Significant Acquisitions and Other Transactions (Details) (USD $)	0 Months Ended	12 Months Ended				0 Months Ended	12 Months Ended			0 Months Ended
	Sep. 24, 2013	Dec. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011	Mar. 25, 2013	Mar. 25, 2013 Guarantor Subsidiary [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Guarantor Subsidiary [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Guarantor Subsidiary [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Guarantor Subsidiary [Member]	Oct. 10, 2012 T-Mobile and Affiliates [Member]	Aug. 28, 2012 Verizon Wireless [Member]
Business Combinations [Abstract]
Sales price of property held-for-sale	$ 6,000,000
Wireless license held for sale	1,800,000
Wireless licenses		2,091,261,000	1,947,333,000		136,200,000		2,026,349,000	1,882,421,000
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Net wireless licenses received in exchange transaction	(4,200,000)	(5,427,000)	(229,714,000)	(2,622,000)		(6,800,000)	(10,929,000)	(143,904,000)	(20,538,000)		(130,400,000)
License agreement, non-monetary net gain										106,400,000
Purchase agreement, value											204,000,000
Sales of excess capacity											$ 360,000,000