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UNITED STATES CELLULAR CORPORATION
NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (Continued)
NOTE 1 SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES AND RECENT ACCOUNTING
PRONOUNCEMENTS (Continued)
portion of the awards as if the awards were, in-substance, multiple awards (graded vesting attribution
method).
Defined Contribution Plans
U.S. Cellular participates in a qualified noncontributory defined contribution pension plan sponsored by
TDS; such plan provides pension benefits for the employees of U.S. Cellular and its subsidiaries. Under
this plan, pension benefits and costs are calculated separately for each participant and are funded
currently. Pension costs were $11.6 million, $12.8 million and $10.3 million in 2010, 2009 and 2008,
respectively.
U.S. Cellular also participates in a defined contribution retirement savings plan (‘‘401(k) plan’’),
sponsored by TDS. Total costs incurred from U.S. Cellular’s contributions to the 401(k) plan were
$15.3 million, $14.3 million and $13.9 million in 2010, 2009 and 2008, respectively.
Operating Leases
U.S. Cellular is a party to various lease agreements for office space, retail sites, cell sites and equipment
that are accounted for as operating leases. Certain leases have renewal options and/or fixed rental
increases. Renewal options that are reasonably assured of exercise are included in determining the lease
term. U.S. Cellular accounts for certain operating leases that contain rent abatements, lease incentives
and/or fixed rental increases by recognizing lease revenue and expense on a straight-line basis over the
lease term.
Recent Accounting Pronouncements
In October 2009, the FASB issued Accounting Standards Update No. 2009-14, Certain Revenue
Arrangements that include Software Elements (‘‘ASU 2009-14’’). ASU 2009-14 amends accounting and
reporting guidance for revenue arrangements involving both tangible products and software that is ‘‘more
than incidental to the tangible product as a whole.’’ ASU 2009-14 is effective for U.S. Cellular on
January 1, 2011. U.S. Cellular does not anticipate that this pronouncement will have a significant impact
on its financial position or results of operations.
NOTE 2 NONCONTROLLING INTERESTS
Under GAAP, certain noncontrolling interests in consolidated entities with finite lives may meet the
definition of mandatorily redeemable financial instruments. U.S. Cellular’s consolidated financial
statements include certain noncontrolling interests that meet this definition of mandatorily redeemable
financial instruments. These mandatorily redeemable noncontrolling interests represent interests held by
third parties in consolidated partnerships and limited liability companies (‘‘LLCs’’), where the terms of the
underlying partnership or LLC agreement provide for a defined termination date at which time the assets
of the subsidiary are to be sold, the liabilities are to be extinguished and the remaining net proceeds are
to be distributed to the noncontrolling interest holders and U.S. Cellular in accordance with the
respective partnership and LLC agreements. The termination dates of these mandatorily redeemable
noncontrolling interests range from 2085 to 2107.
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