Note 1.  Summary of Significant Accounting Policies (Continued)
Materials and supplies:  New and reusable materials are carried in inventory at the lower of average cost or market
value.  Inventory held for sale, such as telephones and accessories, are carried at the lower of average cost or market
value.  Non-reusable material is carried at estimated salvage value.
Property, plant and equipment:  Property, plant and equipment is stated at cost.  The Company capitalizes all costs
associated with the purchase, deployment and installation of property, plant and equipment, including interest on major
capital projects during the period of their construction.  Expenditures, including those on leased assets, which extend
the useful life or increase its utility, are capitalized.  Maintenance expense is recognized when repairs are performed.
Depreciation is calculated on the straight-line method over the estimated useful lives of the assets.  Depreciation
expense for continuing operations was approximately 8.7%, 8.6% and 8.3% of average depreciable assets for the years
2003, 2002 and 2001, respectively.  Depreciation lives are assigned to assets based on their estimated useful lives in
conjunction with industry and regulatory guidelines, where applicable.  Such lives, while similar, may exceed the lives
that would have been used if the Company did not operate certain segments of the business in a regulated environment.
The Company takes technology changes into consideration as it assigns the estimated useful lives, and monitors the
remaining useful lives of asset groups to reasonably match the remaining economic life with the useful life and makes
adjustments when necessary.
In June 2001, the FASB issued SFAS No. 143, “Accounting for Asset Retirement Obligations.”  SFAS No. 143
requires the Company to record the fair value of an asset retirement obligation as a liability in the period in which it
incurs a legal obligation associated with the retirement of tangible long-lived assets that result from acquisition,
construction, development and/or normal use of the assets.  The Company also records a corresponding asset, which is
depreciated over the life of the asset.  Subsequent to the initial measurement of the asset retirement obligation, the
obligation will be adjusted at the end of each period to reflect the passage of time and changes in the estimated future
cash flows underlying the obligation.  The Company adopted SFAS No. 143 on January 1, 2003.  The impact of the
adoption of SFAS No. 143 was the recording of a capitalized asset retirement obligation of $158 thousand, the related
accumulated depreciation of $32 thousand, the present value of the future removal obligation of $249 thousand, and the
cumulative effect of the accounting change of $76 thousand after taxes recorded on the consolidated statements of
income.
The Company recorded the retirement obligation on towers owned where there is a legal obligation to remove the
tower at the time the Company discontinues its use.  The obligation was estimated based on the size of the tower.  The
Company’s cost to remove the towers is amortized over the life of the tower.  The pro forma liability on January 1,
2002 would have been $236 thousand, and was $249 thousand on December 31, 2002.  On December 30, 2003, the
liability was $300 thousand.  The current year expense for the accretion and depreciation related to the adoption of
SFAS No.143 is approximately $20 thousand before taxes.
Cost in excess of net assets of business acquired: In June 2001, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB)
issued Statements of Financial Accounting Standards (SFAS) No.142, “Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets,” which
eliminates amortization of goodwill and intangible assets that have indefinite useful lives and requires annual tests of
impairment of those assets.  SFAS No. 142 also provides specific guidance about how to determine and measure