Acquitions and Other transactions (Narrative) (Details) (USD $)		12 Months Ended		0 Months Ended	12 Months Ended									0 Months Ended			12 Months Ended					0 Months Ended							0 Months Ended			0 Months Ended				0 Months Ended	12 Months Ended				0 Months Ended				0 Months Ended			12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2012 Domestic [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 International [Member]	Nov. 04, 2010 South Africa Acquisition [Member] sites	Dec. 31, 2012 South Africa Acquisition [Member]	Dec. 14, 2011 South Africa Acquisition [Member] sites	Jul. 25, 2011 South Africa Acquisition [Member] sites	Mar. 08, 2011 South Africa Acquisition [Member] sites	Aug. 31, 2012 South Africa 2012 Acquisition [Member] sites	Jul. 31, 2012 South Africa 2012 Acquisition [Member] sites	Dec. 31, 2012 Brazil Acquisition [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Brazil Acquisition [Member] sites	Mar. 01, 2011 Brazil Acquisition [Member] sites	Jun. 30, 2012 Brazil Vivo Acquisition [Member] sites	Mar. 30, 2012 Brazil Vivo Acquisition [Member] sites	Aug. 31, 2012 Brazil Vivo Acquisition [Member] sites	Dec. 31, 2012 Ghana Acquisition [Member]	Dec. 23, 2011 Ghana Acquisition [Member] sites	Aug. 11, 2011 Ghana Acquisition [Member] sites	May 06, 2011 Ghana Acquisition [Member] sites	Dec. 06, 2010 Ghana Acquisition [Member]	Dec. 07, 2011 Mexico Acquisition [Member] sites	Nov. 03, 2011 Mexico Acquisition [Member] sites	Jul. 10, 2012 Mexico Acquisition [Member] sites	Jun. 29, 2012 Mexico Acquisition [Member] sites	Apr. 03, 2012 Mexico Acquisition [Member] sites	Dec. 28, 2011 Mexico Acquisition [Member] sites	Dec. 15, 2011 Mexico Acquisition [Member] sites	Sep. 12, 2012 Mexico 2012 Acquisition [Member] sites	Dec. 14, 2012 Mexico 2012 Acquisition [Member] sites	Sep. 27, 2012 Mexico 2012 Acquisition [Member] sites	Dec. 14, 2012 Mexico 2012 DEC Acquisition [Member] sites	Nov. 16, 2012 Mexico 2012 DEC Acquisition [Member] sites	Dec. 31, 2011 Colombia Moviles 2011 Acquisition [Member] sites	Dec. 31, 2012 Colombia Moviles 2012 Acquisition [Member] sites	Jul. 17, 2011 Colombia Movil Acquisition [Member] sites	Dec. 31, 2012 Colombia Movil Acquisition [Member] sites	Feb. 01, 2013 Colombia Movil Acquisition [Member] sites	Dec. 11, 2012 Colombia Movil Acquisition [Member] sites	Dec. 30, 2011 Chile Moviles Acquisition [Member] sites	Dec. 08, 2011 Uganda Acquisition [Member] sites	Dec. 31, 2012 Uganda Acquisition [Member]	Jun. 29, 2012 Uganda Acquisition [Member] sites	Dec. 04, 2012 Germany Acquisition [Member] sites	Dec. 20, 2012 Skyway Acquisition [Member] sites	Dec. 28, 2012 Diamond Acquisition [Member] sites propertyinterests	Dec. 31, 2012 Other U.S. Acquisition 2012 [Member] sites	Dec. 31, 2012 Us Acquisition 2012 Equity Method Investment Member [Member]	Oct. 14, 2011 U.S. Property Interest - Unison Acquisition [Member] sites propertyinterests	Oct. 21, 2011 U.S. Property Interest - Other Acquisition [Member] propertyinterests
Aggregate purchase price				$ 430,000,000		$ 214,500,000			$ 35,000,000		$ 585,300,000	$ 585,400,000	$ 553,200,000	$ 126,300,000	$ 151,700,000	$ 32,700,000	$ 517,700,000	$ 515,600,000						$ 323,300,000				$ 121,900,000		$ 63,500,000		$ 64,200,000		$ 17,500,000	$ 4,700,000	$ 182,000,000	$ 136,200,000	$ 1,300,000		$ 94,900,000		$ 173,200,000	$ 171,500,000	$ 525,700,000	$ 169,600,000	$ 322,500,000	$ 146,200,000	$ 800,000	$ 312,002,000	$ 72,595,000
Contingent consideration						2,600,000											2,300,000	2,300,000																			17,300,000	200,000
ValueAddedTaxReceivable						12,300,000			4,300,000								65,600,000	65,600,000						44,700,000				16,700,000		8,800,000		8,900,000
Partial payment of aggregate purchase price																																															144,800,000
BusinessAcquisitionCostOfAcquiredEntityCashPaid																																													169,500,000	320,100,000
Number of communications sites acquired						76	329	959	39	197		39	627	700	800	192		686	770	400				3	74	55	1,422	584		2	279			125	31		1,526	13		558			962	2,031	318	316	128		12
Maximum number of communications sites to be acquired				1,400											1,500							1,778	730						348			188	198			2,126					1,000
Additional communications sites to be acquired				1,800										300
Number Of Property Interests Acquired																																														24			1,910	240
Number of property interests acquired under third party sites																																																	1,810
Business Combination, Contingent Consideration Arrangements, Range of Outcomes, Value, High	43,600,000				2,000,000												1,000,000																				32,800,000
Business Combination, Contingent Consideration Arrangements, Range of Outcomes, Value, Low	0				0												0																				0
Previous contingent consideration payments					8,700,000												2,600,000
Updated contingent consideration fair value					1,900,000												900,000																				17,300,000
Ownership percentage																					51.00%																				51.00%
Ownership percentage by subsidiary					25.00%																49.00%																				49.00%
Percentage of business acquired													100.00%																											100.00%								67.50%
Business Combination, Contingent Consideration Arrangements, Change in Amount of Contingent Consideration, Liability					3,900,000												400,000																				(1,200,000)
Noncash or Part Noncash Acquisition, Value of Liabilities Assumed																																													100,000	2,400,000
Business Acquisition Cost Of Acquired Entity, Purchase Price Reflected In Accounts Payable																																															1,400,000
Business acquisition preexisting relationship settlement purchase price adjustment																																																	(2,584,000)	(4,256,000)
Business Acquisition, Purchase Price Allocation, Noncurrent Liabilities, Long-term Debt																																																	196,000,000
Business Acquisition Purchase Price Allocation Noncurrent Liabilities Long Term Debt, Fair Value																																																	209,300,000
Business Combination, Pro Forma Information, Revenue of Acquiree since Acquisition Date, Actual		3,800,000	42,900,000
Business combination pro forma information gross margin of acquiree since acquisition date actual		2,800,000	20,400,000
Contingent Consideration Term					4 years
Number of communications sites returned																																							15
Equity Method Investment, Realized Gain (Loss) on Disposal																																																$ 200,000