TDS reports fourth quarter and full year 2016 results

CHICAGO, Feb. 24, 2017

TDS reported total operating revenues of $5,104 million and $5,176 million for the years ended 2016 and 2015, respectively.  Net income attributable to TDS shareholders and related diluted earnings per share were $43 million and $0.39, respectively, for the year ended 2016, compared to $219 million and $1.98, respectively, for the year ended 2015.

"In 2016, the TDS family of companies continued to execute on our long-term strategic goals," said LeRoy T. Carlson, Jr., TDS President and CEO. "U.S. Cellular worked to strengthen its competitive advantages through network enhancements and other improvements to increase customer satisfaction. TDS Telecom successfully completed two substantial projects to support its broadband strategy: fiber deployment and cable analog reclamation.

"U.S. Cellular continued to invest in its high-quality network by beginning a multi-year roll-out of Voice over LTE technology, and is on track to launch its first commercial deployment early this year. We also made a significant transition by implementing 4G LTE roaming agreements that improve the quality of roaming experiences for U.S. Cellular customers and that lower our costs. U.S. Cellular's commitment to outstanding customer service drove consistently low smartphone churn throughout the year. Increased smartphone adoption and increased per customer data usage helped to offset some of the competitive pricing pressures. In the fourth quarter, as was the case through 2016, we strove to balance customer growth with profitability, which resulted in fewer new customers, and delivered on our earnings targets.

"TDS Telecom successfully completed its planned fiber deployments for 2016, enabling fiber to reach 22 percent of our service addresses. We grew our IPTV connections significantly and, combined with a greater demand for increased data speeds, we increased residential wireline revenues. Recently, we announced that TDS Telecom accepted funding through the FCC's Alternative Connect America Cost Model (A-CAM), funds that will enable us to expand and improve broadband service to nearly 160,000 locations.  In our cable business, we transitioned analog cable markets to all-digital video services to improve customer experience and to reclaim spectrum that enables higher broadband speeds. Cable revenues increased 13 percent in the fourth quarter, compared to the prior year, showing that our cable broadband strategy is working. OneNeck IT Solutions continues to focus on its strategy of growing recurring service revenues through delivering IT cloud, colocation and other services tailored to mid-market businesses.

"TDS continues to return value to shareholders.  During 2016, TDS paid $65 million in regular quarterly cash dividends, and this morning we announced our 43^rd consecutive year of increasing cash dividend payments, with a 5 percent increase in our annual dividend."

2017 Estimated Results
Estimates of full-year 2017 results for U.S. Cellular, TDS Telecom, and TDS are shown below.  Such estimates represent management's view as of February 24, 2017.  Such forward-looking statements should not be assumed to be current as of any future date.  TDS undertakes no duty to update such information, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.  There can be no assurance that final results will not differ materially from such estimated results.