Long-Term Debt, net (Details) (USD $)	6 Months Ended								6 Months Ended		6 Months Ended					6 Months Ended							1 Months Ended		6 Months Ended		6 Months Ended		6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2012	Jun. 30, 2011	Dec. 31, 2011	Sep. 30, 2010 Denali [Member]	Nov. 03, 2011 Savary Island [Member]	Jun. 30, 2012 Convertible Debt [Member] Senior Notes Due in 2014 [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Convertible Debt [Member] Senior Notes Due in 2014 [Member]	Jun. 30, 2012 Unsecured Debt [Member] Senior Notes [Member] Cricket Communications [Member]	Jun. 30, 2012 Unsecured Debt [Member] Senior Notes Due In 2015 [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Unsecured Debt [Member] Senior Notes Due In 2015 [Member]	Jun. 30, 2012 Unsecured Debt [Member] Senior Notes Due In 2015 [Member] Redemption Period Two [Member]	Jun. 30, 2012 Unsecured Debt [Member] Senior Notes Due In 2015 [Member] Redemption Period Three [Member]	Jun. 30, 2012 Unsecured Debt [Member] Senior Notes Due In 2015 [Member] Redemption Period Thereafter [Member]	Jun. 30, 2012 Unsecured Debt [Member] Senior Notes Due In 2020 [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Unsecured Debt [Member] Senior Notes Due In 2020 [Member]	Jun. 30, 2012 Unsecured Debt [Member] Senior Notes Due In 2020 [Member] Redemption Period One [Member]	Jun. 30, 2012 Unsecured Debt [Member] Senior Notes Due In 2020 [Member] Redemption Period Two [Member]	Jun. 30, 2012 Unsecured Debt [Member] Senior Notes Due In 2020 [Member] Redemption Period Three [Member]	Jun. 30, 2012 Unsecured Debt [Member] Senior Notes Due In 2020 [Member] Redemption Period Thereafter [Member]	Jun. 30, 2012 Unsecured Debt [Member] Senior Notes Due in 2020 First Tranche [Member]	Jun. 30, 2012 Unsecured Debt [Member] Senior Notes Due in 2020 Second Tranche [Member]	Jun. 30, 2012 Unsecured Debt [Member] Senior Notes Due in 2014 [Member]	May 31, 2011 Promissory Note [Member] Non Negotiable Promissory Notes Due in 2015 [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 Promissory Note [Member] Non Negotiable Promissory Notes Due in 2015 [Member]	Jun. 30, 2012 Promissory Note [Member] Non Negotiable Promissory Notes Due in 2015 [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Promissory Note [Member] Non Negotiable Promissory Notes Due in 2015 [Member]	Jun. 30, 2012 Secured Debt [Member] Senior Notes Due In 2016 [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Secured Debt [Member] Senior Notes Due In 2016 [Member]	Jun. 30, 2012 Secured Debt [Member] Senior Notes Due In 2016 [Member] Redemption Period One [Member]	Jun. 30, 2012 Secured Debt [Member] Senior Notes Due In 2016 [Member] Redemption Period Two [Member]	Jun. 30, 2012 Secured Debt [Member] Senior Notes Due In 2016 [Member] Redemption Period Three [Member]	Jun. 30, 2012 Secured Debt [Member] Senior Notes Due In 2016 [Member] Redemption Period Thereafter [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Gross long-term debt						$ 250,000,000	$ 250,000,000	$ 1,900,000,000	$ 300,000,000	$ 300,000,000				$ 1,600,000,000	$ 1,600,000,000					$ 1,200,000,000	$ 400,000,000	$ 250,000,000		$ 45,500,000	$ 21,911,000	$ 21,911,000	$ 1,100,000,000	$ 1,100,000,000
Unamortized discount														(20,782,000)	(21,650,000)												(26,746,000)	(29,601,000)
Long-term Debt	3,224,383,000		3,220,660,000
Current maturities of long-term debt	(21,911,000)		(21,911,000)
Long-term debt, excluding current maturities	3,202,472,000		3,198,749,000
Debt instrument, stated interest rate									10.00%					7.75%						7.75%	7.75%	4.50%					7.75%
Convertible debt instrument, stock price (in dollars per share)																						$ 93.21
Convertible debt instrument, shares convertible to																						10.7290
Convertible debt instrument, base conversion rate																						1,000
Convertible debt instrument, incremental share factor																						8.3150
Convertible debt instrument, repurchase precent of prinicpal									101.00%													100.00%
Convertible debt instrument, voting power percentage																						50.00%
Convertible debt instrument, merger consideration of shares																						90.00%
Non-controlling interest, percentage by parent				82.50%
Non-controlling interest, acquired by parent																								17.50%
Stated interest rate, minimum																									5.00%
Stated interest rate, maximum																									8.30%
Annual principal payment																									8,500,000
Repayment of long-term debt	0	15,089,000																					15,100,000
Sales agreeement, value					172,000,000
Aggregate principal amount of debt allowed under guarantee																											1,500,000,000
Cash flow multiple, allowed for calculation of total debt borrowings allowed under guarantee																											2.5
Cash flow multiple for priority debt borrowings allowed under guarantees																											0.30
Aggregate principal amount for calculation of priority debt borrowings allowed under guarantees																											300,000,000
Debt issuance price (as a percentage)																				98.323%	99.193%						96.134%
Debt discount																				$ 20,100,000	$ 3,200,000						$ 42,500,000
Effective interest rate																				7.87%	7.81%						7.94%
Maximum redemption percentage, of aggregate principal amount														35.00%
Redemption price, percentage of principal, prior to maturity														107.75%
Redemption price percentage of principal											105.00%	102.50%	100.00%	101.00%		100.00%	103.875%	102.583%	101.292%								101.00%		105.813%	103.875%	101.938%	100.00%
Change of control threshold (as a percentage)									35.00%					35.00%													35.00%
Applicable premium, as a percentage of principal amount														1.00%
Applicable premium, basis spread (in basis points)														50