US Cellular 2015 Annual Report Download - page 6

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Upgrading our Annual Report
We have changed the format of our annual report
this฀year,฀revising฀the฀Management’s฀Discussion฀and฀
Analysis section by adding charts and other graphics to
more plainly and clearly present our business and our
performance. We hope you find this information and
format helpful and, as always, welcome your feedback.
Honoring Our Visionary Founder
and Looking Ahead
As฀TDS฀begins฀its฀48th฀year฀of฀business,฀we฀look฀forward฀
to celebrating the legacy of our centenarian founder,
LeRoy฀T.฀(Roy)฀Carlson.฀From฀our฀humble฀origins฀in฀
rural Wisconsin to our nationwide presence today, we
continue฀to฀operate฀and฀serve฀with฀Roy’s฀basic฀principle,฀
that฀“the฀customer฀is฀king.”฀It฀is฀the฀foundation฀upon฀
which we intend to continue building shareholder value
with our growing portfolio of businesses.
Thank you
Thank you to each of the associates and employees of
the TDS companies for your dedication and innovation
in providing outstanding services, products, and total
customer experiences to each of our customers across
the nation.
Thank you also to each of our shareholders and our debt
holders for your continuing support of our long-term
growth and development.
Sincerely,
LeRoy฀T.฀Carlson,฀Jr.฀฀ Walter฀C.฀D.฀Carlson
President and Chief Chairman of the Board
Executive Officer
Creating long-term value
At the corporate level of TDS, we are continually
looking to build value in the TDS portfolio of
businesses. We intend to supplement organic growth
through฀strategic฀acquisitions.฀Our฀long-term฀strategy฀
calls for the majority of our capital to be reinvested
in our operating businesses to strengthen their growth
and competitive positions. We also return value to
TDS shareholders through the payment of regular
quarterly cash dividends and through share repurchases.
In 2015, TDS primarily focused on investing in
the networks that we believe will strengthen
our competitive position and improve operating
performance.฀Looking฀forward,฀we฀will฀continue฀to฀
execute on our strategies to build strong, competitive
businesses providing high-quality, data-focused
products and services.
Since฀August฀of฀2013,฀TDS฀has฀invested฀$581.4฀million,฀
primarily through the acquisition of cable companies,
and has returned $195.8 million to shareholders through
payments฀of฀$147.0฀million฀in฀cash฀dividends฀and฀
$48.8฀million฀in฀stock฀repurchases.฀
Regulatory
TDS and its subsidiaries are active participants in the
public policy arena, engaging policy makers on issues
that directly impact our customers and our businesses.
We advocated in Washington that the government
auction of new spectrum later this year be structured to
benefit all carriers and not just the very largest ones.
We are thoroughly considering our participation in this
600฀MHz฀auction.฀We฀also฀are฀advocating฀in฀support฀of฀
programs to fund the ongoing needs for high-quality
wireless and wired broadband communications in rural
communities.
TDS CORPORATE
4 TELEPHONE AND DATA SYSTEMS