U.S. Cellular Reports Increases in Service, Data Revenues

CHICAGO, May 7 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- United States Cellular Corporation (Amex: USM) reported service revenues of $962.1 million for the first quarter of 2008, an 11.8 percent increase from $860.6 million in the comparable period one year ago. The company recorded operating income of $119 million, an increase of 9.6 percent from $108.5 million in the first quarter of 2007. Net income and diluted earnings per share were $70.6 million and $0.80, respectively, compared to $74.4 million and $0.84, respectively, in the comparable period one year ago.*

Continued growth in data revenues drives service revenues and ARPU

"U.S. Cellular experienced strong growth in data revenues this quarter," said John E. Rooney, U.S. Cellular president and CEO, "driven in part by new smartphones like the BlackBerry(R) Pearl(TM) and their related data plans, and by customers' increased use of messaging services. The 49 percent increase in data revenues helped to drive up both service revenues and ARPU. The growth in service revenues was partly offset by growth in operating expenses, however, resulting in lower margins. We also had solid net retail customer additions in the quarter, and maintained a low, 1.4-percent retail postpay churn rate.

"We continue to focus on providing a consistently high-quality wireless experience," added Rooney, "in terms of network strength and reliability and exceptional customer service. We received our fifth consecutive J.D. Power and Associates award for call quality this quarter, and our associates are committed to exceeding our customers' expectations for service and satisfaction."

Strengthened footprint with new spectrum

U.S. Cellular participated in Auction 73, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) auction of spectrum in the 700 MHz band, through its interest in King Street Wireless L.P. King Street Wireless was the provisional winning bidder for 152 licenses for an aggregate bid of $300.5 million, net of its designated entity discount, which was recorded in licenses on U.S. Cellular's balance sheet as of March 31, 2008. The FCC has not yet awarded any of the licenses to winning bidders. The licenses expected to be awarded to King Street Wireless cover areas that overlap or are proximate or contiguous to areas covered by licenses that U.S. Cellular currently owns, operates, and/or consolidates in its financial statements.

Guidance

Guidance for the year ending Dec. 31, 2008 is as follows. There can be no assurance that final results will not differ materially from this guidance.

The foregoing guidance represents the views of management as of May 7, 2008 and should not be assumed to be accurate as of any other date. U.S. Cellular undertakes no legal duty to update such information, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

Conference call information

U.S. Cellular will hold a conference call on May 7, 2008 at 10:00 a.m. Chicago time.

Before the call, certain financial and statistical information to be discussed during the call will be posted to the Conference Call page of http://www.uscellular.com, together with reconciliations to generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) of any non-GAAP information to be disclosed. The call will be archived on the Conference Calls page of http://www.uscellular.com.

About U.S. Cellular

United States Cellular Corporation, the nation's sixth-largest, full-service wireless carrier, provides a comprehensive range of wireless products and services, excellent customer support, and a high-quality network to more than 6.2 million customers in 26 states. The Chicago-based company employed 8,700 associates as of March 31, 2008. For more information about U.S. Cellular, visit http://www.uscellular.com.

Safe Harbor Statement Under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: All information set forth in this news release, except historical and factual information, represents forward-looking statements. This includes all statements about the company's plans, beliefs, estimates, and expectations. These statements are based on current estimates, projections, and assumptions, which involve certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Important factors that may affect these forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to: The ability of the company to successfully manage and grow the operations of more recently launched markets; changes in the overall economy, competition, the state and federal telecommunications regulatory environment, and the value of assets and investments; adverse changes in the ratings afforded our debt securities by accredited ratings organizations; industry consolidation; advances in telecommunications technology; uncertainty of access to the capital markets; risks and uncertainties relating to restatements and possible future restatements; ability to remediate the material weakness; pending and future litigation; changes in income tax rates, laws, regulations or rulings; acquisitions/divestitures of properties and/or licenses; and changes in customer growth rates, average monthly revenue per unit, churn rates, roaming terms, the availability of devices and the mix of products and services offered by the company. Investors are encouraged to consider these and other risks and uncertainties that are discussed in the Form 8-K used by U.S. Cellular to furnish this press release to the SEC, which are incorporated by reference herein.

As previously announced, U.S. Cellular(R) will hold a teleconference May 7, 2008, at 10:00 a.m. Chicago time. Interested parties may listen to the call live via the Internet by accessing the Conference Calls page of http://www.teldta.com or http://www.uscc.com.

SOURCE United States Cellular Corporation