US Cellular puts in call for big slice of federal stimulus funds

US Cellular, struggling to hold onto wireless subscribers and profits in the face of pressure from larger rivals, is seeking federal grant money in a bid to expand its network. Chicago-based U.S.

Cellular has applied for $23.5 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act's $7.2-billion Broadband USA program designed to bring high-speed 3G Internet service to rural and underserved communities. The company is seeking to enhance cellular networks in remote parts of California, Nebraska, Missouri and Kansas. The grants are viewed as crucial to U.S. Cellular's campaign to bring state-of-the-art 3G service — necessary to transmit large volumes of data — to the 25% of its 6.1 million customers in 26 states who don't yet have it. "It's expensive for us to bring broadband into some of these rural markets on our own," says John Gockley, U.S. Cellular's vice-president of legal and regulatory affairs, who is overseeing the grant applications. "The usage of smartphones and wireless modems would grow from any expansion in our 3G network."