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Acquisitions, Divestures and Exchanges (Details) (USD $) |  |  | 12 Months Ended |  | 12 Months Ended |  |
--- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | ---
Dec. 31, 2011 | Dec. 31, 2010 | Dec. 31, 2011 Businesses | May 08, 2011 Businesses | Dec. 31, 2011 Businesses Expected event | Dec. 31, 2011 Licenses | Dec. 31, 2010 Licenses
Acquisitions, divestures and exchanges |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Licenses | $ 19,998,000 |  | $ 17,101,000 |  | $ 15,592,000 | [1],[2] |  |  | $ 4,406,000 |  | $ 17,101,000 |
Intangible assets subject to amortization | 2,252,000 | [3] |  |  | 2,252,000 | [1],[2],[3] |  |  |  |  |  |
Net tangible assets (liabilities) | 6,728,000 |  |  |  | 6,728,000 | [1],[2] |  |  |  |  |  |
Purchase Price | 28,978,000 | [4] | 17,101,000 | [4] | 24,572,000 | [1],[2],[4] |  |  | 4,406,000 | [4] | 17,101,000 | [4]
Date of acquisition |  |  |  |  | 5/9/2011 |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Acquired entity |  |  |  |  | wireless business |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Cash paid to acquire |  |  |  |  | 24,600,000 |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Fair value equity investment prior to acquisition |  |  |  |  |  |  | 25,700,000 |  |  |  |  |
Gain on investment, equity investment remeasurement |  |  |  |  | 13,400,000 |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Ownership interest in equity method investment |  |  |  |  |  |  | 49.00% |  |  |  |  |
Proceeds from sale of business |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | $ 50,000,000 |  |  |  |
Agreement date |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | 11/11/2011 |  |  |  |
Valuation technique, noncontrolling interest of acquired entity |  |  |  |  | an income approach valuation method |  |  |  |  |  |  |
[1] | Includes only the acquired interest and does not include amounts attributable to U.S. Cellular’s pre-existing noncontrolling interest described above in this Note 8.
[2] | Licenses, Intangible assets subject to amortization and a portion of Net tangible assets (liabilities) are included in amounts reported as Assets held for sale in the Consolidated Balance Sheet.
[3] | Intangible assets subject to amortization acquired in 2011 are classified as Assets held for sale and as a result are not amortized.
[4] | Cash amounts paid for the 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.

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- Definition The aggregate amount assigned to a major class of finite-lived intangible assets acquired either individually or as part of a group of assets (in either an asset acquisition or business combination). A major class is composed of intangible assets that can be grouped together because they are similar, either by their nature or by their use in the operations of a company. + References Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Statement of Financial Accounting Standard (FAS) -Number 142 -Paragraph 44 -Subparagraph a(1) -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 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 350 -SubTopic 30 -Section 50 -Paragraph 1 -Subparagraph (a)(1) -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6905858&loc=d3e16265-109275 + Details
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