Severance and Leased Real Estate (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions	12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2017	Dec. 31, 2016
Severance
Restructuring reserve
Balance at the beginning of the period	$ 98	$ 14
Accrued to expense	42	173
Payments, net	(108)	(89)
Reversals and adjustments	0	0
Balance at the end of the period	33	98
Leased real estate
Restructuring reserve
Payments, net	(13)	(20)
Qwest Communications International Inc \| Leased real estate
Severance and Leased Real Estate
Current portion of leased real estate accrual	11
Noncurrent portion of leased real estate accrual	$ 53
Weighted average lease terms (in years)	6 years 8 months
Restructuring reserve
Balance at the beginning of the period	$ 67	80
Accrued to expense	4	4
Reversals and adjustments	2	3
Balance at the end of the period	$ 64	$ 67
Qwest Communications International Inc \| Leased real estate \| Minimum
Severance and Leased Real Estate
Remaining lease terms (in years)	1 month 27 days
Qwest Communications International Inc \| Leased real estate \| Maximum
Severance and Leased Real Estate
Remaining lease terms (in years)	7 years 11 months
Level 3 Communications, Inc. \| Severance
Restructuring reserve
Accrued to expense	$ 1
Level 3 Communications, Inc. \| Leased real estate
Restructuring reserve
Accrued to expense	$ 4

Represents the remaining lease term.

No definition available.

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- Definition

Weighted average term of remaining leases assumed in connection with an acquisition.

+ References

No definition available.

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- Definition

Amount of cash payments made as the result of exit or disposal activities. Excludes payments associated with a discontinued operation or an asset retirement obligation.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
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- Definition

Amount of expenses associated with exit or disposal activities pursuant to an authorized plan. Excludes expenses related to a discontinued operation or an asset retirement obligation.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
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- Definition

Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

+ References

No definition available.

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- Definition

Carrying amount (including both current and noncurrent portions of the accrual) as of the balance sheet date pertaining to a specified type of cost associated with exit from or disposal of business activities or restructuring pursuant to a duly authorized plan.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
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- Definition

Amount of expense (reversal of expense) which increases (decreases) the restructuring reserve from an adjustment to a previously accrued restructuring liability.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
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- Definition

Carrying amount as of the balance sheet date of known and estimated obligations associated with exit from or disposal of business activities or restructurings pursuant to a duly authorized plan, which are expected to be paid in the next twelve months or in the normal operating cycle if longer. Costs of such activities include those for one-time termination benefits, termination of an operating lease or other contract, consolidating or closing facilities, relocating employees, and costs associated with an ongoing benefit arrangement, but excludes costs associated with the retirement of a long-lived asset.

+ References

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- Definition

Carrying amount as of the balance sheet date of known and estimated costs associated with exit from or disposal of business activities or restructurings pursuant to a duly authorized plan, which are expected to be paid after one year or beyond the next operating cycle, if longer. Costs of such activities include those for one-time termination benefits, termination of an operating lease or other contract, consolidating or closing facilities, and relocating employees, and costs associated with an ongoing benefit arrangement, but excludes costs associated with the retirement of a long-lived asset.

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- Definition

A roll forward is a reconciliation of a concept from the beginning of a period to the end of a period.

+ References

No definition available.

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