equivalents (and fair value is based on quoted market prices (“Level 1” input)). The allocation between equity and bonds is reset quarterly to the target allocations. Updates to the allocation are considered in the normal course and changes may be made when appropriate. The bond holdings consist of two bond funds split relatively evenly between these funds at May 6, 2016. The maximum holdings of any one asset within these funds is under 4% of this fund and thus is well under 1% of the total portfolio. At May 6, 2016, the Company believes that there are no material concentrations of risk within the portfolio of plan assets.

The assumed long-term return noted above is the target long-term return. Overall return, risk adjusted return, and management fees are assessed against a peer group and benchmark indices. There are minimum performance standards that must be attained within the investment portfolio. Reporting on asset performance is provided quarterly and review meetings are held semi-annually. In addition to normal rebalancing to maintain an adequate cash reserve, projected cash flow needs of the plan are reviewed at least annually to ensure liquidity is properly managed.

The Company does not expect to contribute to the pension plan in 2016. The Company expects the net periodic benefit cost for the defined benefit pension plan in 2016 to be $0.1 million and expects the periodic benefit cost for the other postretirement benefit plans in 2016 to be $0.1 million.

The following estimated future pension benefit payments and other postretirement benefit plan payments which reflect expected future service, as appropriate, are expected to be paid in the years indicated:

(In thousands)
 
Defined
Benefit
Pension
Plan
  
Other
Postretirement
Benefit Plans
 
2016 $371  $96 
2017  700   136 
2018  720   131 
2019  768   134 
2020  868   142 
Aggregate of next five years  6,219   977 
24

ITEM 2.MANAGEMENT'S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

This management’s discussion and analysis includes “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.  When used in this report, the words “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “plan” and similar expressions as they relate to Shenandoah Telecommunications Company or its management are intended to identify these forward-looking statements.  All statements regarding Shenandoah Telecommunications Company’s expected future financial position and operating results, business strategy, financing plans, forecasted trends relating to the markets in which Shenandoah Telecommunications Company operates and similar matters are forward-looking statements.  We cannot assure you that the Company’s expectations expressed or implied in these forward-looking statements will turn out to be correct.  The Company’s actual results could be materially different from its expectations because of various factors, including those discussed below and under the caption “Risk Factors” in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for its fiscal year ended December 31, 2015.2016.  The following management’s discussion and analysis should be read in conjunction with the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for its fiscal year ended December 31, 2015,2016, including the financial statements and related notes included therein.

General

Overview. Overview:Shenandoah Telecommunications Company is a diversified telecommunications company providing both regulated and unregulated telecommunications services through its wholly owned subsidiaries.  These subsidiaries provide wireless personal communications services (as a Sprint PCS affiliate), local exchange telephone services, video, internet and data services, long distance services, fiber optics facilities, and leased tower facilities. We have three reportable segments, which we operate and manage as strategic business units organized by lines of business: (1) Wireless, (2) Cable, and (3) Wireline.

*The Wireless segment has historically provided digital wireless service as a Sprint PCS Affiliate to a portion of a four-state area covering the region from Harrisburg, York and Altoona, Pennsylvania, to Harrisonburg, Virginia.  Following the acquisition of nTelos on May 6, 2016, the Company’s wireless service area expanded to include south-central and western Virginia, West Virginia, and small portions of Kentucky and Ohio.  In this area,these areas, we are the exclusive provider of Sprint-branded wireless mobility communications network products and services on the 800 MHz, 1900 MHz and 2.5 GHz bands under the Sprint brand.  bands.  This segment also owns cell site towers built on leased land, and leases space on these towers to both affiliates and non-affiliated service providers.

*The Cable segment provides video, internet and voice services in franchise areas in portions of Virginia, West Virginia and western Maryland, and leases fiber optic facilities throughout its service area. It does not include video, internet and voice services provided to customers in Shenandoah County, Virginia.

*The Wireline segment provides regulated and unregulated voice services, DSL internet access, and long distance access services throughout Shenandoah County and portions of Rockingham, Frederick, Warren and Augusta counties, Virginia. The segment also provides video and cable modem internet access services in portions of Shenandoah County, and leases fiber optic facilities throughout the northern Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, northern Virginia and adjacent areas along the Interstate 81 corridor through West Virginia, Maryland and portions of central and southern Pennsylvania.

A fourth segment, Other, primarily includes Shenandoah Telecommunications Company, the parent holding company. company, and includes corporate costs of executive management, information technology, legal, finance, and human resources. This segment also includes certain acquisition and integration costs primarily consisting of severance accruals for short-term nTelos employees to be separated as integration activities wind down and transaction related expenses such as investment advisor, legal and other professional fees.
25


Acquisition of nTelos and Exchange with Sprint: On May 6, 2016, we completed our previously announced acquisition of NTELOS Holdings Corp. (“nTelos”) for $663.7$667.8 million, in cash, net of cash acquired.  The purchase price was financed by a credit facility arranged by CoBank, ACB.  We have included the operations of nTelos for financial reporting purposes for periods subsequent to the acquisition.

Immediately after acquiring nTelos, we exchanged spectrum licenses valued at $198.2 million and customer based contract rights, valued at $198.2 million, acquired from nTelos with Sprint, and received an expansion of our affiliate service territory to include most of the service area served by nTelos, valued at $258.1 million, as well as additional customer based contract rights, valued at $138.3 million, relating to nTelos’ and Sprint’s legacy customers in the our affiliate service territory. The value of the affiliate agreement expansion is based on changes to the amended affiliate agreement that include an increase in the price to be paid by Sprint from 80% to 90% of the entire business value of PCS if the affiliate agreement is not renewed and an extension of the affiliate agreement with Sprint by five years to 2029. Also included in the value is the expanded territory in the nTelos service area and the accompanying right to serve all future Sprint customers in the expanded territory, our commitment to upgrade certain coverage and capacity in the newly acquired service area, the waiver of a portion of the management fee charged by Sprint, as well as other items defined in the amended affiliate agreement.

In connection with the acquisition, we committed to Sprint to migrate the former nTelos customers to devices that can interact with the Sprint billing and network systems and to maintain the nTelos billing, customer care and switching systems until the migration is complete, and expectCompany expects to incur a total of between $106 million and $126approximately $23 million of integration and acquisition expenses associated with this transaction excluding approximately $24in 2017, in addition to the $54.7 million of debt issuance costs.  Thesesuch costs include the nTelos back office staff and support functions until the nTelos legacy customers are migrated to the Sprint billing platform; cost of handsets to be provided to nTelos legacy customers as they migrate to the Sprint billing platform; severance costs for back office and other former nTelos employees who will not be retained permanently; and transaction related fees.incurred during 2016.  We have incurred $22.4 million and $22.7$7.1 million of these costs in the three months and six months ended June 30, 2016, respectively, including $0.3March 31, 2017. These costs include $0.1 million reflected in cost of goods and services and $2.0$2.5 million reflected in selling, general and administrative costs in both the three and six month periodsperiod ended June 30, 2016.

Critical Accounting Policies And Estimates

March 31, 2017. In connection with the nTelos acquisition and exchange transaction with Sprint, we have added the following critical accounting policies:

Revenue Recognition:  Under our amended affiliate agreement, Sprint agreed to waive the management fee, which is historically presented as a contra-revenue by us, for a period of approximately six years.  The impact of Sprint’s waiver of the management fee over the approximate six-year period is reflected as an increase in revenue, offset by the non-cash adjustment to recognize this impact on a straight-line basis over the contract term of approximately 14 years.

Goodwill:  Goodwill is not amortized but is tested for impairment on at least an annual basis. Impairment testing is required more often than annually if an event or circumstance indicates that impairment is more likely than not to have occurred. In conducting our annual impairment testing, we may first perform a qualitative assessment of whether it is more likely than not that a reporting unit’s fair value is less than its carrying amount. If not, no further goodwill impairment testing is required. If it is more likely than not that a reporting unit’s fair value is less than its carrying amount, or if we elect not to perform a qualitative assessment of a reporting unit, we then compare the fair value of the reporting unitaddition to the related net book value. Ifapproximately $78 million of incurred and expected expenses described above, the net book value of a reporting unit exceeds its fair value, an impairment loss is measured and recognized. We conduct our annual impairment testing as of October 1.

Pension Benefits and Retirement Benefits Other Than Pensions:  Through our acquisition of nTelos, we assumed nTelos’ non-contributory defined benefit pension plan (“Pension Plan”) covering all employees who met eligibility requirements and were employed by nTelos prior to October 1, 2003. The Pension Plan was closed to nTelos employees hired on or after October 1, 2003. Pension benefits vest after five years of plan service and are based on years of service and an average of the five highest consecutive years of compensation subject to certain reductions if the employee retires before reaching age 65 and elects to receive the benefit prior to age 65. Effective December 31, 2012, nTelos froze future benefit accruals.  We use updated mortality tables published by the Society of Actuaries that predict increasing life expectancies in the United States.
26

Company also incurred

IRC Sections 412approximately $23 million of debt issuance costs in 2015 and 430 and Sections 302 and 303 of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended establish minimum funding requirements for defined benefit pension plans. The minimum required contribution is generally equal to the target normal cost plus the shortfall amortization installments for the current plan year and each of the six preceding plan years less any calculated credit balance. If plan assets (less calculated credits) are equal to or exceed the funding target, the minimum required contribution is the target normal cost reduced by the excess funding, but not below zero. Our policy is to make contributions to stay at or above the threshold required in order to prevent benefit restrictions and related additional notice requirements and is intended to provide not only for benefits based on service to date, but also for those expected to be earned in the future. We also assumed two qualified nonpension postretirement benefit plans that provide certain health care and life benefits for nTelos retired employees that meet eligibility requirements. The health care plan is contributory, with participants’ contributions adjusted annually. The life insurance plan also is contributory. These obligations, along with all of the pension plans and other postretirement benefit plans, are obligations assumed by us. Eligibility for the life insurance plan is restricted to active pension participants age 50-64 as of January 5, 1994. Neither plan is eligible to employees hired after April 1993. The accounting for the plans anticipates that we will maintain a consistent level of cost sharing for the benefits with the retirees. Our share of the projected costs of benefits that will be paid after retirement is generally being accrued by charges to expense over the eligible employees’ service periods to the dates they are fully eligible for benefits.
We record annual amounts2016 relating to the Pension Plan and postretirement benefit plans based on calculations that incorporate various actuarial and other assumptions, including discount rates, mortality, assumed ratesthis transaction, for a total expected cost of return, turnover rates and healthcare cost trend rates. We reviews our assumptions on an annual basis and makes modifications to the assumptions based on current rates and trend when it is appropriate to do so. The effect of modifications to those assumptions is recorded in accumulated other comprenhensive income (loss) and amortized to net periodic cost over future periods using the corridor method.$101 million.
Results of Operations

Three Months Ended June 30, 2016March 31, 2017 Compared with the Three Months Ended June 30, 2015March 31, 2016

Our consolidated results for the secondfirst quarter of 20162017 and 20152016 are summarized as follows:

