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Notes Payable | 9 Months Ended
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Sep. 30, 2011
Disclosure Text Block [Abstract] |
Notes Payable | 9. Debt In May 2011, U.S. Cellular issued $342 million aggregate pr incipal amount of unsecured 6.95% senior notes due May 2060. Interest on the notes is payable quarterly. U.S. Cellular may redeem the notes, in whol e or in part, at any time on or after May 15, 2016, at a redemption price equal to 100% of the principal amount redeemed plus accrued and unpaid interest. Capitalized debt issuance costs totaled $11.0 million and will be amortized over the life of the notes. Such issuance costs are included in Other assets and deferred charges (a long-term asset account) at September 30, 2011. U.S. Cellular used substantially all of the net proceeds from the issuance of the 6.95% senior notes to redeem $330 million (the entire outstanding amount) of its unsecured 7.5% senior notes on June 20, 2011 at a redemption price equal to 100% of the principal amount plus accrued and unpaid interest to the redemption date. This redemption required U.S. Cellular to write-off $8.2 million of previously capitalized debt issuance costs rela ted to the 7.5% senior notes; the write-off was included in Interest expense i n the Consolidated Statement of Operations for the period ended September 30, 2011.

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- Definition The entire disclosure for information about short-term and long-term debt arrangements, which includes amounts of borrowings under each line of credit, note payable, commercial paper issue, bonds indenture, debenture issue, own-share lending arrangements and any other contractual agreement to repay funds, and about the underlying arrangements, rationale for a classification as long-term, including repayment terms, interest rates, collateral provided, restrictions on use of assets and activities, whether or not in compliance with debt covenants, and other matters important to users of the financial statements, such as the effects of refinancing and noncompliance with debt covenants. + References Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 210 -SubTopic 10 -Section S99 -Paragraph 1 -Subparagraph (SX 210.5-02.19,20,22) -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6877327&loc=d3e13212-122682 Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Statement of Financial Accounting Standard (FAS) -Number 129 -Paragraph 2, 4 -LegacyDoc This reference is SUPERSEDED by the Accounting Standards Codification effective for interim and annual periods ending after September 15, 2009. This reference is included to help users transition from the previous accounting hierarchy and will be removed from future versions of this taxonomy. Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher SEC -Name Regulation S-X (SX) -Number 210 -Section 02 -Paragraph 19, 20, 22 -Article 5 Reference 4: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 505 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 3 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6928386&loc=d3e21475-112644 + Details
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