“We have competed against Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile–all the nationals–for years, and to a lesser degree, we’ve competed against Alltel,” said U.S. Cellular spokesman, Mark Steinkrauss. “Is it going to be any different? I don’t think so.”

“We’re owner-operated. We always have been,” Steinkrauss explained, referring to U.S. Cellular’s Chicago-based parent company, Telephone and Data Systems Inc., which is controlled by its founders, the Carlson family. “We’re doing a good job driving the company forward. We have all sorts of financial flexibility.”

That, of course, could change at any time. In fact, for all we know, they could be talking to Sprint Nextel right now about a merger (no, they’re probably not). The more regional carriers we have the better. So here’s to U.S. Cellular sticking around for a while.

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