U.S. Cellular

Fewer than one in 10 of the applicants for the FCC's $300 million Mobility Fund auction have submitted applications that the FCC deemed complete, and the commission is giving potential bidders around two more weeks to improve their applications.

The nation's four largest wireless carriers added a net 397,000 postpaid subscribers in the second quarter, less than half the amount from the year-ago period, reflecting a continuing industry slowdown in adding postpaid customers.

U.S. Cellular continued in the second quarter its recent trend of reporting growing smartphone penetration and average revenue per user while posting falling subscriber numbers. However, the company recently launched a major advertising push to highlight its offerings and customer service advantages, an effort CEO Mary Dillon believes will help attract customers.

Verizon and AT&T often (though not always) lead the pack in terms of pricing decisions because of their size and stable positions as leaders in the marketplace. Other carriers do not have to follow them, and in the case of shared data plans, likely will not.

U.S. Cellular, in a bid to attract more customers, launched a new advertising campaign dubbed "Hello Better" focused on its customer service appeal and an attack against the practices of larger carriers.

U.S. Cellular became the latest U.S. carrier to support Microsoft's Windows Phone 8 operating system, joining a growing chorus of operators that plan to champion it as a third smartphone ecosystem against Google's Android and Apple's iOS.