Impact of Recently Issued Accounting Standards	12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2018
Accounting Changes and Error Corrections [Abstract]
Impact of Recently Issued Accounting Standards	Note 3. Impact of Recently Issued Accounting Standards Adoption of new accounting standards — In May 2014, the FASB issued an accounting standard update, Revenue from Contracts with Customers. The standard requires an entity to recognize revenue to depict the transfer of control of promised goods or services to customers in an amount that reflects the consideration to which the entity expects to be entitled in exchange for those goods or services. In addition, the standard requires disclosure of the nature, amount, timing, and uncertainty of revenue and cash flows arising from contracts with customers. The FASB issued several amendments to the standard since its initial issuance, including delaying its effective date to reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2017, but permitting companies the option to adopt the standard one year earlier, as well as clarifications on identifying performance obligations and accounting for licenses of intellectual property, among others. There are two permitted transition methods under the new standard, the full retrospective method or the modified retrospective method. Under the full retrospective method, the standard would be applied to each prior reporting period presented and the cumulative effect of applying the standard would be recognized at the earliest period shown on the face of the financial statements being presented. Under the modified retrospective method, the cumulative effect of applying the standard would be recognized at the date of the initial application of the standard and the effect of the prior periods would be calculated and shown through a cumulative effect change in retained earnings. ARRIS adopted the standard using the modified retrospective method on January 1, 2018. (See Note 4 Revenue from Contracts with Customers for additional details). In January 2016, the FASB issued an update to amend certain aspects of recognition, measurement, presentation and disclosure of financial instruments. Under this standard, certain equity investments are measured at fair value with changes recognized in current period earnings as opposed to other comprehensive (loss) income. This guidance is effective for interim and annual reporting periods in fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2017. ARRIS adopted the standard on January 1, 2018 by recording a cumulative-effect adjustment as of the beginning of the year. The adoption of this guidance did not have a material impact on the Company’s consolidated financial position and results of operations. In August 2016, the FASB issued amended guidance on the classification of certain cash receipts and payments in the statement of cash flows. The primary purpose of the amended guidance is to reduce the diversity in practice that has resulted from the lack of consistent principles on this topic. The amended guidance adds or clarifies guidance on eight cash flow issues, including debt prepayment or debt extinguishment costs, settlement of zero-coupon debt instruments or certain other debt instruments, contingent consideration payments made after a business combination, proceeds from the settlement of insurance claims, proceeds from the settlement of corporate-owned life insurance policies, distributions received from equity method investees, beneficial interests in securitization transactions and separately identifiable cash flows and application of the predominance principle. The guidance is effective for the Company beginning January 1, 2018 for both interim and annual reporting periods, with early adoption permitted. Entities must apply the guidance retrospectively to all periods presented but may apply it prospectively from the earliest date practicable if retrospective application would be impracticable. ARRIS adopted this update as of January 1, 2018. The adoption of this guidance did not have a material impact on the Company’s consolidated financial position and results of operations. In November 2016, the FASB issued new guidance that requires that a statement of cash flows explain the change during the period in the total of cash, cash equivalents, and amounts generally described as restricted cash or restricted cash equivalents. Therefore, amounts generally described as restricted cash and restricted cash equivalents should be included with cash and cash equivalents when reconciling the beginning-of-period and end-of-period total amounts shown on the statement of cash flows. The new guidance is effective for interim and annual periods beginning after December 15, 2017. ARRIS adopted this update retrospectively as of January 1, 2018. The adoption of this guidance did not have a material impact on the Company’s consolidated financial position and results of operations. In January 2017, the FASB issued an accounting standard update that clarifies the definition of a business to help companies evaluate whether acquisition or disposal transactions should be accounted for as asset groups or as businesses. The accounting standard update is effective for the Company for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2017. The adoption of this guidance did not have a material impact on the Company’s consolidated financial position and results of operations. The future impact of this accounting standard update will be facts and circumstances dependent, but the Company expects, that in some situations, transactions that were previously accounted for as business combinations or disposal transactions will be accounted for as asset purchases or asset sales under the accounting standard update. In March 2017, the FASB issued an accounting standard update that requires entities to disaggregate the service cost component from the other components of net periodic benefit costs and present it with other current compensation costs for related employees in the income statement and present the other components elsewhere in the income statement and outside of income from operations if that subtotal is presented. The amendments in this update also allow only the service cost component to be eligible for capitalization when applicable. The accounting standard update is effective for the Company in the first quarter of fiscal 2018. ARRIS adopted this update as of January 1, 2018. The adoption of this guidance did not have a material impact on the Company’s consolidated financial position and results of operations. In May 2017, the FASB issued an accounting standard which amends the scope of modification accounting for share-based payment arrangements. The standard provides guidance on the types of changes to the terms or conditions of share-based payment awards to which an entity would be required to apply modification accounting. The accounting standard will be applied prospectively to awards modified on or