Acquisitions, Divestitures and Exchanges, acquisitions (Details) (USD $)											6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2012		Jun. 30, 2011		Jun. 30, 2011 Businesses		Jun. 30, 2012 Licenses		Jun. 30, 2011 Licenses		Jun. 30, 2012 Licenses 700 MHz Agreement 1	Jun. 30, 2012 Licenses 700 MHz Agreement 2
Acquisitions, divestitures and exchanges
Licenses	$ 12,647,000		$ 18,392,000		$ 15,592,000		$ 12,647,000		$ 2,800,000
Intangible assets subject to amortization			2,252,000		2,252,000
Net tangible assets (liabilities)			6,728,000		6,728,000
Purchase Price	12,647,000	[1]	27,372,000	[1]	24,572,000	[1]	12,647,000	[1]	2,800,000	[1]
Date of acquisition agreement											April 17, 2012	June 19, 2012
License acquisition agreement amount											$ 34,000,000	$ 57,700,000
Acquisition agreement description											On April 17, 2012, U.S. Cellular entered into an agreement to acquire four 700 MHz licenses covering portions of Nebraska, Iowa, Missouri, Kansas and Oklahoma for $34.0 million. The acquisition requires approval from the FCC and, if approved, is expected to close in the third quarter of 2012.	On June 19, 2012, U.S. Cellular entered into an agreement to acquire seven 700 MHz licenses covering portions of Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Oregon, Washington and Wisconsin for $57.7 million. The acquisition requires approval from the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) and, if approved, is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2012.

[1] Cash amounts paid for acquisitions may differ from the purchase price due to cash acquired in the transactions and the timing of cash payments related to the respective transactions.