In May 2024, T-Mobile US announced it would acquire UScellular's wireless business in a deal worth $4.4 billion.[2]
History
1980s & 1990s
United States Cellular was founded as a subsidiary of Telephone and Data Systems Inc.[3] (TDS) and incorporated on December 23, 1983. began operations in Knoxville, Tennessee (June), and Tulsa, Oklahoma (August). The company went public in 1988 where United States Cellular adopted USM as its ticker symbol on the American Stock Exchange.[4] In 1999, United States Cellular relaunched under the “U.S. Cellular” brand name and image across all markets nationwide.
2000s
The company purchased PrimeCo Wireless Communications in 2002 and launched in the Chicago area on November 22. It built on this growth by signing Chicagoan Joan Cusack as national spokesperson. In January 2003, U.S. Cellular acquired naming rights to the baseball stadium used by the Chicago White Sox.[5] Formerly known as Comiskey Park, the stadium was officially renamed U.S. Cellular Field (it was renamed Guaranteed Rate Field in 2016). That same year, U.S. Cellular and Cingular (now owned by AT&T Mobility) exchanged wireless assets and U.S. Cellular received new spectrum in markets of 13 states. In 2005, U.S. Cellular entered the St. Louis market, making it the second largest market U.S. Cellular served, after Chicago. In October 2008, U.S. Cellular launched Mobile Broadband, a service enabling customers to access data on its cell phones 10 times faster than before. It brought DSL-like service and capabilities to customers through EVDO (Evolution-Data Optimized) technology, commonly referred to as 3G. As of Q2 2008, U.S. Cellular was preparing to roll out 3G/EVDO revision A to select markets.
2010s
In May 2011, U.S. Cellular announced that it will offer 4GLTE. In a surprising move, U.S. Cellular announced the sale of several markets to Sprint Corporation including its home market of Chicago.[6] June 2016, Google announced that it partnered with U.S. Cellular as part of its Google Fi service. U.S. Cellular contributed its network and LTE service to the "network of networks" along with T-Mobile US and Sprint Corporation.[7]
2020s
In March 2020, U.S. Cellular debuted launch of 5G in Wisconsin and Iowa[8] U.S. Cellular rebranded as UScellular and upgraded its logo in the fall of that year.[9]
In February 2023, Google Fi discontinued its partnership with UScellular in a statement saying "We will no longer be an official network partner of Google Fi," UScellular senior manager of media relations Katie Frey told CNET over email. "We value our relationship with Google, and we look forward to continuing our collaboration in other ways."[10]
In 2023, parent company TDS, announced that it was exploring strategic alternatives for UScellular.
[11]
In January 2024, UScellular shut down its 2G/3G CDMA network with the spectrum being reallocated to its 4G LTE and 5G NR networks.[12]
On May 28, 2024, T-Mobile US announced its intention to acquire most of UScellular's wireless operations, including all of the company’s customers and stores, and 30% of UScellular's wireless spectrum in a transaction valued at USD 4.4 billion. While UScellular would retain 70% of its wireless spectrum and cell sites under the deal, T-Mobile would also be able to lease more than 2,000 towers from the company. Both companies expect the deal to close by mid-2025.[2][13][14]
Network
4G LTE network
U.S. Cellular began offering 4GLTE coverage to customers in the first quarter of 2012.[15] The rollout started in cities in Iowa, Wisconsin, Maine, North Carolina, Texas and Oklahoma.[16] In 2012, U.S. Cellular added 4G LTE in additional markets throughout the country.
Its LTE network was primarily built upon two low-frequency LTE bands; 12 and 5.[17] Through an agreement with King Street Wireless,[18] U.S. Cellular has access to the lower 700 MHz A, B, and C blocks across most of its markets. Spectrum bandwidth includes, 5*5, or 10*10 MHz on band 12 700 MHz 5*5 MHz on band 5 850 MHz 5*5, or 10*10 MHz on band 4 AWS 1. U.S. Cellular also has 5Mhz or 10Mhz of spectrum on Band 66 (AWS-3) in some markets.
The company began VoLTE trials during 2016, launched its first market with VoLTE during the first quarter of 2017.[19]
In December 2019, the FCC found U.S. Cellular shared misinformation about its 4G LTE coverage, exaggerating performance by as much as 38% and only managing to reach the federally mandated minimum speeds 45% of the time.[20]
5G network
In June 2019, U.S. Cellular successfully bid for high frequency spectrum in the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) Millimeter Wave Spectrum Auctions and purchased licenses covering 98 percent of its subscribers for $256.0 million or 1.7 cents per MHz pop. This laid the foundation for October 2019, when U.S. Cellular officially announced plans to launch its 5G service. The company launched its first phone with support, the Samsung Galaxy S20, as well as coverage maps for its first commercial 5G network in both urban and rural parts of Iowa and Wisconsin in February 2020.[21]
Roaming agreements
UScellular currently only has a roaming agreement with AT&T Mobility. This allows customers to roam on AT&T with LTE or 5G speeds with no extra charges.
Previously T-Mobile U.S. was used for LTE and 5G, but at the end of 2022 roaming service has been discontinued with them. UScellular also used Verizon for 1X and 3G roaming, but this has also since been discontinued as Verizon shut down its CDMA network at the end of 2022.[22]
