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Fair Value Measurements | 12 Months Ended
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Dec. 31, 2010
Notes To The Financial Statements [Abstract] |
Fair Value Measurements | NOTE 3 FAIR VALUE MEASUREMENTS As of December 31, 2010 and 2009, U.S. Cellular did not have any financial assets or liabilities that were required to be recorded at fair value in its Consolidated Balance Sheet in accordance with GAAP. However, U.S. Cellular has applied the provisions of fair value accounting for purposes of computing the fair value of financial instruments for disclosure purposes as displayed below.
|  |  |  | December 31, |  |  | December 31, |
|  |  |  | 2010 |  |  | 2009 |
|  |  |  | Book Value |  |  |  | Fair Value |  |  | Book Value |  |  | Fair Value |
| (Dollars in thousands) |  |
| Cash and cash equivalents | $ | 294,426 |  |  | $ | 294,426 |  |  | $ | 294,411 |  |  | $ | 294,411 |
| Short-term investments (1)(2) |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
|  | Certificates of deposit |  | 250 |  |  |  | 250 |  |  |  | 330 |  |  |  | 330 |
|  | Government-backed securities (3) |  | 146,336 |  |  |  | 146,336 |  |  |  | — |  |  |  | — |
| Long-term investments (1)(4) |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
|  | Government-backed securities (3) |  | 46,033 |  |  |  | 46,034 |  |  |  | — |  |  |  | — |
| Long-term debt (5) |  | 863,657 |  |  |  | 850,374 |  |  |  | 863,202 |  |  |  | 853,937 |
Designated as held-to-maturity investments and are recorded at amortized cost i n the Consolidated Balance Sheet. Maturities are less than twelve months from the respective balance sheet dates. Includes U.S. treasuries and corporate notes guaranteed under the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation's Temporary Liquidity Guarantee Program. Maturities range between 14 and 24 months from the balance sheet date. Excludes capital lease obligations and current portion of Long-term debt. The fair value s of C ash and cash equivalents and Short-term investments approximate the ir book value s due to the short-term nature of these financial instruments. The fair value s of Long-term investments were estimated using quoted market prices for the individual issuances. The fair value of l ong-term debt, excluding capital lease obligations and the current portion of such l ong-term debt, was estimated using market prices for the 7.5% senior notes and discounted cash flow analysis for the 6.7% senior notes. As of December 31, 2009, U.S. Cellular had certain Licenses recorded at fair value in its Consolid ated Balance S heet as a result of impairment losses recognized at or proximate to December 31, 2009. For Licenses recorded at fair value, the following table provides information regarding their classification in the fair value hierarchy:
|  |  |  |  |  | Fair Value Measurements Using |  |  |
Description |  | December 31, 2009 |  | Quoted Prices in Active Markets for Identical Assets (Level 1) |  | Significant Other Observable Inputs (Level 2) |  | Significant Unobservable Inputs (Level 3) |  |  | Total (Losses) (1)
(Dollars in thousands) |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Licenses recorded at fair value |  | $ | 57,000 |  | $ | — |  | $ | — |  | $ | 57,000 |  | $ | (14,000)
These losses represent the excess carrying value of the Licenses over their estimated fair values at November 1, 2009, the impairment testing date in the fourth quarter of 2009. Such amount is recorded as Loss on i mpairment of intangible assets i n the Consolidated Statement of Operations. See Note 1—Summary of Significant Accounting Policies and Recent Accounting Pronouncements for information regarding the methods and assumptions used to estimate the fair values for Licenses and a description of the levels in the fair value hierarchy.

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- Definition This element represents the disclosure related to the fair value measurement of assets and liabilities which includes [financial] instruments measured at fair value that are classified in stockholders' equity. Such assets and liabilities may be measured on a recurring or nonrecurring basis. The disclosures which may be required or desired include: (1) for assets and liabilities measured on a recurring basis, disclosure may include: (a) the fair value measurements at the reporting date; (b) the level within the fair value hierarchy in which the fair value measurements in their entirety fall, segregating fair value measurements using quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities (Level 1), significant other observable inputs (Level 2), and significant unobservable inputs (Level 3); (c) for fair value measurements using significant unobservable inputs (Level 3), a reconciliation of the beginning and ending balances, separately presenting changes during the period attributable to the following: (i) total gains or losses for the period (realized and unrealized), segregating those gains or losses included in earnings (or changes in net assets), and a description of where those gains or losses included in earnings (or changes in net assets) are reported in the statement of income (or activities); (ii) purchases, sales, issuances, and settlements (net); (iii) transfers in and transfers out of Level 3 (for example, transfers due to changes in the observability of significant inputs); (d) the amount of the total gains or losses for the period in subparagraph (c) (i) above included in earnings (or changes in net assets) that are attributable to the change in unrealized gains or losses relating to those assets and liabilities still held at the reporting date and a description of where those unrealized gains or losses are reported in the statement of income (or activities); (e) the valuation technique(s) used to measure fair value and a discussion of changes in valuation techniques, if any, during the period and (2) for assets and liabilities that are measured at fair value on a nonrecurring basis (for example, impaired assets) disclosure may include, in addition to (a) above: (a) the reasons for the fair value measurements recorded; (b) the same as (b) above; (c) for fair value measurements using significant unobservable inputs (Level 3), a description of the inputs and the information used to develop the inputs; and (d) the valuation technique(s) used to measure fair value and a discussion of changes, if any, in the valuation technique(s) used to measure similar assets and/or liabilities in prior periods. + References Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Statement of Financial Accounting Standard (FAS) -Number 157 -Paragraph 32 Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Statement of Financial Accounting Standard (FAS) -Number 157 -Paragraph 33 Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Statement of Financial Accounting Standard (FAS) -Number 157 -Paragraph 6 -Footnote 4 + Details
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