  
Three Months Ended
June 30,
  Change 
(in thousands) 2016  2015  $  % 
Operating revenues $130,309  $85,701  $44,608   52.1 
Operating expenses  136,459   66,951   69,508   103.8 
Operating income (loss)  (6,150)  18,750   (24,900)  (132.8)
                 
Interest expense  (5,904)  (1,940)  (3,964)  204.3 
Other income, net  167   540   (373)  (69.1)
Income (loss) before taxes  (11,887)  17,350   (29,237)  (168.5)
Income tax expense (benefit)  (4,892)  6,876   (11,768)  (171.1)
Net income (loss) $(6,995) $10,474  $(17,469)  (166.8)
  Three Months Ended
March 31,
 Change
(in thousands) 2017 2016 $ %
Operating revenues $153,880
 $92,571
 $61,309
 66.2
Operating expenses 143,207
 71,259
 71,948
 101.0
Operating income 10,673
 21,312
 (10,639) (49.9)
         
Interest expense (9,100) (1,619) (7,481) 462.1
Other income, net 1,375
 556
 819
 147.3
Income before taxes 2,948
 20,249
 (17,301) (85.4)
Income tax expense 607
 6,368
 (5,761) (90.5)
Net income $2,341
 $13,881
 $(11,540) (83.1)

Operating revenues

For the three months ended June 30, 2016,March 31, 2017, operating revenues increased $44.6$61.3 million, or 52.1%66.2%. Wireless segment revenues increased $41.9$58.9 million compared to the secondfirst quarter of 2015;2016; nearly all of this increase was a result of the acquisition of nTelos on May 6, 2016. Cable segment revenues grew $2.2$2.6 million primarily as a result of 6.7%2.2% growth in average subscriber counts and an increase in revenue per subscriber.  Wireline segment revenues increased $0.8 million, net of eliminations of intersegment activities, primarily due to increases in fiber sales.

Operating expenses

Total operating expenses were $136.5$143.2 million in the secondfirst quarter of 20162017 compared to $67.0$71.3 million in the prior year period.  Operating expenses in the secondfirst quarter of 20162017 included $20.1$4.5 million of overall integration and acquisition costs associated with the nTelos acquisition, including $5.3$3.8 million on the Wireless segment and $14.8$0.7 million in the Other segment.  Selling, general and administrative expenses and cost of goods and services in the Wireless segment included an additional $2.3$2.6 million of nTelos-related customer care and other back office costs related to supporting the nTelos legacy customers until the migration of these customers is completed. Wireless segment operating expenses increased $46.0$63.3 million (excluding the $7.6$6.4 million of customer care, integration and acquisition expenses described above), primarily due to on-going costs associated with the acquired nTelos operations including $12.8$27.3 million of incremental depreciation and amortization expenses.  All other operating expenses increased $1.5$2.2 million, net of eliminations of intersegment activities.

Acquisition and integration costs on the Other segment primarily consisted of severance accruals for short-term nTelos personnel to be separated as integration activities wind down and transaction related expenses such as investment advisor, legal and other professional fees.  On the Wireless segment, such costs included handsets provided to nTelos subscribers who needed a new phone to transition to the Sprint billing platform, costs associated with terminating duplicative cell site leases and backhaul circuits, and personnel costs associated with short-term nTelos employees required to migrate the former nTelos customers to the Sprint back-office.

27Interest expense


Interest expense has increased primarily as a result of the incremental borrowings associated with closing the nTelos acquisition and the effect of two interest rate increases implemented by the Federal Reserve in late 2016 and early 2017. The impact of the interest rate increases has been offset by a swap that covers 50% of the outstanding principal under the new debt. Other changes include increased debt cost amortization reflecting the incremental costs of entering into the new debt, partially offset by increased capitalization of interest to capital projects.


Income tax expense

OurThe Company's actual effective income tax rate increaseddecreased from 39.6%31.4% for the three months ended June 30, 2015March 31, 2016 to 41.2%20.6% for the three months ended June 30, 2016.  This increaseMarch 31, 2017.  The difference for both periods between the actual effective income tax rate and the statutory income tax rate results primarily resulted from discreteexcess tax benefits resulting from the change in accounting fordeductions on share grant vestings and certain stock option exercises, and share award distributionswhich are recognized as incurred. The Company recognized $1.7 million in excess deductions in the second quarterthree months ended March 2017 compared to $4.5 million in excess deductions in the same period of 20162016; however, the March 31, 2017 excess deductions represented a larger share of pre-tax income, reducing the effective rate more in accordance with ASU 2016-09 applied against our net loss forin the quarter.  In prior year periods, such tax benefits were recorded directly to equity.three months ended March 31, 2017 than the three months ended March 31, 2016.

Net income

For the three months ended June 30, 2016,March 31, 2017, net income decreased $17.5$11.5 million, or 166.8%,83.1% over March 31, 2016, primarily reflecting acquisition and integration costs incurred, increased depreciation and amortization, straight-lining of certain Sprint fee credits, and higher interest on the increased balance of outstanding debt as a result of the nTelos acquisition, net of taxes.

Six Months Ended June 30, 2016 Compared with the Six Months Ended June 30, 2015

The Company’s consolidated results for the first six months of 2016 and 2015 are summarized as follows:

  
Six Months Ended
June 30,
  Change 
(in thousands) 2016  2015  $  % 
Operating revenues $222,880  $169,989  $52,891   31.1 
Operating expenses  207,717   132,713   75,004   56.5 
Operating income  15,163   37,276   (22,113)  (59.3)
                 
Interest expense  (7,524)  (3,855)  (3,669)  95.2 
Other income, net  723   1,074   (351)  (32.7)
Income before taxes  8,362   34,495   (26,133)  (75.8)
Income tax expense  1,477   13,735   (12,258)  (89.2)
Net income $6,885  $20,760  $(13,875)  (66.8)

Operating revenues

For the six months ended June 30, 2016, operating revenues increased $52.9 million, or 31.1%. Wireless segment revenues increased $45.6 million compared to the first six months of 2015. The new revenues associated with the nTelos customers and the Sprint customers in the nTelos footprint, net of amortization of the expanded Sprint affiliate agreement asset and the straight line adjustment to certain Sprint Fee credits, accounted for most of this increase.  Cable segment revenues grew $5.4 million primarily as a result of 6.4% growth in average subscriber counts and an increase in revenue per subscriber.  Wireline segment revenues increased $1.9 million, net of eliminations of intersegment activities, primarily due to increases in fiber sales.

Operating expenses

Total operating expenses increased $75.0 million in the six months ended June 30, 2016 compared to the prior year period.  Operating expenses in the six months ended June 30, 2016 included $20.4 million of overall integration and acquisition costs associated with the nTelos acquisition, including $5.3 million on the Wireless segment and $15.1 million in the Other segment.  Selling, general and administrative expenses and cost of goods and services in the Wireless segment included an additional $2.3 million of nTelos-related customer care and other back office costs related to supporting the nTelos legacy customers until the migration of these customers is completed. Wireless segment operating expenses increased $49.5 million (excluding the $7.6 million of customer care, integration and acquisition expenses described above), primarily due to on-going costs associated with the acquired nTelos operations and $12.8 million of incremental depreciation associated with the related acquired assets.  All other operating expenses increased $2.8 million, net of eliminations of intersegment activities.

Acquisition and integration costs on the Other segment primarily consisted of severance accruals for short-term nTelos personnel to be separated as integration activities wind down, and transaction related expenses (such as investment advisor, legal and other professional fees).  On the Wireless segment, such costs included handsets provided to nTelos subscribers who needed a new phone to transition to the Sprint billing platform and personnel costs associated with short-term nTelos employees required to migrate the former nTelos customers to the Sprint back-office.
Income tax expense

Our effective tax rate decreased from 39.8% for the six months ended June 30, 2015 to 17.7% for the six months ended June 30, 2016.  This decrease primarily resulted from discrete tax benefits resulting from the change in accounting for stock option exercises and share award distributions in the first six months of 2016 in accordance with ASU 2016-09.  In prior year periods, such tax benefits were recorded directly to equity.

Net income

For the six months ended June 30, 2016, net income decreased $13.9 million, or 66.8%, primarily reflecting acquisition and integration costs incurred, increased depreciation and amortization, straight-lining of certain Sprint credits, and higher interest on the expanded outstanding debt as a result of the nTelos acquisition, net of taxes.

Wireless

Our Wireless segment historically provided digital wireless service to a portion of a four-state area covering the region from Harrisburg, York and Altoona, Pennsylvania, to Harrisonburg, Virginia, through Shenandoah Personal Communications, LLC (“PCS”), a Sprint PCS Affiliate.  Following the recent acquisition of nTelos in May 2016, our wireless service territory expanded to include south-central and western Virginia, West Virginia, and small portions of Kentucky and Ohio.  Through Shenandoah Mobile, LLC (“Mobile”), this segment also leases land on which it builds Company-owned cell towers, which it leases to affiliates and non-affiliated wireless service providers, throughout the same four-statemulti-state area described above.

PCS receives revenues from Sprint for subscribers that obtain service in PCS’s network coverage area.  PCS relies on Sprint to provide timely, accurate and complete information to record the appropriate revenue for each financial period.  Postpaid revenues received from Sprint are recorded net of certain fees retained by Sprint.  Through December 31, 2015, these fees totaled 22% of postpaid net billed revenue (gross customer billings net of credits and adjustments to customer accounts, and write-offs of uncollectible accounts), as defined by the Affiliate Agreement with Sprint.  EffectiveSince January 1, 2016, the fees chargedretained by Sprint declined toare 16.6%, and certain revenue and expense items previously included in these fees became separately settled.

We also offer prepaid wireless products and services in our PCS network coverage area.  Sprint retains a Management Fee equal to 6% of prepaid customer billings.  Prepaid revenues received from Sprint are reported net of the cost of this fee.  Other fees charged on a per unit basis are separately recorded as expenses according to the nature of the expense.  We pay handset subsidies to Sprint for the difference between the selling price of prepaid handsets and their cost, recorded as a net cost in cost of goods sold.  The revenue and expense components reported to us by Sprint are based on Sprint’s national averages for prepaid services, rather than being specifically determined by customers assigned to our geographic service areas.

The following tables show selected operating statistics of the Wireless segment as of the dates shown:

    
June 30,
2016
    
December 31,
2015
    
June 30,
2015
    
December 31,
2014
  
Retail PCS Subscribers – Postpaid  717,563   312,512   296,492   287,867 
Retail PCS Subscribers – Prepaid  289,311   142,840   145,431   145,162 
PCS Market POPS (000) (1)  5,536   2,433   2,421   2,415 
PCS Covered POPS (000) (1)  4,528   2,224   2,213   2,207 
CDMA Base Stations (sites)  1,425   552   546   537 
Towers Owned  177   158   154   154 
Non-affiliate Cell Site Leases  211   202   202   198 
29
   March 31,
2017
 
December 31,
2016
 March 31, 2016 
December 31,
2015
Retail PCS Subscribers – Postpaid 717,150
 722,562
 315,231
 312,512
Retail PCS Subscribers – Prepaid 243,557
 236,138
 142,539
 142,840
PCS Market POPS (000) (1) 5,536
 5,536
 2,437
 2,433
PCS Covered POPS (000) (1) 4,836
 4,807
 2,230
 2,224
CDMA Base Stations (sites) 1,476
 1,467
 556
 552
Towers Owned 196
 196
 157
 158
Non-affiliate Cell Site Leases 206
 202
 202
 202


The changes from March 31, 2016 to December 31, 2016 shown above include the effects of the nTelos acquisition and the exchange with Sprint on May 6, 2016.


