U.S. Cellular Reports $160 Million Profit in Q1, Targets 98% LTE Coverage by end 2015

US Cellular, Friday reported its first-quarter profit of $160.1 million, up from $19.5 million compared to the same quarter a year ago boosted by total operating revenues of $965.2 million. The Operator also reported a high take up of its shared data plans and an increasing number of devices per account as some of the key drivers for the revenue recorded for the quarter.

For the reported quarter, U.S. Cellular’s customer base grew 1.9% to 4.8 million, as the company saw 9,000 net additions including a 3.2% increase in the number of postpaid customers. The Operator also recorded a lower churn rate at 1.5%, compared to 2.3% in the first quarter of last year. 

As part of its expansion plan, the Operator targets its 4G LTE network to achieve a coverage of 98% by the end of the year, said US Cellular in its statement.

Kenneth R. Meyers, President and CEO, U.S. Cellular
We had another encouraging quarter at U.S. Cellular, building on the turnaround in customer growth that we achieved in 2014. We grew our postpaid customer base through strong sales of connected devices and significantly lower customer churn, and we significantly increased operating cash flow.