UScellular (NYSE: USM) continues to operate its mobile network while preparing for acquisition by T-Mobile (NASDAQ: TMUS), following T-Mobile’s bid to acquire the company in May 2024, as Inside Towers reported. Upon completion of the transaction, expected by mid-2025, UScellular will primarily function as a regional tower company. At the end of 2024, UScellular owned 4,409 towers with 2,444 colocations across its 21-state operating area. The company serves as its own anchor tenant on each of these towers and leases space on other tower company sites to support the balance of the 7,010 cell sites it operated at year’s end.
As part of the acquisition, T-Mobile will become a long-term tenant on a minimum of 2,015 additional towers. Currently, T-Mobile occupies approximately 600 UScellular towers and accounted for 25 percent of the company’s $103 million third-party leasing revenues in 2024.
Following the deal closure, T-Mobile will extend its leases on the existing towers where it is currently a tenant, although UScellular has indicated that the duration of those lease extensions remains undetermined. Additionally, post-close, UScellular will initiate a process to determine on which towers T-Mobile will elect to colocate for new leases.
The company says this process could take up to 30 months, during which time UScellular will decide on the disposition of certain vacant towers, whether to hold them in abeyance or decommission them, based on market conditions. Meanwhile, UScellular will continue to aggressively market its tower portfolio.
At the end of 2024, UScellular had 4.4 million retail postpaid and prepaid subscribers, representing a two percent year-over-year decline as the company continued to lose customers to larger competitors. Wireless revenues for 2024 were nearly $3.7 billion, down four percent year-over-year. However, management noted improvements in postpaid and prepaid net losses and churn throughout the year. Fixed wireless access showed positive growth, with a 27 percent year-over-year increase in customers to 145,000.
Despite the overall revenue decline, UScellular implemented cost controls and achieved Adjusted EBITDA of $1 billion and Adjusted OIBDA of $845 million, both up three percent year-over-year. Cash flows from operating activities and free cash flow also increased year-over-year.
Full-year capital expenditures amounted to $577 million, down six percent year-over-year but within the company’s 2024 capex guidance range. UScellular stated that while much of its 5G coverage buildout was nearing completion, it continues to deploy 5G mid-band spectrum, mainly C-band, to enhance capacity and provide faster speeds for its customers.
“While subscriber results remained negative, we observed significant improvement in postpaid and prepaid additions in the third and fourth quarters of 2024,” commented Laurent Therivel, UScellular President and CEO. “We intend to build on this momentum and will continue to invest in our customers and our network while working towards completing the transactions previously announced.”
Due to the pending transaction with T-Mobile, UScellular did not provide financial guidance for 2025.
By John Celentano, Inside Towers Business Editor
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