The June 30, 2016 numbers shown above include the following amounts acquired in the nTelos acquisition:
   Three Months Ended
March 31,
 
  2017 2016 
Gross PCS Subscriber Additions – Postpaid 38,701
 17,356
 
Net PCS Subscriber Additions (Losses) – Postpaid (5,412) 2,719
 
Gross PCS Subscriber Additions – Prepaid 42,168
 21,231
 
Net PCS Subscriber Additions (Losses) – Prepaid 7,419
 (301) 
PCS Average Monthly Retail Churn % - Postpaid (2) 2.05% 1.56% 
PCS Average Monthly Retail Churn % - Prepaid (2) 4.86% 5.05% 

Acquired PCS Subscribers – Postpaid404,444
Acquired PCS Subscribers – Prepaid154,944
Acquired PCS Market POPS (000) (1)3,099
Acquired PCS Covered POPS (000) (1)2,298
Acquired CDMA Base Stations (sites) (2)868
Towers20
Non-affiliate Cell Site Leases10

    
Three Months Ended
June 30,
    
Six Months Ended
June 30,
  
  2016  2015  2016  2015 
             
Gross PCS Subscriber Additions – Postpaid  26,185   17,734   43,541   34,839 
Net PCS Subscriber Additions (Losses) – Postpaid  (1,319)  5,414   1,400   8,625 
Gross PCS Subscriber Additions – Prepaid  27,353   19,958   48,584   43,578 
Net PCS Subscriber Additions (Losses) – Prepaid  (6,912)  (2,352)  (7,213)  269 
PCS Average Monthly Retail Churn % - Postpaid (3)  1.56%  1.40%  1.56%  1.50%
PCS Average Monthly Retail Churn % - Prepaid (3)  4.74%  5.07%  4.90%  4.92%

1)POPS refers to the estimated population of a given geographic area and is based on information purchased from third party sources.  Market POPS are those within a market area which we are authorized to serve under our Sprint PCS affiliate agreements, and Covered POPS are those covered by our network.
2)Net of approximately 160 overlap cell sites we intend to shut down in coming months.
3)2)PCS Average Monthly Retail Churn is the average of the monthly subscriber turnover, or churn, calculations for the period.


In addition, 1,260 former nTelos prepaid subscribers switched to postpaid subscribers as they migrated to the Sprint back-office platforms during the three and six months ended June 30, 2016.

Three Months Ended June 30, 2016March 31, 2017 Compared with the Three Months Ended June 30, 2015March 31, 2016

(in thousands)
 
 
Three Months Ended
June 30,
  
Change
 
  2016  2015  $  % 
Segment operating revenues             
Wireless service revenue $86,873  $48,749  $38,124   78.2 
Tower lease revenue  2,812   2,592   220   8.5 
Equipment revenue  2,777   1,286   1,491   115.9 
Other revenue  1,832   75   1,757  NA 
Total segment operating revenues  94,294   52,702   41,592   78.9 
Segment operating expenses                
Cost of goods and services, exclusive of depreciation     and amortization shown separately below  35,236   
15,903
   19,333   121.6 
Selling, general and administrative, exclusive of   depreciation and amortization shown separately below  23,010   
8,917
   14,093   158.0 
Integration and acquisition expenses  5,276   -   5,276  NM 
Depreciation and amortization  23,495   8,612   14,883   172.8 
Total segment operating expenses  87,017   33,432   53,585   160.3 
Segment operating income $7,277  $19,270  $(11,993)  (62.2)
30
(in thousands)
 
 Three Months Ended
March 31,
 Change
  2017 2016 $ %
Segment operating revenues        
Wireless service revenue $108,186
 $52,179
 $56,007
 107.3
Tower lease revenue 2,882
 2,750
 132
 4.8
Equipment revenue 3,145
 1,454
 1,691
 116.3
Other revenue 1,250
 135
 1,115
 NM
Total segment operating revenues 115,463
 56,518
 58,945
 104.3
Segment operating expenses  
  
  
  
Cost of goods and services, exclusive of depreciation and amortization shown separately below 38,318
 16,578
 21,740
 131.1
Selling, general and administrative, exclusive of depreciation and amortization shown separately below 28,464
 11,514
 16,950
 147.2
Integration and acquisition expenses 3,792
 
 3,792
 NM
Depreciation and amortization 35,752
 8,494
 27,258
 320.9
Total segment operating expenses 106,326
 36,586
 69,740
 190.6
Segment operating income $9,137
 $19,932
 $(10,795) (54.2)



Service Revenues

Wireless service revenue increased $38.1$56.0 million, or 78.2%107.3%, for the three months ended June 30, 2016,March 31, 2017, compared to the comparable 2015March 31, 2016, period. See table below.

(in thousands)
 
 
Three Months Ended
June 30,
  
Change
 
Service Revenues 2016  2015  $  % 
Postpaid net billings $75,219  $46,704  $28,515   61.1 
Sprint fees                
Management fee  (6,344)  (3,706)  (2,638)  71.2 
Net Service fee  (5,307)  (6,485)  1,178   (18.2)
Waiver of management fee  5,129   -   5,129  NM 
   (6,522)  (10,191)  3,669   (36.0)
Prepaid net billings                
Gross billings  20,504   12,945   7,559   58.4 
Sprint management fee  (1,218)  (783)  (435) NM 
Waiver of management fee  966   -   966  NM 
   20,252   12,162   8,090   66.5 
                 
Travel and other revenues  4,260   74   4,186  NM 
Accounting adjustments                
Amortization of expanded affiliate agreement  (3,290)  -   (3,290) NM 
Straight-line adjustment - management fee waiver  (3,046)  -   (3,046) NM 
   (6,336)  -   (6,336) NM 
Total Service Revenues $86,873  $48,749  $38,124   78.2 
(in thousands)
 
 Three Months Ended
March 31,
 Change
Service Revenues 2017 2016 $ %
Postpaid net billings (1)
 $92,989
 $45,638
 $47,351
 103.8
Sprint fees      
  
Management fee (7,383) (3,651) (3,732) 102.2
Net service fee (7,200) (3,934) (3,266) 83.0
Waiver of management fee 7,383
 
 7,383
 NM
  (7,200) (7,585) 385
 (5.1)
Prepaid net billings  
  
  
  
Gross billings 25,945
 13,083
 12,862
 98.3
Sprint management fee (1,557) (785) (772) 98.3
Waiver of management fee 1,557
 
 1,557
 NM
  25,945
 12,298
 13,647
 111.0
Travel and other revenues 5,636
 1,828
 3,808
 208.3
Accounting adjustments      
  
Amortization of expanded affiliate agreement (4,978) 
 (4,978) NM
Straight-line adjustment - management fee waiver (4,206) 
 (4,206) NM
  (9,184) 
 (9,184) NM
Total Service Revenues $108,186
 $52,179
 $56,007
 107.3

(1) Postpaid net billings are defined under the terms of the affiliate contract with Sprint to be the gross billings to customers within our service territory less billing credits and adjustments and allocated write-offs of uncollectible accounts.

Operating revenues

EffectiveThe changes in Wireless segment service revenues shown in the table above are almost exclusively a result of the nTelos acquisition in May 6,2016. Postpaid subscribers have increased by 402 thousand from March 31, 2016 we acquired approximately 404,000 postpaid and 155,000to March 31, 2017 with 387 thousand of them in the former nTelos service area as of March 31, 2017. Prepaid subscribers have increased by 101 thousand over the same time period. There were 110 thousand prepaid subscribers through our acquisitionin the former nTelos service area as of nTelos.  This acquisition and other changesMarch 31, 2017.

In addition to the postpaid customer gross additions and churn, outlined in the tables above, resulted in an increase of $28.5 million or 61.1% in postpaid net billings.  Effective January 1, 2016, the fees retained by Sprint, and deducted from postpaid revenues, decreased from 22% to 16.6% and they agreed to settle certain revenue and expense items separately. As a result, Sprint fees dropped by $4.6 million or 45.5%. Travel revenues, which are now settled separately, and other similarly settled items grew by $4.2 million.  Prepaid net billings grew by $7.6 million or 58.4%subscribers acquired as a result of the growth in the customer base related to the nTelos acquisition, and other changes in gross additions and churn outlined in the tables above.

Wewe recorded an asset related to the changes to the Sprint affiliate agreement, as describedincluding the right to serve new subscribers in the nTelos acquisition footnote above.footprint, as previously described.  That asset is being amortized through the expiration of the current initial term of that contract in 2029 and, as a result, we recorded $3.3$5.0 million in amortization in the second quarter.first quarter of 2017.   Sprint agreed to waive certain management fees that they would otherwise be entitled to under the affiliate agreement as a result ofin exchange for our commitment to buy nTelos, upgrade its network and support the former nTelos and Sprint customers.  The fees waived will beare being recognized on a straight linestraight-line basis over the remainder of the initial term of the contract through 2029 and, as a result, we recorded an adjustment of $3.0$4.2 million in the second quarter.first quarter of 2017.

Other operating revenues

The increases in equipment revenue and other revenue also resulted primarily from the nTelos acquisition, with the increase in other revenue primarily representing regulatory recovery revenues recognized by nTelos, whereas historically Sprint has recognized such revenues billedrelated to billings to customers inbefore migration to the Sprint billing system, whereas Sprint retains the billing and related expenses and liabilities under our service area.affiliate agreement.
31



Cost of goods and services

Cost of goods and services increased $19.3$21.7 million, or 121.6%131.1%, in 20162017 from the secondfirst quarter of 2015.2016. The increase results primarily from the growth in device subsidies of $3.6 million, new national handsets settled separately under the affiliate agreement of $2.0 million, increases in cell site rent, power, maintenance and backhaul costcosts for the incremental 868 cell sites in the nTelos territory of $10.6$19.3 million, as well as the related growth in the cost of network technicians to service and maintain these sites of $2.8$1.1 million.   Cost of goods and services also included $0.3$0.1 million of costs to support nTelos legacy billing operations until customers migrate to Sprint’s back-officeback office systems.

