1. 1 LEROY T. CARLSON, JR. President and Chief Executive Officer Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. Baird 2004 Growth Stock Conference May 5, 2004

2. 2 Safe Harbor Safe Harbor Statement Under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: All information set forth in this news release, except historical and factual information, represents forward-looking statements. This includes all statements about the company’s plans, beliefs, estimates and expectations. These statements are based on current estimates and projections, which involve certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Important factors that may affect these forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to: changes in circumstances or events that may affect the ability of USM to start up the operations of the licensed areas involved in the AT&T Wireless transaction completed in August 2003; the ability of U.S. Cellular to successfully manage and grow the operations of the Chicago MTA; changes in the overall economy; changes in competition in the markets in which TDS and U.S. Cellular operate; advances in telecommunications technology; changes brought about by the implementation of local number portability; changes in the telecommunications regulatory environment; changes in the value of investments, including variable prepaid forward contracts; changes in the capital markets that could adversely impact the availability, cost and terms of financing; an adverse change in the ratings afforded TDS and U.S. Cellular debt securities by nationally accredited ratings organizations; pending and future litigation; acquisitions/divestitures of properties and/or licenses; changes in customer growth rates, average service revenue per unit, churn rates, roaming rates and the mix of products and services offered in TDS and U.S. Cellular markets. Investors are encouraged to consider these and other risks and uncertainties that are discussed in documents filed by TDS with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

3. 3 TDS Diversified telecommunication company with 5.6 million customers –U.S. Cellular (82% owned) - wireless –TDS Telecom (ILEC and CLEC) - wireline Fortune 500 company Strong balance sheet Investment grade

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6. 6 7th largest independent U.S. telco Rural company status 116 ILEC service locations 722,400 access line equivalents 113,600 ISP accounts; 27,300 DSL 266,300 LD (resale) lines Vertical services TDS Telecom - ILEC

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8. 8 CLEC Operations Principally a facilities-based company in five states …85% on-switch 378,800 access line equivalents Targeted selling  Small and medium businesses … 63%  “Communication-intensive” residential …37%

9. 9 Provide outstanding customer service Protect and grow current markets TDS Telecom’s Overall Strategy Develop and market new products and services

10. 10 Our Competitive Advantage: Customer Satisfaction Third-Party Validation %Likely to Switch Local Carrier Avg = 20% Lower Higher Third-Party 2003 Customer Satisfaction Survey Results (Avg = 100) Higher Qwest ALLTEL AT&T BellSouth CenturyTel CinBell Frontier/Citizens AT&T Broadband McLeod MCI WorldCom SBC Verizon Sprint TDS Cox Talk America

11. 11 Strategic Focus Market Development  Grow in CLUSTERS through combination of acquisition, build-out variations and new technologies Market Fortification  Proactively address wireless substitution  Increase market share, penetration and profitability of high-speed data product line  Develop new products and services  Grow CLEC within its existing markets

12. 12 Strategic Focus (cont.) Public Policy Advocacy  Champion TDS’s position to ensure favorable regulatory treatment Process & Productivity Improvement  Create efficiencies by optimizing cross- functional processes

13. 13 DSL Facts - ILEC 27,300 customers 128 k to 1.5 mb speeds Primarily consumer based … mostly self-installed Product bundles…DISH satellite / DSL, long distance / DSL, etc. Wi-Fi enabled modem

14. 14 Bundling DISH Network TDS Accelerator … increased download speeds at lesser cost than DSL VoIP and Fiber-to-the-Premises New Initiatives

15. 15 1 st Quarter 2003 Financial Highlights TDS Telecom – March 31, 2004 (millions) ILEC1 st Qtr ‘041 st Qtr ‘03 Revenues$159.1$159.6 (0.3)% Operating Income 48.6 45.4 + 7.1% CLEC Revenues $54.7 $52.4 + 4% Operating (loss) (3.8) (5.4) +30% Access Line Equivalents (thousands) ILEC722.4713.8 + 1.2% CLEC378.8303.9 +25%

16. 16 2004 Outlook - TDS Telecom ILEC  Operating revenues … $640 to $650 M  Dep. & amort. … $135 M  Operating income … $170 to $180 M  CAPX … ≈ $105 M CLEC  Operating revenues … $250 to $260 M  Dep. and amort. … $40 M  Operating income (loss) … $(30) to $(20) M  CAPX … ≈ $45 M

17. 17 Grow revenues 10 - 15% annually Return on capital  WACC Valuation/shareholder returns  comparable companies Maintain strong investment-grade rating TDS Financial Objectives

18. 18 Debt Ratings... Investment Grade! * TDSUSM Moody’s Investment ServiceBaa1Baa1 Standard & Poor’s A-A- FitchA-A- TDS debt to capital at 3/31/0436.8% USM debt to capital at 3/31/04 30% * Our debt ratings are several levels above non-investment grade

19. 19 Stock Repurchase 3 million share authorization: 2003: repurchased 1,960,900 shares  avg price of $47.10; total of $92.4 M 1 st Qtr ‘04: repurchased 40,300 shares  avg price of $69.82; total of $2.8 M We plan to continue the program, given market conditions.

20. 20 TDS: Excellent Prospects Full-service provider with strong, established wireless and wireline operations Strong business units  Well positioned in existing markets  Proven business strategies focused on customer satisfaction, network quality and competitive product offerings.  Experienced management teams Dedicated workforce of 10,700 people Financially strong

21. 21 Reconciliation of Additional Disclosures For the quarter ended March 31, 2004 The Operating Cash Flow amounts in the tables presented above are not determined in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America ("U.S. GAAP"). Management uses Operating Cash Flow to evaluate the operating performance of its business, and it is a measure of performance used by some investors, security analysts and others to make informed investment decisions. Operating Cash Flow is used as an analytical indicator of income generated to service debt and fund capital expenditures. In addition, multiples of current or projected Operating Cash Flow are used to estimate current or prospective enterprise value. Operating Cash Flow does not give effect to cash used for debt service requirements, and thus does not reflect funds available for investment or other discretionary uses. Operating Cash Flow as presented herein may not be comparable to similarly titled measures reported by other companies.

22. 22 LEROY T. CARLSON, JR. President and Chief Executive Officer Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. Baird 2004 Growth Stock Conference May 5, 2004