after the effective date. It is effective for interim and annual periods beginning after December 15, 2017 (January 1, 2018 for the Company). ARRIS adopted this update as of January 1, 2018. The adoption of this guidance did not have a material impact on the Company’s consolidated financial position and results of operations. In August 2018, the FASB issued an accounting standard update related to customer's accounting for implementation costs incurred in a cloud computing arrangement that is a service contract. The standards update aligns the requirements for capitalizing implementation costs incurred in a hosting arrangement that is a service contract with the requirements for capitalizing implementation costs incurred to develop or obtain internal-use software. The capitalized implementation costs of a hosting arrangement that is a service contract will be expensed over the term of the hosting arrangement. The accounting standard is effective for annual and interim periods beginning after December 15, 2019. Early adoption is permitted, including adoption in any interim period. The amendments can be applied either retrospectively or prospectively to all implementation costs incurred after the adoption date. The Company early adopted this standard in the third quarter of 2018 using the prospective method. The adoption of this guidance did not have a material impact on the Company’s consolidated financial position and results of operations. Accounting standards issued but not yet effective — In February 2016, the FASB issued new guidance that will require lessees to recognize most leases on their balance sheets as a right-of-use asset with a corresponding lease liability, and lessors to recognize a net lease investment. Additional qualitative and quantitative disclosures will also be required. This standard is effective for interim and annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2018, although early adoption is permitted. The new standard requires a modified retrospective transition through a cumulative-effect adjustment as of the beginning of the earliest period presented in the financial statements, although the FASB recently approved an option for transition relief to not restate or make required disclosures under the new standard in comparative periods in the period of adoption. Along with that transition relief, the FASB also recently approved a practical expedient for lessors to allow for the combined presentation of lease and non-lease revenues when certain conditions are met. Many factors will impact the ultimate measurement of the lease liability and corresponding right of use asset to be recognized upon adoption. The Company continues to evaluate the impact this guidance will have on its consolidated financial statements. The Company expects to take advantage of the transition relief provided by the amendment to the new guidance which allows us to elect not to restate 2017 and 2018 comparative periods upon adoption and continue to apply existing guidance to such periods. With respect to the other practical expedients, the Company expects to elect the package of three expedients, which allows us not to reassess the existence, the classification or the amount and treatment of initial direct costs for existing leases. The Company does not expect to apply hindsight for the evaluation of lease options (e.g., renewal). The Company expects to elect not to record on the balance sheet a lease with a term (including reasonably certain renewal or purchase options, or reasonably certain not to terminate) of less than 12 months. Finally, the Company expects to elect the practical expedient which allows us not to separate lease and non-lease components. This guidance becomes effective January 1, 2019 with early adoption permitted. The Company has established a project management team to analyze the impact of this standard, including its current accounting policies and practices to identify potential impacts that would result from the application of this standard. The Company’s adoption process of the new standard is ongoing, including evaluating and quantifying the impact on its consolidated financial statements, identifying the population of leases (and embedded leases), implementing a selected technology solution and collecting and validating lease data. The Company expects its lease obligations designated as operating leases (as disclosed in Note 24) will be reported on the Consolidated Balance Sheets upon adoption. In August 2017, the FASB issued an accounting standard which eliminates the requirement to separately measure and report hedge ineffectiveness and requires companies to recognize all elements of hedge accounting that impact earnings in the same income statement line item where the hedged item resides. The standard includes new alternatives for measuring the hedged item for fair value hedges of interest rate risk and eases the requirements for effectiveness testing, hedge documentation and applying the critical terms match method. Finally, the standard introduces new alternatives that permit companies to reduce the risk of material error if the shortcut method is misapplied. The accounting standard is effective beginning January 1, 2019 and is required to be applied prospectively. The Company is currently assessing the potential impact of the adoption of this standard on its Consolidated Financial Statements. In February 2018, the FASB issued an accounting standard which allows companies to reclassify stranded tax effects resulting from the U.S. 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, from Accumulated other comprehensive (loss) income to Accumulated deficit. The guidance also requires certain new disclosures regardless of the election. The accounting standard is effective in the first quarter of fiscal 2020, and earlier adoption is permitted. The Company is currently assessing the potential impact of the adoption of this standard on its Consolidated Financial Statements. In August 2018, the FASB issued an accounting standard update which amends fair value measurement disclosure requirements aiming to improve the overall usefulness of disclosures to financial statement users and reduce unnecessary costs to companies when preparing the disclosures. This guidance will be effective for interim and annual periods beginning after December 15, 2019 and early adoption is permitted. Adoption of this guidance is not expected to have a material impact on the Company’s consolidated financial statements. In August 2018, the FASB issued an accounting standard update that eliminated certain disclosures about defined benefit plans, added new disclosures, and clarified other requirements. This guidance will be effective for interim and annual periods beginning after December 15, 2020 and early adoption is permitted. There were no changes to interim disclosure requirements. Adoption of this guidance is not expected to have a material effect on the Company’s annual financial statement statements.

