Segment Information - Revenue Information on Services Basis (Detail) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2018	Sep. 30, 2017	Sep. 30, 2018	Sep. 30, 2017
Revenue from External Customer [Line Items]
Revenue	$ 1,283,751	$ 1,152,261	$ 3,761,571	$ 3,168,207
Recurring Revenues [Member]
Revenue from External Customer [Line Items]
Revenue	1,207,806	1,089,033	3,546,184	2,997,521
Recurring Revenues [Member] | Colocation [Member]
Revenue from External Customer [Line Items]
Revenue	930,043	842,680	2,725,012	2,316,433
Recurring Revenues [Member] | Interconnection [Member]
Revenue from External Customer [Line Items]
Revenue	202,117	179,544	594,729	493,288
Recurring Revenues [Member] | Managed infrastructure services [Member]
Revenue from External Customer [Line Items]
Revenue	67,933	63,278	208,541	176,080
Recurring Revenues [Member] | Other [Member]
Revenue from External Customer [Line Items]
Revenue	7,713	3,531	17,902	11,720
Non-recurring Revenues [Member]
Revenue from External Customer [Line Items]
Revenue	75,945	63,228	215,387	170,686
Americas [Member]
Revenue from External Customer [Line Items]
Revenue	625,684	596,538	1,846,586	1,566,593
Americas [Member] | Recurring Revenues [Member]
Revenue from External Customer [Line Items]
Revenue	591,846	566,036	1,756,725	1,492,059
Americas [Member] | Recurring Revenues [Member] | Colocation [Member]
Revenue from External Customer [Line Items]
Revenue	433,828	422,244	1,294,848	1,096,281
Americas [Member] | Recurring Revenues [Member] | Interconnection [Member]
Revenue from External Customer [Line Items]
Revenue	134,159	124,377	395,132	341,475
Americas [Member] | Recurring Revenues [Member] | Managed infrastructure services [Member]
Revenue from External Customer [Line Items]
Revenue	18,698	18,359	55,525	50,425
Americas [Member] | Recurring Revenues [Member] | Other [Member]
Revenue from External Customer [Line Items]
Revenue	5,161	1,056	11,220	3,878
Americas [Member] | Non-recurring Revenues [Member]
Revenue from External Customer [Line Items]
Revenue	33,838	30,502	89,861	74,534
EMEA [Member]
Revenue from External Customer [Line Items]
Revenue	396,755	338,833	1,159,553	976,624
EMEA [Member] | Recurring Revenues [Member]
Revenue from External Customer [Line Items]
Revenue	370,651	320,879	1,085,723	922,067
EMEA [Member] | Recurring Revenues [Member] | Colocation [Member]
Revenue from External Customer [Line Items]
Revenue	305,072	268,365	886,651	781,303
EMEA [Member] | Recurring Revenues [Member] | Interconnection [Member]
Revenue from External Customer [Line Items]
Revenue	34,640	27,574	103,586	73,580
EMEA [Member] | Recurring Revenues [Member] | Managed infrastructure services [Member]
Revenue from External Customer [Line Items]
Revenue	28,387	22,465	88,804	59,342
EMEA [Member] | Recurring Revenues [Member] | Other [Member]
Revenue from External Customer [Line Items]
Revenue	2,552	2,475	6,682	7,842
EMEA [Member] | Non-recurring Revenues [Member]
Revenue from External Customer [Line Items]
Revenue	26,104	17,954	73,830	54,557
Asia-Pacific [Member]
Revenue from External Customer [Line Items]
Revenue	261,312	216,890	755,432	624,990
Asia-Pacific [Member] | Recurring Revenues [Member]
Revenue from External Customer [Line Items]
Revenue	245,309	202,118	703,736	583,395
Asia-Pacific [Member] | Recurring Revenues [Member] | Colocation [Member]
Revenue from External Customer [Line Items]
Revenue	191,143	152,071	543,513	438,849
Asia-Pacific [Member] | Recurring Revenues [Member] | Interconnection [Member]
Revenue from External Customer [Line Items]
Revenue	33,318	27,593	96,011	78,233
Asia-Pacific [Member] | Recurring Revenues [Member] | Managed infrastructure services [Member]
Revenue from External Customer [Line Items]
Revenue	20,848	22,454	64,212	66,313
Asia-Pacific [Member] | Recurring Revenues [Member] | Other [Member]
Revenue from External Customer [Line Items]
Revenue	0	0	0	0
Asia-Pacific [Member] | Non-recurring Revenues [Member]
Revenue from External Customer [Line Items]
Revenue	$ 16,003	$ 14,772	$ 51,696	$ 41,595