U.S. Cellular

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United States Cellular Corporation

Type	Public (NYSE: USM)
Founded	1983
Headquarters	Chicago, Illinois, USA
Key people	John E. Rooney, President and CEO
Products	Wireless
Revenue	$2.83 billion USD (2005)
Operating income	$3 billion USD (2005)
Employees	8,100 (2005)
Slogan	We Connect with you
Website	www.uscellular.com

U.S. Cellular (NYSE: USM) is a super-regional cellular telephone provider, serving 5.8 million customers in 189 markets in 26 U.S. states. The company was created in 1983 as a subsidiary of Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. Since April 2000, John E. Rooney has been the company's President and CEO.

1 Acquisitions and growth
2 Facts
3 Wide Area Single Line plans
4 National Single Line plans
5 Wide Area Family Plans
6 National Family Plans
7 TalkTracker plans
8 External links

[edit] Acquisitions and growth

As of October 2005, U.S. Cellular was the sixth-largest mobile phone company in the United States. Despite this position, the company is in fact a relatively mid-sized provider, offering regional coverage in the Pacific Northwest, Midwest, and parts of the East and New England. Moreover, although headquartered in Chicago, U.S. Cellular did not offer service in Chicagoland until it acquired territories from PrimeCo Communications between 2002 and 2003, after the formation of Verizon Wireless.

Originally, U.S. Cellular used TDMA cell phones in most markets, but the company has completed shifting over to 1xRTT CDMA technology. There are some analog/TDMA cell sites still operating in many areas, for legacy customers as well as roaming purposes. However, U.S. Cellular no longer activates TDMA or Analog handsets.

U.S. Cellular's Unlimited Call-Me promotion allows users to receive calls without charge while in their local calling areas including customer's of their prepaid "Talktracker" service. The company's phones also offer picture messaging and "easyedge(SM)" data services as well as "SpeedTalk" walkie talkie service, which launched in July of 2005.

The company touts its service as having one of the highest customer retention rates among its competitors, as reported by some market research firms. It is currently expanding to more major markets: recently, St. Louis was added to its coverage area, and a massive ad blitz (all featuring company spokesperson Joan Cusack) covered buses, TV ad breaks, and billboards.

[edit] Facts

U.S. Cellular owns the naming rights to U.S. Cellular Field, home of the Chicago White Sox; U.S. Cellular Coliseum in Bloomington, Illinois, home of the Bloomington Extreme indoor football team; U.S. Cellular Arena in Milwaukee, former home of the Milwaukee Bucks and current home of the Milwaukee Wave; and the U.S. Cellular Center, an arena in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. It has also opened the U.S. Cellular pavilion in Hadlock Field, home of the Portland Seadogs in Portland, Maine. U.S. Cellular is also the Official Wireless Sponsor for the St. Louis Cardinals.

[edit] Wide Area Single Line plans

29.99 300 minutes
39.99 700 minutes includes unlimited CALL ME minutes
49.99 1000 minutes includes unlimited CALL ME minutes and unlimited Nights and Weekends starting at 7pm
59.99 1300 minutes includes unlimited CALL ME minutes and unlimited Nights and Weekends starting at 7pm
79.99 2000 minutes includes unlimited CALL ME minutes and unlimited Nights and Weekends starting at 7pm
99.99 3000 minutes includes unlimited CALL ME minutes and unlimited Nights and Weekends starting at 7pm
149.99 5000 minutes includes unlimited CALL ME minutes and unlimited Nights and Weekends starting at 7pm

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[edit] National Single Line plans

39.99 450 minutes includes unlimited CALL ME minutes
49.99 650 minutes includes unlimited CALL ME minutes and unlimited Nights and Weekends starting at 9pm
59.99 900 minutes includes unlimited CALL ME minutes and unlimited Nights and Weekends starting at 7pm
79.99 1350 minutes includes unlimited CALL ME minutes and unlimited Nights and Weekends starting at 7pm
99.99 2000 minutes includes unlimited CALL ME minutes and unlimited Nights and Weekends starting at 7pm
149.99 4000 minutes includes unlimited CALL ME minutes and unlimited Nights and Weekends starting at 7pm

Additional lines (Share Talk), up to three lines, can be added for $10/per line.

[edit] Wide Area Family Plans

59.99 750 minutes includes 45 roaming minutes, unlimited Nights and Weekends starting a 7pm and unlimited Mobile to Mobile, unlimited CALL ME minutes at extra cost
69.99 1000 minutes includes 45 roaming minutes, unlimited Nights and Weekends starting a 7pm and unlimited Mobile to Mobile, unlimited CALL ME minutes at extra cost
89.99 1700 minutes includes 45 roaming minutes, unlimited Nights and Weekends starting a 7pm and unlimited Mobile to Mobile, unlimited CALL ME minutes at extra cost
109.99 2400 minutes includes 45 roaming minutes, unlimited Nights and Weekends starting a 7pm and unlimited Mobile to Mobile, unlimited CALL ME minutes at extra cost
149.99 3600 minutes includes 45 roaming minutes, unlimited Nights and Weekends starting a 7pm and unlimited Mobile to Mobile, unlimited CALL ME minutes at extra cost
199.99 5000 minutes includes 45 roaming minutes, unlimited Nights and Weekends starting a 7pm and unlimited Mobile to Mobile, unlimited CALL ME minutes at extra cost

[edit] National Family Plans

59.99 550 minutes includes unlimited Nights and Weekends starting at 9pm, unlimited Mobile to Mobile, unlimited CALL ME minutes at extra cost
69.99 700 minutes includes unlimited Nights and Weekends starting at 9pm, unlimited Mobile to Mobile, unlimited CALL ME minutes at extra cost
89.99 1400 minutes includes unlimited Nights and Weekends starting at 7pm, unlimited Mobile to Mobile, unlimited CALL ME minutes at extra cost
109.99 2100 minutes includes unlimited Nights and Weekends starting at 7pm, unlimited Mobile to Mobile, unlimited CALL ME minutes at extra cost
149.99 3000 minutes includes unlimited Nights and Weekends starting at 7pm, unlimited Mobile to Mobile, unlimited CALL ME minutes at extra cost
199.99 4000 minutes includes unlimited Nights and Weekends starting at 7pm, unlimited Mobile to Mobile, unlimited CALL ME minutes at extra cost

[edit] TalkTracker plans

25.00 Wide Area 100
45.00 Wide Area 350 includes unlimited CALL ME minutes and unlimited Nights starting at 9pm
60.00 Wide Area 600 includes unlimited CALL ME minutes and unlimited Nights and Weekends starting at 9pm
80.00 Wide Area 1000 includes unlimited CALL ME minutes and unlimited Nights and Weekends starting at 9pm

[edit] External links

This box: view • talk • edit American mobile phone companies
Major network operators
Alltel · AT&T Mobility (Cingular) · Sprint Nextel · T-Mobile · Verizon Wireless
Minor and regional network operators
Cellular One · Cellular South · Centennial Wireless · Cincinnati Bell Wireless · Cricket Communications · Edge Wireless · MetroPCS · nTelos · Revol · SouthernLINC Wireless · SunCom · U.S. Cellular · Unicel
Mobile virtual network operator
7-Eleven Speak Out Wireless · Amp'd Mobile · BeyondMobile · Boost Mobile · Disney Mobile · Hawaiian Telcom · Helio · Jitterbug Wireless · Jump Mobile · Kajeet · Net10 Wireless · Qwest Wireless · TracFone · Virgin Mobile · XE Mobile