Revision of Prior Period Amounts, (Details) (USD $) In Thousands, except Per Share data, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended			6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2012	Jun. 30, 2011		Jun. 30, 2012	Jun. 30, 2011
Quantifying Misstatement in Current Year Financial Statements [Line Items]
Revision of prior period disclosures, reason for revision				In preparing its Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows for the year ended December 31, 2011, U.S. Cellular discovered certain errors related to the classification of outstanding checks with the right of offset and the classification of Accounts payable-trade for Additions to property, plant and equipment. These errors resulted in the misstatement of Cash and cash equivalents and Accounts payable-trade as of December 31, 2010 and each quarterly period in 2011, and the misstatement of Cash flows from operating activities and Cash flows from investing activities for the years ended December 31, 2010 and 2009 and each of the quarterly periods in 2011 and 2010. In accordance with SEC Staff Accounting Bulletin Nos. 99 and 108 ("SAB 99" and "SAB 108"), U.S. Cellular evaluated these errors and determined that they were immaterial to each of the reporting periods affected and, therefore, amendment of previously filed reports was not required. However, in order to provide consistency in the Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows and as permitted by SAB 108, revisions for these immaterial amounts to previously reported amounts were reflected in the financial information as of and for the periods ended December 31, 2011, are reflected in the financial information herein and will be reflected in future filings containing such financial information. In preparing its financial statements for the nine months ended September 30, 2011, U.S. Cellular discovered certain errors related to accounting for asset retirement obligations and asset retirement costs. These errors resulted in the overstatement of Total operating expenses, Property, plant and equipment, net and Other deferred liabilities and credits in the first and second quarter 2011 interim financial statements and in the 2010, 2009 and 2008 annual periods reported in the Company’s December 31, 2010 financial statements. The December 31, 2007 Retained earnings balance presented in the December 31, 2010 annual financial statements also was overstated as a result of these errors. In accordance with SAB 99 and SAB 108, U.S. Cellular evaluated these errors and determined that they were immaterial to each of the reporting periods affected and, therefore, amendments of previously filed reports were not required. However, if the adjustments to correct the cumulative errors had been recorded in the third quarter 2011, U.S. Cellular believes that the impact would have been significant to the third quarter results and would have impacted comparisons to prior periods. As permitted by SAB 108, revisions for these immaterial amounts to previously reported annual and quarterly results were reflected in the financial information as of and for the periods ended September 30, 2011 and December 31, 2011, and are reflected in the financial information herein.
Consolidated Statement of Operations
Depreciation, amortization and accretion	$ 147,555	$ 146,577		$ 294,240	$ 289,917
Total operating expenses	1,020,237	972,086		2,027,156	1,970,430
Operating income	84,163	104,096		169,365	162,844
Income before income taxes	93,845	115,664		188,495	180,841
Income tax expense	34,597	34,732		60,235	59,479
Net income	59,248	80,932		128,260	121,362
Net income attributable to U.S. Cellular shareholders	52,685	74,939		115,177	110,100
Basic earnings per share attributable to U.S. Cellular shareholders	$ 0.62	$ 0.88		$ 1.36	$ 1.29
Diluted earnings per share attributable to U.S. Cellular shareholders	$ 0.62	$ 0.88		$ 1.35	$ 1.28
Cash flows from operating activities
Net income	59,248	80,932		128,260	121,362
Depreciation, amortization and accretion	147,555	146,577		294,240	289,917
Changes in assets and liabilities from operations
Accounts payable - trade				(20,987)	23,835
Accrued taxes				85,327	11,525
Other assets and liabilities				(67,203)	(75,128)
Cash flows from operating activities				412,237	438,100
Cash flows from investing activities
Cash used for additions to property, plant and equipment				(430,225)	(265,394)
Cash flows from investing activities				(396,183)	(229,870)
Net increase in cash and cash equivalents				13,469	141,513
As Previously Reported
Consolidated Statement of Operations
Depreciation, amortization and accretion		148,283	[1]		293,328	[1]
Total operating expenses		973,792	[1]		1,973,841	[1]
Operating income		102,390	[1]		159,433	[1]
Income before income taxes		113,958	[1]		177,430	[1]
Income tax expense		34,077	[1]		58,169	[1]
Net income		79,881	[1]		119,261	[1]
Net income attributable to U.S. Cellular shareholders		73,888	[1]		107,999	[1]
Basic earnings per share attributable to U.S. Cellular shareholders		$ 0.87	[1]		$ 1.27	[1]
Diluted earnings per share attributable to U.S. Cellular shareholders		$ 0.87	[1]		$ 1.26	[1]
Cash flows from operating activities
Net income		79,881	[1]		119,261	[1]
Depreciation, amortization and accretion		148,283	[1]		293,328	[1]
Changes in assets and liabilities from operations
Accounts payable - trade					8,588	[1]
Accrued taxes					10,215	[1]
Other assets and liabilities					(74,549)	[1]
Cash flows from operating activities					423,432	[1]
Cash flows from investing activities
Cash used for additions to property, plant and equipment					(258,040)	[1]
Cash flows from investing activities					(222,516)	[1]
Net increase in cash and cash equivalents					134,199	[1]
Adjustment
Consolidated Statement of Operations
Depreciation, amortization and accretion		(1,706)			(3,411)
Total operating expenses		(1,706)			(3,411)
Operating income		1,706			3,411
Income before income taxes		1,706			3,411
Income tax expense		655			1,310
Net income		1,051			2,101
Net income attributable to U.S. Cellular shareholders		1,051			2,101
Basic earnings per share attributable to U.S. Cellular shareholders		$ 0.01			$ 0.02
Diluted earnings per share attributable to U.S. Cellular shareholders		$ 0.01			$ 0.02
Cash flows from operating activities
Net income		1,051			2,101
Depreciation, amortization and accretion		(1,706)			(3,411)
Changes in assets and liabilities from operations
Accounts payable - trade					15,247
Accrued taxes					1,310
Other assets and liabilities					(579)
Cash flows from operating activities					14,668
Cash flows from investing activities
Cash used for additions to property, plant and equipment					(7,354)
Cash flows from investing activities					(7,354)
Net increase in cash and cash equivalents					$ 7,314

[1] In Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the period ended June 30, 2011, filed on August 8, 2011.