The US Cellular lawsuit landscape centers on two matters: a securities fraud class action against United States Cellular Corporation and its parent Telephone and Data Systems (TDS) that settled for $7.75 million in 2025, and a False Claims Act whistleblower case alleging the company used shell entities to obtain more than $100 million in FCC spectrum auction discounts. One qui tam case was dismissed on appeal; the other was revived and is active. All of this unfolded around T-Mobile’s $4.4 billion acquisition of UScellular’s wireless operations, which closed on August 1, 2025.
The $7.75 Million Securities Fraud Settlement
Investors sued TDS and UScellular in May 2023 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. The case, Howard M. Rensin, Trustee of the Rensin Joint Trust v. United States Cellular Corporation, et al. (No. 1:23-cv-02764), went to Judge Mary M. Rowland.1Stanford Law School Securities Class Action Clearinghouse. United States Cellular Corporation / Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. Securities Litigation
The complaint focused on statements executives made between May and November 2022 about a “free upgrade” promotion. According to shareholders, leadership told the market the promotion was cutting customer defection (industry term: “churn”) and that the company was balancing promotional spend against profitability. The lawsuit alleged neither was true. Churn was flat or rising, the promotion was losing money without keeping customers, and competition from larger carriers left no room to raise prices to cover the costs.2AccessNewsWire. TDS Class Action: Levi and Korsinsky Reminds Telephone and Data Systems Shareholders
On November 1, 2024, Judge Rowland partly denied the defendants’ motion to dismiss. She let key claims proceed, including statements by then-CEO Laurent Therivel projecting third-quarter benefits from the promotion when internal regional testing suggested a six-to-nine-month timeline, and a statement by executive Douglas Chambers that in-store traffic was “down slightly… but nothing concerning.” Certain forward-looking statements about the “second half of the year” were dismissed under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act’s safe harbor.3Justia. Rensin v. United States Cellular Corporation, Memorandum Opinion and Order
The parties mediated with Michelle Yoshida of Phillips ADR Enterprises and signed a stipulation of settlement on April 25, 2025, creating a $7.75 million cash fund. TDS and UScellular denied wrongdoing.4Strategic Claims Services. Declaration in Support of Final Approval – TDS Securities Litigation5ClaimDepot. UScellular Settlement Lead counsel Levi & Korsinsky described the fund as roughly 11.9% of an estimated $65.2 million in maximum aggregate damages. The court awarded attorneys’ fees of 33% of the fund, $106,945.65 in litigation expenses, and a $20,000 service award to lead plaintiff Howard M. Rensin.6Strategic Claims Services. Rensin v. UScellular Fee Order
Who Qualified, and the Claim Deadline
Investors who bought TDS securities between May 6, 2022, and November 3, 2022, were eligible. The proof-of-claim deadline was August 27, 2025, with Strategic Claims Services administering. By mid-2026 the administrator’s site indicated that distribution to eligible claimants had been completed, so the window to file has closed.7Strategic Claims Services. TDS Securities Litigation8Levi & Korsinsky, LLP. Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. Settlement
The FCC Auction Credits Whistleblower Cases
Two whistleblowers, Mark J. O’Connor and Sara F. Leibman, filed related qui tam actions alleging UScellular used sham “designated entities” to grab small-business bidding discounts in FCC spectrum auctions. The two cases reached the D.C. Circuit and produced opposite results.
Advantage Spectrum: Revived and Active
In the FCC’s 2015 AWS-3 auction (Auction 97), Advantage Spectrum, L.P. won 124 licenses on total bids of $338.3 million and received about $112.8 million in designated-entity bidding credits. A UScellular subsidiary was a limited partner.9PR Newswire. Advantage Spectrum Is High Bidder for 124 Licenses in Auction 97 The relators alleged Advantage was a shell controlled by UScellular, with no real office, employees, website, or phone number, and that UScellular had an undisclosed agreement to acquire Advantage’s licenses once a waiting period ran out.10U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. O’Connor v. U.S. Cellular Corporation, No. 23-7041
The district court dismissed on the False Claims Act’s public disclosure bar, finding the allegations already public through FCC filings. The Department of Justice declined to intervene.11Fierce Network. Old Issue Haunts UScellular’s Latest Spectrum Deals On September 26, 2025, the D.C. Circuit reversed, holding that the whistleblowers’ allegations “materially add” to what had been publicly known and that they qualified as original sources. The case is now back in district court. No damages or penalties have been assessed.10U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. O’Connor v. U.S. Cellular Corporation, No. 23-7041
King Street, Carroll, and Barat: Dismissed
The same relators brought a parallel action targeting three other designated entities: King Street Wireless, Carroll Wireless, and Barat Wireless, all owned by Allison DiNardo. The complaint alleged these entities were fronts through which UScellular improperly obtained nearly $165 million in bidding credits, and that UScellular folded their spectrum into its own network through a 2011 network-sharing agreement.12U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. O’Connor and Leibman v. USCC Wireless Investment, Inc., No. 23-7044
On February 11, 2025, the D.C. Circuit affirmed dismissal in an opinion by Judge Neomi Rao. The court found the allegations “substantially the same” as those in a 2008 qui tam filed by a law firm connected to O’Connor, and held that the added evidence, including the network-sharing agreement and engineering studies, amounted to only “minor or insubstantial additions.” Rehearing was denied in April 2025 and the mandate issued, closing the case.12U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. O’Connor and Leibman v. USCC Wireless Investment, Inc., No. 23-704413CourtListener. USA v. USCC Wireless Investment, Inc.
How the T-Mobile Acquisition Affects the Litigation
T-Mobile’s $4.4 billion acquisition of UScellular’s wireless operations cleared the Justice Department on July 10, 2025 and the FCC on July 11, 2025, and closed on August 1, 2025.14U.S. Department of Justice. Statement of the Department of Justice Antitrust Division on the T-Mobile/UScellular Merger15FCC. T-Mobile/UScellular Transaction16Reuters. DOJ Clears Way for T-Mobile’s $4.4 Billion Acquisition of UScellular The relators asked the FCC to delay the deal until their qui tam cases resolved; the FCC declined, finding no factual evidence of intent to deceive the Commission and refusing to relitigate Advantage Spectrum’s eligibility.17FCC. Order on Petitions to Deny – T-Mobile/UScellular The closing did not end the whistleblower litigation. The Advantage Spectrum case remains the main open matter arising from UScellular’s pre-acquisition conduct, moving forward in district court after the September 2025 reversal.