U.S. Cellular

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United States Cellular Corporation d.b.a. U.S. Cellular
Public
Traded as NYSE: USM
Industry Telecommunications
Founded 1983
Headquarters Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Products CDMA2000 1x, EV-DO and LTE (wireless voice and data services), SMS (text messaging), MMS (picture messaging), Mobile TV (EasyEdge Mobile TV), location-based services, BREW (EasyEdge)
Revenue Decrease$3.89 billion USD (2014)
Decrease$-47 million USD (2014)
Number of employees
 6,700 (2014)
Parent Telephone and Data Systems (84%)
Slogan Believe In Something Better
Website www.uscellular.com

United States Cellular Corporation, d.b.a. U.S. Cellular, is a regional carrier[1] which owns and operates the fifth-largest wireless telecommunications network in the United States, serving 4.8 million customers in 426 markets in 23 U.S. states as of the third quarter of 2015.[2] The company has its headquarters in Chicago, Illinois.

Corporate information

U.S. Cellular was formed in 1983 as a subsidiary of Telephone and Data Systems (TDS), Inc., which still owns an 84 percent stake.

In compliance with federal law, U.S. Cellular works with National Center for Missing and Exploited Children to provide free AMBER Alerts via text messaging.[3]

Customer satisfaction

Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. U.S. Cellular touts its service, having one of the highest customer retention rates among its competitors, as reported by some market research firms.[4]

J. D. Power and Associates continually rates U.S. Cellular as having "Highest in Wireless Call Quality Performance" for several of its coverage regions.[5] The North Central Region (IL, IN, MI, OH, WI) has received the award from 2006-2011.[6]

In 2012, U.S. Cellular launched an ad campaign centered around sales associate Abigail Rutt.

Consumer Reports does an annual survey of wireless service providers. The company has the highest call quality and network satisfaction of any national carrier as stated by the survey.[7]

Network

CDMA/3G network

Originally, U.S. Cellular used analog, then Digital AMPS "TDMA" cell phones in most markets, but the company started shifting over to 1xRTT CDMA technology in 2003. After the switch, U.S. Cellular has discontinued all analog and TDMA services. In 2009, U.S. Cellular started converting its network to EVDO which offers 3G speeds. U.S. Cellular is currently implementing use of LTE for its 4G network.[8]

The company offers national 3G coverage through roaming agreements. Native coverage is mainly in the Pacific Northwest, Midwest, parts of the East and New England. Although headquartered in Chicago, U.S. Cellular did not offer service in the Chicago metropolitan area until it acquired territories from PrimeCo Communications between 2002 and 2003, after the formation of Verizon Wireless.[9]

4G LTE network

U.S. Cellular announced that it will start offering 4G coverage to customers beginning in the first quarter of 2012. Just like the other larger wireless competitors, company decided to go with LTE for its 4G coverage. The rollout is planned for selected cities in Iowa, Wisconsin, Maine, North Carolina, Texas and Oklahoma. These include some of U.S. Cellular's leading markets such as Milwaukee, Madison and Racine, Wis.; Des Moines, Cedar Rapids and Davenport, Iowa; Portland, Bangor and Houlton, Maine; and Greenville, N.C.[10] As of November 14, 2012, U.S. Cellular has added additional 4G LTE markets, including Southern Oregon (Roseburg, Grants Pass, and Medford areas).

