JACK ROONEY, U.S. CELLULAR

U.S. Cellular's CEO on why all wireless is local, preconceived notions about image and the right way to offer mobile data

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I take umbrage at the word “survivor.” We are not a survivor; we're a player. There are very few national players. I can think of one competitor that almost lost its entire franchise trying to play like a national player. You don't need to be a national player to survive.

Wireless is sort of like politics: Most of it is local. You shop locally, you live in your area and you roam in your immediate area more than anything else. So we try to offer the best local and regional value in the marketplace. We make sure every customer knows we love 'em to death and understand 'em. We're not looking at ourselves as a national player. Analysts ask me, “How can you thrive when you're not a national carrier?” I say, “Because I don't want you as a customer. I want a regional business.”

Nobody seems to want to find out who we are. They have all these preconceived notions. Sometimes I think that if I put on a straw hat and stick a corn stalk under my arm and wear overalls, people would be very happy with that image.

We've been very slow in launching data services because we want to launch good products. I take strong exception to the way this industry launches products. They experiment on customers, and we don't want to do that. You can say it's conservative. I say it's prudent. This is the only industry where we want to rush to market with stuff that isn't customer-ready.

I don't think the industry will ever return to the track it was on before. But I like competition — it allows this organization to differentiate itself, and makes us better than we would be otherwise. We have the financial strength to take advantage of the situation. The time to do deals is when there's blood in the street. This test is good for the industry. It will wring out the players from the survivors. The marketplace will reward those of us that do well.

We're going to be a bigger company. We'll have an expanded footprint and a more recognized name. We'll have data products that meet our customers' needs. I don't know what will happen to the rest of the market, and I don't care. One of the many things I can't control is what happens in the marketplace. I just know I can survive in any market where I focus on the customer, and not on the competition.