"The TDS companies started the year with solid results," said LeRoy T. Carlson, Jr., TDS president and CEO. "Both our wireless business, U.S. Cellular, and our broadband and wireline business, TDS Telecom, made good progress on their core strategies and had gains in key areas.

"U.S. Cellular added customers in its target postpay segment, which makes up 95 percent of its retail base," added Carlson. "More U.S. Cellular customers are buying premium handsets and using more data, which increased data revenues and service revenues and resulted in our fourteenth-consecutive quarter of year-over-year ARPU growth.

"U.S. Cellular expects data revenues to continue to grow as it brings 3G speeds to more of its cell sites," continued Carlson, "and more customers have access to a high-quality and high-speed mobile broadband experience.

"TDS Telecom achieved year-over-year double-digit growth in the number of broadband customers and data revenues in its ILEC business," said Carlson. "The company's broadband network has been extended so that, at the end of the quarter, 91 percent of ILEC access lines were able to provide high-speed data. Existing broadband customers continue to migrate to higher data speeds, resulting in higher ARPU. TDS Telecom's consumer service and product bundles (including voice, broadband and video) are popular and are helping the company achieve greater customer penetration. The CLEC business is also increasing ARPU, by focusing on managedIP hosted solutions for commercial customers.

"The TDS companies are building long-term growth and value creation by offering high-demand services and products that run on fast, reliable networks, backed by the security of dedicated customer support organizations," added Carlson. "In addition, TDS was recently named one of the '100 Most Trustworthy Companies' in the United States by Forbes. We are proud of this distinction."

Guidance

Guidance for the year ending Dec. 31, 2009 is as follows. Guidance is unchanged from Feb. 26, 2009. There can be no assurance that final results will not differ materially from this guidance.

   U.S. Cellular 2009 guidance as of May 6, 2009 is as follows:       Net Retail Customer Additions                         75,000-150,000       Service Revenue                                $3,900-$4,000 million       Operating Income(1)                                $275-$350 million       Depreciation, Amortization & Accretion(1)       Approx. $600 million       Capital Expenditures                            Approx. $575 million    TDS Telecom (ILEC and CLEC) 2009 guidance as of May 6, 2009 is as follows:       Operating Revenues                                 $780-$820 million       Operating Income(1)                                $100-$130 million       Depreciation, Amortization & Accretion(1)       Approx. $160 million       Capital Expenditures                            Approx. $130 million    (1) Includes losses on disposals of assets.   

This guidance represents the views of management as of May 6, 2009 and should not be assumed to be accurate as of any other date. TDS undertakes no legal duty to update such information, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

Stock Repurchase Summary

The following represents repurchases of both TDS common shares and TDS special common shares.

   Repurchase Period            # Shares        Cost (in millions)    2009 (first quarter)         504,026              $12.1   2008 (full year)           5,861,822             $199.6   Total 2009 and 2008        6,365,848             $211.7    Conference call information   TDS will hold a conference call on May 6, 2009 at 10:00 a.m. Chicago time.    --  Access the live call online on the Conference Calls page of       http://www.teldta.com/ or at       http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?p=irol-eventDetails&c=67422&       eventID=2189425    --  Access the call by phone at 800/706-9695 (US/Canada) and use       conference ID #96977513.    

Before the call, certain financial and statistical information to be discussed during the call will be posted to the Conference Calls page of http://www.teldta.com/, together with reconciliations to generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) of any non-GAAP information to be disclosed. The call will be archived on the Conference Calls page of http://www.teldta.com/.

About TDS

Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. (TDS), a Fortune 500(R) company, provides wireless, local and long-distance telephone, and broadband services to nearly 7.4 million customers in 36 states through its business units, U.S. Cellular (wireless) and TDS Telecom (wireline). Founded in 1969 and headquartered in Chicago, TDS employed 12,570 people as of March 31, 2009. For more information about TDS, visit http://www.teldta.com/.

About U.S. Cellular(R)

United States Cellular Corporation, the nation's fifth-largest, full-service wireless carrier, provides a comprehensive range of wireless products and services, excellent customer support, and a high-quality network to nearly 6.2 million customers in 26 states. The Chicago-based company employed 8,800 full-time equivalent associates as of March 31, 2009. For more information about U.S. Cellular, visit http://www.uscellular.com/.

Safe Harbor Statement Under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: All information set forth in this news release, except historical and factual information, represents forward-looking statements. This includes all statements about the company's plans, beliefs, estimates and expectations. These statements are based on current estimates, projections and assumptions, which involve certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Important factors that may affect these forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to: The ability of U.S. Cellular to successfully grow its markets; the current credit crisis affecting financial markets, and its effects on the overall economy; competition; the access to and pricing of unbundled network elements; the ability to obtain or maintain roaming arrangements with other carriers; the state and federal telecommunications regulatory environment; the value of assets and investments; adverse changes in the ratings afforded TDS and U.S. Cellular debt securities by accredited ratings organizations; industry consolidation; advances in telecommunications technology; uncertainty of access to the capital markets; pending and future litigation; changes in income tax rates, laws, regulations or rulings; acquisitions/divestitures of properties and/or licenses; and changes in customer growth rates, average monthly revenue per unit, churn rates, roaming revenue and terms, the availability of handset devices, or the mix of products and services offered by U.S. Cellular and TDS Telecom. Investors are encouraged to consider these and other risks and uncertainties that are discussed in the Form 8-K used by TDS to furnish this press release to the SEC, which are incorporated by reference herein.

For more information about TDS and its subsidiaries, visit the Web sites at:

   TDS: http://www.teldta.com/   TDS Telecom: http://www.tdstelecom.com/   USM: http://www.uscellular.com/   

As previously announced, TDS(TM) will hold a teleconference May 6, 2009 at 10:00 a.m. Chicago time. Interested parties may listen to the call live via the Internet by accessing the Conference Calls page of http://www.teldta.com/.