Timeline

  • In 2003, U.S. Cellular acquired naming rights to the baseball stadium used by the Chicago White Sox. Formerly known as “Comiskey Park”, the stadium is officially renamed "U.S. Cellular Field." U.S. Cellular and AT&T Mobility (formerly Cingular) exchange wireless assets. U.S. Cellular receives new spectrum in markets next to or overlapping existing operations in 13 states in exchange for its Georgia and northern Florida licenses. U.S. Cellular builds and launches 12 new markets from the transaction's assets over the next two years, including Oklahoma City and St. Louis. U.S. Cellular launches easyedge, its suite of wireless data services.[11]
  • In 2004, U.S. Cellular divests its south Texas markets.
  • In 2005, U.S. Cellular enters the St. Louis market. St. Louis becomes the second largest market U.S. Cellular serves, after Chicago. U.S. Cellular introduces SpeedTalk, its walkie-talkie-like service.
  • In 2006, U.S. Cellular acquires the rest of eastern Tennessee's TN-RSA 3, formerly known as Eloqui Wireless. Already owning a 1/6 stake in the venture, U.S. Cellular purchased the remaining 5/6ths of the shares.
  • In 2007, U.S. Cellular purchases IA RSA 15 in northwest Iowa.
  • As of Q3 2007 Average monthly revenue per user is at $52.71
  • As of Q4 2007 $368 million in data revenues. Average monthly revenue per unit is at $51.13. They had a retail postpay churn rate of 1.4%. Have 6,383 total cell sites, have invested $566 million in the cell sites as well as the infrastructure.
  • As of Q2 2008 preparing to roll out 3G/EVDO revision A to select markets.
  • As of Oct. 28, 2008 U.S. Cellular launched Mobile Broadband, a service allowing customers to access data on their cell phones 10 times faster than before. It brings DSL-like service and capabilities to customers through EVDO (Evolution-Data Optimized) technology, commonly referred to as 3G. The service launched in Chicago and Rockford, Illinois; northwestern Indiana; Tulsa, Oklahoma; Des Moines, Iowa and southern Wisconsin, with more cities to follow in early 2009.
  • As of May 1, 2009 U.S. Cellular launched Mobile Broadband in most of Iowa except for western Iowa. In addition to Iowa, parts of Tennessee are now part of U.S. Cellular's Mobile Broadband coverage area.
  • As of June 30, 2009 U.S. Cellular expanded its Mobile Broadband coverage in most of Wisconsin, central and northern Illinois, with more to follow.
  • Mobile Broadband launched in summer 2009 in parts of Maine and New Hampshire, as well as areas surrounding Tulsa.[12]
  • Jay Ellison, the company's Executive VP of Operations, retired at the end of 2009.
  • On May 31, 2010 CEO Jack Rooney retired from the company.
  • On June 1, 2010 Mary N. Dillon assumed the position of CEO.
  • As of July 16, 2010 U.S. Cellular launched Nationwide 3G Data Roaming covering 98% of its customer base.
  • U.S. Cellular Corporation exercised a right to expand by 20,000 square feet (1,900 m2) at Citicorp Plaza in Chicago, Illinois, which will increase the size of its lease to 232,000 square feet (21,600 m2). U.S. Cellular recently[when?] renewed its lease through October 31, 2017.
  • On October 1, 2010 U.S. Cellular unveiled the Belief Project.
  • On May 6, 2011 U.S. Cellular announced that it will offer 4G LTE by the end of 2011.
  • On June 13, 2011 U.S. Cellular launched the company's first Windows Phone 7 which is the HTC 7 Pro.
  • On June 22, 2011 U.S. Cellular launched the Motorola Xoom, an Android 3.1 (Honeycomb) Tablet.
  • On November 7, 2012 U.S. Cellular announced the sale of several markets (customers and spectrum) to Sprint Nextel. This included their home market of Chicago.[13]

Phones

The company offers phones manufactured by Samsung, Motorola, HTC, LG, RIM, Huawei, Alcatel, Pantech and Apple.[citation needed]

On December 5, 2011 U.S. Cellular stated it is waiting for an LTE version of Apple's iPhone before selling the phone.[14] It was announced on May 3, 2013 that U.S. Cellular would offer the iPhone sometime during the year.

On July 12, 2012, U.S. Cellular began shipping preorders of the Samsung Galaxy S III.[15]

On October 23, 2013, U.S. Cellular's web site began advertising that the iPhone 5s will be "Available November 8th", 2013.

On November 8, 2013, U.S. Cellular began offering Apple iPhone 5s, 5c, and 4s.

On September 19, 2014 U.S. Cellular was a Tier 1 provider of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus.

On September 25, 2015 U.S. Cellular was a Tier 1 provider of the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus.[16]

Tablet PCs

U.S. Cellular launched the Samsung Galaxy i800 Tablet PC in November, 2010.

U.S. Cellular launched the Motorola Xoom Tablet PC in June, 2011.

U.S. Cellular launched the Apple iPad Air and iPad mini on November 8, 2013.