Selling, general and administrative

Selling, general and administrative costs increased $14.1$16.9 million, or 158.0%147.2%, in the secondfirst quarter of 20162017 from the comparable 2015 period.  This increase included $5.22016 period, again primarily due to the acquisition of nTelos in May 2016.  Increases include $3.2 million of incremental separately settled national channel commissions; $2.4commissions, $4.7 million from the operating costs ofrelated to incremental stores acquired as a result of the nTelos acquisition; $1.0acquisition, $0.9 million in incremental sales and marketing efforts to communicate with the new customers and begin efforts to migrate the remaining nTelos legacy customers over to the Sprint platforms;platforms, and $1.8$1.3 million in other administrative costs related to the acquired operations. Costs associated with prepaid wireless offerings increased $1.1$4.3 million.  Selling, general and administrative costs also included $2.0$2.5 million of costs to support nTelos legacy billing operations until customers migrate to Sprint’s back-officeback office systems.

Integration and acquisition

Integration and acquisition expenses of $5.3$3.8 million in the secondfirst quarter of 20162017 include approximately $4$3.7 million for replacement handsets issued to former nTelos subscribers migrated to the Sprint billing platform and $1.3$0.7 million in other expenses.expenses, partially offset by $0.6 million in reductions of previously estimated costs to terminate duplicative cell site leases and backhaul contracts.

Depreciation and amortization

Depreciation and amortization increased $14.9$27.3 million, or 172.8%321%, in the secondfirst quarter of 20162017 over the comparable 20152016 period, due primarily to $6.1$20.0 million in incremental depreciation largely on the acquired fixed assets, and $6.8$6.7 million in amortization of customer based intangibles recorded in the acquisition. Customer based intangibles are being amortized over accelerated lives.

Six Months Ended June 30, 2016 Compared with the Six Months Ended June 30, 2015

 
(in thousands)
 
Six Months Ended
June 30,
  
Change
 
  2016  2015  $   % 
              
Segment operating revenues             
Wireless service revenue $139,052  $97,124  $41,928   43.2 
Tower lease revenue  5,562   5,162   400   7.7 
Equipment revenue  4,231   2,767   1,464   52.9 
Other revenue  1,967   158   1,809  NA 
Total segment operating revenues  150,812   105,211   45,601   43.3 
Segment operating expenses                
Cost of goods and services, exclusive of depreciation and amortization shown separately below  51,815   32,090   19,725   61.4 
Selling, general and administrative, exclusive of depreciation and amortization shown separately below  34,524   17,969   16,555   92.1 
Integration and acquisition expenses  5,276   -   5,276  NM 
Depreciation and amortization  31,988   16,444   15,544   94.5 
Total segment operating expenses  123,603   66,503   57,100   85.9 
Segment operating income $27,209  $38,708  $(11,499)  (29.7)

Service Revenues

Wireless service revenue increased $41.9 million, or 43.2%, for the six months ended June 30, 2016, compared to the comparable 2015 period. See table below.

(in thousands)
 
 
Six Months Ended
June 30,
  
Change
 
Service Revenues 2016  2015  $  % 
Postpaid net billings $120,857  $93,479  $27,378   29.3 
Sprint fees                
Management fee  (9,995)  (7,437)  (2,558)  34.4 
Net Service fee  (9,241)  (13,015)  3,774   (29.0)
Waiver of management fee  5,129   -   5,129  NM 
   (14,107)  (20,452)  6,345   (31.0)
Prepaid net billings                
Gross billings  33,587   25,494   8,093   31.7 
Sprint management fee  (2,003)  (1,539)  (464) NM 
Waiver of management fee  966   -   966  NM 
   32,550   23,955   8,595   35.9 
                 
Travel and other revenues  6,088   142   5,946  NM 
Accounting adjustments                
Amortization of expanded affiliate agreement  (3,290)  -   (3,290) NM 
Straight-line adjustment - management fee waiver  (3,046)  -   (3,046) NM 
   (6,336)  -   (6,336) NM 
Total Service Revenues $139,052  $97,124  $41,928   43.2 

Operating revenues

Effective May 6, 2016, we acquired approximately 404,000 postpaid and 155,000 prepaid subscribers through our acquisition of nTelos.  This acquisition and other changes to the postpaid customer gross additions and churn, outlined in the tables above, resulted in an increase of $27.4 million or 29.3% in postpaid net billings.  Effective January 1, 2016, the fees retained by Sprint, and deducted from postpaid revenues, decreased from 22% to 16.6% and they agreed to settle certain revenue and expense items separately. As a result, Sprint fees dropped by $7.3 million or 35.7%. Travel revenues, which are now settled separately, and other similarly settled items grew by $5.9 million.  Prepaid net billings grew by $8.1 million or 31.7% as a result of the growth in the customer base related to the nTelos acquisition and other changes in gross additions and churn outlined in the tables above.

We recorded an asset related to the changes to the Sprint affiliate agreement as described in the nTelos acquisition footnote above.  That asset is being amortized through the expiration of the initial term of that contract in 2029 and, as a result, we recorded $3.3 million in amortization in the six months ended June 30, 2016.   Sprint agreed to waive certain management fees that they would otherwise be entitled to under the affiliate agreement as a result of our commitment to buy nTelos, upgrade its network and support the former nTelos and Sprint customers.  The fees waived will be recognized on a straight line basis over the remainder of the initial term of the contract through 2029 and, as a result, we recorded an adjustment of $3.0 million in the six months ended June 30, 2016.

Other operating revenues

The increases in equipment revenue and other revenue also resulted primarily from the nTelos acquisition, with the increase in other revenue primarily representing regulatory recovery revenues recognized by nTelos, whereas historically Sprint has recognized such revenues billed to customers in our service area.

Cost of goods and services

Cost of goods and services increased $19.7 million, or 61.4%, in 2016 from the first half of 2015.  The increase results from the growth in device subsidies of $1.9 million, new national handsets settled separately under the affiliate agreement of $3.1 million, increases in cell site rent and backhaul cost for incremental 868 cell sites in the nTelos territory of $11.1 million, as well as the related growth in the cost of network technicians to service and maintain these sites of $3.2 million.  Cost of goods and services also included $0.3 million of costs to support nTelos legacy billing operations until customers migrate to Sprint’s back-office systems.
Selling, general and administrative

Selling, general and administrative costs increased $16.6 million, or 92.1%, in the six months ended June 30, 2016 from the comparable 2015 period.  This increase included $7.6 million of separately settled national channel commissions; $2.4 million from the operating costs of incremental stores acquired as a result of the nTelos acquisition; $1.0 million in incremental sales and marketing efforts to communicate with the new customers and begin efforts to migrate the nTelos legacy customers over to the Sprint platforms; and $1.8 million in other administrative costs related to the acquired operations. Costs associated with prepaid wireless offerings increased $0.7 million.  Selling, general and administrative costs also included $2.0 million of costs to support nTelos legacy billing operations until customers migrate to Sprint’s back-office systems.

Integration and acquisition

Integration and acquisition expenses of $5.3 million in the six months ended June 30, 2016, include approximately $4 million for replacement handsets issued to former nTelos subscribers migrated to the Sprint billing platform and $1.3 million in other expenses.

Depreciation and amortization

Depreciation and amortization increased $15.5 million, or 94.5%, in the six months ended June 30, 2016 over the comparable 2015 period, due primarily to $6.1 million in depreciation on the acquired fixed assets and $6.8 million in amortization of customer based intangibles recorded in the acquisition.  Customer based intangibles are being amortized over accelerated lives.
Cable

The Cable segment provides video, internet and voice services in franchise areas in portions of Virginia, West Virginia and western Maryland, and leases fiber optic facilities throughout its service area. It does not include video, internet and voice services provided to customers in Shenandoah County, Virginia.

On January 1, 2016, we acquired the assets of Colane Cable Company. With the acquisition, we received 3,299 video customers, 1,405 high-speed internet customers, and 302 voice customers. These customersVirginia, which are included in the June 30,Wireline segment. Increases in homes passed, available homes and video customers between December 31, 2015 and March 31, 2016, totals shown below.resulted from the Colane acquisition on January 1, 2016.

  
June 30,
2016
  
December 31,
2015
  
June 30,
2015
  
December 31,
2014
 
Homes Passed (1)  184,627   172,538   172,144   171,589 
Customer Relationships (2)                
Video customers  49,241   48,184   48,659   49,247 
Non-video customers  27,230   24,550   22,810   22,051 
Total customer relationships  76,471   72,734   71,469   71,298 
Video                
Customers (3)  51,549   50,215   50,892   52,095 
Penetration (4)  27.9%  29.1%  29.6%  30.4%
Digital video penetration (5)  75.3%  77.9%  73.8%  65.9%
High-speed Internet                
Available Homes (6)  183,743   172,538   172,144   171,589 
Customers (3)  58,230   55,131   52,415   50,686 
Penetration (4)  31.7%  32.0%  30.4%  29.5%
Voice                
Available Homes (6)  181,006   169,801   169,407   168,852 
Customers (3)  21,092   20,166   19,401   18,262 
Penetration (4)  11.7%  11.9%  11.5%  10.8%
Total Revenue Generating Units (7)  130,871   125,512   122,708   121,043 
Fiber Route Miles  2,962   2,844   2,839   2,834 
Total Fiber Miles (8)  81,305   76,949   73,735   72,694 
Average Revenue Generating Units  131,385   124,054   123,159   117,744 
  March 31,
2017
 
December 31,
2016
 March 31, 2016 
December 31,
2015
Homes Passed (1) 184,819
 184,710
 181,375
 172,538
Customer Relationships (2)        
Video customers 47,160
 48,512
 50,195
 48,184
Non-video customers 30,765
 28,854
 26,895
 24,550
Total customer relationships 77,925
 77,366
 77,090
 72,734
Video        
Customers (3) 49,384
 50,618
 52,468
 50,215
Penetration (4) 26.7% 27.4% 28.9% 29.1%
Digital video penetration (5) 77.1% 77.4% 74.8% 77.9%
High-speed Internet        
Available Homes (6) 183,935
 183,826
 180,814
 172,538
Customers (3) 61,815
 60,495
 58,273
 55,131
Penetration (4) 33.6% 32.9% 32.2% 32.0%
Voice        
Available Homes (6) 181,198
 181,089
 178,077
 169,801
Customers (3) 21,647
 21,352
 20,786
 20,166
Penetration (4) 11.9% 11.8% 11.7% 11.9%
Total Revenue Generating Units (7) 132,846
 132,465
 131,527
 125,512
Fiber Route Miles 3,233
 3,137
 2,955
 2,844
Total Fiber Miles (8) 100,799
 92,615
 80,727
 76,949
Average Revenue Generating Units 132,419
 131,218
 129,604
 124,054

