Licenses And Goodwill

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2011

Notes To The Financial Statements [Abstract]

6. Licenses and Goodwill

Changes in TDS' licenses and goodwill for the six months ended June 30, 2011 and 2010 are presented below.

Licenses
		U.S.
		Cellular (1)		TDS Telecom			Total
(Dollars in thousands)

Balance December 31, 2010		$	1,457,326	$	2,800	$	1,460,126
	Acquisitions (2)		2,800		—		2,800
Balance June 30, 2011		$	1,460,126	$	2,800	$	1,462,926


Balance December 31, 2009		$	1,440,225	$	2,800	$	1,443,025
	Acquisitions		10,501		—		10,501
Balance June 30, 2010		$	1,450,726	$	2,800	$	1,453,526

Goodwill
		U.S.			TDS			Non-reportable
		Cellular (1)			Telecom (3)			Segment (4)			Total
(Dollars in thousands)

Assigned value at time of acquisition		$	622,681		$	465,312		$	3,802	$	1,091,795
	Accumulated impairment losses in prior periods		(333,900	)		(29,440	)		—		(363,340	)
Balance December 31, 2010			288,781			435,872			3,802		728,455
	Acquisitions		—			—			—		—
Balance June 30, 2011		$	288,781		$	435,872		$	3,802	$	728,455

Assigned value at time of acquisition		$	617,222		$	450,156		$	3,802	$	1,071,180
	Accumulated impairment losses in prior periods		(333,900	)		(29,440	)		—		(363,340	)
Balance December 31, 2009			283,322			420,716			3,802		707,840
	Acquisitions		—			5,336			—		5,336
	Other (5)		5,459			—			—		5,459
Balance June 30, 2010		$	288,781		$	426,052		$	3,802	$	718,635

Prior to January 1, 2009, TDS accounted for U.S. Cellular's share repurchases as step acquisitions, allocating a portion of the share repurchase value to TDS licenses and goodwill, as required by GAAP in effect at that time. Consequently, U.S. Cellular's licenses, goodwill and accumulated impairment loss reported on a stand-alone basis do not match the TDS consolidated licenses, goodwill and accumulated impairment losses related to U.S. Cellular.
Does not include the acquired interest, the adjustment of the pre-existing noncontrolling interest or the classification of such amounts as Assets held for sale in the Consolidated Balance Sheet, all as described in Note 5 - Acquisitions, Divestitures and Exchanges.
The entire goodwill balance of $29.4 million at the TDS Telecom CLEC business segment was impaired in 2004. The remaining goodwill balance at TDS Telecom is attributed to the ILEC business segment.
"Non-reportable segment" consists of goodwill related to Suttle-Straus.
Amount reclassified from Investments in unconsolidated entities to Goodwill in June 2010.

- Definition

Discloses the aggregate amount of goodwill and a description of intangible assets, which may include (a) for amortizable intangible assets (also referred to as finite-lived intangible assets), the carrying amount, the amount of any significant residual value, and the weighted-average amortization period, (b) for intangible assets not subject to amortization (also referred to as indefinite-lived intangible assets), the carrying amount, and (c) the amount of research and development assets acquired and written off in the period, including the line item in the income statement in which the amounts written off are aggregated, if not readily apparent from the income statement. Also discloses (a) for amortizable intangibles assets in total and by major class, the gross carrying amount and accumulated amortization, the total amortization expense for the period, and the estimated aggregate amortization expense for each of the five succeeding fiscal years, (b) for intangible assets not subject to amortization the carrying amount in total and by major class, and (c) for goodwill, in total and for each reportable segment, the changes in the carrying amount of goodwill during the period (including the aggregate amount of goodwill acquired, the aggregate amount of impairment losses recognized, and the amount of goodwill included in the gain or loss on disposal of a reporting unit). If any part of goodwill has not been allocated to a reportable segment, discloses the unallocated amount and the reasons for not allocating. For each impairment loss recognized related to an intangible asset (excluding goodwill), discloses: (a) a description of the impaired intangible asset and the facts and circumstances leading to the impairment, (b) the amount of the impairment loss and the method for determining fair value, (c) the caption in the income statement or the statement of activities in which the impairment loss is aggregated, and (d) the segment in which the impaired intangible asset is reported. For each goodwill impairment loss recognized, discloses: (a) a description of the facts and circumstances leading to the impairment, (b) the amount of the impairment loss and the method of determining the fair value of the associated reporting unit, and (c) if a recognized impairment loss is an estimate not finalized and the reasons why the estimate is not final. May also disclose the nature and amount of any significant adjustments made to a previous estimate of an impairment loss. This element may be used as a single block of text to include the entire intangible asset disclosure including data and tables.

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