Supplementary Financial Information - (Details) (USD $)	Dec. 31, 2012		Dec. 31, 2011
Other current assets:
Accounts receivable, net of allowances for bad debt of $1.3 million and $1.6 million, respectively	$ 86,467,000	[1]	$ 86,736,000	[1]
Allowance for doubtful accounts	1,300,000		1,600,000
Prepaid expenses	40,237,000		28,327,000
Other	12,538,000		19,394,000
Other current assets	139,242,000		134,457,000
Property and equipment, net:
Network equipment	3,348,122,000	[2]	3,246,027,000	[2]
Computer hardware and software	526,348,000	[2]	455,873,000	[2]
Construction-in-progress	54,945,000	[2]	99,705,000	[2]
Other	109,400,000	[2]	111,510,000	[2]
Property and equipment, gross	4,038,815,000	[2]	3,913,115,000	[2]
Accumulated depreciation	(2,276,725,000)	[2]	(1,955,741,000)	[2]
Property and equipment, net	1,762,090,000	[2]	1,957,374,000	[2]
Intangible assets, net:
Customer relationships	50,435,000		57,782,000
Trademarks	37,000,000		37,000,000
Intangible assets, gross	87,435,000		94,782,000
Intangible assets, net	24,663,000		41,477,000
Accounts payable and accrued liabilities:
Trade accounts payable	143,931,000		306,881,000
Accrued payroll and related benefits	67,539,000		66,229,000
Other accrued liabilities	184,640,000		87,168,000
Accounts payable and accrued liabilities	396,110,000		460,278,000
Other current liabilities:
Accrued sales, telecommunications, property and other taxes payable	4,267,000		22,380,000
Accrued interest	44,653,000		58,553,000
Other	31,213,000		25,246,000
Other current liabilities	216,880,000		263,740,000
Assets Held under Capital Leases [Member]
Property and equipment, net:
Property and equipment, gross	45,800,000		32,300,000
Accumulated depreciation	(22,900,000)		(18,500,000)
Nonsoftware Service, Support and Maintenance Arrangement [Member]
Other current liabilities:
Deferred revenue	100,276,000	[3]	113,768,000	[3]
Distributor Arrangement [Member]
Other current liabilities:
Deferred revenue	36,471,000	[4]	43,793,000	[4]
Customer Relationships [Member]
Intangible assets, net:
Accumulated amortization of intangible assets	(40,528,000)		(33,704,000)
Trademarks [Member]
Intangible assets, net:
Accumulated amortization of intangible assets	$ (22,244,000)		$ (19,601,000)

[1] Accounts receivable, net, consists primarily of (i) amounts billed to third-party dealers for devices and accessories, (ii) amounts due from the Company's third-party logistics provider for devices sold from the Company to the supplier, (iii) amounts due from the federal government in connection with the Lifeline program, and (iv) amounts due from service providers related to interconnect and roaming agreements, net of an allowance for doubtful accounts.

[2] As of December 31, 2012 and December 31, 2011, approximately $45.8 million and $32.3 million of assets were held by the Company under capital lease arrangements, respectively. Accumulated amortization relating to these assets totaled $22.9 million and $18.5 million as of December 31, 2012 and December 31, 2011, respectively.

[3] Deferred service revenue consists primarily of cash received from customers in advance of their service period.

[4] Deferred equipment revenue relates to devices sold to third-party dealers and nationwide retailers, which have not yet been purchased and activated by customers.