1)Homes and businesses are considered passed (“homes passed”) if we can connect them to our distribution system without further extending the transmission lines.  Homes passed is an estimate based upon the best available information.
2)Customer relationships represent the number of customers who receive at least one of our services.
3)Generally, a dwelling or commercial unit with one or more television sets connected to our distribution system counts as one video customer.  Where services are provided on a bulk basis, such as to hotels and some multi-dwelling units, the revenue charged to the customer is divided by the rate for comparable service in the local market to determine the number of customer equivalents included in the customer counts shown above. During the first quarter of 2016, we modified the way we count subscribers when a commercial customer upgrades its internet service via a fiber contract. We retroactively applied the new count methodology to prior periods, and applied similar logic to certain bulk customers; the net result was reductions in internet subscriber counts of 559, 682 and 673 subscribers to December 31, 2015, June 30, 2015 and December 31, 2014 totals, respectively.
4)Penetration is calculated by dividing the number of customers by the number of homes passed or available homes, as appropriate.
5)Digital video penetration is calculated by dividing the number of digital video customers by total video customers.  Digital video customers are video customers who receive any level of video service via digital transmission.  A dwelling with one or more digital set-top boxes or digital adapters counts as one digital video customer.
6)Homes and businesses are considered available (“available homes”) if we can connect them to our distribution system without further extending the transmission lines and if we offer the service in that area.
7)Revenue generating units are the sum of video, voice and high-speed internet customers.
8)Fiber miles are measured by taking the number of fiber strands in a cable and multiplying that number by the route distance.  For example, a 10 mile route with 144 fiber strands would equal 1,440 fiber miles.
35



Three Months Ended June 30, 2016March 31, 2017 Compared with the Three Months Ended June 30, 2015March 31, 2016

(in thousands) 
Three Months Ended
June 30,
  Change 
  2016  2015  $  % 
              
Segment operating revenues             
Service revenue $24,167  $22,117  $2,050   9.3 
Other revenue  2,234   2,036   198   9.7 
Total segment operating revenues  26,401   24,153   2,248   9.3 
Segment operating expenses                
Cost of goods and services, exclusive of    depreciation and amortization shown separately below  14,564   13,635   929   6.8 
Selling, general, and administrative, exclusive of depreciation and amortization shown separately below  4,794   5,084   (290)  (5.7)
Depreciation and amortization  5,879   5,859   20   0.3 
Total segment operating expenses  25,237   24,578   659   2.7 
Segment operating income (loss) $1,164  $(425) $1,589   373.9 
(in thousands) Three Months Ended
March 31,
 Change
  2017 2016 $ %
Segment operating revenues         
Service revenue $26,411
 $24,340
 $2,071
 8.5
Other revenue 2,602
 2,106
 496
 23.6
Total segment operating revenues 29,013
 26,446
 2,567
 9.7
Segment operating expenses  
  
  
  
Cost of goods and services, exclusive of depreciation and amortization shown separately below 15,228
 14,647
 581
 4.0
Selling, general, and administrative, exclusive of depreciation and amortization shown separately below 4,858
 5,108
 (250) (4.9)
Depreciation and amortization 5,788
 6,095
 (307) (5.0)
Total segment operating expenses 25,874
 25,850
 24
 0.1
Segment operating income $3,139
 $596
 $2,543
 426.7

Operating revenues

Cable segment service revenues increased $2.1 million, or 9.3%8.5%, due to a 6.7%2.2% increase in average revenue generating units, video rate increases in January 20162017 to offset increases in programming costs, and new and existing customers selecting higher-speed data (HSD) access packages and growth in the HSD and phone customers.packages.

Other revenue grew $0.2$0.5 million, primarily due to new fiber contracts to towers, schools and libraries.

Operating expenses

Cable segment cost of goods and services increased $0.9$0.6 million, or 6.8%4.0%, in the secondfirst quarter of 20162017 over the comparable 20152016 period. Video programming costs, including retransmission fees, increased $0.4 million, primarily due to the increase in subscribers.  The remainder of the increase resulted from higher network and maintenance costs.

Selling, general and administrative expenses decreased $0.3 million against the prior year quarter due to lower advertising and commission costs, down $0.4 million.costs.

Six Months Ended June 30, 2016 Compared with the Six Months Ended June 30, 2015

 
 
(in thousands)
 
Six Months Ended
June 30,
  
Change
 
  2016  2015  $  % 
              
Segment operating revenues             
Service revenue $48,507  $43,518  $4,989   11.5 
Other revenue  4,340   3,947   393   10.0 
Total segment operating revenues  52,847   47,465   5,382   11.3 
                 
Segment operating expenses                
Cost of goods and services, exclusive of depreciation and amortization shown separately below  29,210   27,253   1,957   7.2 
Selling, general and administrative, exclusive of depreciation and amortization shown separately below  9,902   9,976   (74)  (0.7)
Depreciation and amortization  11,974   11,338   636   5.6 
Total segment operating expenses  51,086   48,567   2,519   5.2 
Segment operating income (loss) $1,761  $(1,102) $2,863   259.8 

Operating revenues

Cable segment service revenues increased $5.0 million, or 11.5%, due to a 6.4% increase in average revenue generating units, video rate increases in January 2016 to offset increases in programming costs, customers selecting higher-speed data (HSD) access packages and growth in the HSD and phone customers.

Other revenue grew $0.4 million, primarily due to new fiber contracts to towers, schools and libraries.

Operating expenses

Cable segment cost of goods and services increased $2.0 million, or 7.2%, in the six months ended June 30, 2016 over the comparable 2015 period. Video programming costs, including retransmission fees, increased $0.8 million, primarily due to the increase in subscribers.  The remainder of the increase resulted from higher network and maintenance costs.

Wireline

The Wireline segment provides regulated and unregulated voice services, DSL internet access, and long distance access services throughout Shenandoah County and portions of Rockingham, Frederick, Warren and Augusta counties, Virginia. The segment also provides video and cable modem internet access services in portions of Shenandoah County, and leases fiber optic facilities throughout the northern Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, northern Virginia and adjacent areas along the Interstate 81 corridor through West Virginia, Maryland and portions of Pennsylvania.

    
June 30,
2016
    
Dec. 31,
2015
    
June 30,
2015
    
Dec. 31,
2014
  
Telephone Access Lines (1)  19,188   20,252   21,615   21,612 
Long Distance Subscribers  9,269   9,476   9,560   9,571 
Video Customers (2)  5,327   5,356   5,473   5,692 
DSL and Cable Modem Subscribers (3)  14,122   13,890   12,856   13,094 
Fiber Route Miles  1,752   1,736   1,590   1,556 
Total Fiber Miles (4)  126,639   123,891   102,821   99,387 
   March 31,
2017
 
Dec. 31,
2016
 March 31, 2016 
Dec. 31,
2015
Telephone Access Lines (1) 18,160
 18,443
 19,682
 20,252
Long Distance Subscribers 9,134
 9,149
 9,377
 9,476
Video Customers (2) 5,201
 5,264
 5,232
 5,356
DSL and Cable Modem Subscribers (1) 14,527
 14,314
 14,200
 13,890
Fiber Route Miles 1,997
 1,971
 1,744
 1,736
Total Fiber Miles (3) 145,060
 142,230
 125,559
 123,891

1)Effective October 1, 2015, we launched cable modem services on our cable plant, and ceased the requirement that a customer have a telephone access line to purchase DSLinternet service. As of March 31, 2017, 1,226 customers have purchased cable modem service received via the coaxial cable network.
2)The Wireline segment’s video service passes approximately 16,00016,500 homes.
3)June 2016 and December 2015 totals include 725 and 420 customers, respectively, served via the coaxial cable network.  During first quarter 2016, we modified the way we count subscribers when a commercial customer upgrades its internet service via a fiber contract. We retroactively applied the new count methodology to prior periods and the net result was increases in internet subscriber counts of 804, 434 and 352 subscribers to December 31, 2015, June 30, 2015 and December 31, 2014 totals, respectively.
4)3)Fiber miles are measured by taking the number of fiber strands in a cable and multiplying that number by the route distance.  For example, a 10 mile route with 144 fiber strands would equal 1,440 fiber miles. Fiber counts were revised following a review of fiber records in the first quarter of 2015.


Three Months Ended June 30, 2016March 31, 2017 Compared with the Three Months Ended June 30, 2015March 31, 2016

  
Three Months Ended
June 30,
  
Change
 
(in thousands) 2016  2015  $  % 
Segment operating revenues             
Service revenue $5,381  $5,530  $(149)  (2.7)
Carrier access and fiber revenues  12,293   10,151   2,142   21.1 
Other revenue  917   782   135   17.3 
Total segment operating revenues  18,591   16,463   2,128   12.9 
                 
Segment operating expenses                
Cost of goods and services, exclusive of    depreciation and amortization shown separately below  8,808   7,677   1,131   14.7 
Selling, general and administrative, exclusive of  depreciation and amortization shown separately below  1,670   1,736   (66)  (3.8)
Depreciation and amortization  2,933   3,083   (150)  (4.9)
Total segment operating expenses  13,411   12,496   915   7.3 
Segment operating income $5,180  $3,967  $1,213   30.6 
  Three Months Ended
March 31,
 Change
(in thousands) 2017 2016 $ %
Segment operating revenues        
Service revenue $5,602
 $5,537
 $65
 1.2
Carrier access and fiber revenues 12,665
 11,969
 696
 5.8
Other revenue 887
 873
 14
 1.6
Total segment operating revenues 19,154
 18,379
 775
 4.2
         
Segment operating expenses  
  
  
  
Cost of goods and services, exclusive of depreciation and amortization shown separately below 9,273
 8,643
 630
 7.3
Selling, general and administrative, exclusive of depreciation and amortization shown separately below 1,676
 1,605
 71
 4.4
Depreciation and amortization 3,132
 3,033
 99
 3.3
Total segment operating expenses 14,081
 13,281
 800
 6.0
Segment operating income $5,073
 $5,098
 $(25) (0.5)

Operating revenues

Total operating revenues in the quarter ended June 30, 2016March 31, 2017 increased $2.1$0.8 million, or 12.9%4.2%, against the comparable 20152016 period, as a result of increases in fiber and access contracts.




Operating expenses

Operating expenses overall increased $0.9$0.8 million, or 7.3%6.0%, in the quarter ended June 30, 2016,March 31, 2017, compared to the 20152016 quarter. The $1.1$0.6 million increase in cost of goods and services primarily resulted from costs to support the increase in carrier access and fiber revenues shown above.
Six Months Ended June 30, 2016 Compared with the Six Months Ended June 30, 2015

 
 
(in thousands)
 
Six Months Ended
June 30,
  
Change
 
  2016  2015  $  % 
Segment operating revenues             
Service revenue $10,917  $10,824  $93   0.9 
Carrier access and fiber revenue  24,263   19,678   4,585   23.3 
Other revenue  1,790   1,546   244   15.8 
Total segment operating revenues  36,970   32,048   4,922   15.4 
                 
Segment operating expenses                
Cost of goods and services, exclusive of depreciation and amortization shown separately below  17,450   15,011   2,439   16.2 
Selling, general and administrative, exclusive of depreciation and amortization shown separately below  3,275   3,234   41   1.3 
Depreciation and amortization  5,967   6,007   (40)  (0.7)
Total segment operating expenses  26,692   24,252   2,440   10.1 
Segment operating income $10,278  $7,796  $2,482   31.8 

Operating revenues

Total operating revenues in the six months ended June 30, 2016 increased $4.9 million, or 15.4%, against the comparable 2015 period. Carrier access and fiber revenues increased $4.6 million due to increases in fiber and access contracts.  The increase in service revenues primarily results from higher revenues for high-speed data services.

