Segment Information (Segment Financial Information) (Details) (USD $)	3 Months Ended					9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2012		Mar. 31, 2012	Sep. 30, 2011		Sep. 30, 2012 segments		Sep. 30, 2011
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Number of Reportable Segments						2
Revenues	$ 8,763,000,000			$ 8,333,000,000		$ 26,340,000,000		$ 24,957,000,000
Inter-segment revenues	0	[1]		0	[1]	0	[1]	0	[1]
Segment Operating Expenses	(7,484,000,000)			(6,931,000,000)		(22,397,000,000)		(20,727,000,000)
Segment Reporting Information Operating Income or Loss	1,279,000,000			1,402,000,000		3,943,000,000		4,230,000,000
Depreciation and Amortization	(1,488,000,000)			(1,194,000,000)		(5,050,000,000)		(3,684,000,000)
Other, net	(22,000,000)	[2]		0		(8,000,000)	[2]	0
Operating income (loss)	(231,000,000)			208,000,000		(1,115,000,000)		546,000,000
Interest Expense	(377,000,000)			(236,000,000)		(996,000,000)		(724,000,000)
Equity in losses of unconsolidated investments and other, net	(112,000,000)			(261,000,000)		(783,000,000)		(1,261,000,000)
Loss before income taxes	(720,000,000)			(289,000,000)		(2,894,000,000)		(1,439,000,000)
Segment Reporting Information, Capital Expenditures						2,784,000,000		2,221,000,000
Payment received for incremental costs or obligations incurred by the Company for Spectrum Hosting	7,000,000		236,000,000			236,000,000		0
Gain Loss from asset dispositions and exchanges						29,000,000		0
Net benefit resulting from favorable developments relating to access cost disputes associated with prior periods						17,000,000
Asset impairments						84,000,000		0
Wireless [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Segment Reporting Information, Revenue for Reportable Segment	8,042,000,000			7,516,000,000		24,059,000,000		22,381,000,000
Inter-segment revenues	0	[1]		0	[1]	0	[1]	0	[1]
Segment Operating Expenses	(6,924,000,000)			(6,302,000,000)		(20,590,000,000)		(18,782,000,000)
Segment Reporting Information Operating Income or Loss	1,118,000,000			1,214,000,000		3,469,000,000		3,599,000,000
Segment Reporting Information, Capital Expenditures						2,413,000,000		1,899,000,000
Wireline [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Segment Reporting Information, Revenue for Reportable Segment	717,000,000			816,000,000		2,272,000,000		2,571,000,000
Inter-segment revenues	222,000,000	[1]		246,000,000	[1]	660,000,000	[1]	701,000,000	[1]
Segment Operating Expenses	(781,000,000)			(878,000,000)		(2,464,000,000)		(2,650,000,000)
Segment Reporting Information Operating Income or Loss	158,000,000			184,000,000		468,000,000		622,000,000
Segment Reporting Information, Capital Expenditures						186,000,000		135,000,000
Corporate, Other And Eliminations [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Segment Reporting Information, Revenue for Reportable Segment	4,000,000			1,000,000		9,000,000		5,000,000
Inter-segment revenues	(222,000,000)	[1]		(246,000,000)	[1]	(660,000,000)	[1]	(701,000,000)	[1]
Segment Operating Expenses	221,000,000			249,000,000		657,000,000		705,000,000
Segment Reporting Information Operating Income or Loss	3,000,000			4,000,000		6,000,000		9,000,000
Equity in losses of unconsolidated investments and other, net	(112,000,000)			(261,000,000)		(783,000,000)		(1,261,000,000)
Segment Reporting Information, Capital Expenditures						$ 185,000,000		$ 187,000,000

[1] Inter-segment revenues consist primarily of wireline services provided to the Wireless segment for resale to or use by wireless subscribers.

[2] (2)Other, net for the three-month period ended September 30, 2012 consists of $22 million of lease exit costs associated with taking certain Nextel platform sites off-air in 2012 (see Note 9). Other, net for the nine-month period ended September 30, 2012 consists of net operating income of $236 million associated with the termination of the spectrum hosting arrangement with LightSquared (see Note 11), a gain of $29 million on spectrum swap transactions, and a benefit of $17 million resulting from favorable developments relating to access cost disputes associated with prior periods, partially offset by $206 million of lease exit costs and $84 million of asset impairment charges.