Segment Information (Segment Financial Information) (Details) (USD $)	3 Months Ended				6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2013		Jun. 30, 2012		Jun. 30, 2013 segments		Jun. 30, 2012
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Other, net	$ 0		$ 0		$ (22,000,000)		$ (282,000,000)
Number of Reportable Segments					2
Revenues	8,877,000,000		8,843,000,000		17,670,000,000		17,577,000,000
Inter-segment revenues	0	[1]	0	[1]	0	[1]	0	[1]
Segment Operating Expenses	(7,453,000,000)		(7,392,000,000)		(14,722,000,000)		(14,913,000,000)
Segment Reporting Information Operating Income or Loss	1,424,000,000		1,451,000,000		2,948,000,000		2,664,000,000
Depreciation and Amortization	(1,632,000,000)		(1,896,000,000)		(3,124,000,000)		(3,562,000,000)
Other, net	(666,000,000)	[2]	(184,000,000)		(669,000,000)	[2]	14,000,000
Operating income (loss)	(874,000,000)		(629,000,000)		(845,000,000)		(884,000,000)
Interest Expense	(428,000,000)		(321,000,000)		(860,000,000)		(619,000,000)
Equity in losses of unconsolidated investments and other, net	(240,000,000)		(398,000,000)		(442,000,000)		(671,000,000)
Loss before income taxes	(1,542,000,000)		(1,348,000,000)		(2,147,000,000)		(2,174,000,000)
Segment Reporting Information, Capital Expenditures					2,952,000,000		1,711,000,000
Restructuring Charges	(632,000,000)				(692,000,000)
Business Combination, Acquisition Related Costs					(34,000,000)
Payment received for incremental costs or obligations incurred by the Company for Spectrum Hosting					0		236,000,000
Gain Loss from asset dispositions and exchanges					0		29,000,000
Net benefit resulting from favorable developments relating to access cost disputes associated with prior periods							17,000,000
Asset impairments					0		84,000,000
Wireless [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Segment Reporting Information, Revenue for Reportable Segment	8,178,000,000		8,067,000,000		16,267,000,000		16,017,000,000
Inter-segment revenues	0	[1]	0	[1]	0	[1]	0	[1]
Segment Operating Expenses	(6,884,000,000)		(6,768,000,000)		(13,578,000,000)		(13,666,000,000)
Segment Reporting Information Operating Income or Loss	1,294,000,000		1,299,000,000		2,689,000,000		2,351,000,000
Segment Reporting Information, Capital Expenditures					2,673,000,000		1,464,000,000
Wireline [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Segment Reporting Information, Revenue for Reportable Segment	695,000,000		774,000,000		1,397,000,000		1,555,000,000
Inter-segment revenues	215,000,000	[1]	221,000,000	[1]	406,000,000	[1]	438,000,000	[1]
Segment Operating Expenses	(781,000,000)		(846,000,000)		(1,546,000,000)		(1,683,000,000)
Segment Reporting Information Operating Income or Loss	129,000,000		149,000,000		257,000,000		310,000,000
Segment Reporting Information, Capital Expenditures					164,000,000		120,000,000
Corporate, Other And Eliminations [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Segment Reporting Information, Revenue for Reportable Segment	4,000,000		2,000,000		6,000,000		5,000,000
Inter-segment revenues	(215,000,000)	[1]	(221,000,000)	[1]	(406,000,000)	[1]	(438,000,000)	[1]
Segment Operating Expenses	212,000,000		222,000,000		402,000,000		436,000,000
Segment Reporting Information Operating Income or Loss	1,000,000		3,000,000		2,000,000		3,000,000
Equity in losses of unconsolidated investments and other, net	(240,000,000)		(398,000,000)		(442,000,000)		(671,000,000)
Segment Reporting Information, Capital Expenditures					115,000,000		127,000,000
Business Combination, Acquisition Related Costs			(34,000,000)
Access [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Restructuring Charges	(144,000,000)		(27,000,000)		(151,000,000)
Access [Member] | Wireless [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Restructuring Charges	(129,000,000)		(13,000,000)		(133,000,000)
Access [Member] | Wireline [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Restructuring Charges	(15,000,000)		(14,000,000)		(18,000,000)
Lease [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Restructuring Charges					(515,000,000)
Lease [Member] | Wireless [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Restructuring Charges			(184,000,000)				(184,000,000)
Cost of products and services [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Restructuring Charges					(657,000,000)
Cost of products and services [Member] | Access [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Restructuring Charges	$ (28,000,000)				$ (35,000,000)

[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 June 30, 2013 consists of severance and exit costs of $632 million primarily related to lease exit costs associated with the shut-down of the Nextel platform and other costs related to backhaul access contracts which will have no future economic benefit, and $34 million of business combination fees paid to unrelated parties necessary for the transactions with SoftBank and Clearwire. Other, net for the six-month period ended June 30, 2013, consists of severance and exit costs of $657 million and $34 million of business combination fees paid to unrelated parties necessary for the transactions with SoftBank and Clearwire (included in our corporate segment and classified in our consolidated statements of comprehensive loss as selling, general and administrative expenses), partially offset by $22 million of favorable developments in connection with an E911 regulatory tax-related contingency. Other, net for the three-month period ended June 30, 2012 consists of $184 million of lease exit costs associated with the taking of certain Nextel platform sites off-air in 2012. Other, net for the six-month period ended June 30, 2012 consists of net operating income of $236 million associated with the termination of the spectrum hosting arrangement with LightSquared, 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 $184 million of lease exit costs and $84 million of asset impairment charges.