Operating expenses

Operating expenses overall increased $2.4 million, or 10.1%, in the six months ended June 30, 2016, compared to the 2015 period. The $2.4 million increase in cost of goods and services primarily resulted from costs to support the increase in carrier access and fiber revenues shown above.
Non-GAAP Financial MeasureMeasures

In managing our business and assessing our financial performance, management supplements the information provided by financial statement measures prepared in accordance with GAAP with adjustedAdjusted OIBDA and continuingContinuing OIBDA, which are considered “non-GAAP financial measures” under SEC rules.

Adjusted OIBDA is defined by us as operating income (loss) before depreciation and amortization, adjusted to exclude the effects of:  certain non-recurring transactions;transactions, impairment of assets;assets, gains and losses on asset sales;sales, straight-line adjustments for the waived management fee;fee by Sprint, amortization of the affiliate agreementcontract expansion asset;intangible reflected as a contra revenue, actuarial gains and losses on pension and other post-retirement benefit plans, and share-based compensation expense.  Adjusted OIBDA should not be construed as an alternative to operating income as determined in accordance with GAAP as a measure of operating performance.  Continuing OIBDA is defined by us as adjustedAdjusted OIBDA, less the benefit received from the waived management fee by Sprint over the next approximately six–year period.six-year period, showing Sprint's support for our acquisition and our commitments to enhance the network.

In a capital-intensive industry such as telecommunications, management believes that adjustedAdjusted OIBDA and continuingContinuing OIBDA and the associated percentage margin calculations are meaningful measures of our operating performance.  We use adjustedAdjusted OIBDA and continuingContinuing OIBDA as supplemental performance measures because management believes they facilitate comparisons of our operating performance from period to period and comparisons of our operating performance to that of other companies by excluding potential differences caused by the age and book depreciation of fixed assets (affecting relative depreciation expenses) as well as the other items described above for which additional adjustments were made.  In the future, management expects that the Company may again report adjusted OIBDAAdjusted and continuingContinuing OIBDA excluding these items and may incur expenses similar to these excluded items.  Accordingly, the exclusion of these and other similar items from our non-GAAP presentation should not be interpreted as implying these items are non-recurring, infrequent or unusual.

While depreciation and amortization are considered operating costs under generally accepted accounting principles, these expenses primarily represent the current period allocation of costs associated with long-lived assets acquired or constructed in prior periods, and accordingly may obscure underlying operating trends for some purposes.  By isolating the effects of these expenses and other items that vary from period to period without any correlation to our underlying performance, or that vary widely among similar companies, management believes adjusted OIBDAAdjusted and continuingContinuing OIBDA facilitates internal comparisons of our historical operating performance, which are used by management for business planning purposes, and also facilitates comparisons of our performance relative to that of our competitors.  In addition, we believe that adjusted OIBDAAdjusted and continuingContinuing OIBDA and similar measures are widely used by investors and financial analysts as measures of our financial performance over time, and to compare our financial performance with that of other companies in our industry.

Adjusted OIBDA and continuingContinuing OIBDA have limitations as an analytical tool, and should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for analysis of our results as reported under GAAP.  These limitations include the following:

they do not reflect capital expenditures;
many of the assets being depreciated and amortized will have to be replaced in the future and adjusted OIBDA and continuingmany of the assets being depreciated and amortized will have to be replaced in the future and Adjusted and Continuing OIBDA do not reflect cash requirements for such replacements;
they do not reflect costs associated with share-based awards exchanged for employee services;
they do not reflect interest expense necessary to service interest or principal payments on indebtedness;
they do not reflect gains, losses or dividends on investments;
they do not reflect expenses incurred for the payment of income taxes; and
other companies, including companies in our industry, may calculate adjusted OIBDA and continuingother companies, including companies in our industry, may calculate Adjusted and Continuing OIBDA differently than we do, limiting its usefulness as a comparative measure.

In light of these limitations, management considers adjustedAdjusted OIBDA and continuingContinuing OIBDA as a financial performance measure that supplements but does not replace the information reflected in our GAAP results.
The following table shows adjustedAdjusted OIBDA and continuingContinuing OIBDA for the three and six months ended June 30, 2016March 31, 2017 and 2015.2016.

  
Three Months Ended
June 30,
  
Six Months Ended
June 30,
 
(in thousands) 2016  2015  2016  2015 
Adjusted OIBDA $55,905  $37,641  $96,271  $73,960 
Continuing OIBDA $49,810  $37,641  $90,176  $73,960 

  Three Months Ended
March 31,
(in thousands) 2017 2016
Adjusted OIBDA $73,541
 $40,416
Continuing OIBDA $64,601
 $40,416

The following table reconciles adjustedAdjusted OIBDA and continuingContinuing OIBDA to operating income, (loss), which we consider to be the most directly comparable GAAP financial measure, for the three and six months ended June 30, 2016March 31, 2017 and 2015:2016:

Consolidated:
 
 
Three Months Ended
June 30,
  
Six Months Ended
June 30,
 
(in thousands) 2016  2015  2016  2015 
Operating income (loss) $(6,150) $18,750  $15,163  $37,276 
Plus depreciation and amortization  32,415   17,663   50,154   34,001 
Plus (gain) loss on asset sales  (48)  218   (63)  229 
Plus share based compensation expense  959   608   1,956   1,430 
Plus straight line adjustment to reduce management fee waiver  3,046   -   3,046   - 
Plus amortization of intangible netted in revenue  3,290   -   3,290   - 
Plus temporary backoffice costs to support the billing operations through migration  2,339   -   2,339   - 
Plus integration and acquisition related expenses  20,054   402   20,386   1,024 
Adjusted OIBDA $55,905  $37,641  $96,271  $73,960 
Less waived management fee  (6,095)  -   (6,095)  - 
Continuing OIBDA $49,810  $37,641  $90,176  $73,960 
Consolidated: 
 Three Months Ended
March 31,
(in thousands) 2017 2016
Operating income $10,673
 $21,312
Plus depreciation and amortization 44,804
 17,739
Plus (gain) loss on asset sales (28) (15)
Plus share based compensation expense 1,566
 1,048
Plus straight line adjustment to management fee waiver 4,206
 
Plus amortization of intangible netted in revenue 4,978
 
Plus amortization of intangible netted in rent expense 258
 
Plus temporary back office costs to support the billing operations through migration (1)
 2,595
 
Plus integration and acquisition related expenses 4,489
 332
Adjusted OIBDA $73,541
 $40,416
Less waived management fee (8,940) 
Continuing OIBDA $64,601
 $40,416
(1) Once former nTelos customers migrate to the Sprint back office, the Company incurs certain postpaid fees retained by Sprint that would offset a portion of these savings. For the three months ended March 31, 2017, these offsets were estimated at $0.8 million.


The following tables reconcile adjusted OIBDA and continuingContinuing OIBDA to operating income by major segment for the three and six months ended June 30, 2016March 31, 2017 and 2015:2016:
Wireless Segment: 
 Three Months Ended
March 31,
(in thousands) 2017 2016
Operating income $9,137
 $19,932
Plus depreciation and amortization 35,752
 8,494
Plus (gain) loss on asset sales (24) 13
Plus share based compensation expense 725
 271
Plus straight line adjustment to management fee waiver 4,206
 
Plus amortization of intangible netted in revenue 4,978
 
Plus amortization of intangible netted in rent expense 258
 
Plus temporary back office costs to support the billing operations through migration 2,593
 
Plus integration and acquisition related expenses 3,792
 
Adjusted OIBDA $61,417
 $28,710
Less waived management fee (8,940) 
Continuing OIBDA $52,477
 $28,710

Wireless Segment:
 
 
Three Months Ended
June 30,
  
Six Months Ended
June 30,
 
(in thousands) 2016  2015  2016  2015 
Operating income $7,277  $19,270  $27,209  $38,708 
Plus depreciation and amortization  23,495   8,612   31,988   16,444 
Plus (gain) loss on asset sales  (53)  8   (39)  33 
Plus share based compensation expense  311   143   624   334 
Plus straight line adjustment to reduce management fee waiver  3,046   -   3,046   - 
Plus amortization of intangible netted in revenue  3,290   -   3,290   - 
Plus temporary backoffice costs to support the billing operations through migration  2,339   -   2,339   - 
Plus integration and acquisition related expenses  5,276   -   5,276   - 
Adjusted OIBDA $44,981  $28,033  $73,733  $55,519 
Less waived management fee  (6,095)  -   (6,095)  - 
Continuing OIBDA $38,886  $28,033  $67,638  $55,519 
41


Cable Segment:
 
 
Three Months Ended
June 30,
  
Six Months Ended
June 30,
 
(in thousands) 2016  2015  2016  2015 
Operating income (loss) $1,164  $(425) $1,761  $(1,102)
Plus depreciation and amortization  5,879   5,859   11,974   11,338 
Plus (gain) loss on asset sales  (20)  65   (34)  52 
Plus share based compensation expense  294   217   602   504 
Adjusted OIBDA and Continuing OIBDA $7,317  $5,716  $14,303  $10,792 
Cable Segment:
 
 Three Months Ended
March 31,
(in thousands) 2017 2016
Operating income $3,139
 $597
Plus depreciation and amortization 5,788
 6,095
Less gain on asset sales (23) (13)
Plus share based compensation expense 364
 358
Adjusted OIBDA and Continuing OIBDA $9,268
 $7,037
 
Wireline Segment:
 
 
Three Months Ended
June 30,
  
Six Months Ended
June 30,
 
(in thousands) 2016  2015  2016  2015 
Operating income $5,180  $3,967  $10,278  $7,796 
Plus depreciation and amortization  2,933   3,083   5,967   6,007 
Plus loss on asset sales  40   125   40   134 
Plus share based compensation expense  136   106   284   246 
Adjusted OIBDA and Continuing OIBDA $8,289  $7,281  $16,569  $14,183 
Wireline Segment: 
 Three Months Ended
March 31,
(in thousands) 2017 2016
Operating income $5,073
 $5,098
Plus depreciation and amortization 3,132
 3,033
Plus loss on asset sales 30
 
Plus share based compensation expense 146
 169
Adjusted OIBDA and Continuing OIBDA $8,381
 $8,300

Liquidity and Capital Resources

We have fourthree principal sources of funds available to meet the financing needs of itsour operations, capital projects, debt service, investments and potential dividends.  These sources include cash flows from operations, existing balances of cash and cash equivalents, the liquidation of investments and borrowings.  Management routinely considers the alternatives available to determine what mix of sources are best suited for the long-term benefit of the Company.

Sources and Uses of Cash. We generated $60.8$24.5 million of net cash from operations in the first sixthree months of 2016,2017, compared to $60.3$43.2 million in the first sixthree months of 2015.2016. The increase was driven primarily by lower net income and byprimary change included the timing of cash receipts and disbursements in early 2017 for taxes and materials and supplies.inventories acquired in late 2016.

