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Equipment Installment Plans (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands | 3 Months Ended | 6 Months Ended |
--- | --- | --- | ---
Jun. 30, 2015 | Jun. 30, 2014 | Jun. 30, 2015 | Jun. 30, 2014 | Dec. 31, 2014
Equipment installment plan receivables |  |  |  |  |
Equipment installment plan payment period |  |  | 24 months |  |
Guarantee liability | $ 80,200 |  | $ 80,200 |  | $ 57,500
Accounting Changes And Error Corrections [Abstract] |  |  |  |  |
Equipment sales | 151,294 | $ 114,300 | 288,328 | $ 186,498 |
Income before income taxes | 32,989 | $ (29,850) | $ 305,480 | $ 1,158 |
Adjustment |  |  |  |  |
Accounting Changes And Error Corrections [Abstract] |  |  |  |  |
Immaterial Error Correction |  |  | U.S. Cellular recorded out-of-period adjustments during the six months ended June 30, 2015 due to errors related to equipment installment plan transactions that were attributable to 2014. U.S. Cellular has determined that these adjustments were not material to the prior quarterly or annual periods, and also were not material to the current period or anticipated full year 2015 results. These equipment installment plan adjustments had the impact of reducing Equipment sales revenues by $5.7 million and $6.2 million, and Income before income taxes by $5.3 million and $5.8 million, for the three and six months ended June 30, 2015, respectively. |  |
Equipment sales | 5,700 |  | $ 6,200 |  |
Income before income taxes | 5,300 |  | 5,800 |  |
Short-term |  |  |  |  |
Equipment installment plan receivables |  |  |  |  |
Unbilled equipment installment plan receivables, gross | 208,955 |  | 208,955 |  | 127,400
Unbilled deferred interest | (19,488) |  | (19,488) |  | (16,365)
Unbilled allowance for credit losses | (7,404) |  | (7,404) |  | (3,686)
Unbilled equipment installment plan receivables, net | 182,063 |  | 182,063 |  | 107,349
Long-term |  |  |  |  |
Equipment installment plan receivables |  |  |  |  |
Unbilled equipment installment plan receivables, gross | 73,548 |  | 73,548 |  | 89,435
Unbilled deferred interest | (1,136) |  | (1,136) |  | (2,791)
Unbilled allowance for credit losses | (5,176) |  | (5,176) |  | (6,065)
Unbilled equipment installment plan receivables, net | $ 67,236 |  | $ 67,236 |  | $ 80,579

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- Definition Unearned discounts (other than cash or quantity discounts and the like), finance charges, and interest included in the face amount of receivables, that are shown as a deduction from the related receivables. For example, 1) finance charges booked as a receivable when a loan is made and recognized as income at a later date; and 2) interest charges deducted from the face loan amount, resulting in a discounted amount actually advanced to the borrower (wherein the receivable includes the amount actually advanced to the borrower and the as yet unearned interest income). + References Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 310 -SubTopic 10 -Section 45 -Paragraph 8 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=28367877&loc=d3e4519-111522 + Details
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