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Fair Value Measurements
 6 Months Ended
Jun. 30, 2013
Disclosure Text Block  
Fair Value Measurements

2. Fair Value Measurements

 

As of June 30, 2013 and December 31, 2012, 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.

 

  Level within the Fair Value Hierarchy June 30, 2013 December 31, 2012
   Book Value  Fair Value Book Value Fair Value
(Dollars in thousands)             
Cash and cash equivalents1 $ 467,421 $ 467,421 $ 378,358 $ 378,358
Short-term investments             
 U.S. Treasury Notes1   110,352   110,352   100,676   100,676
Long-term investments             
 U.S. Treasury Notes1   40,120   40,141   50,305   50,339
Long-term debt             
 6.95% Senior Notes1   342,000   345,967   342,000   376,610
 6.7% Senior Notes2   532,319   529,204   532,194   582,744

Short-term investments and Long-term investments are both designated as held-to-maturity investments and recorded at amortized cost in the Consolidated Balance Sheet. Long-term investment maturities range between 17 and 18 months at June 30, 2013. Long-term debt excludes capital lease obligations and the current portion of Long-term debt.

 

The fair values of Cash and cash equivalents and Short-term investments approximate their book values due to the short-term nature of these financial instruments. The fair value of Long-term debt was estimated using market prices for the 6.95% Senior Notes, and discounted cash flow analysis using an estimated yield to maturity of 6.95% for the 6.7% Senior Notes at June 30, 2013.

 

As of June 30, 2013 and December 31, 2012, U.S. Cellular did not have nonfinancial assets or liabilities that required the application of fair value accounting for purposes of reporting such amounts in the Consolidated Balance Sheet.