Indebtedness.  As of June 30, 2016,March 31, 2017, our indebtedness totaled $815.6 million.  This included $815.2$866.8 million in term loans with an annualized effective interest rate of approximately 3.86%3.91% after considering the impact of the interest rate swap contract and unamortized loan costs.  The balance consists of the $485$466.8 million Term Loan A-1 at a variable rate (3.21%(3.73% as of June 30, 2016)March 31, 2017) that resets monthly based on one month LIBOR plus a margin of 2.75% currently,, and the $350$400 million Term Loan A-2 at a variable rate (3.46%(3.98% as of June 30, 2016)March 31, 2017) that resets monthly based on one month LIBOR plus a margin of 3.00%.  The Term Loan A-1 requires quarterly principal repayments of $6.1 million beginning September 30, 2016 and continuing through June 30, 2017, then increasing to $12.1 million quarterly thereafter through June 30, 2021,2020, with the remaining expected balance of approximately $242.5 million due Septemberfurther increases at that time through maturity in June 30, 2021.  The Term Loan A-2 requires quarterly principal repayments of $10.0 million beginning on September 30, 2018 through March 31, 2023, with the remaining expected balance of approximately $210.0 million due June 30, 2023.
 
We are bound by certain financial covenants under the 2016 credit agreement. Noncompliance with any one or more of the debt covenants may have an adverse effect on our financial condition or liquidity in the event such noncompliance cannot be cured or should we be unable to obtain a waiver from the lenders. As of June 30, 2016,March 31, 2017, we were in compliance with all debt covenants, and ratios at June 30, 2016March 31, 2017 were as follows:

  Actual 
Covenant Requirement at
June 30, 2016March 31, 2017
Total Leverage Ratio 2.882.93
 3.75 or Lower
Debt Service Coverage Ratio 4.563.72
 2.00 or Higher
Minimum Liquidity Balance$113 million
$25 million or Higher


In accordance with the Credit Agreement, the total leverage and debt service coverage ratios noted above are based on estimates of consolidated EBITDA, cash taxes, scheduled principal payments and cash interest expense as iffor the nTelos acquisition had occurred on April 1, 2016,nine month period ending

March 31, 2017, divided by three and multiplied by 4.four, all as defined under the Credit Agreement. In addition to the covenants above, we are required to supply the lenders with quarterly financial statements and other reports as defined by the 2016 credit agreement. We were in compliance with all reporting requirements at June 30, 2016.March 31, 2017.
We had no off-balance sheet arrangements (other than operating leases) and have not entered into any transactions involving unconsolidated, limited purpose entities or commodity contracts.

Capital Commitments. CapitalThe Company budgeted $152.3 million in capital expenditures budgeted for 2016 total $218.5 million,2017, including $120.3$86.4 million in the Wireless segment for upgrades and expansion of the nTelos wireless network.  In addition, $21.2 million is budgeted for information technology upgrades, new and renovated buildings and other projects, $24.2 million for additional network capacity, and $36.4network; $28.1 million for network expansion including new fiber routes, new cell towers, and cable market expansion. Approximately $13.1expansion; $27.0 million of the budget is success-based,for additional network capacity; and will be scaled back if not supported by customer growth.$10.8 million for information technology upgrades, new and renovated buildings and other projects. 

For the first sixthree months of 2016,2017, we spent $60.1$38.6 million on capital projects, compared to $25.1$20.5 million in the comparable 20152016 period.  Spending related to Wireless projects accounted for $49.1$25.3 million in the first sixthree months of 2016,2017, primarily for upgrades of former nTelos sites and additional network capacity and technology upgrades.cell sites to expand coverage in the former nTelos territory. Cable capital spending of $5.7$5.2 million related to network and cable market expansion. Wireline capital projects cost $4.0$7.6 million, driven primarily by fiber builds.  Other projects totaled $1.4$0.5 million, largely related to information technology projects.

We believe that cash on hand, cash flow from operations and borrowings expected to be available under our existing credit facilities will provide sufficient cash to enable us to fund planned capital expenditures, make scheduled principal and interest payments, meet our other cash requirements and maintain compliance with the terms of our financing agreements for at least the next twelve months.  Thereafter, capital expenditures will likely continue to be required to continue planned capital upgrades to the acquired wireless network and provide increased capacity to meet our expected growth in demand for our products and services. The actual amount and timing of our future capital requirements may differ materially from our estimate depending on the demand for our products and new market developments and opportunities.

Our cash flows from operations could be adversely affected by events outside our control, including, without limitation, changes in overall economic conditions, regulatory requirements, changes in technologies, demand for our products, availability of labor resources and capital, changes in our relationship with Sprint, and other conditions.  The Wireless segment’s operations are dependent upon Sprint’s ability to execute certain functions such as billing, customer care, and collections; our ability to develop and implement successful marketing programs and new products and services; and our ability to effectively and economically manage other operating activities under our agreements with Sprint.  Our ability to attract and maintain a sufficient customer base, particularly in the acquired cable markets, is also critical to our ability to maintain a positive cash flow from operations.  The foregoing events individually or collectively could affect our results.

Recently Issued Accounting Standards

In May 2014, the FASB issued ASU No. 2014-09, “Revenue from Contracts with Customers”, also known as Topic 606, which requires an entity to recognize the amount of revenue to which it expects to be entitled for the transfer of promised goods or services to customers. The ASU will replace most existing revenue recognition guidance in U.S. GAAP when it becomes effective.  In August 2015, the FASB issued ASU No. 2015-14, delaying the effective date of ASU 2014-09.  Three other amendments have been issued during 2016 modifying the original ASU. As amended, the new standard is effective for the Company on January 1, 2018, using either a retrospective basis or a modified retrospective basis with early adoption permitted, but not earlier than the original effective date beginning after December 15, 20162016. We have formed a project team to evaluate and implement the new standard. As part of our work to date, we have begun documentation and are evaluatingnearing completion of contract review. We currently plan to adopt this guidance using the modified retrospective transition approach, which would result in an adjustment to retained earnings for the cumulative effect, if any, of applying this standard. Additionally, this guidance requires us to provide additional disclosures of the amount by which each financial statement line item is affected in the current reporting period during 2018 as compared to the guidance that ASU 2014-09was in effect before the change. We continue to assess the impact this new standard will have on our consolidated financial statementsposition, results of operations and related disclosures. We have not yet selected a transition method nor have we determined the effect of the standard on our ongoing financial reporting.cash flows.

In February 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-02, “Leases”, also known as Topic 842, which requires the recognition of lease assets and lease liabilities by lessees for those leases classified as operating leases under previous generally accepted accounting principles.  This change will result in an increase to recorded assets and liabilities on lessees’ financial statements, as well as changes in the categorization of rental costs, from rent expense to interest and depreciation expense.  Other effects may occur depending on the types of leases and the specific terms of them utilized by particular lessees.  The ASU is effective for us on January 1, 2019, and early application is permitted.  Modified retrospective application is required.  We are currently evaluating the effectASU, but expect that ASU 2016-02it will have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements and related disclosures.statements.

43


ITEM 3.QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK

The Company’s market risks relate primarily to changes in interest rates on instruments held for other than trading purposes.  The Company’s interest rate risk generally involves twothree components.  The first component is outstanding debt with variable rates.  As of June 30, 2016,March 31, 2017, the Company had $835$866.8 million of variable rate debt outstanding (excluding unamortized loan fees and costs of $19.4$17.8 million), bearing interest at a weighted average rate of 3.31%3.85% as determined on a monthly basis. An increase in market interest rates of 1.00% would add approximately $8.3$8.7 million to annual interest expense, excluding the effect of the interest rate swap.  In May 2016, the Company entered into a pay-fixed, receive-variable interest rate swap with three counterparties totaling $256.6 of notional principal.  These swaps,principal (subject to change based upon expected draws under the delayed draw term loan and principal payments due under our debt agreements).  This swap, combined with the swap purchased in 2012, cover notional principal equal to approximately 50% of the expected outstanding variable rate debt through maturity in 2023. The Company is required to pay a combined fixed rate of approximately 1.16% and receive a variable rate based on one month LIBOR (0.46%(0.98% as of June 30, 2016)March 31, 2017), to manage a portion of its interest rate risk. Changes in the net interest paid or received under the swaps would offset approximately 50% of the change in interest expense on the variable rate debt outstanding. The swap agreements currently add approximately $2.1$0.8 million to annual interest expense, based on the spread between the fixed rate and the variable rate currently in effect on our debt.

The second component of interest rate risk consists of temporary excess cash, which can be invested in various short-term investment vehicles such as overnight repurchase agreements and Treasury bills with a maturity of less than 90 days. As of March 31, 2017, the cash is invested in a commercial checking account that has limited interest rate risk. Management continually evaluates the most beneficial use of these funds.

The third component of interest rate risk is marked increases in interest rates that may adversely affect the rate at which the Company may borrow funds for growth in the future.  If the Company should borrow additional funds under any Incremental Term Loan Facility to fund its capital investment needs, repayment provisions would be agreed to at the time of each draw under the Incremental Term Loan Facility.  If the interest rate margin on any draw exceeds by more than 0.25% the applicable interest rate margin on the Term Loan Facility, the applicable interest rate margin on the Term Loan Facility shall be increased to equal the interest rate margin on the Incremental Term Loan Facility.  If interest rates increase generally, or if the rate applied under the Company’s Incremental Term Loan Facility causes the Company’s outstanding debt to be repriced, the Company’s future interest costs could increase.

Management views market risk as having a potentially significant impact on the Company's results of operations, as future results could be adversely affected if interest rates were to increase significantly for an extended period, or if the Company’s need for additional external financing resulted in increases to the interest rates applied to all of its new and existing debt.  As of June 30, 2016,March 31, 2017, the Company has $417.5$433.4 million of variable rate debt with no interest rate protection.  The Company’s investments in publicly traded stock and bond mutual funds under the rabbi trust, which are subject to market risks and could experience significant swings in market values, are offset by corresponding changes in the liabilities owed to participants in the Supplemental Executive Retirement Plan.  General economic conditions affected by regulatory changes, competition or other external influences may pose a higher risk to the Company’s overall results.