Impact of Recently Issued Accounting Standards

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2018

Accounting Changes and Error Corrections [Abstract]

Impact of Recently Issued Accounting Standards

Note 3. Impact of Recently Issued Accounting Standards

Adoption of new accounting standards — In May 2014, the FASB issued an accounting standard update, Revenue from Contracts with Customers. The standard requires an entity to recognize revenue to depict the transfer of control of promised goods or services to customers in an amount that reflects the consideration to which the entity expects to be entitled in exchange for those goods or services. In addition, the standard requires disclosure of the nature, amount, timing, and uncertainty of revenue and cash flows arising from contracts with customers. The FASB issued several amendments to the standard since its initial issuance, including delaying its effective date to reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2017, but permitting companies the option to adopt the standard one year earlier, as well as clarifications on identifying performance obligations and accounting for licenses of intellectual property, among others.

There are two permitted transition methods under the new standard, the full retrospective method or the modified retrospective method. Under the full retrospective method, the standard would be applied to each prior reporting period presented and the cumulative effect of applying the standard would be recognized at the earliest period shown on the face of the financial statements being presented. Under the modified retrospective method, the cumulative effect of applying the standard would be recognized at the date of the initial application of the standard and the effect of the prior periods would be calculated and shown through a cumulative effect change in retained earnings. ARRIS adopted the standard using the modified retrospective method on January 1, 2018. (See Note 4 Revenue from Contracts with Customers for additional details).

In January 2016, the FASB issued an update to amend certain aspects of recognition, measurement, presentation and disclosure of financial instruments. Under this standard, certain equity investments are measured at fair value with changes recognized in current period earnings as opposed to other comprehensive (loss) income. This guidance is effective for interim and annual reporting periods in fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2017. ARRIS adopted the standard on January 1, 2018 by recording a cumulative-effect adjustment as of the beginning of the year. The adoption of this guidance did not have a material impact on the Company’s consolidated financial position and results of operations.

