UNITED STATES CELLULAR CORP

Long-Term Debt

As of December 31, 2023, approximately 70% of UScellular's long-term debt was in fixed-rate senior notes and approximately 30% in variable-rate debt. Fluctuations in market interest rates can lead to volatility in the fair value of fixed-rate notes and interest expense on variable-rate debt.

The following table presents the scheduled principal payments on long-term debt, lease obligations and the related weighted average interest rates by maturity dates at December 31, 2023:

1 The total long-term debt obligation differs from Long-term debt in the Consolidated Balance Sheet due to unamortized debt issuance costs on all non-revolving debt instruments, unamortized discounts related to the 6.7% Senior Notes, and outstanding borrowings under the receivables securitization agreement, which principal repayments are not scheduled but are instead based on actual receivable collections. See Note 12 — Debt in the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information.

2 Represents the weighted average stated interest rates at December 31, 2023, for debt maturing in the respective periods.

Fair Value of Long-Term Debt

At December 31, 2023 and 2022, the estimated fair value of long-term debt obligations, excluding lease obligations, the current portion of such long-term debt and debt financing costs, was $2,611 million and $2,502 million, respectively, and the book value was $3,099 million and $3,244 million, respectively. See Note 3 — Fair Value Measurements in the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information.