Intense competition in the cell phone industry resulted in a difficult fourth quarter for Chicago-based U.S. Cellular Corp.
The company said Thursday that its fiscal performance in the quarter ended Dec. 31 fell below its expectations because the company had to step up promotions to retain and attract customers. U.S. Cellular lost 21,000 customers during the quarter. It finished 2010 with about 6.1 million customers.
The company gave a sneak peak at its results ahead of its earnings release on Feb. 24.
U.S. Cellular said it expects revenues for the full year to be slightly below the low end of the guidance range of $3.925 million to $3.975 million provided on Nov. 4, 2010.
It stock was down more than 2 percent in Thursday morning trading on the New York Stock Exchange.
