Long-Term Obligations (Narrative) (Details)			12 Months Ended			12 Months Ended				12 Months Ended				12 Months Ended			12 Months Ended		12 Months Ended		12 Months Ended		12 Months Ended		12 Months Ended				12 Months Ended			12 Months Ended		12 Months Ended			12 Months Ended					12 Months Ended		0 Months Ended	12 Months Ended		0 Months Ended				12 Months Ended						12 Months Ended				12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2012 USD ($) integer	Dec. 31, 2011 USD ($) integer	Dec. 31, 2012 Commercial Mortgage Pass Through Certificates Series 2007 [Member] USD ($) y sites	Dec. 31, 2011 Commercial Mortgage Pass Through Certificates Series 2007 [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2007 Commercial Mortgage Pass Through Certificates Series 2007 [Member] USD ($) sites	Dec. 31, 2012 Revolving Credit Facility [Member]	Jan. 31, 2012 Revolving Credit Facility [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2011 Revolving Credit Facility [Member] USD ($)		Dec. 31, 2012 Term Loan 2008 [Member]	Jan. 31, 2012 Term Loan 2008 [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2011 Term Loan 2008 [Member] USD ($)		Dec. 31, 2012 Colombia Short Term Credit Facility [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Colombia Short Term Credit Facility [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2011 Colombia Short Term Credit Facility [Member] COP	Dec. 31, 2012 Four Point Five Zero Percent Senior Notes [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2011 Four Point Five Zero Percent Senior Notes [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2012 Five Point Zero Five Percent Senior Notes [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2011 Five Point Zero Five Percent Senior Notes [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2012 Four Point Six Two Five Percent Senior Notes [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2011 Four Point Six Two Five Percent Senior Notes [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2012 Seven Point Zero Zero Percent Senior Notes [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2011 Seven Point Zero Zero Percent Senior Notes [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2012 Seven Point Two Five Percent Senior Notes [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2011 Seven Point Two Five Percent Senior Notes [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2012 Notes Payable and Capital Leases [Member] USD ($) y	Dec. 31, 2011 Notes Payable and Capital Leases [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2012 Colombian Bridge Loan [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2012 Colombian Bridge Loan [Member] COP	Dec. 31, 2011 Colombian Bridge Loan [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2012 Five Point Nine Zero Percent Senior Notes [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2011 Five Point Nine Zero Percent Senior Notes [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2012 Secured Cellular Site Revenue Notes [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2011 Secured Cellular Site Revenue Notes [Member] USD ($)	Oct. 14, 2011 Secured Cellular Site Revenue Notes [Member] propertyinterests sites	Dec. 31, 2012 Secured Cellular Site Revenue Notes [Member] Series 2010-1 Class C [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Secured Cellular Site Revenue Notes [Member] Series 2010-2 Class C [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Secured Cellular Site Revenue Notes [Member] Series 20102 Class F [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Ghana Loan [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2011 Ghana Loan [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2012 Credit Facility 2011 [Member] USD ($)		Jan. 08, 2013 Credit Facility 2012 [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2012 Credit Facility 2012 [Member] USD ($)		Sep. 14, 2012 South African Facility [Member] USD ($)	Sep. 14, 2012 South African Facility [Member] ZAR	Aug. 08, 2012 South African Facility [Member] USD ($)	Aug. 08, 2012 South African Facility [Member] ZAR	Dec. 31, 2012 South African Facility [Member] USD ($) integer	Dec. 31, 2012 South African Facility [Member] ZAR	Sep. 28, 2012 South African Facility [Member] ZAR integer	Aug. 29, 2012 South African Facility [Member] ZAR integer	Jan. 16, 2012 South African Facility [Member] ZAR integer	Dec. 31, 2011 South African Facility [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2012 Term Loan 2012 [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2012 Colombian Long-Term Credit Facility [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2012 Colombian Long-Term Credit Facility [Member] COP	Dec. 05, 2012 Colombian Long-Term Credit Facility [Member] integer	Dec. 31, 2012 Colombian Loan [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2012 Uganda Loan [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2012 Four Point Seven Zero Percent Senior Notes [Member] USD ($)
Number of broadcast and wireless communications towers			5,278		5,295																															1,810
Total long term obligation	$ 8,753,376,000	$ 7,236,308,000	$ 1,750,000,000	$ 1,750,000,000				$ 1,000,000,000	[1]			$ 325,000,000	[1]				$ 999,414,000	$ 999,313,000	$ 699,333,000	$ 699,258,000	$ 599,638,000	$ 599,489,000	$ 500,000,000	$ 500,000,000	$ 296,272,000	$ 295,830,000	$ 57,293,000	$ 46,818,000	$ 53,169,000		$ 26,780,000	$ 499,356,000	$ 499,302,000	$ 207,188,000	$ 209,321,000					$ 130,951,000	$ 127,466,000	$ 265,000,000	[2]		$ 992,000,000	[2]					$ 98,456,000	834,300,000				$ 84,920,000	$ 750,000,000	$ 76,347,000	135,000,000,000		$ 19,176,000	$ 61,023,000	$ 698,760,000