44


ITEM 4.CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES

Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures

Management, with the participation of our President and Chief Executive Officer, who is the principal executive officer, and the Vice President - Finance and Chief Financial Officer, who is the principal financial officer, conducted an evaluation of our disclosure controls and procedures, as defined by Rule 13a-15(e) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.  Based
As disclosed in our Annual Report on this evaluation,Form 10-K for our fiscal year ended December 31, 2016, we identified material weaknesses in internal control over financial reporting. The material weaknesses will not be considered remediated until the Company's principal executive officerapplicable remedial controls operate for a sufficient period of time and its principal financial officermanagement has concluded, through testing, that these controls are operating effectively. As remediation has not yet been completed our President and Chief Executive Officer and our Vice President, Finance and Chief Financial Officer have concluded that the Company'sour disclosure controls and procedures were effectivecontinued to be ineffective as of June 30, 2016.March 31, 2017.
Notwithstanding the material weaknesses, management has concluded that the condensed consolidated financial statements included in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q fairly state, in all material respects, our financial position, results of operations and cash flows for the periods presented.
Remediation Efforts
In response to the material weaknesses identified in the Annual Report on Form 10-K for our fiscal year ended December 31, 2016, we expect to:
Seek, train and retain individuals that have the appropriate skills and experience related to financial reporting and internal control related to (i) complex, significant non-routine transactions; (ii) the preparation of the consolidated statements of cash flows; and (iii) the Company’s internal audit function.
Evaluate and develop where necessary policies and procedures to ensure our personnel are sufficiently knowledgeable about the design, operation and documentation of internal controls over financial reporting related to (i) complex, significant non-routine transactions; (ii) accounting for income taxes; and (iii) the preparation of the consolidated statements of cash flows.
Enhance the design of existing control activities and implement additional control activities to ensure management review controls and other controls (including controls that validate the completeness and accuracy of information, data and assumptions) related to complex, significant non-routine transactions and accounting for income taxes, are properly designed and documented.
Evaluate and enhance the Company’s policies, procedures and control activities over communicating with the Company’s third party experts to ensure complete and accurate information is communicated.
Evaluate and enhance the Company’s monitoring activities to ensure the components of internal control are present and functioning related to (i) complex, significant non-routine transactions; (ii) accounting for income taxes; and (iii) the preparation of the consolidated statements of cash flows.

Changes in Internal Control Over Financial Reporting

The acquisition of nTelos was completed on May 6, 2016,2016. Our Company’s management has extended its oversight and had a material impact onmonitoring processes that support internal control over financial reporting to include the financial position, resultsoperations of operations and cash flows of the Company from the date of acquisition.  ManagementnTelos. Our management is integratingcontinuing to integrate the acquired operationoperations into its business processes andour overall internal control structuresfinancial reporting process, expected to be complete in 2017.
Except as quickly as possible, although it is certain thatnoted above, there has been no change in the integration of customers and back office operations will not be completed until sometime during 2017.  As a result of the acquisition, and the ongoing impact to the business, management has elected to exclude the legacy systems of nTelos from our 2016 assessment ofCompany’s internal controlscontrol over financial reporting as of March 31, 2017, that has materially affected or is reasonably likely to material affect, the Company’s internal control over financial reporting.

Other Matters Relating to Internal Control Over Financial Reporting

Under the Company’s agreements with Sprint, Sprint provides the Company with billing, collections, customer care, certain network operations and other back-office services for the PCS operation. As a result, Sprint remits to the Company a substantial portion of the Company’s total operating revenues, which will increase as legacy nTelos subscribers migrate to the Sprint billing platform in the future. Due to this relationship, the Company necessarily relies on Sprint to provide accurate, timely and sufficient data and information to properly record the Company’s revenues and accounts receivable, which underlie a substantial portion of the Company’s periodic financial statements and other financial disclosures.

Information provided by Sprint includes reports regarding the subscriber accounts receivable in the Company’s markets. Sprint provides the Company with monthly accounts receivable, billing and cash receipts, average national costs to acquire and support a prepaid customer, certain national channel commission and handset subsidy costs, and travel revenue information on a market level, rather than a subscriber level. The Company reviews these various reports to identify discrepancies or errors. Under the Company’s agreements with Sprint, the Company is entitled to only a portion of the receipts, net of items such as taxes, government surcharges, certain allocable write-offs and the 16.6% of postpaid and 6% of prepaid revenue currently retained by Sprint (before the effect of fee waivers). Sprint reports directly billed costs and revenues to the Company. Because of the Company’s reliance on Sprint for financial information, the Company must depend on Sprint to design adequate internal controls with respect to the processes established to provide this data and information to the Company and Sprint’s other Sprint PCS affiliate network partners. To address this issue, Sprint engages an independent registered public accounting firm to perform a periodic evaluation of these controls and to provide a “Report on Controls Placed in Operation and Tests of Operating Effectiveness” under guidance provided in Statements on Standards for Attestation Engagements No. 16 (“SSAE 16”). The report is provided to the Company on an annual basis and covers a nine-month period. The most recent report covered the period from January 1, 20152016 to September 30, 2015.2016. The most recent report indicated there were no material issues which would adversely affect the information used to support the recording of the revenues provided by Sprint related to the Company’s relationship with them.

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PART II.OTHER INFORMATION

ITEM 1A.Risk Factors

We discuss in our Annual Report on Form 10-K various risks that may materially affect our business. We use this section to update this discussion to reflect material developments since our Form 10-K was filed. As of March 31, 2017, the Company has not identified any needed updates to the risk factors included in our most recent Form 10-K.

In connection with the nTelos acquisition, we incurred significant additional indebtedness, which could materially and adversely affect us, including by decreasing our business flexibility.

We have substantially increased indebtedness following completion of the nTelos acquisition in comparison to that of the Company on a recent historical basis, which has increased our interest expense and amortization requirements and could have the effect, among other things, of reducing our flexibility to respond to changing business and economic conditions.  The amount of cash required to pay interest on our increased indebtedness and the increased amortization requirements to pay down the loan balances following the nTelos acquisition, and thus the demands on our cash resources, could be greater than the amount of cash flows required to service our indebtedness prior to the nTelos acquisition.  Our increased levels of indebtedness could also reduce funds available for working capital, capital expenditures, dividends and other general corporate purposes and may create competitive disadvantages for us relative to other companies with lower debt levels.  If we do not achieve the expected benefits and cost savings from the nTelos acquisition, or if the financial performance of the combined company does not meet current expectations, then our ability to service this indebtedness may be materially and adversely impacted.

It may be difficult to successfully integrate the business of nTelos and we may fail to realize the anticipated benefits expected from the nTelos acquisition, which could materially and adversely affect our operating results and the market price of our common stock.

If we experience greater than anticipated costs to integrate nTelos into our existing operations or are not able to achieve the anticipated benefits of the nTelos acquisition, our business and results of operations could be materially and negatively affected.  In addition, it is possible that the ongoing integration process could result in the disruption of our ongoing business or inconsistencies in standards, controls, procedures and policies that adversely affect our ability to maintain relationships with customers and employees or to achieve the anticipated benefits of the nTelos acquisition.  Integration efforts also may divert management attention and resources.

The success of the nTelos acquisition will also depend, in significant part, on our ability to successfully integrate the acquired business and realize the synergies anticipated with the nTelos acquisition.  Many of these synergies are not expected to occur for a period of time and will require capital expenditures to be fully realized.  If we are unable to integrate nTelos successfully, we may not realize the anticipated benefits of the nTelos acquisition, including the anticipated synergies.

ITEM 2.Unregistered Sales of Equity Securities and Use of Proceeds

The Company maintains a dividend reinvestment plan (the “DRIP”) for the benefit of its shareholders.  When shareholders remove shares from the DRIP, the Company issues a certificate for whole shares, pays out cash for any fractional shares, and cancels the fractional shares purchased.  In conjunction with exercises of stock options and distributions of vested share awards, the Company periodically repurchases shares from recipients to satisfy some of the exercise price of the options being exercised or taxes payable associated with the distribution of shares.  The following table provides information about the Company’s repurchases of shares during the three months ended June 30, 2016:March 31, 2017:

  
Number of Shares
Purchased
  
Average Price
Paid per Share
 
April 1 to April 30  -   - 
May 1 to May 31  8,672  $29.00 
June 1 to June 30  6,449  $33.25 
         
Total  15,121  $30.81 
  
Number of Shares
Purchased
 
Average Price
Paid per Share
January 1 to January 31 43,044
 $28.48
February 1 to February 28 
 $
March 1 to March 31 
 $
     
Total 43,044
 $28.48

On May 6, 2016, in connection with the closing of the nTelos acquisition, the Company issued 380,000 shares of its common stock as consideration for the acquisition of the non-controlling interests in a subsidiary of nTelos.  Such shares were valued at $10.4 million.  The sale of these securities was exempt from registration pursuant to Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, based upon representations made to us by the equity holders in purchase agreements we entered into with each equity holder.
ITEM 6. Exhibits

(a)The following exhibits are filed with this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q:

3.3
Amended
10.54
Addendum XX to Sprint PCS Management Agreement, dated as of March 9, 2017, by and Restated Bylaws ofamong Shenandoah TelecommunicationsPersonal Communications, LLC, Sprint Spectrum L.P., Sprint Communications Company, effective July 18, 2016,L.P., SprintCom, Inc. and Horizon Personal Communications, LLC, filed as Exhibit 3.110.1 to the CompanyCompany's Current Report on Form 8-K dated July 18, 2016.filed
March 15, 2017.
  
31.1Certification of President and Chief Executive Officer pursuant to Rule 13a-14(a) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.
  
31.2Certification of Vice President - Finance and Chief Financial Officer pursuant to Rule 13a-14(a) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.
  
32Certifications pursuant to Rule 13a-14(b) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and 18 U.S.C. § 1350.
  
(101)Formatted in XBRL (Extensible Business Reporting Language)
   
 101.INSXBRL Instance Document
   
 101.SCHXBRL Taxonomy Extension Schema Document
   
 101.CALXBRL Taxonomy Extension Calculation Linkbase Document
   
 101.DEFXBRL Taxonomy Extension Definition Linkbase Document
   
 101.LABXBRL Taxonomy Extension Label Linkbase Document
   
 101.PREXBRL Taxonomy Extension Presentation Linkbase Document
47


SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned thereunto duly authorized.

 SHENANDOAH TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMPANY
 (Registrant)

 
/s/Adele M. Skolits
 Adele M. Skolits
 Vice President - Finance and Chief Financial Officer
 Date: August 8, 2016May 4, 2017
48


EXHIBIT INDEX

Exhibit No.
Exhibit
  
3.310.54 AmendedAddendum XX to Sprint PCS Management Agreement, dated as of March 9, 2017, by and Restated Bylaws ofamong Shenandoah TelecommunicationsPersonal Communications, LLC, Sprint Spectrum L.P., Sprint Communications Company, effective July 18, 2016,L.P., SprintCom, Inc. and Horizon Personal Communications, LLC, filed as Exhibit 3.110.1 to the Company’sCompany's Current Report on Form 8-K dated July 18, 2016.filed March 15, 2017.
  
Certification of President and Chief Executive Officer pursuant to Rule 13a-14(a) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.
  
Certification of Vice President - Finance and Chief Financial Officer pursuant to Rule 13a-14(a) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.
  
Certifications pursuant to Rule 13a-14(b) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and 18 U.S.C. § 1350.
  
(101)Formatted in XBRL (Extensible Business Reporting Language)

 101.INSXBRL Instance Document
   
 101.SCHXBRL Taxonomy Extension Schema Document
   
 101.CALXBRL Taxonomy Extension Calculation Linkbase Document
   
 101.DEFXBRL Taxonomy Extension Definition Linkbase Document
   
 101.LABXBRL Taxonomy Extension Label Linkbase Document
   
 101.PREXBRL Taxonomy Extension Presentation Linkbase Document



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