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Intangible Assets (Details) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified | 3 Months Ended
--- | ---
Mar. 31, 2015
Licenses |  |
Balance, beginning of period | $ 1,443,438 us-gaap_IndefiniteLivedIntangibleAssetsExcludingGoodwill |
Acquisitions | 339,657 us-gaap_IndefinitelivedIntangibleAssetsAcquired | [1]
Exchanges | 43,485 usm_IncreaseDecreaseLicensesExchange | [2]
Other | 522 usm_IndefiniteLivedIntangibleAssetsOtherChanges |
Balance, end of period | $ 1,827,102 us-gaap_IndefiniteLivedIntangibleAssetsExcludingGoodwill |
[1] | Amount includes payments totaling $338.3 million made by Advantage Spectrum to the FCC for licenses in which it was the provisional winning bidder in Auction 97. See Note 6 — Acquisitions, Divestitures and Exchanges, and Note 9 — Variable Interest Entities (VIEs) for further information.
[2] | Amount represents licenses received in the PCS license exchange. See Note 6 — Acquisitions, Divestitures and Exchanges for further information. Licenses disposed of in the exchange were previously removed from the License balance and reflected in Assets held for sale in the Consolidated Balance Sheet as of December 31, 2014.

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- Definition Amount of assets, excluding financial assets and goodwill, lacking physical substance and having a projected indefinite period of benefit. + References Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 350 -SubTopic 30 -Section 50 -Paragraph 2 -Subparagraph (b) -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=26713463&loc=d3e16323-109275 + Details
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