Expected life certificates final repayment, in years			7
Restricted cash and cash equivalents			61,900,000
Line of credit facility, maximum borrowing capacity							1,250,000,000				325,000,000																																									1,200,000,000
Letters of credit outstanding																																										5,700,000			2,700,000
Term of revolving credit facility						5																																				5			5												5
Spread above Libor rate for Libor based borrowings minimum						0.40%				0.50%																																1.35%			1.075%												1.25%
Spread above Libor rate for Libor based borrowings maximum						1.25%				1.50%																																2.60%			2.40%												2.50%
Spread above base rate for base rate borrowings minimum						0.00%				0.00%																																0.35%			0.075%												0.25%
Spread above base rate for base rate borrowings maximum						0.25%				0.50%																																1.60%			1.40%												1.50%
Interest rate, effective					5.61%																																														8.88%	8.88%						9.00%	9.00%			6.368%
Quarterly commitment fee on the undrawn portion of the revolving credit facility minimum						0.08%																																				0.25%			0.125%
Quarterly commitment fee on the undrawn portion of the revolving credit facility maximum						0.25%																																				0.55%			0.45%
Increase borrowings of debt																																															2,900,000	24,200,000	15,100,000	123,000,000
Proceeds from the issuance of debt																																																									746,400,000
Repayment of indebtedness under credit facility																																												719,000,000													632,000,000
Property interests under communications sites																																				1,470
Debt Instrument Interest Rate																	4.50%		5.05%		4.625%		7.00%		7.25%				7.99%	7.99%		5.90%					5.349%	6.392%	9.522%	9.00%																					8.30%		4.70%
Debt Maturity Date			Apr. 15, 2014			Jun. 08, 2012				Jun. 08, 2012				Apr. 25, 2012			Jan. 15, 2018		Sep. 01, 2020		Apr. 01, 2015		Oct. 15, 2017		May 15, 2019				Jun. 22, 2013	Jun. 22, 2013		Nov. 01, 2021		Apr. 15, 2040			Apr. 15, 2017	Apr. 15, 2020	Apr. 15, 2020	May 04, 2016		Apr. 08, 2016			Jan. 31, 2017						Mar. 31, 2020	Mar. 31, 2020					Jun. 29, 2017	Apr. 15, 2020	Apr. 15, 2020		Feb. 22, 2022	Jun. 29, 2019	Nov. 01, 2021
Redemption price percentage of principal																	100.00%		100.00%		100.00%		100.00%		100.00%							100.00%																															100.00%
Repurchase price as percentage of principal																	101.00%		101.00%		101.00%		101.00%		101.00%							101.00%																															101.00%
Long-term debt, gross																	1,000,000,000		700,000,000		600,000,000				300,000,000							500,000,000		196,000,000
Aggregate principal amount					1,750,000,000																																																										700,000,000
Amortized discount (premium) outstanding																	600,000	700,000	700,000	700,000	400,000	500,000			3,700,000	4,200,000						600,000	700,000	(11,200,000)																													1,200,000
Capital lease obligations and notes payable																											57,293,000	46,818,000
Interest rates ranging minimum	2.74%
Interest rates ranging maximum	9.00%
Interest rates mature in periods minimum																											1
Interest mature in periods maximum																											70
Commitment fee percentage																																										0.35%			0.225%						0.75%	0.75%
Base rate borrowing margin																																										1.85%			1.625%						3.75%	3.75%					1.75%	5.00%	5.00%			5.30%
Notional value of interest rate swaps																																																			49,995,000	423,634,000	12,124,000	61,511,000	350,000,000			57,261,000	101,250,000,000
Short term debt outstanding															72,811,000	141,100,000,000														94,000,000,000
Noncontrolling Interest, Ownership Percentage by Parent																																								51.00%																					60.00%	51.00%
Debt, Weighted Average Interest Rate																																																			9.84%	9.84%						10.36%	10.36%
Debt Instrument, Fee Amount																																																										$ 1,600,000	2,900,000,000
Number of Interest Rate Derivatives Held	10	0																																																	9	9	(3)	(3)	(3)					(1)

[1] On January 31, 2012, the Company repaid amounts outstanding under the $1.25 billion senior unsecured revolving credit facility (the “Revolving Credit Facility”) and $325.0 of million term loan commitments (the “2008 Term Loan”) with proceeds from an unsecured revolving credit facility entered into on April 8, 2011 (the “2011 Credit Facility”) and an unsecured revolving credit facility entered into on January 31, 2012 (the “2012 Credit Facility”). Therefore, the amounts outstanding at December 31, 2011 have been classified as long-term obligations in the consolidated balance sheet.

[2] On January 8, 2013, the Company repaid the 2011 Credit Facility and $718.4 million of the 2012 Credit Facility with proceeds from a registered public offering of $1.0 billion aggregate principal amount of 3.50% senior unsecured notes due 2023 (the “3.50% Notes”).