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Revenue Recognition | 12 Months Ended
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Dec. 31, 2024
Revenue from Contract with Customer [Abstract] |
Revenue Recognition | Note 2 Revenue Recognition Nature of goods and services The following is a description of principal activities from which TDS generates its revenues.
Services and products | Nature, timing of satisfaction of performance obligations, and significant payment terms
Wireless services | Wireless service includes voice, messaging and data services. Revenue is recognized in Service revenues as wireless service is provided to the customer. Wireless services generally are billed and paid in advance on a monthly basis.
Wireless devices and accessories | UScellular offers a comprehensive range of wireless devices such as handsets, tablets, mobile hotspots and routers for purchase by its customers, as well as accessories. UScellular also sells wireless devices to agents and other third-party distributors for resale. UScellular frequently discounts wireless devices sold to new and current customers. UScellular also offers customers the option to purchase certain devices and accessories under installment contracts whereby they pay over a specified time period. For certain equipment installment plans, after a specified period of time, the customer may have the right to upgrade to a new device. Such upgrades require the customer to enter into an equipment installment contract for the new device, and transfer the existing device to UScellular. UScellular recognizes revenue in Equipment and product sales revenues when control of the device or accessory is transferred to the customer, agent or third-party distributor, which is generally upon delivery.
Wireless roaming | UScellular receives roaming revenues when other wireless carriers’ customers use UScellular’s wireless systems. UScellular recognizes revenue in Service revenues when the roaming service is provided.
Wireless Eligible Telecommunications Carrier (ETC) Revenues | Telecommunications companies may be designated by states, or in some cases by the FCC, as an ETC to receive support payments from the Universal Service Fund if they provide specified services in “high cost” areas. ETC revenues recognized in the reporting period represent the amounts which UScellular is entitled to receive for such period, as determined and approved in connection with UScellular’s designation as an ETC in various states.
Tower rents | UScellular receives tower rental revenues when another carrier leases tower space on a UScellular-owned tower. UScellular recognizes revenue in Service revenues in the period during which the services are provided. Tower rental revenues are generally billed and paid in advance on a monthly basis.
Activation fees | TDS charges its end customers activation fees in connection with the sale of certain services and equipment. Activation fees are deferred and recognized over the period benefited.
Wireline and cable services | Wireline and cable services include broadband, video, and voice services. Revenue is recognized in Service revenues as service is provided to the customer. Wireline and cable services are generally billed and paid in advance on a monthly basis.
Wholesale revenues | Wholesale revenues include network access services primarily to interexchange and wireless carriers for carrying data and voice traffic on TDS Telecom’s network, special access services and state and federal support payments, including E-ACAM. Wholesale revenues are recorded as the related service is provided.
IT hardware sales 1 | TDS recognizes equipment revenue when it no longer has any requirements to perform, when title has passed and when the products are accepted by the customer.
Hosted and managed services 1 | HMS Service revenues consist of cloud and hosting solutions, managed services, Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) application management, colocation services, and IT hardware and related maintenance and professional services. Revenues related to these services are recognized as services are provided.
1 The HMS operations were sold to a third-party on September 3, 2024. See Note 7 — Divestitures for additional information. Significant Judgments As a practical expedient, TDS groups similar contracts or similar performance obligations together into portfolios of contracts or performance obligations if doing so does not result in a significant difference from accounting for the individual contracts discretely. TDS applies this grouping method for the following types of transactions: device activation fees, contract acquisition costs, contract fulfillment costs, and certain customer promotions. Contract portfolios are recognized over the respective expected customer lives or terms of the contracts. Services are deemed to be highly interrelated when the method and timing of transfer and performance risk are the same. Highly interrelated services that are determined to not be distinct have been grouped into a single performance obligation. Each month of services promised is a performance obligation. The series of monthly service performance obligations promised over the course of the contract are combined into a single performance obligation for purposes of the revenue allocation. TDS has made judgments regarding transaction price, including but not limited to issues relating to variable consideration, time value of money, returns and non-cash consideration. When determined to be significant in the context of the contract, these items are considered in the valuation of transaction price at contract inception or modification, as appropriate. Multiple Performance Obligations UScellular and TDS Telecom each sell bundled service and equipment offerings. In these instances, TDS recognizes its revenue based on the relative standalone selling prices for each distinct service or equipment performance obligation, or bundles thereof. TDS estimates the standalone selling price of the device or accessory to be its retail price excluding discounts. TDS estimates the standalone selling price of service to be the price offered to customers on month-to-month contracts. Incentives Discounts, incentives, and rebates to agents and end customers that are deemed cash are recognized as a reduction of Operating revenues concurrently with the associated revenue. From time to time, UScellular may offer certain promotions to incentivize customers to switch to, or to purchase additional services from, UScellular. Under these types of promotions, an eligible customer may receive an incentive in the form of a discount off additional services purchased shown as a credit to the customer’s monthly bill. UScellular accounts for the future discounts as material rights at the time of the initial transaction by allocating and deferring revenue based on the relative proportion of the future discounts in comparison to the aggregate initial purchase. The deferred revenue is recognized as service revenue in future periods. Amounts Collected from Customers and Remitted to Governmental Authorities TDS records amounts collected from customers and remitted to governmental authorities on a net basis within a liability account if the amount is assessed upon the customer and TDS merely acts as an agent in collecting the amount on behalf of the imposing governmental authority. If the amount is assessed upon TDS, then amounts collected from customers are recorded in Service revenues and amounts remitted to governmental authorities are recorded in Selling, general and administrative expenses in the Consolidated Statement of Operations. The amounts recorded gross in revenues that are billed to customers and remitted to governmental authorities totaled $76 million, $89 million and $88 million for 2024, 2023 and 2022, respectively. Disaggregation of Revenue In the following table, TDS' revenues are disaggregated by type of service, which represents the relevant categorization of revenues for certain TDS reportable segments, and timing of recognition. Service revenues are recognized over time and Equipment and product sales are recognized at a point in time.
