Mother’s Day 2020 Sees Increase in Wireless Usage

Mother’s Day is historically a very high day for wireless usage – especially phone calls – on U.S. Cellular’s network, and this year was no different. With several statewide shelter-in-place orders in effect this Mother’s Day due to the COVID-19 pandemic, U.S. Cellular saw a year-over-year increase in voice calls on its network of 7% compared to Mother’s Day 2019.

There were also year-over-year increases in text and multimedia messaging and data usage, with an 8% increase in texts sent/received (57,127,595 total this Mother’s Day), 35% increase in multimedia messaging and a 62% increase in data usage, with video calls likely being a large part of that. With U.S. Cellular currently waiving overage charges, customers were able to call, text and video chat their moms as much as they wanted.

“While voice usage has been declining in recent years as more people use text messaging and social media to communicate, we always see a spike in calls on Mother’s Day,” said Verchele Roberts, vice president of brand management at U.S. Cellular. “This year, it’s clear that customers relied on their wireless service when they couldn’t be together with their families.”

With the precedent of previous years, U.S. Cellular’s network teams used a variety of artificial intelligence-based systems to self-manage the network, while techs monitored activity and made enhancements as needed to handle the additional load. The company’s network was built with extra capacity to manage expected and unexpected increases in usage, like Mother’s Day and throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

For more information on U.S. Cellular’s customer support during COVID-19, please go to https://www.uscellular.com/covid-19.

About U.S. Cellular

U.S. Cellular is the fourth-largest full-service wireless carrier in the United States, providing national network coverage and industry-leading innovations designed to elevate the customer experience. The Chicago-based carrier is building a stronger network with the latest 5G technology and offers a wide range of communication services that enhance consumers’ lives, increase the competitiveness of local businesses and improve the efficiency of government operations. To learn more about U.S. Cellular, visit one of its retail stores or uscellular.com. To get the latest news, promos and videos, connect with U.S. Cellular on Facebook.com/uscellular, Twitter.com/uscellular and YouTube.com/uscellularcorp.

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For more information, contact:

Katie Frey, U.S. Cellular

Office: 773-317-0002

E-mail: Katie.Frey@uscellular.com