U.S. Cellular said it intends to buy $1.2 billion in iPhones over three years as the regional carrier seeks to keep subscribers from defecting to carriers that offer the popular handset, the telecom said in a regulatory filing. Income dropped by 92% in the first quarter on a slight decline in operating revenue, according to parent company Telephone & Data Systems. U.S. Cellular ended the period with 5.1 million contract customers after experiencing a net loss of 74,000 contract subscribers. "We know there's demand in our customer base to carry the iPhone," CEO Mary Dillon told analysts.