In August 2016, the FASB issued amended guidance on the classification of certain cash receipts and payments in the statement of cash flows. The primary purpose of the amended guidance is to reduce the diversity in practice that has resulted from the lack of consistent principles on this topic. The amended guidance adds or clarifies guidance on eight cash flow issues, including debt prepayment or debt extinguishment costs, settlement of zero-coupon debt instruments or certain other debt instruments, contingent consideration payments made after a business combination, proceeds from the settlement of insurance claims, proceeds from the settlement of corporate-owned life insurance policies, distributions received from equity method investees, beneficial interests in securitization transactions and separately identifiable cash flows and application of the predominance principle. The guidance is effective for the Company beginning January 1, 2018 for both interim and annual reporting periods, with early adoption permitted. Entities must apply the guidance retrospectively to all periods presented but may apply it prospectively from the earliest date practicable if retrospective application would be impracticable. ARRIS adopted this update as of January 1, 2018. The adoption of this guidance did not have a material impact on the Company’s consolidated financial position and results of operations.

In November 2016, the FASB issued new guidance that requires that a statement of cash flows explain the change during the period in the total of cash, cash equivalents, and amounts generally described as restricted cash or restricted cash equivalents. Therefore, amounts generally described as restricted cash and restricted cash equivalents should be included with cash and cash equivalents when reconciling the beginning-of-period and end-of-period total amounts shown on the statement of cash flows. The new guidance is effective for interim and annual periods beginning after December 15, 2017. ARRIS adopted this update retrospectively as of January 1, 2018. The adoption of this guidance did not have a material impact on the Company’s consolidated financial position and results of operations.

In January 2017, the FASB issued an accounting standard update that clarifies the definition of a business to help companies evaluate whether acquisition or disposal transactions should be accounted for as asset groups or as businesses. The accounting standard update is effective for the Company for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2017. The adoption of this guidance did not have a material impact on the Company’s consolidated financial position and results of operations. The future impact of this accounting standard update will be facts and circumstances dependent, but the Company expects, that in some situations, transactions that were previously accounted for as business combinations or disposal transactions will be accounted for as asset purchases or asset sales under the accounting standard update.

In March 2017, the FASB issued an accounting standard update that requires entities to disaggregate the service cost component from the other components of net periodic benefit costs and present it with other current compensation costs for related employees in the income statement and present the other components elsewhere in the income statement and outside of income from operations if that subtotal is presented. The amendments in this update also allow only the service cost component to be eligible for capitalization when applicable. The accounting standard update is effective for the Company in the first quarter of fiscal 2018. ARRIS adopted this update as of January 1, 2018. The adoption of this guidance did not have a material impact on the Company’s consolidated financial position and results of operations.

In May 2017, the FASB issued an accounting standard which amends the scope of modification accounting for share-based payment arrangements. The standard provides guidance on the types of changes to the terms or conditions of share-based payment awards to which an entity would be required to apply modification accounting. The accounting standard will be applied prospectively to awards modified on or after the effective date. It is effective for interim and annual periods beginning after December 15, 2017 (January 1, 2018 for the Company). ARRIS adopted this update as of January 1, 2018. The adoption of this guidance did not have a material impact on the Company’s consolidated financial position and results of operations.

In August 2018, the FASB issued an accounting standard update related to customer's accounting for implementation costs incurred in a cloud computing arrangement that is a service contract. The standards update aligns the requirements for capitalizing implementation costs incurred in a hosting arrangement that is a service contract with the requirements for capitalizing implementation costs incurred to develop or obtain internal-use software. The capitalized implementation costs of a hosting arrangement that is a service contract will be expensed over the term of the hosting arrangement. The accounting standard is effective for annual and interim periods beginning after December 15, 2019. Early adoption is permitted, including adoption in any interim period. The amendments can be applied either retrospectively or prospectively to all implementation costs incurred after the adoption date. The Company early adopted this standard in the third quarter of 2018 using the prospective method. The adoption of this guidance did not have a material impact on the Company’s consolidated financial position and results of operations.

