Variable Interest Entities - Consolidated Balance Sheet (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions		Mar. 31, 2021	Dec. 31, 2020
Assets
Cash and cash equivalents		$ 479	$ 1,271
Short-term investments		3	3
Accounts receivable		900	915
Inventory, net		139	146
Other current assets		43	29
Licenses		3,915	2,629
Property, plant and equipment, net		2,419	2,466
Operating lease right-of-use assets		933	924
Other assets and deferred charges		580	602
Total assets	[1]	10,148	9,681
Liabilities
Current liabilities		739	871
Long-term operating lease liabilities		879	875
Other deferred liabilities and credits		393	376
Consolidated Variable Interest Entities
Assets
Cash and cash equivalents		22	18
Short-term investments		3	3
Accounts receivable		644	639
Inventory, net		3	3
Other current assets		34	21
Licenses		639	639
Property, plant and equipment, net		110	111
Operating lease right-of-use assets		42	39
Other assets and deferred charges		354	348
Total assets		1,851	1,821
Liabilities
Current liabilities		27	28
Long-term operating lease liabilities		37	36
Other deferred liabilities and credits		21	20
Total liabilities		$ 85	$ 84

[1] The consolidated total assets as of March 31, 2021 and December 31, 2020, include assets held by consolidated variable interest entities (VIEs) of $1,263 million and $1,060 million, respectively, which are not available to be used to settle the obligations of UScellular. The consolidated total liabilities as of March 31, 2021 and December 31, 2020, include certain liabilities of consolidated VIEs of $19 million and $20 million, respectively, for which the creditors of the VIEs have no recourse to the general credit of UScellular. See Note 10 — Variable Interest Entities for additional information.