Year Ended December 31, 2024 | UScellular Wireless |  | TDS Telecom |  | Corporate, Eliminations and Other |  | Total
(Dollars in millions) |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Revenues from contracts with customers: |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Type of service: |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Retail service | $ | 2,674 |  |  | $ | — |  |  | $ | — |  |  | $ | 2,674 |
Residential | — |  |  | 740 |  |  | — |  |  | 740 |
Commercial | — |  |  | 148 |  |  | — |  |  | 148 |
Wholesale | — |  |  | 169 |  |  | — |  |  | 169 |
Other service | 210 |  |  | — |  |  | 48 |  |  | 258 |
Service revenues from contracts with customers | 2,884 |  |  | 1,057 |  |  | 48 |  |  | 3,989 |
Equipment and product sales | 783 |  |  | 1 |  |  | 70 |  |  | 854 |
Total revenues from contracts with customers 1 | $ | 3,667 |  |  | $ | 1,058 |  |  | $ | 118 |  |  | $ | 4,843 |
Year Ended December 31, 2023 | UScellular Wireless |  | TDS Telecom |  | Corporate, Eliminations and Other |  | Total
(Dollars in millions) |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Revenues from contracts with customers: |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Type of service: |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Retail service 2 | $ | 2,742 |  |  | $ | — |  |  | $ | — |  |  | $ | 2,742 |
Residential | — |  |  | 700 |  |  | — |  |  | 700 |
Commercial | — |  |  | 155 |  |  | — |  |  | 155 |
Wholesale | — |  |  | 169 |  |  | — |  |  | 169 |
Other service | 201 |  |  | — |  |  | 75 |  |  | 276 |
Service revenues from contracts with customers | 2,943 |  |  | 1,024 |  |  | 75 |  |  | 4,042 |
Equipment and product sales | 862 |  |  | 1 |  |  | 128 |  |  | 991 |
Total revenues from contracts with customers 1 | $ | 3,805 |  |  | $ | 1,025 |  |  | $ | 203 |  |  | $ | 5,033 |
Year Ended December 31, 2022 | UScellular Wireless |  | TDS Telecom |  | Corporate, Eliminations and Other |  | Total
(Dollars in millions) |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Revenues from contracts with customers: |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Type of service: |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Retail service | $ | 2,793 |  |  | $ | — |  |  | $ | — |  |  | $ | 2,793 |
Residential | — |  |  | 669 |  |  | — |  |  | 669 |
Commercial | — |  |  | 173 |  |  | — |  |  | 173 |
Wholesale | — |  |  | 173 |  |  | — |  |  | 173 |
Other service | 239 |  |  | — |  |  | 73 |  |  | 312 |
Service revenues from contracts with customers | 3,032 |  |  | 1,015 |  |  | 73 |  |  | 4,120 |
Equipment and product sales | 1,044 |  |  | 1 |  |  | 128 |  |  | 1,173 |
Total revenues from contracts with customers 1 | $ | 4,076 |  |  | $ | 1,016 |  |  | $ | 201 |  |  | $ | 5,293 |
Numbers may not foot due to rounding. 1 Revenue line items in this table will not agree to amounts presented in the Consolidated Statement of Operations as the amounts in this table only include revenue resulting from contracts with customers. 2 UScellular recorded an adjustment to correct a prior period error related to the recognition of discounts for certain Prepaid customers, which decreased Service revenue by $5 million in 2023. This adjustment was not material to any of the periods impacted. Contract Balances For contracts that involve multiple element service and equipment offerings, the transaction price is allocated to each performance obligation based on its relative standalone selling price. When consideration is received in advance of delivery of goods or services, a contract liability is recorded. A contract asset is recorded when revenue is recognized in advance of TDS’ right to receive consideration. Once there is an unconditional right to receive the consideration, TDS records such amounts as receivables, and then bills the customer under the terms of the respective contract. TDS recognizes Equipment and product sales revenue when the equipment is delivered to the customer and a corresponding contract asset or liability is recorded for the difference between the amount of revenue recognized and the amount billed to the customer in cases where discounts are offered. The contract asset or liability is reduced over the contract term as service is provided and billed to the customer. The following table provides balances for contract assets from contracts with customers, which are recorded in Other current assets and Other assets and deferred charges in the Consolidated Balance Sheet, and contract liabilities from contracts with customers, which are recorded in Customer deposits and deferred revenues and Other deferred liabilities and credits in the Consolidated Balance Sheet.