Belief Project

On October 1, 2010 U.S. Cellular unveiled its customer reward program as "The Belief Project".[17]

On September 1, 2015 U.S. Cellular shuttered the rewards program.[18]

Belief Plans

All Belief plans are nationwide with no additional roaming charges in the United States. These plans all include at no additional charge: incoming calls, nights & weekends starting at 7pm, and mobile-to-mobile calls between U.S. Cellular customers. Customers are only required to fulfill one twenty-four month agreement per line ("One-and-Done Contracts"). After the first initial contract, customers no longer have to sign contracts and can continue to buy new phones at promotional prices when eligible. However, as of Q3 2013, the "one-and-done" contract provision was discontinued on all plans, and customers now are required to renew their contracts for a 24-month term to receive a device subsidy. Customers on Belief plans earn points each month as part of the Belief Rewards program and can also be earned by referring customers or participating in other promotional activities. These points can be redeemed for early upgrades, free accessories, phones, and ringtones and ringbacks. US Cellular announced in April 2015 that it is sunsetting its Belief Points program, effective September 2, 2015. Customers stopped earning Belief Points during their April/May billing cycles, but will be able to use their existing Belief Points through September 1, 2015.

Belief Plans Evolved (BPE)

As of May 1, 2012, U.S. Cellular rolled out a new set of Belief Plans. The new plans retain all of the same free calling features as the previous Belief Plans and also applies to 'connected devices' (tablets, hotspots, and data cards) offering tiered data packages. Like many carriers, U.S. Cellular charges a fee ($10 per GB) for overage on data.

Shared Data Plans

On October 13, 2013, U.S. Cellular unveiled its take on Shared Data plans. The plans are comparable to other carriers Shared Data options, but still include all of the same free calling features, and the inclusion of reward points to be used for different features or new phones. A further enhancement to the Shared Data plans was unveiled during Q2 2014, where customers could opt to purchase devices under no-interest "installment agreements" in lieu of a device subsidy. The installment plans are based on the full device cost spread out over 20 (smartphones) or 24 (basic phones and tablets) equal monthly installment payments, in addition to the cellular service cost. Customers who purchase equipment on installment plans receive discounts on their "connection charges" to their shared data plans, and pay lower activation fees on devices. There is also no penalty for early payoff for devices on installment plans. Customers who purchase devices under installment payments on shared data plans also have an "early upgrade" option to trade-in their devices after 12 payments in order to upgrade to a new device superseded by another installment agreement on the new device.

Corporate headquarters

The company has its headquarters in almost 140,000 square feet (13,000 m2) in the U.S. Cellular Plaza complex in O'Hare, Chicago, Illinois, near O'Hare International Airport.[19][20] U.S. Cellular's lease will expire in September 2011. The company stated in 2008 that it hired CB Richard Ellis to help determine whether the company should stay in its current headquarters facility, move to central Chicago, or move to the Chicago suburbs.[20] The current address is 8410 W. Bryn Mawr Suite 700 Chicago, IL 60631-3486.[21] The headquarters can be reached by phone at 773-399-8900. [22]

Corporate sponsorship

U.S. Cellular owns the naming rights to:

NASCAR

U.S. Cellular serves as the title sponsor of a NASCAR Nationwide Series race, the U.S. Cellular 250, at Iowa Speedway in Newton, Iowa. It has also served as the presenting sponsor of the 80/35 Music Festival in Des Moines, Iowa, since its inception in 2008.[23]

The sonic logo, tag, audio mnemonic was produced by Musikvergnuegen and written by Walter Werzowa from the Austrian 1980s sampling band Edelweiss.[24]

References

  1. ↑ Archived April 23, 2014 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ [1] Archived December 20, 2010 at the Wayback Machine
  8. ↑ U.S. Cellular Plans to Launch 4G LTE in 2012: Report
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2003-02-01/news/0302010294_1_comiskey-ii-comiskey-park-cellular-field | Retrieved 2015-28-09
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ http://www.uscellular.com/about/press-room/2012/USCellular-to-Sell-Select-Midwest-Markets-to-Sprint.html U.S. Cellular 2012-7-11. Retrieved 2015-28-09.
  14. ↑ U.S. Cellular: We’ll take the iPhone when Apple gives us LTE — Tech News and Analysis
  15. ↑ Samsung Galaxy S3 now on sale on U.S. Cellular website, coming to stores this week
  16. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  17. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  18. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. ↑ "About Us." U.S. Cellular. Retrieved on January 5, 2011. "8410 W. Bryn Mawr Suite 700 Chicago, IL 60631-3486."
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 Baeb, Eddie. "U.S. Cellular to explore HQ move." Crain's Chicago Business. April 23, 2008. Retrieved on January 10, 2010.
  21. ↑ http://www.uscellular.com/about/index.html
  22. ↑ http://www.uscellular.com/about/index.html
  23. ↑ - 80/35 music festival
  24. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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