Accounting standards issued but not yet effective — In February 2016, the FASB issued new guidance that will require lessees to recognize most leases on their balance sheets as a right-of-use asset with a corresponding lease liability, and lessors to recognize a net lease investment. Additional qualitative and quantitative disclosures will also be required. This standard is effective for interim and annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2018, although early adoption is permitted. The new standard requires a modified retrospective transition through a cumulative-effect adjustment as of the beginning of the earliest period presented in the financial statements, although the FASB recently approved an option for transition relief to not restate or make required disclosures under the new standard in comparative periods in the period of adoption. Along with that transition relief, the FASB also recently approved a practical expedient for lessors to allow for the combined presentation of lease and non-lease revenues when certain conditions are met.

Many factors will impact the ultimate measurement of the lease liability and corresponding right of use asset to be recognized upon adoption. The Company continues to evaluate the impact this guidance will have on its consolidated financial statements. The Company expects to take advantage of the transition relief provided by the amendment to the new guidance which allows us to elect not to restate 2017 and 2018 comparative periods upon adoption and continue to apply existing guidance to such periods. With respect to the other practical expedients, the Company expects to elect the package of three expedients, which allows us not to reassess the existence, the classification or the amount and treatment of initial direct costs for existing leases. The Company does not expect to apply hindsight for the evaluation of lease options (e.g., renewal). The Company expects to elect not to record on the balance sheet a lease with a term (including reasonably certain renewal or purchase options, or reasonably certain not to terminate) of less than 12 months. Finally, the Company expects to elect the practical expedient which allows us not to separate lease and non-lease components. This guidance becomes effective January 1, 2019 with early adoption permitted.

The Company has established a project management team to analyze the impact of this standard, including its current accounting policies and practices to identify potential impacts that would result from the application of this standard. The Company’s adoption process of the new standard is ongoing, including evaluating and quantifying the impact on its consolidated financial statements, identifying the population of leases (and embedded leases), implementing a selected technology solution and collecting and validating lease data. The Company expects its lease obligations designated as operating leases (as disclosed in Note 24) will be reported on the Consolidated Balance Sheets upon adoption.

In August 2017, the FASB issued an accounting standard which eliminates the requirement to separately measure and report hedge ineffectiveness and requires companies to recognize all elements of hedge accounting that impact earnings in the same income statement line item where the hedged item resides. The standard includes new alternatives for measuring the hedged item for fair value hedges of interest rate risk and eases the requirements for effectiveness testing, hedge documentation and applying the critical terms match method. Finally, the standard introduces new alternatives that permit companies to reduce the risk of material error if the shortcut method is misapplied. The accounting standard is effective beginning January 1, 2019 and is required to be applied prospectively. The Company is currently assessing the potential impact of the adoption of this standard on its Consolidated Financial Statements.

In February 2018, the FASB issued an accounting standard which allows companies to reclassify stranded tax effects resulting from the U.S. 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, from Accumulated other comprehensive (loss) income to Accumulated deficit. The guidance also requires certain new disclosures regardless of the election. The accounting standard is effective in the first quarter of fiscal 2020, and earlier adoption is permitted. The Company is currently assessing the potential impact of the adoption of this standard on its Consolidated Financial Statements.

In August 2018, the FASB issued an accounting standard update which amends fair value measurement disclosure requirements aiming to improve the overall usefulness of disclosures to financial statement users and reduce unnecessary costs to companies when preparing the disclosures. This guidance will be effective for interim and annual periods beginning after December 15, 2019 and early adoption is permitted. Adoption of this guidance is not expected to have a material impact on the Company’s consolidated financial statements.

In August 2018, the FASB issued an accounting standard update that eliminated certain disclosures about defined benefit plans, added new disclosures, and clarified other requirements. This guidance will be effective for interim and annual periods beginning after December 15, 2020 and early adoption is permitted. There were no changes to interim disclosure requirements. Adoption of this guidance is not expected to have a material effect on the Company’s annual financial statement statements.