CHICAGO, June 18, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- United States
Cellular Corporation (NYSE:USM) successfully bid for high frequency
spectrum in recent Federal Communications Commission (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.
In the 28 GHz Auction (Auction 101), the company spent
$129.4 million or 2.1 cents per MHz pop acquiring 408 licenses
covering 60 percent of its subscriber base with at least 425 MHz of
millimeter wave spectrum.
In the 24 GHz Auction (Auction 102), the company spent
$126.6 million or 1.5 cents per MHz pop acquiring 282 licenses
covering 93 percent of its subscribers.
Together the auctions allowed U.S. Cellular to acquire at least
300 MHz of spectrum in markets that serve 97 percent of its
customer base.
"Our 5G network strategy envisions the use of a variety of
spectrum bands over time," said Kenneth R.
Meyers, U.S. Cellular president and CEO. "Our initial 5G
deployment will be on our 600 MHz spectrum to provide enhanced
broadband speed and capacity over our entire footprint with the
expectation that we will be able to augment it with mid and high
band spectrum over time as the technology and use cases continue to
evolve. With our success in the millimeter wave auctions, we
can now cover most of our subscribers with at least 300 MHz of
millimeter wave licenses which will enable U.S. Cellular to provide
its customers with the leading edge capabilities 5G is
promising."
Meyers continued, "We applaud the FCC for conducting these
millimeter wave auctions and fully support their efforts to bring
mid-band spectrum to the marketplace quickly. Spectrum is the
lifeblood of this industry as we continue to ensure that we can
meet the growing demand for data services, as well as create new
opportunities for new services requiring high speed, reliability
and low latency."
"Network quality has always been the foundation of our
strategy," said Michael S. Irizarry,
Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer. "As we
continue our multi-year network modernization plan and increase the
speed and performance of our network, we are readying our network
with the foundational network elements to deliver innovative
services for our customers."
About U.S. Cellular
United States Cellular
Corporation provides a comprehensive range of wireless products and
services, excellent customer support, and a high-quality network to
customers with 5.0 million connections in 21 states. The
Chicago-based company had 5,500
full- and part-time associates as of March 31, 2019. At the
end of the first quarter of 2019, Telephone and Data Systems, Inc.
owned 82 percent of U.S. Cellular. For more information about U.S.
Cellular, visit 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: intense competition; the ability to execute U.S.
Cellular's business strategy; uncertainties in U.S. Cellular's
future cash flows and liquidity and access to the capital markets;
the ability to make payments on U.S. Cellular indebtedness or
comply with the terms of debt covenants; impacts of any pending
acquisitions/divestitures/exchanges of properties and/or
licenses, including, but not limited to, the ability to obtain
regulatory approvals, successfully complete the transactions and
the financial impacts of such transactions; the ability of the
company to successfully manage and grow its markets; the access to
and pricing of unbundled network elements; the ability to obtain or
maintain roaming arrangements with other carriers on acceptable
terms; the state and federal telecommunications regulatory
environment; the value of assets and investments; adverse changes
in the ratings of U.S. Cellular debt securities by accredited
ratings organizations; industry consolidation; advances in
telecommunications technology; pending and future litigation;
changes in income tax rates, laws, regulations or rulings; changes
in customer growth rates, average monthly revenue per user, churn
rates, roaming revenue and terms, the availability of wireless
devices, or the mix of services and products offered by U.S.
Cellular. Investors are encouraged to consider these and other
risks and uncertainties that are discussed in the Form 8-K Current
Report used by U.S. Cellular to furnish this press release to the
Securities and Exchange Commission, which are incorporated by
reference herein.
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SOURCE United States Cellular Corporation