December 31, | 2024 |  | 2023
(Dollars in millions) |  |  |
Contract assets | $ | 8 |  |  | $ | 14 |
Contract liabilities | $ | 382 |  |  | $ | 380 |
Revenue recognized related to contract liabilities existing at January 1, 2024 was $256 million for the year ended December 31, 2024. Transaction price allocated to the remaining performance obligations The following table includes estimated service revenues expected to be recognized related to performance obligations that are unsatisfied (or partially unsatisfied) at the end of the reporting period. These estimates represent service revenues to be recognized when services are delivered to customers pursuant to service plan contracts and under certain roaming agreements with other carriers. These estimates are based on contracts in place as of December 31, 2024, and may vary from actual results. As practical expedients, revenue related to contracts of less than one year, generally month-to-month contracts, and contracts with a fixed per-unit price and variable quantity, are excluded from these estimates. A significant portion of TDS Telecom's residential revenue is derived from customers who may generally cancel their subscriptions at any time without penalty. For these contracts, the amount of revenue related to unsatisfied performance obligations is not necessarily indicative of the future revenue to be recognized from TDS Telecom's existing customer base and therefore is excluded from these estimates.
| Service Revenues
(Dollars in millions) |
2025 | $ | 341 |
2026 | 115 |
Thereafter | 67 |
Total | $ | 523 |
Contract Cost Assets TDS expects that commission fees paid as a result of obtaining contracts are recoverable, and therefore TDS defers and amortizes these costs. As a practical expedient, costs with an amortization period of one year or less are expensed as incurred. TDS also incurs fulfillment costs, such as installation costs, where there is an expectation that a future benefit will be realized. Deferred commission fees and fulfillment costs are amortized based on the timing of transfer of the goods or services to which the assets relate, typically the contract term. Contract cost asset balances, which are recorded in Other assets and deferred charges in the Consolidated Balance Sheet, were as follows:
December 31, | 2024 |  | 2023
(Dollars in millions) |  |  |
Costs to obtain contracts |  |  |
Sales commissions | $ | 145 |  |  | $ | 143 |
Fulfillment costs |  |  |
Installation costs | 2 |  |  | 6 |
Total contract cost assets | $ | 147 |  |  | $ | 149 |
Amortization of contract cost assets was $98 million, $107 million and $113 million for the years ended December 31, 2024, 2023 and 2022, respectively, and was included in Selling, general and administrative expenses and Cost of services expenses.

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- Definition The entire disclosure of revenue from contract with customer to transfer good or service and to transfer nonfinancial asset. Includes, but is not limited to, disaggregation of revenue, credit loss recognized from contract with customer, judgment and change in judgment related to contract with customer, and asset recognized from cost incurred to obtain or fulfill contract with customer. Excludes insurance and lease contracts. + References Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef -Topic 606 -SubTopic 10 -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Section 50 -Paragraph 9 -Publisher FASB -URI https://asc.fasb.org/1943274/2147479806/606-10-50-9 Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef -Topic 606 -SubTopic 10 -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Section 50 -Paragraph 10 -Publisher FASB -URI https://asc.fasb.org/1943274/2147479806/606-10-50-10 Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef -Topic 606 -SubTopic 10 -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Section 50 -Paragraph 15 -Publisher FASB -URI https://asc.fasb.org/1943274/2147479806/606-10-50-15 Reference 4: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef -Topic 606 -SubTopic 10 -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Section 50 -Paragraph 12 -Subparagraph (a) -Publisher FASB -URI https://asc.fasb.org/1943274/2147479806/606-10-50-12 Reference 5: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef -Topic 606 -SubTopic 10 -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Section 50 -Paragraph 12 -Subparagraph (b) -Publisher FASB -URI https://asc.fasb.org/1943274/2147479806/606-10-50-12 Reference 6: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef -Topic 606 -SubTopic 10 -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Section 50 -Paragraph 12 -Subparagraph (c) -Publisher FASB -URI https://asc.fasb.org/1943274/2147479806/606-10-50-12 Reference 7: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef -Topic 606 -SubTopic 10 -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Section 50 -Paragraph 12 -Subparagraph (d) -Publisher FASB -URI https://asc.fasb.org/1943274/2147479806/606-10-50-12 Reference 8: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef -Topic 606 -SubTopic 10 -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Section 50 -Paragraph 12 -Subparagraph (e) -Publisher FASB -URI https://asc.fasb.org/1943274/2147479806/606-10-50-12 Reference 9: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef -Topic 606 -SubTopic 10 -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Section 50 -Paragraph 13 -Subparagraph (b)(2) -Publisher FASB -URI https://asc.fasb.org/1943274/2147479806/606-10-50-13 Reference 10: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 606 -Publisher FASB -URI https://asc.fasb.org/606/tableOfContent + Details
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