Variable Interest Entities - Consolidataed Balance Sheet (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions		Mar. 31, 2020	Dec. 31, 2019
Assets
Cash and cash equivalents		$ 258	$ 285
Accounts receivable		865	919
Inventory, net		212	162
Other current assets		22	20
Licenses		2,502	2,471
Property, plant and equipment, net		2,268	2,207
Operating lease right-of-use assets		902	900
Other assets and deferred charges		534	566
Total assets	[1]	8,251	8,164
Liabilities
Current liabilities		722	750
Long-term operating lease liabilities		865	865
Other deferred liabilities and credits		327	319
Consolidated Variable Interest Entities
Assets
Cash and cash equivalents		24	19
Accounts receivable		614	639
Inventory, net		4	6
Other current assets		11	7
Licenses		649	649
Property, plant and equipment, net		106	104
Operating lease right-of-use assets		44	44
Other assets and deferred charges		317	346
Total assets		1,769	1,814
Liabilities
Current liabilities		30	32
Long-term operating lease liabilities		40	41
Other deferred liabilities and credits		14	14
Total liabilities		$ 84	$ 87

[1] The consolidated total assets as of March 31, 2020 and December 31, 2019, include assets held by consolidated variable interest entities (VIEs) of $933 million and $930 million, respectively, which are not available to be used to settle the obligations of U.S. Cellular. The consolidated total liabilities as of March 31, 2020 and December 31, 2019, include certain liabilities of consolidated VIEs of $20 million and $22 million, respectively, for which the creditors of the VIEs have no recourse to the general credit of U.S. Cellular. See Note 9 — Variable Interest Entities for additional information.