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Licenses and Goodwill

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2011

NOTE 9 LICENSES AND GOODWILL

Changes in U.S. Cellular's licenses and goodwill are presented below. See Note 8—Acquisitions, Divestitures and Exchanges for information regarding transactions which affected licenses and goodwill during the periods.

Licenses
	Year Ended December 31,		2011		2010
	(Dollars in thousands)
	Balance, beginning of year		$	1,452,101	$	1,435,000
		Acquisitions		4,406		17,101
		Exchanges		11,842		—
		Other		2,420		—
	Balance, end of year		$	1,470,769	$	1,452,101

Goodwill
	Year Ended December 31,		2011			2010
	(Dollars in thousands)
	Assigned value at time of acquisition		$	494,737	$	494,737
		Accumulated impairment losses in prior periods		—		—
	Balance, beginning of year			494,737		494,737
		Acquisitions		—		—
	Balance, end of year		$	494,737	$	494,737

See Note 1—Summary of Significant Accounting Policies and Recent Accounting Pronouncements for a description of accounting policies related to licenses and goodwill.

Impairment Assessments

U.S. Cellular performs its annual impairment assessment of its licenses and goodwill in the fourth quarter of each year. No impairment of goodwill or licenses resulted from the assessments performed in 2011 or 2010. In 2009, the assessment resulted in no impairment of goodwill and an impairment loss of $14.0 million on licenses. The entire impairment loss related to licenses in developed operating markets (built licenses).

- Definition

The entire disclosure for the aggregate amount of goodwill and a description of intangible assets, which may include (a) for amortizable intangible assets (also referred to as finite-lived intangible assets), the carrying amount, the amount of any significant residual value, and the weighted-average amortization period, (b) for intangible assets not subject to amortization (also referred to as indefinite-lived intangible assets), the carrying amount, and (c) the amount of research and development assets acquired and written off in the period, including the line item in the income statement in which the amounts written off are aggregated, if not readily apparent from the income statement. Also discloses (a) for amortizable intangibles assets in total and by major class, the gross carrying amount and accumulated amortization, the total amortization expense for the period, and the estimated aggregate amortization expense for each of the five succeeding fiscal years, (b) for intangible assets not subject to amortization the carrying amount in total and by major class, and (c) for goodwill, in total and for each reportable segment, the changes in the carrying amount of goodwill during the period (including the aggregate amount of goodwill acquired, the aggregate amount of impairment losses recognized, and the amount of goodwill included in the gain (loss) on disposal of a reporting unit). If any part of goodwill has not been allocated to a reportable segment, discloses the unallocated amount and the reasons for not allocating. For each impairment loss recognized related to an intangible asset (excluding goodwill), discloses: (a) a description of the impaired intangible asset and the facts and circumstances leading to the impairment, (b) the amount of the impairment loss and the method for determining fair value, (c) the caption in the income statement or the statement of activities in which the impairment loss is aggregated, and (d) the segment in which the impaired intangible asset is reported. For each goodwill impairment loss recognized, discloses: (a) a description of the facts and circumstances leading to the impairment, (b) the amount of the impairment loss and the method of determining the fair value of the associated reporting unit, and (c) if a recognized impairment loss is an estimate not finalized and the reasons why the estimate is not final. May also disclose the nature and amount of any significant adjustments made to a previous estimate of an impairment loss.

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